Me and My Girl
Encyclopedia
Me and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber
Douglas Furber
Douglas Furber was a British lyricist and playwright.Furber is best known for the lyrics to the 1937 song The Lambeth Walk and the libretto to the musical Me and My Girl, composed by Noel Gay, from which it came. This show made broadcasting history when in 1939 it became the first full length...

 and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay
Noel Gay
Noel Gay was born Reginald Moxon Armitage. He also used the name Stanley Hill professionally. He was a successful British composer of popular music of the 1930s and 1940s whose output comprised 45 songs as well as the music for 28 films and 26 London shows...

. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, Mayfair
Mayfair
Mayfair is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster.-History:Mayfair is named after the annual fortnight-long May Fair that took place on the site that is Shepherd Market today...

, and Lambeth
Lambeth
Lambeth is a district of south London, England, and part of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated southeast of Charing Cross.-Toponymy:...

.

The musical had a successful original run on 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...

 in 1937 and very successful revivals in both London and New York in the 1980s. The show stopper, “The Lambeth Walk
The Lambeth Walk
"The Lambeth Walk" is a song from the 1937 musical Me and My Girl . The song takes its name from a local street Lambeth Walk once notable for its street market and working class culture in Lambeth, an area of London.The tune gave its name to a Cockney dance first made popular in 1937 by Lupino Lane...

”, was the subject of a news story in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...

of October 1938: “While dictators rage and statesmen talk, all Europe dances — to The Lambeth Walk.”

A film version was produced in 1939, titled The Lambeth Walk
The Lambeth Walk (film)
The Lambeth Walk is a 1939 British musical comedy film directed by Albert de Courville and starring Lupino Lane, Sally Gray and Seymour Hicks. It was an adaptation of the 1937 musical Me and My Girl. The film takes its title from the play's best known song The Lambeth Walk...

.

Production history

It originally opened at 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...

 Victoria Palace Theatre
Victoria Palace Theatre
Victoria Palace Theatre is a West End theatre in Victoria Street, in the City of Westminster, opposite Victoria Station.-Origins:The theatre began life as a small concert room above the stables of the Royal Standard Hotel, a small hotel and tavern built in 1832 at what was then 522 Stockbridge...

 on December 16, 1937, and starred Lupino Lane
Lupino Lane
Lupino Lane was an English actor and theatre manager, and a member of the famous Lupino family. Lane started out as a child performer, known as 'Little Nipper', and went on to appear in a wide range of theatrical, music hall and film performances...

. Lane had previously played Bill Snibson in a horseracing comedy play, Twenty to One
Twenty to One
Twenty to One was a British comedy play first performed in 1935. The play was a farce set around the world of horseracing. Bill Snibson , a bookmaker, joins an anti-gambling organisation in a fit of guilt. The play ran for other four hundred performances at the Coliseum Theatre in the West End....

, that opened in 1935. Me and My Girl was conceived as a fresh vehicle for the character.

At first attracting little notice, the production gained immediate success after a matinee performance was broadcast live on BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 radio, following the cancellation of a sporting event. On May 1, 1939, a performance was televised from the theatre, one of the first times such was done. The original West End production ran for 1,646 performances.

It was revived in 1952. In 1984, a revised production opened at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre (Leicester)
The Haymarket Theatre was a theatre in Leicester, England, based in the Haymarket Shopping Centre on Belgrave Gate in Leicester city centre. The theatre closed at the end of 2006 and has been replaced by the Curve Theatre...

 with a revised script by Stephen Fry
Stephen Fry
Stephen John Fry is an English actor, screenwriter, author, playwright, journalist, poet, comedian, television presenter and film director, and a director of Norwich City Football Club. He first came to attention in the 1981 Cambridge Footlights Revue presentation "The Cellar Tapes", which also...

 and contributions by Mike Ockrent
Mike Ockrent
Mike Ockrent was a British stage director, well-known both for his Broadway musicals and smaller niche plays. He was educated at Highgate School. Through directing Educating Rita and Follies, he became an established figure in London theatre...

