Zuleika is a musical with music by Peter Tranchell and book and lyrics by James Ferman. The musical is based on the 1911 novel, Zuleika Dobson , by Max Beerbohm.
Zuleika is a musical with music by Peter Tranchell and book and lyrics by James Ferman. The musical is based on the 1911 novel, Zuleika Dobson , by Max Beerbohm.
The show was first staged at an undergraduate club at Cambridge in 1954, two years before Beerbohm's death. [1] The impresario Donald Albery acquired the rights to stage it in the West End, and engaged Osbert Lancaster as designer and Alfred Rodrigues as director. [1] The production opened at the Saville Theatre on 11 April 1957. Beerbohm had died the year before, but his widow, Elisabeth interested herself in the production, and attended the first night. [2]
The plot of the novel was generally followed, except for the conclusion, which was changed to provide a happy ending. [3] Beerbohm had insisted that the name of the heroine should be pronounced "Zuleeka", but for the musical the pronunciation was changed to "Zulika", which was thought easier to sing. [4]
The actress originally cast as Zuleika, Diane Cilento, won excellent critical comment when the show previewed in Manchester, [5] but was taken ill before the show opened in London. [6] She was unable to appear, and the part was taken by Mildred Mayne, a performer best known at the time as a model, appearing on posters in the London Underground advertising underwear. [7] A 2011 newspaper obituary for Cilento alleged that her withdrawal from the production was due to a suicide attempt. [8]
Here is a list of numbers: [9]
The Times , having called the show "a most pleasing imitation of Edwardian musical comedy", added "Miss Mildred Mayne, taking the part of Zuleika at short notice, is not, perhaps, all that Beerbohm painted her, but she is always engaging and she sings easily and well." In The Manchester Guardian , Philip Hope-Wallace was unconvinced by the new Zuleika: "What the incomparable Max would have thought of Mildred Mayne, the new leading lady, one fails to imagine." [7] In The Observer , Kenneth Tynan called the show "the best British musical since The Boy Friend ", but thought Mayne "competent in a role for which competence is not enough". [10] " Rupert Hart-Davis, who accompanied Elisabeth Beerbohm to the first night, was privately less tactful: he called the show "delightfully gay and charming," but added, "the leading lady is quite without looks, charm or talent. With someone like … Marilyn Monroe it would run for ever." [11]
The show ran for 124 performances, closing on 27 July 1957. [12]
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Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the Saturday Review from 1898 until 1910, when he relocated to Rapallo, Italy. In his later years he was popular for his occasional radio broadcasts. Among his best-known works is his only novel, Zuleika Dobson, published in 1911. His caricatures, drawn usually in pen or pencil with muted watercolour tinting, are in many public collections.
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Diane Cilento was an Australian actress. She is best known for her film roles in Tom Jones (1963), which earned her an Academy Award nomination, Hombre (1967) and The Wicker Man (1973). She also received a Tony Award nomination for her performance as Helen of Troy in the play Tiger at the Gates.
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This is a summary of 1957 in music in the United Kingdom, including the official charts from that year.
This is a summary of 1954 in music of all genres in the United Kingdom.
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