The Waltz of the Toreadors
Encyclopedia
The Waltz of the Toreadors [La Valse des toréadors] is a play by Jean Anouilh
.
Written in 1951, this farce
is set in 1910 France
and focuses on General Léon Saint-Pé and his infatuation with Ghislaine, a woman with whom he danced at a garrison ball some 17 years earlier. Because of the General's commitment to his marriage, the couple's love remained unconsummated. Now faced with the reality of retirement with his hypochondria
c wife, his paunch growing and his midlife crisis
consuming his life, the General finds himself lost in the fond memory of his old flirtation. When Ghislaine suddenly reappears, he is delighted - until he finds himself competing for her hand with a considerably younger suitor.
The General and his mad wife had previously appeared in Anouilh's 1948 play Ardèle ou la Marguerite
, and a further variant on the character appeared in the 1958 comedy L'Hurluberlu, ou le Réactionnaire amoureux. By the time of Anouilh's last play, Le Nombril (1981), Léon St Pé had transformed into a grouchy and unfashionable old playwright obviously intended by Anouilh as a cynical self-portrait.
as the General, with Beatrix Lehmann
as Mme St Pé, Brenda Bruce
as Ghislaine, and Trader Faulkner as Gaston. For part of the Criterion run, Renée Asherson
took over as Ghislaine.
"This is an extraordinary work," claimed T C Worsley in the New Statesman. "It is at the same time wildly comic and savagely cruel; it moves with a virtuoso's freedom up and down the emotional scale from pure farce at one extreme to real pathos at the other. There are scenes of pure horror and there are scenes of pure comedy, and M Anouilh modulates between them with an absolutely sure touch." According to the News Chronicle, "the play, though deplorable, is a bit of a masterpiece." "This farce," added The Times, "has a bitter, some will say sour, flavour, but even those who resent its hard realism will be highly amused in spite of themselves, for a resourceful wit is supported by a brilliant sense of the theatre."
The Broadway
production, directed by Harold Clurman
, opened on 17 January 1957 at the Coronet Theatre
, where it ran for 132 performances. The cast included Ralph Richardson
as the General, his real-life wife Meriel Forbes as Ghislaine, and Mildred Natwick
as Mme St Pé. The production received Tony Award
nominations for Best Play, Best Direction, Best Actor in a Play (Richardson), Best Featured Actress in a Play (Natwick), and Best Scenic Design (Ben Edwards). It won the New York Drama Critics' Circle
Award for Best Foreign Play. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times pronounced it "startling and funny ... original, bright, tart and worldly." Other US estimates included "endlessly fascinating and uproariously funny" (New York Herald Tribune), "genuinely uproarious ... witty, ironic, sophisticated" (New York Post) and "exhilarating entertainment" (The New Yorker).
On 4 March 1958 the play returned to the Coronet, where it ran for 31 performances. Again directed by Clurman, it starred Melvyn Douglas
as the General, Betty Field
as Ghislaine, and Lili Darvas as Mme St Pé.
The second Broadway revival, directed by Brian Murray, opened on 13 September 1973 at the Circle in the Square Theatre
, where it ran for 85 performances. The cast included Eli Wallach
as the General, Diana van der Vlis
as Ghislaine, and Anne Jackson
(Wallach's real-life wife) as Mme St Pé. This was the first of several revivals around this time. In October 1973, Louis de Funès
starred in a new production at the Comédie des Champs-Elysées (with Luce Garcia Ville as his wife and Mony Dalmés as Ghislaine); this production was directed by Anouilh himself in conjunction with Roland Piétri (who also played the Curé). Then in 1974 Trevor Howard
starred opposite Coral Browne
(Mme St Pé), Zena Walker
(Ghislaine) and Ian Ogilvy
(Gaston) in a revival at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket.
The play was adapted for the musical
stage by Howard Marren and Joe Masteroff
. Entitled Paramour, it had its premiere in 1998 at the Old Globe Theatre
in San Diego in a production directed by Joseph Hardy and starring Len Cariou
. Among more recent revivals of the play itself, Peter Bowles
starred in a 2007 production at the Chichester Festival Theatre; the new translation was by Ranjit Bolt
.
production aired on 16 November 1959 as part of David Susskind
's anthology series Play of the Week. Directed by Stuart Burge
, it starred, again, Hugh Griffith as the General, Beatrice Straight
as Ghislaine, and Mildred Natwick reprising Mme St Pé.