. It transferred to the West End Adelphi Theatre
Adelphi Theatre
The Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...

 on February 12, 1985 and closed on January 16, 1993 after an eight year run and 3,303 performances. It starred Robert Lindsay
Robert Lindsay (actor)
Robert Lindsay is an English actor who is best known for his television work, especially his roles of Wolfie Smith in Citizen Smith, Michael Murray in G.B.H., Captain Sir Edward Pellew in Hornblower and Ben Harper in My Family which has been on television screens since 2000.-Early life:Lindsay was...

 as Bill Snibson, Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson is a British actress, comedian and screenwriter. Her first major film role was in the 1989 romantic comedy The Tall Guy. In 1992, Thompson won multiple acting awards, including an Academy Award and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress, for her performance in the British drama Howards End...

, and Frank Thornton
Frank Thornton
Frank Thornton is an English actor who is best known for playing Captain Peacock in Are You Being Served? and its sequel Grace & Favour and as Truly in Last of the Summer Wine.-Early life:...

. The production won two Olivier Awards: Musical of the Year and Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Musical (Robert Lindsay). Cast changes included : Enn Reitel
Enn Reitel
Enn Reitel is a Scottish actor and impressionist who specialises in voice work.- Early life :Reitel's family arrived in Scotland as refugees from Estonia, German Empire...

 (as Bill Snibson ) and Su Pollard
Su Pollard
Susan Georgina "Su" Pollard, 7 November 1949, Nottingham) is an English comedy actress, most famous for her roles in the sitcoms Hi-de-Hi! and You Rang, M'Lord?. She is also well known for her unusual and flamboyant dress sense and her abrupt voice....

 (as Sally Smith) in 1986; Gary Wilmot
Gary Wilmot
Gary Wilmot is an English actor, writer, comedian, impressionist and singer. He rose to fame in the 80s through a number of television appearances, and subsequently moved into theatre.- Career :...

 (as Bill Snibson ) and Jessica Martin
Jessica Martin
Jessica Martin is an actor and comedian. She is probably best known for her work as an impressionist and voice artist on the television series Spitting Image, impersonating the voice of Her Majesty The Queen. She also appeared on Yorkshire Television's 3-2-1 in the 1980s with impressionist Aiden J...

 (as Sally Smith) in 1989. The production subsequently toured throughout Britain.

The revised London production opened 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...

 at the Marquis Theatre
Marquis Theatre
The Marquis Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 1535 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.Situated on the third floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel, the 1611-seat venue was designed by developer/architect John C. Portman, Jr...

 on August 10, 1986, and closed on December 31, 1989, after 1,420 performances. Directed by Mike Ockrent with choreography by Gillian Gregory, the cast starred Robert Lindsay and Maryann Plunkett
Maryann Plunkett
Maryann Plunkett is an American actress who in 1987 won the Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance as "Sally Smith" in Me and My Girl....

, with George S. Irving
George S. Irving
George S. Irving is an American actor, known primarily for his character roles on Broadway. Born George Irving Shelasky in Springfield, Massachusetts, he made his debut in the original 1943 production of Oklahoma!, only to be drafted days later to serve in World War II...

 and Jane Connell. The production was nominated for 13 Tony Awards and won for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Choreographer. Jim Dale
Jim Dale
Jim Dale, MBE is an English actor, voice artist, singer and songwriter. He is best known in the United Kingdom for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and in the US for narrating the Harry Potter audiobook series, for which he received two Grammy Awards, and the ABC series Pushing...

 succeeded Lindsay in the lead role of Bill. Tim Curry
Tim Curry
Timothy James "Tim" Curry is a British actor, singer, composer and voice actor, known for his work in a diverse range of theatre, film and television productions. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California....

 played Bill Snibson in the extensive US Tour that followed the Broadway run.

Numerous productions have been staged over the years all across the UK. In 1997 it even appeared at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre for a limited run with Adam Schumacher as Bill Snibson.

A 70th anniversary production of Me and My Girl had an eight-month British tour during 2006-07. It was directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle with a cast including Richard Frame
Richard Frame
Richard C. "Dick" Frame is a former Republican member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, serving from 1962 to 1977. In 1973, he became Republican Senate Leader, defeating Robert D. Fleming. In 1976, he lost that position to Henry G. Hager.He served in the military during World War II...

 (Bill Snibson), Faye Tozer
Faye Tozer
Faye Louise Tozer is an English singer, songwriter and actress; famous for being a member of pop group Steps.-Music:Steps were a pop group that achieved a series of charted singles between 1997 and 2001...

