''London Calling!'' was a

musical revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own du ...

, produced by

André Charlot André Eugène Maurice Charlot (26 July 1882 – 20 May 1956) was a French impresario known primarily for the successful musical revues he staged in London between 1912 and 1937. He also worked as a character actor in numerous films. Early l ...

with music and lyrics by Noël Coward, which opened at London's

Duke of York's Theatre The Duke of York's Theatre is a West End theatre in St Martin's Lane, in the City of Westminster, London. It was built for Frank Wyatt and his wife, Violet Melnotte, who retained ownership of the theatre until her death in 1935. Designed by t ...

on 4 September 1923. It is famous for being Noël Coward's first publicly produced musical work and for the use of a 3-D

stereoscopic Stereoscopy (also called stereoscopics, or stereo imaging) is a technique for creating or enhancing the illusion of depth in an image by means of stereopsis for binocular vision. The word ''stereoscopy'' derives . Any stereoscopic image is ...

shadowgraph Shadowgraph is an optical method that reveals non-uniformities in transparent media like air, water, or glass. It is related to, but simpler than, the schlieren and schlieren photography methods that perform a similar function. Shadowgraph is a ...

as part of its opening act. The revue's song "Parisian Pierrot", sung by

Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence (4 July 1898 – 6 September 1952) was an English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End Theatre, West End of London and on Broadway theatre, Broadway in New York. ...

, was Coward's first big hit and became one of his signature tunes.

Background and productions

The basis of ''London Calling!'' began at the Swiss resort of Davos in Christmas 1922, when Coward presented a musical outline of a new

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own du ...

project involving himself and

to benefactor Lord Lathom, who was also a friend of

. Lathom had liked the outline, and approached Charlot to produce it. Charlot's West End musical production ''Rats'', which premiered on 21 February 1923 at the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

, also starred Lawrence. At first, Charlot did not have Coward in mind to perform in ''London Calling!'', but Coward used his contractual right of veto to turn down all other suggestions for leading men. Charlot gave way, and paid him a wage of £40 a week with the success of the show. The revue featured 25 sketches, skits, songs and dance routines, with choreographic assistance by

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

, who was working in London's

Shaftesbury Theatre The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden. Opened in 1911 as the New Prince's Theatre, it was the last theatre to be built in Shaftesbury Avenue. History The theatre was d ...

with his sister

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a reco ...

at the time. Astaire taught Coward tap-dancing at the nearby

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a conservatoire and drama school located in the City of London, United Kingdom. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and j ...

. Though a leading lady in West End plays, Lawrence made her singing debut with Coward's musical works, an association that would continue throughout their careers. Lawrence had previously worked with him on the

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

production of

Gerhart Hauptmann Gerhart Johann Robert Hauptmann (; 15 November 1862 – 6 June 1946) was a German dramatist and novelist. He is counted among the most important promoters of literary naturalism, though he integrated other styles into his work as well. He recei ...

's play ''Hannele'' in 1913. The revue sketches made light of London society at the time, with one sketch called "The Swiss Family Whittlebot" poking fun at

The Sitwells The Sitwells ( Edith Sitwell, Osbert Sitwell, Sacheverell Sitwell), from Scarborough, North Yorkshire, were three siblings who formed an identifiable literary and artistic clique around themselves in London in the period roughly 1916 to 1930. ...

, known for their avant-garde poetry and ideas. The revue was directed by

Herbert Mason Samuel George Herbert Mason (1891 – 20 May 1960) was a British film director, producer, stage actor, army officer, presenter of some revues, stage manager, stage director, choreographer, production manager and playwright.McFarlane, 2005, p. ...

