London Musicals 1975-1979.pub - Over The Footlights
London Musicals 1975-1979.pub - Over The Footlights
London Musicals 1975-1979.pub - Over The Footlights
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TOMMY<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Queen’s <strong>The</strong>atre, February 6 th (118 Performances)<br />
Music: Pete Townshend & <strong>The</strong> Who<br />
Director: Paul Tomlinson<br />
Choreographer: Tudor Davies<br />
Musical Director: Simon Webb<br />
Cast: Allan Love (Tommy), Anna Nicholas (Acid Queen),<br />
Peter Straker (Narrator), Kevin Williams (Cousin Kevin),<br />
Sue Bond (Nurse), Steve Devereaux (Lover), Bob Grant (Uncle Ernie)<br />
Story: After witnessing the accidental murder of his mother's lover by<br />
his father, young Tommy is so traumatized that he loses his ability to<br />
speak or to care about life. <strong>The</strong> shocks applied by sadistic Cousin<br />
Kevin, a molesting Uncle Ernie and a drug-dealing Acid Queen fail to<br />
bring him back to normal and he takes refuge in staring into a mirror<br />
and in pinball machines. When his mother smashes the mirror, Tommy<br />
returns to the world and becomes such an expert at Pinball that he rises<br />
to the stature of an international superstar and inspires youth around the<br />
world.<br />
1979<br />
Allan Love as Tommy<br />
31<br />
Notes: This was the first West End stage presentation of the smash-hit 1967 recording. A concert version was<br />
given at the Rainbow <strong>The</strong>atre in 1972, a stage version had played in America, and Ken Russell directed a film<br />
version starring Roger Daltrey in <strong>1975</strong>. That same year a fully-staged production was produced at Derby<br />
Playhouse. An expanded version was staged by the Queen’s <strong>The</strong>atre, Hornchurch in 1978 and it was this latest<br />
version that came into <strong>London</strong>. However, with its confused messages of biblical and rock-drug references, and<br />
the absence of its original pop heroes, it received poor notices and managed just a three month run.<br />
Photo by John Timbers<br />
AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Her Majesty’s. March 22 nd (6 months)<br />
Music: Fats Waller<br />
Lyrics: Various<br />
Book: Murray Horowitz & Richard Maltby Jr.<br />
Director: Richard Maltby Jr.<br />
Choreographer: Arthur Faria<br />
Musical Director: Luther Henderson<br />
Producer: Michael White & Ray Cooney<br />
Cast: Evan Bell, André de Shields, Annie Joe Edwards, Jozella Reed,<br />
Charlaine Woodard<br />
Songs: Ain’t Misbehavin’, Honeysuckle Rose, Jitterbug Waltz, Cash for your Trash,<br />
<strong>The</strong> Joint is Jumpin’, Your Feet’s Too Big, I<br />
Can’t Give You Anything But Love, It’s a Sin<br />
to Tell a Lie<br />
Notes: A musical revue and tribute to the<br />
black musicians of the 1920s and 1930s who<br />
were part of the Harlem Renaissance, an era<br />
of growing creativity, cultural awareness, and<br />
ethnic pride. Manhattan nightclubs like the<br />
Cotton Club and the Savoy Ballroom attracted<br />
the high society, while the Lennox Avenue<br />
low-down dives were filled with piano players<br />
banging out the new beat known as swing.<br />
Five performers present an evening of rowdy,<br />
raunchy, and humorous songs that encapsulate<br />
the various moods of the era and vaguely tell<br />
the story and philosophy of Fats Waller.<br />
Jozella Reed, Evan Bell, Anna Joe Edwards, André de Shields & Charlaine Woodward
1979<br />
32<br />
A DAY IN HOLLYWOOD, A NIGHT IN THE UKRAINE<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: New End January 15 th (168 Performances)<br />
Transferred to Mayfair <strong>The</strong>atre, March 28th<br />
Music: Frank Lazarus<br />
Book & Lyrics: Dick Vosburgh<br />
Director: Ian Davidson<br />
Musical Director: Frank Lazarus<br />
Producer: Danny O’Donovan, Helen Montagu, Michael Winner<br />
