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Sigh No More (musical)
Encyclopedia
Sigh No More is a musical revue
consisting of twenty-two scenes and numbers composed, written and produced by Noël Coward
, with additional items by Joyce Grenfell
, Richard Addinsell
and Norman Hackforth. The show was Coward's first post-World War II
musical and starred Cyril Ritchard
, his wife Madge Elliott and Joyce Grenfell. It also featured Graham Payn
, Coward's longtime partner, who sang the best-known song in the show, the wistful "Matelot".
It opened at the Manchester
Opera House on 11 July 1945, before transferring to London's West End
, where it opened at the Piccadilly Theatre
on 22 August 1945, running for 213 performances and closing on 23 February 1946. Despite its indifferent success, it contained songs that endured in Coward's later cabaret act and elsewhere.
Part 2
singled out for praise the songs "Nina", about a South American beauty who hates Latin American dancing
and falls in love with a sailor with a wooden leg; "I Wonder What Happened to Him?", in which army officers reminisce about colleagues in India; "The Burchells of Battersea Rise", about suburban life; and "That is the End of the News". In the last, Grenfell was "the insanely cheerful schoolgirl greeting each fresh family misfortune with an ecstatic grin". The Manchester Guardian also praised Coward's song "Matelot", sung by Graham Payn; the title song, "Sigh No More", sung by Ritchard; "Old Soldiers Never Die" sung by Cliff Gordon; "Willy", in which troupes of good and bad angels strive vigorously for the direction of a small boy’s future life; and a Blithe Spirit
ballet. Ivor Brown
in The Observer
thought that the ballet could have been dropped, but praised the rest of the show. The musical director was Mantovani
, of whom The Manchester Guardian said that he and his orchestra "might be presented as the biggest and most successful 'star turn' of the whole production".
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
consisting of twenty-two scenes and numbers composed, written and produced by Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
, with additional items by Joyce Grenfell
Joyce Grenfell
Joyce Irene Grenfell, OBE was an English actress, comedienne, diseuse and singer-songwriter.-Early life:...
, Richard Addinsell
Richard Addinsell
Richard Stewart Addinsell was a British composer, best known for film music, primarily his Warsaw Concerto, composed for the 1941 film Dangerous Moonlight .-Life:...
and Norman Hackforth. The show was Coward's first post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
musical and starred Cyril Ritchard
Cyril Ritchard
Cyril Ritchard was an Australian stage, screen and television actor, and director. He is probably best remembered today for his performance as Captain Hook in the Mary Martin musical production of Peter Pan....
, his wife Madge Elliott and Joyce Grenfell. It also featured Graham Payn
Graham Payn
Graham Payn was a South African-born English actor and singer, also known for being the life partner of the playwright Noël Coward. Beginning as a boy soprano, Payn later made a career as a singer and actor in the works of Coward and others...
, Coward's longtime partner, who sang the best-known song in the show, the wistful "Matelot".
It opened at the Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
Opera House on 11 July 1945, before transferring to London's 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...
, where it opened at the Piccadilly Theatre
Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A...
on 22 August 1945, running for 213 performances and closing on 23 February 1946. Despite its indifferent success, it contained songs that endured in Coward's later cabaret act and elsewhere.
Musical numbers
Part 1- Sigh No More – Harlequin and Singing Silphides (Payne and ladies)
- DuMaurier – Society Lady (Grenfell; music by Richard Addinsell; lyrics by Grenfell)
- The Parting of the Ways – Lenora and Michael (Elliott and Ritchard)
- Mother and Daughter – The Mother and the Daughter (Gwen Bateman and Joy O'Neill)
- I Wonder What Happened to Him? – Indian Army Officer (Ritchard)
- Music Hath Charms – Miss Lawson and others (Elliott and others; music & lyrics by Norman Hackforth)
- Never Again – The Singer and Extras (Payn and ensemble)
- This Is the End of the News – (Grenfell)
- Loch Lomond – (Gail Kendal; arrangement by Hackforth)
- Pageant – Company
Part 2
- Willy – Willy, Good Angel and Bad Angel (Tom Linden, Elliott and Ritchard)
- Wait a Bit, Joe – Payn
- Travelling Broadens the Mind – Grenfell (written by her)
- Nina (from Argentina) (parodying "Begin the BeguineBegin the Beguine"Begin the Beguine" is a song written by Cole Porter . Porter composed the song at the piano in the bar of the Ritz Hotel in Paris. In October 1935, it was introduced by June Knight in the Broadway musical Jubilee produced at the Imperial Theatre in New York City.-Music:The beguine music and dance...
") – Gigolo, Nina and Singer (Linden, Kendal and Ritchard) - The Merry Wives of Windsor – Mrs. Macadoo, Ladies and Private Niven (Elliott, Ladies and Ritchard)
- Matelot – Payn
- Blithe Spirit Ballet – Linden and others
- The Burchells of Battersea Rise – Ritchard, Elliott, Grenfell and Payn
- Japanese spies – Elliott and Ritchard (cut from the show in tryouts; was not performed in London)
- Finale, Sigh No More – Entire Company
Reception
The TimesThe 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...
singled out for praise the songs "Nina", about a South American beauty who hates Latin American dancing
Samba
Samba is a Brazilian dance and musical genre originating in Bahia and with its roots in Brazil and Africa via the West African slave trade and African religious traditions. It is recognized around the world as a symbol of Brazil and the Brazilian Carnival...
and falls in love with a sailor with a wooden leg; "I Wonder What Happened to Him?", in which army officers reminisce about colleagues in India; "The Burchells of Battersea Rise", about suburban life; and "That is the End of the News". In the last, Grenfell was "the insanely cheerful schoolgirl greeting each fresh family misfortune with an ecstatic grin". The Manchester Guardian also praised Coward's song "Matelot", sung by Graham Payn; the title song, "Sigh No More", sung by Ritchard; "Old Soldiers Never Die" sung by Cliff Gordon; "Willy", in which troupes of good and bad angels strive vigorously for the direction of a small boy’s future life; and a Blithe Spirit
Blithe Spirit (play)
Blithe Spirit is a comic play written by Noël Coward which takes its title from Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem "To a Skylark" . The play concerns socialite and novelist Charles Condomine, who invites the eccentric medium and clairvoyant, Madame Arcati, to his house to conduct a séance, hoping to...
ballet. Ivor Brown
Ivor Brown
Ivor John Carnegie Brown was a British journalist and man of letters.-Biography:Born in Penang, Malaya, Brown was the younger of two sons of Dr. William Carnegie Brown, a specialist in tropical diseases, and his wife Jean Carnegie. At an early age he was sent to Britain, where he attended Suffolk...
in The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
thought that the ballet could have been dropped, but praised the rest of the show. The musical director was Mantovani
Mantovani
Annunzio Paolo Mantovani known as Mantovani, was an Anglo-Italian conductor and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book British Hit Singles & Albums states that he was "Britain's most successful album act before The Beatles .....
, of whom The Manchester Guardian said that he and his orchestra "might be presented as the biggest and most successful 'star turn' of the whole production".
