| Perchance to Dream | |
|---|---|
| Music | Ivor Novello |
| Lyrics | Ivor Novello |
| Book | Ivor Novello |
| Productions | 1945 West End, 2011 Finborough Theatre, London. |
Perchance to Dream is a musical romance with book, lyrics and music by Ivor Novello. It was the only musical for which Novello wrote lyrics. The title is a quotation from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. The plot, like many of Novello's plots, is a romantic adventure tale, telling the parallel stories of the fates of several different inhabitants of the same house through differing time periods. The stories interconnect and have unforeseen repercussions, one upon the other.
It opened on the London stage at the Hippodrome Theatre on 21 April 1945. The show starred Novello, Margaret Rutherford, Olive Gilbert, Roma Beaumont, Muriel Barron and Bobbie Andrews, and veteran actress Zena Dare appeared in the piece as Charlotte Fayre. Sylvia Cecil was a replacement during the run. It is one of Novello's most successful works and enjoyed an original run of 1,022 performances and many subsequent tours and revivals. A 2011 revival at the Finborough Theatre, London, was the first professional production since the 1980s. The hit song of the show was "We'll Gather Lilacs".[1]
Contents |
During the Regency period, Sir Graham Rodney, an impoverished womaniser, is living off the largess of Lady Charlotte, his rich aunt. He is the owner of a magnificent old country house, called "Huntersmoon". Lydia, a Drury Lane actress, is Sir Graham's lover and lives with him, as does her friend, also an actress. Sir Graham's hated cousin William covets Huntersmoon and dogs Sir Graham's steps. Sir Graham disguises himself to become the notorious highwayman, "Frenchy", to pay his debts and add excitement to his life of leisure. He robs a coach and takes a necklace but finds that the coach contains Lady Fayre and her ward Melinda. They soon meet at Huntersmoon, and he falls in love with Melinda. He dies at the hands of the law, telling Melinda that they will find each other again in another life, and leaving Lydia pregnant. Huntersmoon devolves to William and some unhappy ghosts.
More than three decades later, in the Victorian era, William's son, Valentine, owns Huntersmoon. He is a composer to Queen Victoria. He marries Veronica, the illegitimate daughter of the late Sir Graham and Lydia. They live amidst the ghosts of their predecessors. Valentine meets Melanie, Sir Graham's niece, and they fall in love, but Veronica is pregnant. Valentine loses Melanie, as this time she dies.
In 1945, Valentine's grandson Bay wins the hand of Melody, the girl who represents the love that he had lost in earlier generations. The romance finally lays the ghosts to rest.
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