''Expresso Bongo'' is a 1958
West End
West End most commonly refers to:
* West End of London, an area of central London, England
* West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England
West End may also refer to:
Pl ...
musical and a satire of the music industry. It was first produced on the stage at the
Saville Theatre
ODEON Covent Garden is a four-screen cinema in the heart of London's West End. Formerly known as The Saville Theatre, a former West End theatre at 135 Shaftesbury Avenue in the London Borough of Camden. The theatre opened in 1931, and became a ...
, London, on 23 April 1958. Its book was written by
Wolf Mankowitz 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''.
His screenwriting credits include the films ''C ...
, with music by
David Heneker and
Monty Norman
Monty Norman ('' né'' Noserovitch; 4 April 1928 – 11 July 2022) was a British composer, musician and singer. A contributor to West End musicals in the 1950s and 1960s, he is best known for composing the " James Bond Theme", first heard in t ...
, also the co-lyricist with Julian More. The production starred
Paul Scofield with
Hy Hazell,
Millicent Martin 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 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 s ...
, the latter's second musical film after ''
Serious Charge
''Serious Charge'' (also known in US release as ''A Touch of Hell'') is a 1959 British film, directed by Terence Young, produced and co-written by Mickey Delamar (with Guy Elmes). It was adapted from a stage play written by Philip King. The fil ...
''.
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), Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combina ...
. (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 theatre, musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play ''Pygmalion (play), Pygmalion'', with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flowe ...
''. 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 Recording
[AEI-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