''Where the Rainbow Ends'' is a children's play, originally written for Christmas 1911 by

Clifford Mills Clifford Mills (aka Emlie Clifford, née Bennet) (1863–1933) was a British playwright, best known for the plays '' Where the Rainbow Ends'' and '' The Luck of the Navy.'' Career Mills's real name was Emlie (aka Emilie) Clifford. She adopted th ...

and John Ramsey. The

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

was composed by

Roger Quilter Roger Cuthbert Quilter (1 November 1877 – 21 September 1953) was a British composer, known particularly for his art songs. His songs, which number over a hundred, often set music to text by William Shakespeare and are a mainstay of the E ...

. ''Where the Rainbow Ends'' is a fantasy story which follows the journey of four children, two girls, two boys and a pet lion cub in search of their parents. Travelling on a magic carpet they face various dangers on their way to rescue their parents and are guarded and helped by

Saint George Saint George ( Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

. The rainbow story is a symbol of hope with its magic carpet of faith and its noble hero St. George of England in shining armour ready now, as in olden times, to fight and conquer the dragon of evil. Most of the story is set in ‘Rainbow Land’ complete with talking animals, mythical creatures and even a white witch.

First production

The first performance took place at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy P ...

, London, 21 December 1911. The play starred

Reginald Owen John Reginald Owen (5 August 1887 – 5 November 1972) was a British actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American films and television programs. Career The son of Joseph and Frances Owen, Reginald Owen studied at Sir Herbert ...

as St. George of England and Lydia Bilbrook as well as a cast of 45 children. The children in the cast included a 12-year-old

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 ...

as well as Esmé Wynne-Tyson, Hermione Gingold and

Philip Tonge Philip Asheton Tonge (26 April 1897 – 28 January 1959) was an English actor. Born into a theatrical family, he was a child actor, making his stage debut at the age of five. Among the stars with whom he performed while he was a boy were Henry I ...

. In the first few years many future stars performed in the play including Gertrude Lawrence, Nora Swinburne,

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mil ...

and

Brian Aherne William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States. His first Broadway appearance in '' The Barretts of ...

. The play was originally produced by Charles Hawtrey with the children acquired and managed by

Italia Conti Italia Emily Stella Conti (1873 – 8 February 1946) was an English actress and the founder of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts in London. Life Italia Emily Stella Conti was born in London in 1873, the daughter of Luigi Conti, an opera ...

who in future years produced the show. Charles Hawtrey had left Italia Conti to her own devices to prepare the play but he did not realise how much music Roger Quilter was writing until the first rehearsal that he attended. He expressed fears that it seemed to be an opera rather than a play. It is a substantial play in four acts (for a time rearranged into three without losing any of the material). After the success of Rainbow, the children wanted Conti to continue to work with them, and so the Italia Conti Academy was born and, with only an occasional exception, she gave up her acting career for it.

Reception

The play was very well received. A review in ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'' described it as "masterly", "marvellously trained crowds of little folk-dancers", "the score has tune and dramatic meaning", and "answers its purpose very well". ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'' said of the opening night that "the reception could not have been more enthusiastic". The play with music was performed professionally every year for 49 years (except for two years) including during the two World Wars. Despite the financial success of the show, and the capacity houses, it became difficult to find a theatre in which to stage the production. The last professional production was at the Granada Theatre, Sutton, in Surrey, in the 1959-60 season, with Anton Dolin taking the part of St. George. The show was for years part of the regular Christmas scene. After its last professional season it has been performed regularly by amateur groups.

Music

Roger Quilter's "Where the Rainbow Ends" suite was performed at the 1912

Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

on 26 September 1912. The music became known throughout the whole world through the medium of the BBC who were constantly broadcasting it on the radio. On 23 December 1937, the 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth was taken by

Queen Elizabeth Queen Elizabeth, Queen Elisabeth or Elizabeth the Queen may refer to: Queens regnant * Elizabeth I (1533–1603; ), Queen of England and Ireland * Elizabeth II (1926–2022; ), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms * Queen ...

to see a performance of ''Where the Rainbow Ends'' at The Holborn Empire, London. The Queen and Princess rose with the audience and the actors and joined in singing the National Anthem with a new specially written Rainbow verse that had been written for them.

Other versions

After "Where the Rainbow Ends" was first staged, Clifford Mills turned the story into a novel, which saw a number of editions. In 1921 the play was made into a film, directed by

Horace Lisle Lucoque Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his '' ...

. It was one of Roger Livesey's first screen performances.

First production

Reception

Music

Other versions

References

Further reading