Cast: Frank Lazarus (Chico), John Bay (Groucho), Sheila Steafel (Harpo), Paddie O’Neal (Margaret Dumont),<br />
Maureen Scott, John Glover, Alexandra Sebastian<br />
Songs: Original: I Love a Film Cliché, Famous Feet, It All Comes out of a Piano, Doin’ the Production Code, A<br />
Night in the Ukraine, Samovar the Lawyer,. (Existing: <strong>Over</strong> the Rainbow, Remember my Forgotten Man, Who’s<br />
Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf”)<br />
Story: This was a seven-handed show in two parts. <strong>The</strong> first was a series of songs in praise of Hollywood – using<br />
existing songs from films like “Wizard of Oz”, Disney’s “Big Bad Wolf” and some Busby Berkeley movies,<br />
together with half-a-dozen original songs all on the subject of film-land. <strong>The</strong> second half had the same actors in a<br />
version of Chekov’s one-act play “<strong>The</strong> Bear”, performed in the style of a Marx Brothers film.<br />
Notes: It opened at the New End fringe theatre and transferred to the May Fair. It was then exported to Broadway,<br />
with the second half remaining intact, but the first half drastically re-written, with three interpolated songs from<br />
Jerry Herman (Just Go to the Movies, <strong>The</strong> Best in the World, Nelson) and the songs from existing films replaced<br />
with a Richard Whiting medley. <strong>The</strong> re-written American version was a big hit, running for a year and half and<br />
winning several awards.<br />
THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW (Transfer)<br />
West End run: Transferred to Comedy <strong>The</strong>atre, April 6 th ,<br />
Cast at time of transfer: George Little (Narrator), Peer Blake (Frank-n-Furter).<br />
Jeremy Gittins (Rocky Horror), Frederick Marks (Brad), Pippa Hardman (Janet), Neil McCaul (Riff-Raff),<br />
Kathryn Drew (Magenta), Melanie Wallis (Columbia), Nick Llewellyn(Eddie/Dr Scott).<br />
Notes: See original production: <strong>The</strong>atre Upstairs (Royal Court), June 19 th 1973<br />
CHICAGO<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Cambridge <strong>The</strong>atre, April 10 th (600 plus performances)<br />
Photo by Ken Phillip<br />
Ben Cross as Billy Flynn
1979<br />
CHICAGO<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Cambridge <strong>The</strong>atre, April 10 th (600 plus performances)<br />
Music: John Kander<br />
Lyrics: Fred Ebb<br />
Book: Fred Ebb & Bob Fosse<br />
Director: Peter James<br />
Choreographer: Gillian Gregory<br />
Musical Director: David Firman<br />
Producer: Ray Cooney & Larry Parnes<br />
33<br />
Cast: Antonia Ellis (Roxie Hart), Jenny Logan (Velma Kelly),<br />
Don Fellows (Amos Hart), Hope Jackman (Momma Morton),<br />
Ben Cross (Billy Flynn), G.Lyons (Mary Sunsine)<br />
Songs: All That Jazz, All I Care About is Love, Mr Cellophane, Cell Block Tango, Razzle-Dazzle, Class,<br />
Nowadays<br />
Story: Roxie Hart, a chorus girl married to inconsequential Amos, kills her faithless lover, and whilst in prison<br />
awaiting the court hearing accepts the wise counsel of money-making Prison matron, Momma Morton, and<br />
engages the services of the razzle-dazzle Lawyer, Billy Flynn, who has the Press in his pocket, especially<br />
showbiz reporter Mary Sunshine. In jail she meets up with Velma Kelly, another inmate, and when they are<br />
released and bounced off the headlines by another juicier murder, they team up for a song and dance act to<br />
prove that lust and murder are just two parts of the All-American success story.<br />
Notes: Based on the 1926 play by Maurine Dallas Watkins’ and its subsequent film starring Ginger Rogers, the<br />
<strong>1975</strong> Broadway musical starred Gwen Verdon and Chita Rivera. Shortly after the New York opening Gwen<br />
Verdon was taken ill and temporarily replaced with Liza Minelli. <strong>The</strong> <strong>London</strong> production originated at the<br />
Crucible <strong>The</strong>atre, Sheffield in November 1978.<br />
