Here are the details (swiped from
http://users.bestweb.net/~foosie/cyril.htm
) of the programme for the revue TO AND FRO - which opened at the Comedy Theatre and ran from November 26th to December 12th 1936. It was devised and largely written by Simon Carnes and Edgar Blatt. The ballet pieces were choreographed by Antony Tudor. The set designs were probably by Carnes but may have been by Sophie Fedorovitch as she was a close friend of Carnes (who is better known as Simon Fleet). Hugh Wade contributed the music to four songs, the most significant being “Haven’t Got A Heart”. This was sung by Hermione Baddeley and written by James Laver ( see
http://elvirabarney.wordpress.com/2011/12/20/james-laver-iconographer/
). It was the lament of a Bright Young Thing of 1926 – ten years on.
Hermione Baddeley in “To and Fro”
I will post separately on some of the cast as there are names here that should resonate more than they currently do. As an art form,the Revue, with its mixture of ballet, classical music, popular song and satire remains one of the most characteristic (and under-examined) aspects of inter-War West End culture. I would like to explore that further at some stage.
Lord Berners
For the time-being, note the presence of Lord Berners and Osbert Sitwell, the dancers Maude Lloyd and Hugh Laing, alongside stage and film stars such as Hermione Baddeley and Esme Percy. Hugh Wade’s participation runs counter to the image of him as completely marginal to the creative and culturally productive aspects of 1930s stage and theatrical life.
Antony Tudor and Hugh Laing ( by Carl Van Vechten 1940)
With such an array of talent, you may wonder why the show was so short-lived. Unfortunately, the running joke that linked the various songs and sketches was the affair between Edward the Eighth and Wallis Simpson. With Edward’s abdication on the 11th of December the project was doomed.
Finally, I can’t help wondering about the running time of these revues. There are 44 separate items plus an interval. The opening night show, and I think most of the subsequent ones, started at midnight. If you throw in an after-show drink at the Florida or the 400, it is no wonder so many reminiscences of the period recall returning home after the dawn.
| Title | Authors | Roles | Performers |
| Out of the Cage | Lyric by Edgar Blatt; music by Nat Ayer, Jr. | ||
| Jeunesses D’Orees | Diana Morrison, Joan Griffiths, Peggy Shingleton, Pat Hurren, Cyril Wells, Bobby Tranter, Peter Moyes | ||
| Fantasies | Towina Thomas, Sammy Samuels, Ella Marion, Trixie Scales, Mercy Carnell, Eva Thorn, Maisie Green, Betty Shepard, Biergit Nissen | ||
| By Day Animals–By Night Humans | Hermione Baddeley, Cyril Ritchard, Esme Percy, Viola Tree, Gerry Fitzgerald, Yvette Darnac, Maude Lloyd, Hugh Laing, Zoe Winn, Bill Kershaw and Entire Company | ||
| To and Fro | Lyrics by Edgar Blatt; music by nat Ayer, Jr. | The Entire Company; danced by Bobby Tranter and Cyril Wells | |
| The Gallery | Lyric by Simon Carnes; music by Nat Ayer, Jr. | A Social Artist | Billy Kershaw |
| Typist | Trixie Scales | ||
| Shop Girl | Towina Thomas | ||
| Titled Lady | Diana Morrison | ||
| Boy About Town | Peter Moyes | ||
| The Camera Never Lies | Simon Carnes | Compere | Cyril Ritchard |
| a | Joan Griffiths, Peggy Shingleton, Pat Hurren, Peter Moyes, Ian Hamilton-Smith | ||
| b | Cyril Ritchard | ||
| c | Viola Tree | ||
| Je T’aime (after Watteau) | Lyric by Edgar Blatt; music by Hugh Wade | Yvette Darnac | |
| At Any Dance | Arthur Watkyns | The Girl | Hermione Baddeley |
| The Boy | Cyril Wells | ||
| Caledonian Market | Lyric by Simon Carnes; music by Nat Ayer, Jr. | Viola Tree, Cyril Ritchard | |
| A French Lesson | Aubrey Ensor | Professor | Esme Percy |
| Mother | Diana Morrison | ||
| Daughter | Pat Hurren | ||
| Father | Cyril Wells | ||
| Maid | Peggy Shingleton | ||
| Grandfather | Peter Moyes | ||
| Waiting for Twilight to Fall | Lyric by Edgar Blatt; music by Nat Ayer, Jr. | Sung by | Gerry Fitzgerald |
| Ballerina | Maude Lloyd | ||
| Peggy Shingleton, Joan Griffith, Cyril Wells, Peter Moyes, Ian Hamilton-Smith and The Girls | |||
| Learning Dramatic Art | Simon Carnes & Edgar Blatt; music by Nat Ayer, Jr. | Compere | Viola Tree |
| Hermione Baddeley, Cyril Ritchard | |||
| Goodbye Romance | Simon Carnes; lyric by Edgar Blatt; music by Hugh Wade | The Girl | Hermione Baddeley |
| The Professor | Esme Percy | ||
| Play Like I Like It | Lyric by Edgar Blatt; music by Nat Ayer, Jr. | Zoe Wynn, Cyril Wells, Bobby Tranter | |
| Literary Widows | Herbert Farjeon; music by Walter Leigh | Viola Tree, Yvette Darnac, Hermione Baddeley | |
| Wreckage | Edgar Blatt | She | Zoe Wynn |
| He | Cyril Ritchard | ||
