Primrose (musical)
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| Primrose | |
| Music | George Gershwin |
|---|---|
| Lyrics | Desmond Carter and Ira Gershwin |
| Book | Guy Bolton and George Grossmith Jr. |
| Productions | 1924 West End |
Primrose is a musical in three acts with a book by Guy Bolton and George Grossmith Jr., lyrics by Desmond Carter and Ira Gershwin, and music by George Gershwin. It centers on a writer whose story-within-a-story forms the basis of the plot. It was written expressly for the London stage, where it ran for 255 performances in 1924 and 1925. The musical was not performed in the United States until more than half a century after it was written.[1]
George Gershwin, at 25 years old, was an established songwriter by 1924 when Grossmith and his producing partners, J. A. E. Malone and Edward Laurillard, hired him to produce the score for Primrose for them in London. The musical is the first in which Gershwin wrote some of the orchestrations himself.[2] The year was one of the busiest for Gershwin, as it also included his Rhapsody in Blue and two other musicals. Gershwin's score, and the book by Bolton are old-fashioned for their time, with more in common with the frothy Edwardian musical comedies than with the later Gershwin musicals. Nevertheless, Desmond Carter's witty lyrics and the show's farcical book have been praised by reviewers, while Gershwin's score has been compared with Gilbert and Sullivan.[3][4]
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[edit] Production history
Primrose was produced by Grossmith and J. A. E. Malone, who wanted to follow up on their earlier successes composed by Jerome Kern.[1] It opened at the Winter Garden Theatre in London on 11 September 1924 only two months before the Gershwins’ Lady, Be Good! debuted on Broadway. The cast featured comedian Leslie Henson and also included Margery Hicklin, Claude Hulbert, Heather Thatcher and Percy Heming. The musical director was John Ansell, the director, Charles A. Maynard and the choreographer, Laddie Cliff.[5][6]
The show was not brought to Broadway, where it would have competed with Lady, Be Good!. In fact, the American première of Primrose did not take place until 1987, when a concert production at the Coolidge Auditorium of the Library of Congress was given together with another Gershwin score, Pardon My English (1933), both conducted by John McGlinn.[7] Soloists included Rebecca Luker and Kim Criswell. The next performance in North America was not until 2003, when Musicals Tonight! presented a series of staged concerts at the 14th Street YMCA in New York City's Greenwich Village, with dialogue, directed by Thomas Mills and starring Gavin Esham, Cristin Mortenson and Brynn O'Malley.[3]
Extensive excerpts from the score were recorded with original 1924 cast members conducted by Ansell, and have been re-released on CD.
P. G. Wodehouse rewrote the lyric of 'When Toby is out of Town' as 'The Twenties are Here to Stay', interpolated into a 1960 revival of Gershwin's Oh, Kay!
[edit] Plot summary
Primrose consists of three interconnected love stories about Freddie and May, Hilary and Joan, and Toby and Pinkie. Freddie is reluctantly engaged to his cousin Joan, but falls in love with May. Joan, a naive, pretty young socialite, loves Hilary, a successful author of romantic yarns. Hilary is writing a story whose heroine, Primrose, is in a remarkably similar impasse. Hilary returns Joan's love, but Freddie and Joan are under the thumb of Sir Barnaby – Joan’s father and Freddie’s uncle – who, for financial reasons, refuses consent to their marrying anyone except each other.
The romance of Toby and Pinkie is impeded by Toby’s second thoughts after rashly proposing; he enlists Hilary's help, getting him to pretend to woo Pinkie so that so Toby can catch them in flagrante and break off the engagement. However, Joan also catches Hilary wooing Pinkie. During an eventful dance sequence, Toby overcomes his reluctance to marry, Sir Barnaby gives way, and all three couples are free to marry.[3]
[edit] Song list
- Berkeley Square and Kew
- Boy Wanted
- The Countryside
- I Make Hay when the Moon Shines
- Isn’t it Wonderful
- Mary Queen of Scots
- The Mophams
- Naughty Baby
- Some Far Away Someone
- That New Fangled Mother Of Mine
- Till I Meet Someone Like You
- Wait a Bit, Susie
- When Toby is out of Town
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b 1987 sleeve notes by John McGlinn to EMI recording CDC 7 47977 2
- ^ Profile of the musical from the All Music Guide
- ^ a b c Information about the Musicals Tonight! concerts
- ^ Village Voice review dated December 10-16, 2003
- ^ The Times 12 September 1924, p. 8
- ^ crew and cast list
- ^ Holden, Stephen, "2 by Gershwin" in the New York Times, May 18, 1987
[edit] References
- Pollack, Howard. George Gershwin: His Life and Work (2006) University of California Press, pp. 320-23 ISBN 0520248643
- Review of Primrose in The Times, 12 September, 1924; pg. 8
[edit] External links
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