CANTERBURY TALES (1st Revival)<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Shaftesbury <strong>The</strong>atre, April 24th (96 Performances)<br />
Music: Richard Hill & John Hawkins<br />
Lyrics: Nevill Coghill<br />
Book: Nevill Coghill & Martin Starkie<br />
Director: Martin Starkie<br />
Choreographer: Hugh Halliday<br />
Musical Director: Denys Rawson<br />
Producer: Chanticleer Productions<br />
Cast: Dudley Owen (Chaucer), Ian Steele (Squire), Anna Sharkey (Prioress),<br />
Jessie Evans (Wife of Bath), Percy Herbert (Miller), Buddy Elias (Steward),<br />
Michael Logan, Peter Forest, Barbara Miller,<br />
Notes: See Original run, Phoenix <strong>The</strong>atre, March 1968<br />
Jessie Evans<br />
BRAZIL TROPICAL<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: <strong>The</strong>atre Royal Drury Lane, May 29 th (short “filler” season)<br />
Music: Various<br />
Director: Edvaldo Carneiro & Domingo Campos<br />
Choreographer: Domingo Campos & Claudette Walker<br />
Company: <strong>The</strong> Tropicana <strong>The</strong>atre Co<br />
Notes: This was a stage extravaganza from the Rio Carnival which was squeezed into Drury Lane at the last<br />
minute. <strong>The</strong> long-running “Chorus Line” had ended and the next show was advertised as “Bob Fosse’s<br />
Dancin”. However, this ran into Equity problems over the American cast, and “Dancin’” was cancelled. (It<br />
would eventually make it to <strong>London</strong> in 1983). “Brazil Tropical” was hastily put on through the summer until a<br />
new production of “Hello Dolly” with Carol Channing replaced it on September 25th.
GREASE (1st Revival)<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Astoria <strong>The</strong>atre, June 7 th (124 Performances)<br />
Music & Lyrics: Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey<br />
Director: Tom Moore and Robert Kipp<br />
Choreographer: Louis St Louis<br />
Musical Director: Keith Strachan<br />
Cast: Michael Howe (Danny Zuko), Jacqueline Reddin (Sandy), Paul Felber, Andrew Paul,<br />
Timothy Whitnall, Gretchen Franklin, Sue Pollard, Tracey Ullman, Zelah Clarke<br />
Notes: See Original <strong>London</strong> production, New <strong>London</strong> <strong>The</strong>atre, June 1973<br />
1979<br />
34<br />
THE KING AND I (2 nd Revival)<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: <strong>London</strong> Palladium, June 12 th<br />
(538 Performances)<br />
Music: Richard Rodgers<br />
Lyrics & Book: Oscar Hammerstein II<br />
Director: Yuriko<br />
Choreographer: Jerome Robbins<br />
(re-produced by Susan Kikuchi)<br />
Musical Director: Cyril Ornadel<br />
Producer: Tom Arnold & Ross Taylor<br />
Cast: Virginia McKenna (Anna), Yul Brynner (King),<br />
Hye-Young Choi (Lady Thiang),<br />
June Angela (Tuptim), Marty Rhone (Lun Tha)<br />
Notes: See original <strong>London</strong> production, Drury Lane, June<br />
1953; First <strong>London</strong> revival: Adelphi, October 1973<br />
Yul Brynner & Virginia McKenna<br />
FLOWERS FOR ALGERNON<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Queen’s <strong>The</strong>atre, June 14 th (29 Performances)<br />
Music: Charles Strouse<br />
Lyrics: David Rodgers<br />
Director: Peter Coe<br />
Choreographer: Rhoda Levine<br />
Cast: Michael Crawford (Charlie Gordon) , Betty Benfield, Aubrey Woods,<br />
Ralph Nossek, Jason Ash, Jeanna L’Esty,<br />
Songs: His Name is Charlie Gordon, I Got a Friend, Some Bright Morning, Our<br />
Boy Charlie, Dream Safe With Me, I Can't Tell You, Charlie and Algernon,<br />
Whatever Time <strong>The</strong>re Is, I Really Loved You.<br />
Story: <strong>The</strong> main characters are Charlie, a mentally retarded man, and a laboratory Michael Crawford<br />
mouse. Charlie volunteers to participate in an experimental intelligence-enhancing<br />
treatment, which has already proved successful with earlier experiments on Algernon. Charlie makes rapid<br />