 (Sally Smith), Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy
Sylvester McCoy is a Scottish actor. As a comic act and busker he appeared regularly on stage and on BBC Children's television in the 1970s and 80s, but is best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who from 1987 to...

, Trevor Bannister
Trevor Bannister
Trevor Gordon Bannister was an English actor best known for playing the womanising junior salesman Mr. Lucas in the sitcom Are You Being Served? from 1972 to 1979, and for his role as Toby Mulberry Smith in the longest-running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine, from 2003 until it ended its run in 2010...

 and Dillie Keane
Dillie Keane
Louise M. "Dillie" Keane is an Olivier Award-nominated actress, singer and comedienne. She is perhaps best known as one third of the comedy cabaret trio Fascinating Aida since its 1983 inception, but she has also had a prominent solo career.-Theatre and Fascinating Aida:Keane was nominated for a...

.

The original star of Me And My Girl, Lupino Lane
Lupino Lane
Lupino Lane was an English actor and theatre manager, and a member of the famous Lupino family. Lane started out as a child performer, known as 'Little Nipper', and went on to appear in a wide range of theatrical, music hall and film performances...

, was commemorated at The Actors Church, Covent Garden on Tuesday 10 November 2009 by The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America
The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America
The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America is a registered theatre charity and non-profit making theatre organisation based in London and was founded by Adrian Barry in 1992...

.

Sheffield Theatres
Sheffield Theatres
Sheffield Theatres is a theatre complex in Sheffield, South Yorkshire comprising three theatres: the Crucible, the Lyceum and the Crucible Studio...

, United Kingdom produced a revival of 'Me and My Girl' at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...

 with previews beginning 2 December 2010 until 29 January 2011. An expected transfer to London's West End was scrapped due to there not being a venue available.

Plot

Act I
In the 1930s, the Harefords, a family of haughty aristocrats, are seeking the legitimate heir to the title of Earl of Hareford. Bill Snibson, a Cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...

 from Lambeth is found and named as the long-lost “Earl of Hareford”. It seems that the 13th Earl had secretly and briefly wed a girl from a bad neighborhood. But Bill's rough Cockney ways do not satisfy the Will of the last Earl: In order to gain his inheritance of the title and estate, Bill must satisfy the very proper executors (Maria, Duchess of Dene, and Sir John Tremayne) by learning gentlemanly manners. The Duchess thinks that she can make Bill “fit and proper”, but not his Cockney girlfriend, Sally Smith. The Duchess plans a party in Bill's honour, but Sally is not to be invited. Sir John tells Sally that she and Bill ought to return to Lambeth, but he is moved by Sally's heartfelt declaration of love for Bill.

At the party, Bill puts on airs and tries to please his new-found upper-class lawyers, family and servants, but his everyman roots quickly begin to show. Sally shows up in inappropriate garb, with her Lambeth friends, saying that she is going back to where she belongs. Bill seconds this at first but then teaches the nobility The Lambeth Walk
The Lambeth Walk
"The Lambeth Walk" is a song from the 1937 musical Me and My Girl . The song takes its name from a local street Lambeth Walk once notable for its street market and working class culture in Lambeth, an area of London.The tune gave its name to a Cockney dance first made popular in 1937 by Lupino Lane...

.

Act II
Bill must make a speech in the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 in coronet and “vermin”-trimmed peer's robes. Sally leaves, telling him to marry someone with good blood, and, in a scene inspired by Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...

's Ruddigore
Ruddigore
Ruddigore; or, The Witch's Curse, originally called Ruddygore, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas and the tenth of fourteen comic operas written together by Gilbert and Sullivan...

, the portraits of Bill's ancestors awaken to remind him of his noblesse oblige. Bill and Sally have gained an ally in Sir John, who offers to help them by engaging a speech professor who will help Sally impress the Duchess.

Bill constantly bemoans his separation from Sally. Preparing another party for Bill, the Duchess realises how much Sally means to him. This puts her in a romantic mood, and she accepts an offer of marriage from Sir John. Bill, dressed in his old outrageous Cockney clothes, declares that he's going home and goes upstairs to pack. Just then, Sally astonishes everyone by arriving in an elegant gown and tiara and speaking with a perfect upper-crust accent. When Bill returns downstairs, Sally conceals her identity. When she reveals it, Bill is relieved and the couple gain the acceptance of the family.

