''Conversation Piece'', billed as "A Romantic Comedy with Music", is a musical written by

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), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

. It premiered at His Majesty's Theatre, London, on 16 February 1934, and ran for 177 performances over five months. A Broadway production opened at the 44th Street Theatre later that year but ran for only 55 performances.

Background

''Conversation Piece'' was inspired by the book ''The Regent and his Daughter'' by Dormer Creston (1881–1973). Coward wrote the libretto in 1933 while on a sea voyage from

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

to England and composed the score on his return home. From the outset, Coward had the French star

Yvonne Printemps Yvonne Printemps (; born Yvonne Wigniolle; 25 July 1894 – 19 January 1977) was a French singer and actress who achieved stardom on stage and screen in France and internationally. Printemps went on the stage in Paris at the age of 12, and ...

in mind for the leading role of Mélanie, despite the fact that she spoke no English. Printemps agreed to play the part, and with the aid of her partner,

Pierre Fresnay Pierre Fresnay (; 4 April 1897 – 9 January 1975) was a French stage and film actor. Biography Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach, he was encouraged by his uncle, actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film. He joined the company ...

, learned the words by rote.Lesley, p. 164 The male lead, Paul, Duc de Chaucigny-Varennes, was given to

Romney Brent Romney Brent (born Romulo Larralde; 26 January 1902 – 24 September 1976) was a Mexican actor, director and dramatist. Most of his career was on stage in North America, but in the 1930s he was frequently seen on the London stage, on television ...

, but during rehearsals Coward came to think Brent was not up to the part, and asked him to relinquish it. On learning that Coward himself proposed to take the role, Brent gladly resigned, "providing you let me still come to rehearsals and watch you find out what a bloody awful part it is." Whether or not Coward came to share Brent's view, he handed the part over to Pierre Fresnay after three months. Other members of the large cast included Louis Hayward,

Maidie Andrews Maidie Andrews (27 September 1893 – 13 October 1986) was an English actress and singer who, with a career that spanned six decades, was a child actress and later a stage beauty who appeared in musical comedy including the original London ...

and

George Sanders George Henry Sanders (3 July 1906 – 25 April 1972) was a British actor and singer whose career spanned over 40 years. His heavy, upper-class English accent and smooth bass voice often led him to be cast as sophisticated but villainous charac ...

, with Valerie Hobson in the chorus. The big tune from the show, "I'll Follow My Secret Heart", caused Coward much difficulty while he was composing the score, and he was on the verge of giving up the whole show: :I poured myself a large whisky and soda... and sat gloomily envisaging everyone's disappointment and facing the fact that my talent had withered and that I should never write any more music until the day I died. ... I switched off the light at the door and noticed that there was one lamp left on by the piano. I walked automatically to turn it off, sat down, and played "I'll Follow My Secret Heart" straight through in G flat, a key I had never played in before.

Premiere

The piece opened at His Majesty's Theatre, London on 16 February 1934, presented by Charles B. Cochran. The cast was: *Sophie Otford –

Heather Thatcher Heather Thatcher (3 September 1896 – 15 January 1987) was an English actress in theatre and films. Career Dance By 1922, Thatcher was a dancer. She was especially noted for her interpretation of an Egyptian harem dance. Her exotic clothes wer ...

*Martha James – Moya Nugent *Mrs Dragon – Betty Shale *Paul, Duc de Chaucigny-Varennes –

*Melanie –

*Rose (Her Maid) –

*The Marquis of Sheere – Louis Hayward *The Earl of Harringford –

*Lord Braceworth – Pat Worsley *Lord Donning – Antony Brian *Mr Hailsham – Sydney Grammer *The Duchess of Beneden – Winifred Davis *The Duke of Beneden –

Athole Stewart Athole Chalmers Stewart (25 June 1879 – 18 October 1940) was a British stage and latterly film actor, often in authoritarian or aristocratic roles. On stage, he played in the original production of Noël Coward's ''Hay Fever'' at the Ambassa ...

*Lady Julia Charters –

Irene Browne Irene Muriel Browne (23 February 1891 – 24 July 1965) was an English stage and film actress and singer who appeared in plays and musicals, including ''No, No, Nanette''. Later in her career, she became particularly associated with the works of ...

*Hannah (Her Maid) – Elizabeth Corcoran *A Tiger – Tommy Hayes *Miss Goslett –

Everley Gregg Everley Gregg (26 October 1903, in Bishopstoke, Hampshire – 9 June 1959, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire) was an English actress. Early in her career, she became associated especially with plays of Noël Coward. She began making films in the ...