progress, but soon the mouse's enhanced intelligence begins to fade, and Charlie realises he,<br />
too, is fated to revert to his original mental state.<br />
Notes: Based on the novel by Daniel Keyes. <strong>The</strong> musical was first produced in Canada in<br />
December 1978 before its <strong>London</strong> premiere. A much talked-of scene had Michael Crawford<br />
singing one number in a spotlight while a trained white mouse ran from one of his hands to<br />
the other, by way of Crawford's shoulders and neck. (This was a trick he would repeat 24<br />
years later in a completely different musical, “<strong>The</strong> Woman in White”). Despite the<br />
enormous popularity of Michael Crawford, the show was disliked by critics and public<br />
alike, and came off after 29 performances. A Broadway production, re-named “Charlie and<br />
Algernon”, opened in September 1980 and ran for just 17 performances, though it did<br />
receive a Tony nomination for Best Score.<br />
Photo by Zoe Dominic
FAUST<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Young Vic, July 4 th (26 Performances)<br />
Music: Terry Mortimer<br />
Lyrics : Jamie Reid & Michael Bogdanov<br />
Director: Michael Bogdanov<br />
Cast: Micky O’Donoghue/ Ian Taylor/ Bill Wallis/ Bev Willis (Faust), Tina Jones (Margaret),<br />
James Carter (Mephistopheles) , Kate Versey, Laura Cox, John Darrell<br />
1979<br />
Story: Faust is a University Don who undergoes plastic surgery to stay young and to seduce 15 year old<br />
Margaret. She becomes pregnant and subsequently murders the child, for which crime she is hanged. Faust<br />
attempts to solve the ills of the world by political means until his time is up and Mephistopheles comes to claim<br />
him.<br />
Notes: Four different actors played Faust at various times in his life, and some of the cast were played by<br />
oversized puppets. It was a political-morality-rock musical<br />
35<br />
SONGBOOK<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Globe <strong>The</strong>atre, July 25 th (208 Performances)<br />
Music: Monty Norman<br />
Lyrics: Julian More<br />
Director: Jonathan Lynn<br />
Choreographer: Gillian Lynne<br />
Musical Director: George Faison<br />
Producer: Jack Gill (Stoll Productions)<br />
Cast: David Healey (Mooney Shapiro), Anton Rodgers, Gemma Craven,<br />
Diane Langton, Andrew C.Wadsworth<br />
Songs : East River Rhapsody, Talking Picture Show, Mr Destiny, Je vous aime<br />
Milady, Nazi Party Pooper, Bumpity Bump, April in Wisconsin, Don’t Play That<br />
Love Song Any More, Golden Oldie<br />
Story: This was the ultimate send-up of the recent shows drawn from the works of a single composer<br />
(“Cowardy Custard”, “Cole”, “Side by Side by Sondheim”, “Lionel”, etc.). This was an evening devoted to the<br />
songs of Mooney Shapiro, a (fictional) Irish Catholic Liverpudlian who moved to New York and converted to<br />
Judaism, and whose fifty years in showbiz saw him writing songs for the earliest Talking Pictures, for the<br />
Depression era movies, and then to Berlin where he wrote suitable songs for the 1936 Olympics. Back in Wartime<br />
<strong>London</strong> he wrote some stirring war-time hits, and then cashed in on the “Oklahoma” boom with his<br />
“Happy Hickory” and towards the<br />
end of his career he returned to his<br />
Liverpool roots to write Beatles-type<br />
songs. Much married, and finally<br />
winning the fame that had eluded<br />
him, he sadly died following an<br />
electric shock from his new<br />
synthesiser.<br />
Notes: An absolute delight, this<br />
show received mountains of praise,<br />
but a whole evening of parody of<br />
film and musical theatre could only<br />
truly be enjoyed by an audience who<br />
understood what was being<br />
parodied. After 268 performances it<br />
finally ran out of audience.<br />
Anton Rodgers, Diane Langton, David Healy, Gemma Craven & Andrew C. Wadsworth<br />
Photo by Donald Cooper