A 1962 feature film directed by John Guillermin transported the setting to England and Anglicized
the lead characters' names to General Leo and Emily Fitzjohn. The cast included Peter Sellers
as the General, Dany Robin
as Ghislaine (who remained French
), and Margaret Leighton as Mrs Fitzjohn. Wolf Mankowitz
was nominated for a BAFTA
for Best British Screenplay and Sellers was named Best Actor at the Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival.
Jean Anouilh
Jean Marie Lucien Pierre Anouilh was a French dramatist whose career spanned five decades. Though his work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1943 play Antigone, an adaptation of Sophocles' Classical drama, that was seen as an attack on Marshal Pétain's...
.
Written in 1951, this farce
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
is set in 1910 France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
and focuses on General Léon Saint-Pé and his infatuation with Ghislaine, a woman with whom he danced at a garrison ball some 17 years earlier. Because of the General's commitment to his marriage, the couple's love remained unconsummated. Now faced with the reality of retirement with his hypochondria
Hypochondria
Hypochondriasis or hypochondria refers to excessive preoccupation or worry about having a serious illness. This debilitating condition is the result of an inaccurate perception of the body’s condition despite the absence of an actual medication condition...
c wife, his paunch growing and his midlife crisis
Midlife Crisis
"Midlife Crisis" is a song by the American rock band Faith No More. It was released on May 26, 1992 as the first single from their fourth album, Angel Dust...
consuming his life, the General finds himself lost in the fond memory of his old flirtation. When Ghislaine suddenly reappears, he is delighted - until he finds himself competing for her hand with a considerably younger suitor.
The General and his mad wife had previously appeared in Anouilh's 1948 play Ardèle ou la Marguerite
Ardèle ou la Marguerite
Ardèle ou la Marguerite is a 1948 play by French dramatist Jean Anouilh. It was the first of his self-styled pièces grinçantes - ie, 'grating' black comedies liable to set an audience's teeth on edge....
, and a further variant on the character appeared in the 1958 comedy L'Hurluberlu, ou le Réactionnaire amoureux. By the time of Anouilh's last play, Le Nombril (1981), Léon St Pé had transformed into a grouchy and unfashionable old playwright obviously intended by Anouilh as a cynical self-portrait.
Stage productions
Having premiered in Paris on 8 January 1952 with Claude Sainval in the leading role, the play arrived in London four years later in an English translation by Lucienne Hill. Directed by Peter Hall, the production opened at the Arts Theatre on 24 February 1956, transferring to the larger Criterion Theatre on 27 March. The cast included Welsh character actor Hugh GriffithHugh Griffith
Hugh Emrys Griffith was a Welsh film, stage and television actor.-Early life:Griffith was born in Marianglas, Anglesey, Wales, the son of Mary and William Griffith. He was educated at Llangefni County School and attempted to gain entrance to university, but failed the English examination...
as the General, with Beatrix Lehmann
Beatrix Lehmann
Beatrix Alice Lehmann was a British actress, theatre director and author.She trained at the RADA and made her stage debut as Peggy in a 1924 production The Way of the World at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith. As well as her extensive theatrical career she appeared in films and on television...
as Mme St Pé, Brenda Bruce
Brenda Bruce
Brenda Bruce was a British actress. She had a long and successful career in the theatre, radio, film, and television.-Early life:Brenda Bruce was born in Manchester...
as Ghislaine, and Trader Faulkner as Gaston. For part of the Criterion run, Renée Asherson
Renee Asherson
Renée Asherson , born Dorothy Renée Ascherson, is an English actress of stage, film and television.Much of Asherson's theatrical career was spent in Shakespearean plays, appearing at such venues as the Old Vic, the Liverpool Playhouse and the Westminster Theatre...
took over as Ghislaine.
"This is an extraordinary work," claimed T C Worsley in the New Statesman. "It is at the same time wildly comic and savagely cruel; it moves with a virtuoso's freedom up and down the emotional scale from pure farce at one extreme to real pathos at the other. There are scenes of pure horror and there are scenes of pure comedy, and M Anouilh modulates between them with an absolutely sure touch." According to the News Chronicle, "the play, though deplorable, is a bit of a masterpiece." "This farce," added The Times, "has a bitter, some will say sour, flavour, but even those who resent its hard realism will be highly amused in spite of themselves, for a resourceful wit is supported by a brilliant sense of the theatre."
