Charlie Girl is a musical comedy which premiered in the West End

West End theatre

West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...

 of London at the Adelphi Theatre on December 15, 1965 and played for 2,202 performances, closing on March 27, 1971. Although hugely successful in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, Charlie Girl has never been produced on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

.

The original stars were Joe Brown

Joe Brown (singer)

Joe Brown, MBE is an English entertainer.He has worked as a rock and roll singer and guitarist for more than five decades. He was a stage and television performer in the late 1950s and a UK recording star in the early 1960s...

 (Joe Studholme), Christine Holmes (Charlie Hadwell), Anna Neagle

Anna Neagle

Forming a professional alliance with Wilcox, Neagle played her first starring film role in the musical Goodnight Vienna , again with Jack Buchanan. With this film Neagle became an overnight favourite...

 (Lady Hadwell), Derek Nimmo

Derek Nimmo

Derek Robert Nimmo was an English character actor. He was particularly associated with upper-class "silly-ass" roles, and clerical roles.-Career:...

 (Nicholas Wainwright), Hy Hazell

Hy Hazell

Hy Hazell was a British film actress. She was born as Hyacinth Hazel O'Higgins.-Selected filmography:* Meet Me at Dawn * Paper Orchid * The Lady Craved Excitement...

 (Kay Connor), Jean Lloyd Grant Mostyn and Stuart Damon

Stuart Damon

Stuart Damon is an American actor. He is known for thirty years of portraying the character Dr. Alan Quartermaine on the American soap opera General Hospital, for which he won an Emmy Award in 1999....

 (Jack Connor). When Joe Brown left the show in 1968, he was replaced by Gerry Marsden

Gerry Marsden

Gerard "Gerry" Marsden is an English musician and television personality, best known for being leader of the British band Gerry & the Pacemakers.-Biography:...

 (of Gerry & The Pacemakers

Gerry & the Pacemakers

Gerry and the Pacemakers were a British beat music group prominent during the 1960s. In common with The Beatles, they came from Liverpool, were managed by Brian Epstein and recorded by George Martin. They are most remembered for being the first act to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart with...

).

The show was revived in London in 1986 starring Paul Nicholas

Paul Nicholas

Paul Nicholas is an English actor and singer who has had considerable success on stage, screen and in the pop charts.-Biography:Nicholas was born as Paul Oscar Beuselinck in Peterborough, England...

 (Joe), Lisa Hull (Charlie Hadwell), Cyd Charisse

Cyd Charisse

Cyd Charisse was an American actress and dancer.After recovering from polio as a child, and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s...

 (Lady Hadwell), Nicholas Parsons

Nicholas Parsons

Nicholas Parsons OBE is a British actor and radio and television presenter.-Early life:...

 (Nicholas Wainwright), Dora Bryan

Dora Bryan

Dora May Bryan OBE is an English actress of stage, film and television.-Early life:Bryan was born as Dora May Broadbent in Southport, Lancashire, England. Her father was a salesman and she attended Hathershaw County Primary School in Oldham, Lancashire...

 (Kay Connor) and Mark Wynter

Mark Wynter

Mark Wynter is an English actor and former singer, who had four Top 20 singles in the 1960s, including "Venus in Blue Jeans" and "Go Away Little Girl"...

 (Jack Connor), but ran for only six months.

Additional Credits

• Directed by Wallace Douglas
• Choreographed by Alfred Rodriques
• Setting by Tod Kingman
• Costumes by Cynthia Tingey
• Orchestrations by Arthur Wilkinson
  Arthur Wilkinson
  Arthur Wilkinson was a British orchestral composer and arranger. He began composing while serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, and made many contributions to film, stage shows and television.-Notable works:...
  
  
• Musical Direction by Kenneth Alwyn
  Kenneth Alwyn
  Kenneth Alwyn is an English orchestral conductor. He is principally known for his performances and recordings of film and ballet music...
  
  

Synopsis

Lady Hadwell, the widow of an aristocrat is struggling to make ends meet by opening her home to the public. The youngest of her three daughters, Charlotte, known as "Charlie", is a tomboy. Their loyal assistant, Joe, is in love with Charlie. When he learns he has won a fortune on the football pools

Football pools

A football pool, often collectively referred to as "the pools", is a betting pool based on predicting the outcome of top-level association football matches set to take place in the coming week. The pools are typically cheap to enter, with the potential to win huge money. Entries were traditionally...

, he conceals the fact from his employers. In the meantime, her mother is hoping for an engagement between Charlie and an American millionaire. The most memorable moment of the show is when Charlie has to return her hired evening gown, and the rest of the guests at the ball also decide to cavort in their underwear.

1965 Cast Album Song List

Act I

• Overture - Charlie Girl
• Bells Will Ring
• What Would I Get From Being Married
• I Love Him, I Love Him
• What's the Magic
• Let's Do a Deal
• My Favorite Occupation
• I Was Young

Act II

• Party of a Lifetime
• I 'ates Money
• Charlie Girl Waltz
• Like Love
• That's It
• Fish and Chips
• You Never Know What You Can Do Until You Try It
• Charlie Girl

1986 Cast Album Song List

Act I

• Overture
• Most Ancestral Home of All
• Bells Will Ring
• Charlie Girl
• I Love Him, I Love Him (Bells Will Ring)
• What Would I Get From Being Married
• Let's Do a Deal
• My Favorite Occupation
• What's the Magic
• When I Hear Music, I Dance

Act II

• I 'ates Money
• Charlie Girl Waltz
• Party of a Lifetime
• Like Love
• That's It
• Washington
• Fish and Chips
• Society Twist
• You Never Know What You Can Do Until You Try
• Bells Will Ring/Charlie Girl (Reprise)
• Charlie Girl (Finale)

External links

• The story of Charlie Girl at Guide to Musical Theatre