Musical numbers

Based on the 1986 Broadway production
Act 1
  • A Weekend at Hareford – Ensemble
  • Thinking of No-One But Me – Lady Jaqueline Carstone and The Hon. Gerald Bolingbroke
  • The Family Solicitor – Herbert Parchester and The Family
  • Me and My Girl – Bill Snibson and Sally Smith
  • An English Gentleman – Charles Hethersett and Staff
  • You Would If You Could – Lady Jaqueline and Bill
  • Hold My Hand – Bill, Sally and Dancers
  • Once You Lose Your Heart – Sally
  • Preparation Fugue – The Company
  • The Lambeth Walk
    The Lambeth Walk
    "The Lambeth Walk" is a song from the 1937 musical Me and My Girl . The song takes its name from a local street Lambeth Walk once notable for its street market and working class culture in Lambeth, an area of London.The tune gave its name to a Cockney dance first made popular in 1937 by Lupino Lane...

     – Bill , Sally and The Company

Act 2
  • The Sun Has Got His Hat On
    The Sun Has Got His Hat On
    The Sun Has Got His Hat On is one of the main songs in the musical Me and My Girl. It was written by Noel Gay and Ralph Butler, and recorded in 1932 by Ambrose and his Orchestra, with vocals by Sam Browne....

     – The Hon. Gerald Bolingbroke, Lady Jaqueline and Ensemble
  • Take It on the Chin – Sally
  • Once You Lose Your Heart (Reprise) – Sally
  • Song of Hareford -Duchess Maria, Bill and Ensemble
  • Love Makes the World Go Round – Bill and Sir John Tremayne
  • Leaning on a Lamppost – Bill and Ensemble
  • If Only You Had Cared for Me – Sir John and Duchess Maria
  • Finale – The Company


Characters

  • Bill Snibson - a cockney costermonger
    Costermonger
    Costermonger, or simply Coster, is a street seller of fruit and vegetables, in London and other British towns. They were ubiquitous in mid-Victorian England, and some are still found in markets. As usual with street-sellers, they would use a loud sing-song cry or chant to attract attention...

     who inherits Lord Hareford's land and titles.
  • Sally Smith - Bill's sweetheart.
  • Sir John Tremayne - an older gentleman, who is kind to Sally and Bill. He is in love with the Duchess.
  • The Duchess of Dene - an intimidating aristocrat. Bill's Aunt.
  • Gerald Bolingbroke - an attractive young man. He is in love with Jackie.
  • Lady Jacqueline (Jackie) Carstone - breaks off her engagement to Gerald to pursue Bill.
  • Herbert Parchester - the family solicitor.
  • Lord Jasper Tring - an elderly and hard-of-hearing nobleman.
  • Charles - a manservantoddities.
  • Lord and Lady Battersby, Lady Brighton, The Honourable Margaret Aikington, Charles Boulting-Smythe - other members of the family who are mostly interchangeable.
  • Mrs Brown - Sally's landlady.
  • Bob Barking - a friend of Bill and Sally.

Film adaptation

In 1939, the play was turned into a film directed by Albert de Courville
Albert de Courville
Albert de Courville was a director of theatrical revues who turned to making films in the 1930s. His two most famous films , both featuring Jessie Matthews were There Goes the Bride and The Midshipmaid...

. Lane reprised his stage role of Snibson. The film took its name from the well-known song and dance. The film was a largely faithful adaptation of the musical and was commercially successful and popular with critics.

Awards and nominations

Olivier Awards (1985)
  • Musical of the Year (winner)
  • Outstanding Performance of the Year by an Actor in a Musical Robert Lindsay (winner)


Tony Awards
  • Best Musical (nominee)
  • Best Book of a Musical (nominee)
  • Best Original Score (nominee)
  • Best Scenic Design (nominee)
  • Best Costume Design (nominee)
  • Best Choreography (winner)
  • Best Direction of a Musical (nominee)
  • Best Actor in a Musical Robert Lindsay (winner)
  • Best Actress in a Musical Maryann Plunkett (winner)
  • Best Featured Actor in a Musical
George S. Irving (nominee)
Timothy Jerome (nominee)
  • Best Featured Actress in a Musical
Jane Connell (nominee)
Jane Summerhays (nominee)


Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...

Robert Lindsay (winner)

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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