The 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...
production, directed by Harold Clurman
Harold Clurman
Harold Edgar Clurman was a visionary American theatre director and drama critic, "one of the most influential in the United States". He was most notable as one of the three founders of the New York City's Group Theatre...
, opened on 17 January 1957 at the Coronet Theatre
Eugene O'Neill Theatre
The Eugene O'Neill Theatre is a Broadway theatre located at 230 West 49th Street in midtown-Manhattan.Designed by architect Herbert J. Krapp, it was built for the Shuberts as part of a theatre-hotel complex named for 19th century tragedian Edwin Forrest...
, where it ran for 132 performances. The cast included Ralph Richardson
Ralph Richardson
Sir Ralph David Richardson was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, also appeared in several classic films....
as the General, his real-life wife Meriel Forbes as Ghislaine, and Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick
Mildred Natwick was an American stage and film actress.- Early life :A native of Baltimore, Maryland, she was born to Joseph and Mildred Marion Dawes Natwick. She graduated from the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore...
as Mme St Pé. The production received Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations for Best Play, Best Direction, Best Actor in a Play (Richardson), Best Featured Actress in a Play (Natwick), and Best Scenic Design (Ben Edwards). It won the New York Drama Critics' Circle
New York Drama Critics' Circle
The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 24 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization was founded in 1935 at the Algonquin Hotel by a group that included Brooks Atkinson, Walter Winchell, and Robert Benchley...
Award for Best Foreign Play. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times pronounced it "startling and funny ... original, bright, tart and worldly." Other US estimates included "endlessly fascinating and uproariously funny" (New York Herald Tribune), "genuinely uproarious ... witty, ironic, sophisticated" (New York Post) and "exhilarating entertainment" (The New Yorker).
On 4 March 1958 the play returned to the Coronet, where it ran for 31 performances. Again directed by Clurman, it starred Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Douglas
Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg , better known as Melvyn Douglas, was an American actor.Coming to prominence in the 1930s as a suave leading man , Douglas later transitioned into more mature and fatherly roles as in his Academy Award-winning performances in Hud...
as the General, Betty Field
Betty Field
Betty Field was an American film and stage actress. Through her father, she was a direct descendant of the Pilgrims John Alden and Priscilla Mullins....
as Ghislaine, and Lili Darvas as Mme St Pé.
The second Broadway revival, directed by Brian Murray, opened on 13 September 1973 at the Circle in the Square Theatre
Circle in the Square Theatre
The Circle in the Square Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre in midtown Manhattan on 50th Street in the Paramount Plaza building.The original Circle in the Square was founded by Paul Libin, Theodore Mann and Jose Quintero in 1951 and was located at 5 Sheridan Square in Greenwich Village...
, where it ran for 85 performances. The cast included Eli Wallach
Eli Wallach
Eli Herschel Wallach is an American film, television and stage actor, who gained fame in the late 1950s. For his performance in Baby Doll he won a BAFTA Award for Best Newcomer and a Golden Globe nomination. One of his most famous roles is that of Tuco in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly...
as the General, Diana van der Vlis
Diana Van der Vlis
Diana Van der Vlis was a Canadian stage, screen and television actress best known for her characters ‘Dr. Nell Beaulac’ on the ABC soap opera "Ryan's Hope" and 'Kate Hathaway Prescott’ on the CBS soap opera Where the Heart Is...
as Ghislaine, and Anne Jackson
Anne Jackson
Anne Jackson is an American actress of television, stage, and screen.-Life and career:Jackson, the youngest of three sisters, was born in Millvale, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Stella Germaine and John Ivan Jackson, a barber who ran a beauty parlor...
(Wallach's real-life wife) as Mme St Pé. This was the first of several revivals around this time. In October 1973, Louis de Funès
Louis de Funès
Louis Germain David de Funès de Galarza was a very popular French actor who is one of the giants of French comedy alongside André Bourvil and Fernandel...
starred in a new production at the Comédie des Champs-Elysées (with Luce Garcia Ville as his wife and Mony Dalmés as Ghislaine); this production was directed by Anouilh himself in conjunction with Roland Piétri (who also played the Curé). Then in 1974 Trevor Howard
Trevor Howard
Trevor Howard , born Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith, was an English film, stage and television actor.-Early life:...
starred opposite Coral Browne
Coral Browne
Coral Browne was an Australian-American stage and screen actress.-Career:Coral Edith Brown was the only daughter of a restaurant-owner. She and her two brothers were raised in Footscray, a suburb of Melbourne, where she studied at the National Gallery Art School...
