King's Rhapsody
{{for|the film|King's Rhapsody (film)}}
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File:King's_Rhapsody_(1949_stage_musical).jpg, 1949]]
King's Rhapsody is a musical with book and music by Ivor Novello and lyrics by Christopher Hassall.
The musical was first produced at the Palace Theatre, London, on 15 September 1949 and ran for 841 performances, surviving its author, who died in 1951.{{cite news|title=Ivor Novello, master of the musical|url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2012/aug/03/ivor-novello-musicals-simon-callow|accessdate=4 August 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|date=3 August 2012|author=Simon Callow|author-link=Simon Callow}} It starred Novello in the title role of the heir to the throne under pressure from his long-lived mother, Queen Elana, to abdicate in favour of his infant son, with Phyllis Dare as his mistress Marta Karillos, Zena Dare as Queen Elana, Vanessa Lee as Princess Cristiane, Robert Andrews as Vanescu, and Olive Gilbert as Countess Vera.
A 1955 film adaptation was made, starring Errol Flynn.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmovie.com/movie/kings-rhapsody-v27464|title=King's Rhapsody (1955) - Herbert Wilcox - Synopsis, Characteristics, Moods, Themes and Related - AllMovie|website=AllMovie}}
Musical numbers
- The Dancing Lesson
- Birthday Greetings
- Someday My Heart Will Awake
- National Anthem
- Fly Home, Little Heart
- Mountain Dove
- If This Were Love
- The Mayor of Perpignan
- The Gates of Paradise
- Take Your Girl
- The Violin Began to Play
- Muranian Rhapsody (Ballet)
- Coronation Hymn
- The Years Together, theme from the score, used as a number in the film version.
Original Production
The production opened at the Palace Theatre, London, on 15 September 1949 and ran for 841 performances. It was directed by Murray MacDonald, with the following cast:
- Princess Cristiane – Vanessa Lee
- Countess Vera Lemainken, her companion – Olive Gilbert
- King Peter of Norseland, Cristiane's father – Victor Bogetti
- Princesses Kirsten and Hulda, Cristiane's little cousins – Pamela Harrington and Wendy Warren
- Marta Karillos – Phyllis Dare
- Queen Elana of Murania – Zena Dare
- Prime Minister Vanescu – Robert Andrews
- Nikki – Ivor Novello
- Jules, Nikki's valet – Michael Anthony
- Count Egon Stanieff, of the Royal Guard – Denis Martin
- Countess Olga Varsov, a lady in waiting – Anne Pinder
- Madame Koska, a modest – Jaqueline Le Geyt
- Mr. Trontzen, a dance master – John Palmer
- Major Domo – Eric Sutherland
- Manservant – Harry Fergusson
- Tormas – Gordon Duttson
- Boy King – John Young
- Chorus of Norseland village peasants, mannequins, serenaders, palace guards and servants, courtiers, members of the Muranian Royal Ballet Company, and people of Murania.
The dancers were played by the Pauline Grant Ballet.{{cite web|url=http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_k/kings_rhapsody.htm|title=King's Rhapsody |website=The Guide to Musical Theatre|access-date=16 March 2018}}
Critical reception
In The Observer, Ivor Brown was of the opinion that Novello, "can with his tranquility stand up to all the bounding Oklahomans and Brigadooners in the world"; and in The Sunday Times, Harold Hobson considered it "a better musical than South Pacific."{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dI84DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA57 |title=Popular Modernism and Its Legacies: From Pop Literature to Video Games| first=Scott|last=Ortolano|date=14 December 2017|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|isbn=978-1501325120|via=Google Books}}
Adaptations
The musical was novelised in 1950 by Hester W. Chapman.Chapman, Hester W. King's Rhapsody, Houghton Mifflin (1951) ASIN: B0006ASO66 The 1955 British film version was directed by Herbert Wilcox, and starred Errol Flynn as Nikki and Anna Neagle as his mistress. A condensed 45-minute version, taken from the film's soundtrack, was broadcast as a BBC Radio play in September 1955.{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/a4c906faea9049a1bde6ef90fa0a7086|title=King's Rhapsody radio adaptation (1955)|website=BBC Genome|date=24 September 1955 }}
The piece was produced for BBC Radio in 1950,{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/89eaf1ae75a4444496adc9b716b3b677|title=On Stage, London: King's Rhapsody (1950)|website=BBC Genome|date=13 October 1950 }} 1951,{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/ead362a7dfc74d6da59969a48c0d243a|title=King's Rhapsody (1951)|website=BBC Genome|date=26 December 1951 }} 1968{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/710924f3009e46458044c12f27e24d92|title=King's Rhapsody (1968)|website=BBC Genome|date=14 December 1968 }} and 1993 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Novello's birth.{{cite web|url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/718a2c2b5b1846a590dbf07d087ba4d5|title=King's Rhapsody (1993)|website=BBC Genome|date=28 August 1993 }}
A television version was broadcast in 1957 by the BBC, who (according to the Radio Times) "ingeniously cut the three and a quarter hours of the original action to an hour and a half." Vanessa Lee reprised her role of Princess Cristiane from the original stage production, and Griffith Jones played Nikki, with Margot Grahame as his mistress.{{cite web|url=http://bufvc.ac.uk/screenplays/index.php/prog/345|title=King's Rhapsody · British Universities Film & Video Council|website=bufvc.ac.uk}}
Further reading
- Traubner, Richard. Operetta: A Theatrical History (2003), Routledge {{ISBN|0-415-96641-8}}
References
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External links
- [https://theatricalia.com/play/3s4/kings-rhapsody King's Rhapsody] at Theatricalia
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20011030075712/http://members.aol.com/Novello/Musicals.html Ivor Novello Musicals] (archived)
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20060528001806/http://www.bmtg.org.uk:80/rhapsody.php King's Rhapsody] at [https://bmtg.org.uk/ Beeston Musical Theatre Group] (archived)
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