''Expresso Bongo'' is a 1958 West End musical and a satire of the music industry. It was first produced on the stage at the Saville Theatre, London, on 23 April 1958. Its book was written by

Wolf Mankowitz Cyril Wolf Mankowitz (7 November 1924 – 20 May 1998) was an English writer, playwright and screenwriter. He is particularly known for three novels— ''Make Me an Offer'' (1952), '' A Kid for Two Farthings'' (1953) and ''My Old Man's a Dustma ...

and

Julian More Julian Bensley More (15 June 1928 – 15 January 2010) was a British writer, best known for book and lyrics to musicals ''Expresso Bongo'', ''Songbook'' and the English version of ''Irma La Douce ''Irma la Douce'' (, "Irma the Sweet") is a 19 ...

, with music by David Heneker and Monty Norman, also the co-lyricist with Julian More. The production starred

Paul Scofield David Paul Scofield (21 January 1922 – 19 March 2008) was a British actor. During a six-decade career, Scofield achieved the US Triple Crown of Acting, winning an Academy Award, Emmy, and Tony for his work. He won the three awards in a seve ...

with Hy Hazell,

Millicent Martin Millicent Mary Lillian Martin (born 8 June 1934) is an English actress, singer, and comedian. She was the lone female singer of topical songs on the weekly BBC Television satire show ''That Was the Week That Was'' known as TW3 (1962–1963), a ...

and James Kenney. Musical director was Burt Rhodes and director William Chappell.

Film version

The subsequent ''Expresso Bongo'' 1959 film version was directed by Val Guest and starred

Laurence Harvey Laurence Harvey (born Zvi Mosheh Skikne; 1 October 192825 November 1973) was a Lithuanian-born British actor and film director. He was born to Lithuanian Jewish parents and emigrated to South Africa at an early age, before later settling in th ...

and

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million ...

, the latter's second musical film after '' Serious Charge''.

Plot

Paul Scofield played Johnny, a slimy, small-time music promoter and talent scout who notices teenage girls going crazy for the singing and bongo playing of talentless and seemingly idiotic Herbert Rudge (played by James Kenney). Johnny rechristens Rudge as "Bongo Herbert" and signs him to a contract that gives Johnny a 50% share of the profits. With Johnny's help, Bongo rockets to stardom. Bongo's success attracts a host of sleazy music industry types intent on exploiting him. Johnny quickly finds himself outclassed in the sleaze department as Bongo turns out to be the slipperiest slime of them all.

Music

The writers of the 1958 musical were inspired by songwriters such as

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

. (David Heneker said his musical career was inspired by reading the score of Noel ''Coward's Bitter Sweet''). Their lyrics were clever, wordy and allusive: "The Gravy Train", for example, has Johnny quoting an apt line from Shakespeare's ''Troilus and Cressida'', (Act 5, Scene X), while the unrepentant shopaholics in "We Bought It" describe themselves as "two eccentric socialites, dissipated sybarites". The tunes modulate all over the place and parody rock, Latin jazz, skiffle and trad. Music historian John Snelsen writes,

''Expresso Bongo'' opened in the West End in the same year as ''
My Fair Lady ''My Fair Lady'' is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play '' Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons ...
''. It did not run as long and has hardly been seen since, but its gritty cynicism, contemporary setting and pop score gained it many fans. It was voted Best British Musical of the Year in a Variety annual survey of shows on the London stage, with a ballot result far ahead of ''My Fair Lady'', and was referred to in general as 'the other musical' to distinguish it from Lerner and Loewe's work.

List of tracks

The 1958 Original Cast RecordingAEI-CD 020, The Council for Musical Theatre, c. AEI Records, 1979 lists the following songs and singers: #Overture: Orchestra #Don't Sell Me Down the River: James Kenney #Expresso Party: James Kenney #Nausea: Meier Tzelniker #Spoil the Child: Millicent Martin #Seriously: Millicent Martin #I Never Had It So Good: Paul Scofield #There's Nothing Wrong With British Youth Today: Ensemble #The Shrine on the Second Floor #He's Got Something for the Public: Hy Hazell & Principals #I Am: Millicent Martin #Nothing is for Nothing: Meier Tzelniker, Hy Hazell & Paul Scofield #We Bought It: Hy Hazel & Elizabeth Ashley #Time: Hy Hazell #The Gravy Train: Paul Scofield #Finale: The Company

References

{{reflist

External links

*http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsN/norman-monty.php Monty Norman plays 1958 musicals British musicals West End musicals