(Mme St Pé), Zena Walker
Zena Walker
Zena Walker was an English actress in film, theatre, and television.Walker was born in Birmingham, the daughter of George Walker, a grocer, and his wife Elizabeth Louise . She attended St. Martin's School in 1960 and then went on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She starred in an...
(Ghislaine) and Ian Ogilvy
Ian Ogilvy
Ian Raymond Ogilvy is an English film and television actor.-Early life:He was born in Woking, Surrey, England, the son of advertising executive Francis Ogilvy and actress Aileen Raymond .He was educated at Sunningdale School, Eton College and at the Royal Academy of...
(Gaston) in a revival at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket.
The play was adapted for the musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
stage by Howard Marren and Joe Masteroff
Joe Masteroff
-Career:Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Masteroff graduated from Temple University and served with the United States Air Force during World War II...
. Entitled Paramour, it had its premiere in 1998 at the Old Globe Theatre
Old Globe Theatre
The Old Globe is a professional theatre company located in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons...
in San Diego in a production directed by Joseph Hardy and starring Len Cariou
Len Cariou
Leonard Joseph “Len” Cariou is a Canadian actor, best known for his portrayal of Sweeney Todd in the original cast of Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street...
. Among more recent revivals of the play itself, Peter Bowles
Peter Bowles
-Early life:Bowles was born in London, England, the son of Sarah Jane and Herbert Reginald Bowles. His father was a chauffeur and butler at a stately home in Warwickshire; but, upon the outbreak of World War II, he was seconded to work as an engineer at Rolls-Royce and moved the family to Nottingham...
starred in a 2007 production at the Chichester Festival Theatre; the new translation was by Ranjit Bolt
Ranjit Bolt
Ranjit Bolt OBE is a British playwright and translator. He was born in Manchester of Anglo-Indian parents and is the nephew of playwright and screen-writer Robert Bolt. His father is literary critic Sydney Bolt, author of several books including A preface to James Joyce, and his mother has...
.
Film
The play has been adapted twice for the screen. A televisionTelevision
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
production aired on 16 November 1959 as part of David Susskind
David Susskind
David Susskind was a producer of TV, movies, and stage plays and also a pioneer TV talk show host.-Personal:...
's anthology series Play of the Week. Directed by Stuart Burge
Stuart Burge
Stuart Burge was an English film director, actor and producer.Educated at Felsted School, he originally trained as a civil engineer, but later began acting in theater in the 1940s, and became a director by 1948...
, it starred, again, Hugh Griffith as the General, Beatrice Straight
Beatrice Straight
Beatrice Whitney Straight was an American theatre, film, and television actress. Hers remains the shortest acting performance in a film to win an Oscar. In her winning role in the 1976 film Network, she was on screen for five minutes and forty seconds, the shortest time ever for the winner of the...
as Ghislaine, and Mildred Natwick reprising Mme St Pé.
A 1962 feature film directed by John Guillermin transported the setting to England and Anglicized
Anglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
the lead characters' names to General Leo and Emily Fitzjohn. The cast included Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...
as the General, Dany Robin
Dany Robin
Dany Robin was a French actress of the 1950s and the early 1960s who was married to fellow actor Georges Marchal.She performed with Peter Sellers in The Waltz of the Toreadors and co-starred opposite Kirk Douglas in the 1953 romantic drama Act of Love.Robin co-starred with Connie Francis, Paula...
as Ghislaine (who remained French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
), and Margaret Leighton as Mrs Fitzjohn. Wolf Mankowitz
Wolf Mankowitz
Cyril Wolf Mankowitz was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter of Russian Jewish descent.-Early life:...
was nominated for a BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
for Best British Screenplay and Sellers was named Best Actor at the Donostia-San Sebastián International Film Festival.
External links
- The Waltz of the Toreadors at the Internet Broadway DatabaseInternet Broadway DatabaseThe Internet Broadway Database is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade association for the North American commercial theatre community....