| Artists’ Model | Yates Mason; music by Geoffrey Wright | Hermione Baddeley | |
| Prelude | Lord Berners | She | Maud Lloyd |
| He | Hugh Laing | ||
| Duchesses | The Girls | ||
| Art Knows No Nationality | Osbert Sitwell | The Impresario | Esme Percy |
| The Artist | Viola Tree | ||
| Haven’t Got a Heart | Lyric by James Laver; music by Hugh Wade | Hermione Baddeley | |
| Political Hot-Pot | Simon Carnes | ||
| Celebrated Empires | Egypt | Peggy Shingleton | |
| Greece | Joan Griffiths | ||
| China | Diana Morrison | ||
| Rome | Pat Hurren | ||
| Commissionaire | Bobby Tranter | ||
| Pine for Peace | The Boy | Peter Moyes | |
| The Girl | Zoe Wynn | ||
| Old Tree | Esme Percy | ||
| Young Tree | Cyril Wells | ||
| Selling the Earth | The Auctioneer | Gerry Fitzgerald | |
| A Foreign Lady | Diana Morrison | ||
| A Bidder | Alan Davis | ||
| On the Battlefield, tra-la | Simon Carnes & Edgar Blatt; music by Nat Ayer, Jr. | 1st General | Esme Percy |
| 2nd General | Cyril Ritchard | ||
| Referee | Billy Kershaw | ||
| Followers | Cyril Wells, Bobby Tranter, Peter Moyes, Ian Hamilton-Smith | ||
| Russiska | Yvette Darnac | ||
| Vivandieres | Zoe Wynn, Towina Thomas | ||
| A Milk Maid | Hermione Baddeley | ||
| A Crooner | Gerry Fitzgerald | ||
| International Rhythm | Lyric by Eric Blatt; music by Nat Ayer, Jr. | Gerry Fitzgerald and Entire Company | |
|
Interval |
|||
| I’m Going to Challenge You | Lyric by Edgar Blatt; music by Nat Ayer, Jr. | Zoe Wynn, Peggy Shingleton, Joan Griffiths, Diana Morrison and the Girls | |
| I’ve Balanced My Budget | Lyric by Edgar Blatt; music by nat Ayer, Jr. | Billy Kershaw | |
| The Party Spirit | Edgar Blatt & J.M. Griffith | Hilda Higgins | Viola Tree |
| Alfred Higgins | Cyril Ritchard | ||
| Ernest | Hermione Baddeley | ||
| I’m On My Own | Lyric by Edgar Blatt; music by Nat Ayer, Jr. | Yvette Darnac | |
| Dancers: | Maude Lloyd, Hugh Laing and The Girls | ||
| Ridiculous Days | Simon Carnes | Mr. Biggleswade | Esme Percy |
| Mrs. Biggleswade | Viola Tree | ||
| The Big Black Horse | Lyrics by Edgar Blatt & Simon Carnes; music by Leslie Southgate | The Girl and Chatterton | Hermione Baddeley |
| The Landlady of To-day | Pat Hurren | ||
| The Landlady of Yesterday | Viola Tree | ||
| Sir Horace Walpole | Esme Percy | ||
| Member of the Book Society | Cyril Ritchard | ||
| Song of the Book Society | Herbert Farjeon | Hermione Baddeley, Cyril Ritchard, Esme Percy, Viola Tree, Pat Hurren | |
| Reprise–Play Like I Like It | |||
| Surrealists | Archie Campbell in conjunction with Simon Carnes & Edgar Blatt | The Mother | Viola Tree |
| A Person | Ian Hamilton-Smith | ||
| An Artist | Cyril Wells | ||
| The Daughter | Hermione Baddeley | ||
| A Thing | Bobby Tranter | ||
| Symphonie Russe | Music by Prokokief; suggested by Sophie Fedorovitch | Maud Lloyd, Hugh Laing and The Girls | |
| Entrancing Dancing | Simon Carnes; music by Leonard Blackett | The Maestro | Esme Percy |
| The Woman of the Plains | Cyril Ritchard | ||
| The Sower | Cyril Wells | ||
| Let’s Take A Chance | Lyric by Edgar Blatt; music by Hugh Wade | Gerry Fitzgerald, Zoe Wynn, Billy Kershaw, Trixie Scales, Bobby Tranter, Towina Thomas | |
| Something in the Movies | Lyric by Gerrard Bryan; music by Nat Ayer, Jr. | Cyril Ritchard | |
| Girl Guides | Aubrey Ensor; music by Michael Sayer | Miss Simpson | Viola Tree |
| Daphne Davies | Hermione Baddeley | ||
| The Bishop | Osbert Sitwell | Esme Percy | |
| Compere | Cyril Ritchard | ||
| Flats | Simon Carnes & Viola Tree | ||
| The Bells Will Ring | Lyric by Edgar Blatt; music by Nat Ayer, Jr. | Cyril Ritchard, Zoe Wynn, Towina Thomas and Entire Company | |
3 Trackbacks / Pingbacks for this entry:
[...] Wade worked on two projects with the lyricist Edgar Blatt. One was the Revue , To and Fro (see http://elvirabarney.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/to-and-fro-1936-hugh-wade-and-the-perils-of-the-topical… ), and the other was a song for a film. The film was “The Tenth Man” directed by Brian [...]
[...] the Revue To and Fro see http://elvirabarney.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/to-and-fro-1936-hugh-wade-and-the-perils-of-the-topical… Like this:LikeBe the first to like this post. Tags: Lady Juliet Duff, Nicky Haslam, Simon [...]
[...] Hermione Baddeley was at the heart of Bright Young society. Her husband was David Tennant, owner of the Gargoyle Club and she had a deep animosity towards Brenda Dean Paul and Harry Rowan Walker, from the raffish end of the set (both of whom were likely associates of Elvira). She was the star of the Revue that Hugh Wade was most involved with ( see http://elvirabarney.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/to-and-fro-1936-hugh-wade-and-the-perils-of-the-topical… ) [...]