GAY'S THE WORD Book and music by Ivor Novello. Lyrics by Alan Melville Premiered at the Palace Theatre, Manchester - 17 October 1950 Transferred to the Saville Theatre 16 February, 1951 (504 perfs.) Gay's The Word is really a series of set pieces linked with dialogue and sub plot. THE STORY Gay Daventry is to bring a musical to London but which, in the event, it turns out to be a flop. It was a "Novello-type" musical and the author-composer started the show with a satire on his own work. After a Novello love song, Gay leaves the theatre to muse on the show's unlikely prospects. The ingénue of the show offers Gay £2000 to set up a drama school which she does - in Folkestone. A subplot follows the fortunes of a couple of smugglers who are anxious to use the school as a front for their operations. Teaching her students ballet, Gay drums into her pupils the recipe for success is "Vitality". Act 2 takes place as the end-of-term show at the Town Hall. The school's dance teacher having resigned means that Gay has to go on stage as a Greek dancer. Other scenes include an auction scene in which Gay, disguised as an auctioneer sells off the contents of her basement, including a trunk used by the smugglers to conceal their contraband. The final scene is the new show which gets Gay and her pupils back on to the professional stage. CAST: Prince Rosetta` Gay Daventry Stage Door Keeper Mrs Cheadle Peter Lynton Monica Stevens Birdie Wentworth Madame Nicolini Margaret Fallowfield Pierre Silvano Sir Claude Burton Plus Chorus MUSICAL NUMBERS 1. Ruritania - The Boys 2. Everything Reminds Me Of You - Prince, Linda and Chorus 3. Guards On Parade - Gay and Boys 4. It's Bound To Be Right On The Night - Gay 5. Father Thames - Madame Nicolini and Students 6. Finder, Please Return - Linda 7. An Englishman In Love - Peter 8. If Only He'D Looked My Way - Gay
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