''Robert and Elizabeth'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

with music by Ron Grainer and book and lyrics by

Ronald Millar Sir Ronald Graeme Millar (12 November 1919 – 16 April 1998) was an English actor, scriptwriter, and dramatist. Life and career After attending Charterhouse School, Millar studied at King's College, Cambridge for a year before joining the ...

. The story is based on an unproduced musical titled ''The Third Kiss'' by Judge

Fred G. Moritt Fred G. Moritt (October 5, 1905 – May 15, 1995) was an American lawyer, singer, composer, lyricist and politician from New York. Life He was born on October 5, 1905, in New York City. He attended Public School No. 9 in Brooklyn, and Boys High ...

, which in turn was adapted from the play '' The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' by Rudolph Besier. It is an operetta-style musical which tells the story of the romance and elopement of poets

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentary, historical sett ...

and Elizabeth Barrett. The original 1964 London production was a success, starring John Clements as Barrett,

June Bronhill June Mary Bronhill (26 June 192924 January 2005), also known as June Gough, was an Australian coloratura soprano opera singer, performer and actress, She was well known for light opera, operetta and musical theatre in London West End theatre ...

as Elizabeth and

Keith Michell Keith Joseph Michell (1 December 1926 – 20 November 2015) was an Australian actor who worked primarily in the United Kingdom, and was best known for his television and film portrayals of King Henry VIII. He appeared extensively in Shakespeare ...

as Robert. Several revivals have followed.

Songs

*''The Corner of Wimpole Street'' *"The Family Moulton-Barrett" *"Frustration" *"The Girls That Boys Dream About" *"Hate Me, Please" *"I Know Now" *"I Said Love" *"I'm the Master Here" *"In A Simple Way" *"Love and Duty" *"The Moon in My Pocket" *"Pass the Eau-de-Cologne" *"The Real Thing" *"Soliloquy" *"Under a Spell" *"Want to Be Well" *"Escape Me Never" (lyric adapted from Browning) *"What the World Calls Love" *"What's Natural" *"Woman And Man" *"The World Outside" *"You Only To Love Me"

Productions

The original West End production opened at the Lyric Theatre in London on 20 October 1964 and ran for 948 performances."'Robert and Elizabeth' production and song list"
guidetomusicaltheatre.com, Retrieved 17 May 2010 The cast was as follows: * John Clements – Edward Moulton-Barrett *

– Elizabeth Barrett *

– Robert Browning *

Angela Richards Angela Richards (born 18 December 1944 in London) is an English actress. A graduate of RADA, she is also known for her body of work in musical theatre. Biography Theatre Richards has starred in several West End productions such as ''Robert a ...

– Henrietta The original Australian production, in which June Bronhill reprised her London role, opened at the

Princess Theatre, Melbourne The Princess Theatre, originally Princess's Theatre, is a 1452-seat theatre in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1854 and rebuilt in 1886 to a design by noted Melbourne architect William Pitt, it is the oldest surviving entertain ...

on 21 May 1966. The cast also starred English actor

Denis Quilley Denis Clifford Quilley, OBE (26 December 1927 – 5 October 2003) was an English actor and singer. From a family with no theatrical connections, Quilley was determined from an early age to become an actor. He was taken on by the Birmingham Re ...

as Robert, Frank Thring as Edward, and included Madeleine Orr in a smaller role. The show ran for six months in Melbourne before moving to Sydney, where it ran for four weeks. The musical was produced at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, starring

Jeremy Brett Peter Jeremy William Huggins (3 November 1933 – 12 September 1995), known professionally as Jeremy Brett, was an English actor. He played fictional detective Sherlock Holmes in four Granada TV series from 1984 to 1994 in all 41 episodes. His ...

and Sally Ann Howes from 22 December 1976 to 29 January 1977. Another production ran at the Paper Mill Playhouse,

Millburn, New Jersey Millburn is a suburban township in Essex County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 20,149, reflecting an increase of 384 (+1.9%) from the 19,765 counted in the 2000 Census, which had ...

, from November through December 1982, with Marc Jacoby as Robert and Leigh Beery as Elizabeth. It was staged in the 1987

Chichester Festival Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Marti ...

, featuring Mark Wynter. A recording of the production was released by First Night Records (ASIN: B000024TK6). The musical then played at the Forum Theater in Chicago, Illinois in November 1974, with Steven Arlen as Robert.Anderson, George
"Local Angles"
''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', 19 November 1974 The show was prevented from being produced on Broadway due to a copyright disagreement with the estate of Rudolph Besier, author of '' The Barretts of Wimpole Street'', on which the story was partly based.

References

External links

Listing at broadwayworld.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robert And Elizabeth West End musicals 1964 musicals Musicals based on plays Musicals inspired by real-life events British musicals