; it opened at the

on 4 September 1923 and ran for 316 performances. The revue was twice revised during its run. Dorothy Clarke and

Joyce Barbour Joyce Barbour (1901–1977) was an English actress. She was the wife of the actor Richard Bird. Barbour was born in Birmingham on 27 March 1901 the daughter of Horace and Miriam Barbour, her father was an assurance clerk and later a hotel ...

replaced Lawrence and Molyneux for the second edition, starting on 1 December 1923. Coward provided two new numbers: "Temperamental honeymoon" (for himself) and "I prefer to be on the safe side" (for Barbour).Mander and Mitchenson, p. 77 For the third edition only Maisie Gay remained of the original stars. The new cast included Teddie Gerard, A. W. Baskomb and Lance Lister. Coward wrote two more new numbers: "When we were girls" (for Gay and Baskomb) and "A Spanish grandee" (for Gerard).

Original cast

alt=playbill for the show *

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 ...

Maisie Gay Maisie Ravier is a fictional character, the leading character of ten films (1939–1947) and the radio show ''The Adventures of Maisie'' (broadcast 1945–1947, 1949–1953). She was played by actress Ann Sothern (1909–2001). Eight of the ten ...

*Eileen Molyneux *Tubby Edlin (comedian) *

Jessie Matthews Jessie Margaret Matthews (11 March 1907 – 19 August 1981) was an English actress, dancer and singer of the 1920s and 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period. After a string of hit stage musicals and films in the mid-1930s, Ma ...

(chorine)

Songs

(In the order listed in ''The Lyrics of Noël Coward'', pp. 5–18): *"Tamarisk Town" (Coward) – Gertrude Lawrence *"Other Girls" (Coward) – Noël Coward and chorus *"When My Ship Comes Home" (Coward) *"Carrie" (Coward) – Gertrude Lawrence *"There's Life in the Old Girl Yet" (Coward) – Maisie Gay and chorus *"Russian Blues" (Coward) – Gertrude Lawrence and chorus *"Prenez Garde, Lisette" (Coward) – Maisie Gay *"Sentiment" (Philip Braham and Coward) – Noël Coward *"Parisian Pierrot" (Coward) – Gertrude Lawrence *"What Love Means to Girls Like Me" (Coward) – Maisie Gay *"When We Were Girls Together" (Coward) – Maisie Gay and chorus *"Spanish Grandee" (Coward) – Teddie Gerard and chorus Other numbers performed: *"Temperamental Honeymoon" (Coward) – Noël Coward and chorus *"You Were Meant for Me" (

Eubie Blake James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. In 1921, he and his long-time collaborator Noble Sissle wrote '' Shuffle Along'', one of the first B ...

and

Noble Sissle Noble Lee Sissle (July 10, 1889 – December 17, 1975) was an American jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer, and playwright, best known for the Broadway musical '' Shuffle Along'' (1921), and its hit song " I'm Just Wild About Harry". ...

) – sung as a final duet between Coward and Lawrence

Shadowgraph and connections with radio

The opening act of ''London Calling!'' utilised

Laurens Hammond Laurens Hammond (January 11, 1895 – July 1, 1973), was an American engineer and inventor. His inventions include the Hammond organ, the Hammond clock, and the world's first polyphonic musical synthesizer, the Novachord. Youth Laurens ...

's patented 3-D

process, which required the patrons to wear special colour-tinted glasses. American inventor Hammond had earlier developed a

Teleview Teleview was a system for projecting stereoscopic motion pictures invented by Laurens Hammond, best known as the inventor of the Hammond organ. It made its public debut on 27 December 1922 at the Selwyn Theatre in New York City, the only theater ...

sequential viewing system for use as part of the successful productions of the ''

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' was a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934 and 1936. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Follies of the ...

'' (1907–1931). Its use influenced producer André Charlot, who was in the United States at the time of the ''Follies'', to attempt something similar in Europe. Because the patent did not have immediate effect in foreign countries, Hammond was unable to collect any royalties from the production of ''London Calling!''. With the success of the show, Charlot became referred to as "the British Ziegfeld", a title he loathed.Kenrick, John
''History of the Musical Stage''
at Musicals101.com, The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, Film and Television Apart from the influence between productions on the use of shadowgraph, the first song title mentioning the medium of radio was in the ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1922''. The name of the song was "Listening on Some Radio". The phrase "London Calling!" was the call sign of

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering ...

in London (2LO), which also began transmitting in 1922.

Notes

References