HELLO DOLLY (Revival)<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Drury Lane, September 25 th (170 Performances)<br />
Transferred to Shaftesbury <strong>The</strong>atre January 1980<br />
Music & Lyrics: Jerry Herman<br />
Book: Michael Stewart<br />
Director: Lucia Victor (based on the Gower Champion original)<br />
Choreographer: Ron Crofoot<br />
Musical Director: Clive Chaplin<br />
Producer: Paul Elliott & Ray Cooney<br />
1979<br />
36<br />
Cast: Carol Channing (Dolly Levi),<br />
Eddie Bracken (Horace Vandergelder),<br />
Maureen Scott (Irene Molloy),<br />
Mandy More (Minnie Fay),<br />
Tudor Davies (Cornelius Hackl),<br />
Richard Drabble (Barnaby Tucker)<br />
Notes: See Original <strong>London</strong> Production:<br />
Drury Lane, December 1965.<br />
<strong>London</strong> had seen Mary Martin followed by Dora Bryan as “Dolly” - but this was a<br />
chance to see the original New York Dolly in the person of the legendary Carol<br />
Channing. <strong>The</strong> performance was hailed as absolute magic—though the production<br />
itself was said to be not a patch on the first time round.<br />
BEATLEMANIA<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Astoria <strong>The</strong>atre, October 18 th ( 6 months)<br />
Music & Lyrics: John Lennon & Paul McCartney<br />
Book: Steven Leber, David Krebs & Jules Fisher<br />
Cast: Michael Palaikis (John), Tony Kishman (Paul), James Poe (George),<br />
Louis Colucci (Ringo)<br />
Notes: This was an American cast, creating a “look-alike” tribute show which had been<br />
performed originally in Los Angeles and had toured the USA and Canada. <strong>The</strong> <strong>London</strong><br />
production was restricted to six months under an agreement with Equity. <strong>The</strong> show<br />
than went on a European and world-wide tour, running in total for over five years.<br />
Credit Unknown<br />
MY FAIR LADY (1st Revival)<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Adelphi, October 25 th (891 Performances)<br />
Music: Frederick Loewe<br />
Lyrics & Book: Alan Jay Lerner<br />
Director: Robin Midgley<br />
Choreographer: Gillian Lynne<br />
Musical Director: Ray Cook<br />
Producer: Cameron Mackintosh & Harold Fielding<br />
Cast: Tony Britton (Henry Higgins), Liz Robertson (Eliza Doolittle),<br />
Peter Bayliss (Alfred P. Doolittle), Richard Caldicott (Colonel Pickering),<br />
Anna Neagle (Mrs Higgins), Peter Land (Freddy Eynsford-Hill)<br />
This production was created at Leicester Haymarket under the management of Cameron Mackintosh who, with<br />
Arts Council support, was determined to created regional touring product of the highest quality—so that “West<br />
End shows” would be available to provincial theatres with no drop in standards. When the show arrived in the<br />
West End the critics felt it was equally as good as first time round.<br />
Notes: See original <strong>London</strong> production: Drury Lane, April 1958
TIN PAN ALI<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Shaftesbury <strong>The</strong>atre, October 29 th ( 6 Performances)<br />
Revived: Jeanetta Cochrane <strong>The</strong>atre, December 31 st (6 performances)<br />
Music: David Nield<br />
Book & Lyrics: Jeremy James Taylor<br />
Director: Jeremy James Taylor<br />
Choreographer: Ann Burden<br />
Cast: An amateur production, with a cast of teenagers and children.<br />
Songs: Ali Baba Doupa, We Are Carooni's Boys , Start <strong>The</strong> Action , <strong>The</strong> Pride Of Old<br />
Chicago Town, Sesame Sesame, <strong>The</strong> Dust Cart Rag, <strong>The</strong> Repercussion Boogie Blues<br />
1979<br />
37<br />
Story: A comedy version of Ali Baba – the story of an Arabian peasant whose discovery of a magic cave<br />
containing a trove of stolen riches leads to wealth and relentless pursuit by a band of forty thieves, except now<br />
the setting is Prohibition-era Chicago, Ali Baba is a street sweeper, and the thieves are a bunch of incompetent<br />