*Miss Mention – Molly Lumley *Lord Kenyon – Penryn Bannerman *Lord St Marys – Kim Peacock *Fishermen – Reginald Thurgood, William McGuigan, Evan Jones, Roy Hall *Countess of Harringford – Sheila Pattrick *Lady Braceworth – Betty Elbum *Mrs Hailsham – Winifred Campbell *Hon Julian Kane – St John Lauri *Mr Amos – Alex Robertson *Butler – Claude Farrow *Mr Jones – Leonard Michel *Courtesan – Jean Barnes ::Source:''Theatrical Companion to Coward''. The show had a truncated run of 177 performances, by contrast with Coward's earlier romantic musical '' Bitter Sweet'' (697 performances), because Printemps had to leave the cast to fulfil a film commitment in France, and no suitable replacement could be found. Later that year, the Broadway run, despite starring Printemps, managed only 55 performances. With the onset of the Depression, times had changed since the success of ''Bitter Sweet'', and ''Conversation Piece'' was unable to find an audience.Suskin, Steven
Coward's ''Conversation Piece''... on LP
Playbill.com, 18 February 2007 In New York, Fresnay played Paul, Irene Browne was Lady Julia, and Carl Harbord was Lord Sheere. The London cast released a

cast album A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

in 1934. Beginning in the late 1940s,

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

recorded a series of musicals produced by

Goddard Lieberson Goddard Lieberson (April 5, 1911 – May 29, 1977) was the president of Columbia Records from 1956 to 1971, and again from 1973 to 1975. He became president of the Recording Industry Association of America in 1964. He was also a composer, and stu ...

and musical director

Lehman Engel A. Lehman Engel (September 14, 1910, Jackson, Mississippi – August 29, 1982, New York City) was an American composer for television, film, and operas and a conductor of Broadway musicals and operas. Work in theatre, television and films Enge ...

, including ''Conversation Piece'' in 1951. Coward sang the role of Paul, and the recording featured

opera singer Opera is a form of Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a lib ...

Lily Pons, the young

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

, Cathleen Nesbitt and

Ethel Griffies Ethel Griffies (born Ethel Woods; 26 April 1878 – 9 September 1975) was a British actress. She is remembered for portraying the ornithology, ornithologist Mrs. Bundy in Alfred Hitchcock's classic ''The Birds (film), The Birds'' (1963). She app ...

Plot

The story is set in Regency Brighton in 1811. Paul, the Duc de Chaucigny-Varennes, an émigré from the terrors of the French Revolution, is passing off Melanie, a beautiful young girl, as his ward – the daughter of an executed friend, the Marquis de Tramont. In fact, Melanie is a dance hall singer. Paul's plan is to marry Melanie to a rich husband such as Edward, Marquis of Sheere, who seeks her hand. The rich Lady Julia Charteris, who is much taken with Paul, encourages Edward's marital plans and tries to woo Paul for herself. But Melanie has long loved Paul, and in a last gamble to turn him away from Lady Julia, she pretends to return to France. Her trick works: Paul realises the depth of his feelings for her and there is a romantic happy ending.

Musical numbers

*Ladies and Gentlemen *Overture *A cloud has passed across the sun *I'll follow my secret heart *Regency rakes *Charming! Charming! Charming! *There's always something fishy about the French *Prologue – Act II *Soldiers! *English lesson – The tree is in the garden *There was once a little village *Melanie's aria – Dear friends *Mothers and wives *Nevermore The Noël Coward Society's website, drawing on performing statistics from the publishers and the

Performing Rights Society PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertakes ...

, ranks "I'll follow my secret heart" among Coward's ten most popular songs.

Critical reception

The show was well received. In ''

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

'', W. A. Darlington wrote, "If you cannot afford a ticket for this show any other way, sell your wife's jewellery or your children's school books. You will never regret the sacrifice". He said of Printemps: Darlington added that Coward shared Printemps's triumph: "Or, rather, since he is author, composer, producer, and chief male actor in this brilliant show, he enjoys a separate triumph all to himself". ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...

'' praised the piece and said "Small wonder that the curtain finally falls amid 'a halo of enthusiastic cheering'". '' The Sunday Dispatch'' commented, "This new Coward, who fulfils in ''Conversation Piece'' the promise which he gave us in ''

Cavalcade A cavalcade is a procession or parade on horseback, or a mass distance ride by a company of riders. Sometimes the focus of a cavalcade is participation rather than display and the participants do not wear costumes or ride in formation. ...

'' must be acclaimed a master of the theatre. When the New York production opened, the press were less laudatory about Coward's piece –

Burns Mantle Robert Burns Mantle (December 23, 1873February 9, 1948) was an American theater critic and screenwriter. He founded the ''Best Plays'' annual publication in 1920.Chansky, Dorothy (2011)"Burns Mantle and the American Theatregoing Public" in ''T ...

wrote, "''Conversation Piece'' will never go down in the biographies as one of his masterpieces" – but praised the performers highly. Another critic felt that good as

was as the leading man, Printemps would have been better supported by Coward or by her former husband and frequent co-star

Sacha Guitry Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre (aesthetic), boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French ac ...

. Coward's own view of the piece was summed up in a letter he wrote to Alexander Woolcott during the London run: "The play is a great success, the music and lyrics are good and the production excellent utthe play itself is I think dull and garbled and I am faintly ashamed of it.Day, p. 295

Notes, references and sources

Notes

References

Sources

* Castle, Charles (1974) ''Noël'', Sphere Books, London, *Day, Barry (ed.) (2007) ''The Letters of Noël Coward'', Methuen, London, *Lesley, Cole (1976) ''The Life of Noël Coward'', Jonathan Cape, London, * *Morley, Sheridan (1974) ''A Talent to Amuse'', Penguin, London,

External links

*
Information about Conversation piece at the Guide to Musical Theatre
{{Noel Coward 1934 musicals West End musicals Original musicals Musicals by Noël Coward Musicals set in England