gangsters.<br />
Notes: Written primarily as a young person’s show, with a small number of young adult parts and a children’s<br />
chorus of up to 40 – playing the Forty Thieves - it began on the Edinburgh Fringe and then came to the<br />
Shaftesbury for a one-week presentation. It came back again for one week over the New Year, and then went<br />
on to have many productions in schools and youth groups.<br />
JOSEPH & THE AMAZING<br />
TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT (2nd Revival)<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Westminster <strong>The</strong>atre, November 1st (142 Performances)<br />
Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber<br />
Lyrics: Tim Rice<br />
Director: Ken Hill<br />
Choreographer: Francesca Lucy<br />
Musical Director: Jack Forsyth<br />
Producer: Martin Gates<br />
Cast: Paul Jones (Joseph), Philip Summerscales (Jacob), Clive Griffin (Benjamin), Frank Coda (Potiphar),<br />
Lisa Westcott (Potiphar’s Wife), Maynard Williams (Pharaoh), Clifton Todd (Narrator),<br />
Notes: See original <strong>London</strong> Production, Albery <strong>The</strong>atre, February 1973<br />
First revival: Westminster <strong>The</strong>atre, November 27 th 1978<br />
IRMA LA DOUCE (1st Revival)<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Shaftesbury <strong>The</strong>atre, November 27 th (20 Performances)<br />
Music: Marguerite Monnot<br />
English lyrics & Book: Julian More, David Heneker & Monty Norman<br />
Director-Choreographer: Billy Wilson<br />
Musical Director: Anthony Bowles<br />
Cast: Helen Gelzer (Irma la Douce) , Charles Dance (Nestor), Bernard Spear, Andy Norman, Alan Harding,<br />
Paul Hillyer<br />
This production originated at the Yvonne Arnaud <strong>The</strong>atre, Guildford. It lasted just three weeks following<br />
almost universally bad reviews.: mis-cast, badly produced, “. . . Revived on the cheap, and it looks like it”<br />
Notes: See original <strong>London</strong> production: Lyric <strong>The</strong>atre, July 17 th , 1958
NEVER MIND THE BULLOCKS<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: May Fair <strong>The</strong>atre, December 13 th (Christmas season)<br />
Music & Lyrics : C.P.Lee & John Downie<br />
Book: Alberto y los trios Paranoias<br />
Director: Tony Bulley<br />
1979<br />
38<br />
Cast: Jimmy Hibbert (Arnold Hood), Pippa Sparks (Gwendoline de Grisis), Mike Morrise (Baron de Grisis),<br />
Mark Shepherd (Mad Murdoch), Arthur Kelly (Allan a Dale), Bruce Mitchell (Milady)<br />
Story: Arnold Hood attempts to become a living legend and rescue Lady Gwendoline from the distress she<br />
would be in if she married the depraved hunchback, Mad Murdoch.<br />
Notes: A tongue in cheek and saucy romp through “Twang” territory, this was a kind of pantomime for adults.<br />
This was the same team that had limited success with “Sleak” at the Royal Court in 1977, but not even limited<br />
success this time.<br />
ALADDIN<br />
<strong>London</strong> run: Lyric Hammersmith, December 21 st (Christmas season)<br />
Music Book & Lyrics: Sandy Wilson<br />
Director: David Giles<br />
Choreographer: Geraldine Stephenson & Sean Bartley<br />
Cast: Richard Freeman (Aladdin), Joe Melia (Tuang Kee Chung),<br />
Aubrey Woods (Abanazar), Ernest Clark (Emperor),<br />
Christine McKenna (Badr-al-Badur), Elisabeth Welch (Fatima),<br />
Martin McEvoy (Genie)<br />
Songs: Tuang Kee Po, It is Written in the Sands, Love’s a Luxury,<br />
Dream About Me, Happy Ever After, Chopsticks, Life in the Laundry,<br />
Give Him the Old Kung Fu.<br />
Notes: <strong>The</strong> Lyric <strong>The</strong>atre commissioned Sandy Wilson to write<br />
“Aladdin”, which was a pantomime forced to be a musical and a musical<br />
trying to avoid being a pantomime. It had worked for Rodgers and<br />
Hammerstein’s “Cinderella”, and almost worked for Cole Porter’s<br />
“Aladdin”, but not his time. Neither fish nor foul was the general<br />
reaction.