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Decent Quality Since 1847

H.G. Wells, That Musical Comedy Man

8/19/2013

9 Comments

 
H.G. Wells was known for his often dark, frightening, futuristic, sci-fi novels, like The War of the Worlds, The Time Machine and The Invisible Man.  So, it's a bit odd to think of him in terms of the tap-tap-tapping your troubles away world of musical comedy.  Yet there are two musicals (that I know of) based on his novels.

One of them, in fact, was a huge hit, Half a Sixpence.  Based on his novel, Kipps, it told a story of class structure and social mores, a topic dear to his heart, following the life of Arthur Kipps, a lower-class orphan who later in life inherits a fortune.  With a score by David Heneker, iIt opened in London's West End and starred a young rock-n-roll star, Tommy Steele.  He brought the show over the U.S., where it played on Broadway for 511 performances, starred in the Hollywood adaptation and became an international star.

But there's also another, far lesser-known show based on a novel by H.G. Wells.  It never made it to the U.S., but did play in London in 1969, Ann Veronica.  The story is one of women's emancipation around the turn of the century (Wells was an ardent feminist), as a young girl wants to make her way in the world and rebels against her Edwardian father.
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I came across Ann Veronica because the music is by Cyril Ornadel, who wrote one of my favorite shows, the oft-mentioned here Pickwick (which starred the even more oft-mentioned Harry Secombe).  So, my research turned it up, and after quite a bit of searching tracked it down.  The score isn't terrible distinguished -- the lyrics are by David Croft -- through there are several songs which are enjoyable.  The title song is very affectionate, and this song, "They Can't Keep Us Down," is a rousing production number, performed by the wonderful Hy Hazell, a sort of Ethel Merman-like performer who I've written about in the past and embedded one of her songs here.  (To make things a complete circle, one of her shows that I wrote about and also saw her in was the very long-running Charlie Girl -- which has a score co-written by the above-mentioned David Heneker.)  In the title role is a young actress named Mary Millar, who alas I can't tell you anything about.

And so, get in your time machine and return to 1908 London, and the musical comedy stylings of H.G. Wells.
9 Comments
Joseph Finlay
1/19/2014 07:10:33 pm

I would really love to hear the rest of Anna Veronica - it sounds great fun. Might you be willing to share the recording with me?

Reply
Joseph Finlay
1/19/2014 07:29:37 pm

Sorry Ann Veronica. I'm reading the novel at the moment, would love to hear the songs!

Reply
Robert Elisberg
1/19/2014 11:53:18 pm

Alas, the score really isn't that good. There are a few nice things, but overall it's pretty plain. As for sharing a copy -- I suspect you did a search for "Ann Veronica" and found this site. If not, and you've been reading it, you no doubt have seen that I'm in the midst of a deeply annoying bed bug issue. Thankfully it's on the way to resolution, but I'm still in the midst of a madhouse. So, I'm not in a position to do much of anything for anyone, least of all myself...

Reply
Carey Snyder
9/25/2014 01:05:27 am

I would be obliged if you could post Ann's songs--"A Whole Person" and "If I Should Lose You". I'm editing an cultural studies edition of Wells's novel, and I'd like to refer to the musical lyrics, but can't get my hands on them.
Thanks!

Reply
Robert Elisberg
9/25/2014 01:49:19 am

Carey, thanks much for your note. I'm happy to oblige. I'll get the two songs posted here hopefully in the next day or two. Definitely by the end of the weekend. Best wishes with the book.

Reply
Carey Snyder
10/8/2014 11:43:58 pm

I was wondering if you'd be able to post those other songs. Thanks!
Carey

Reply
Robert Elsiberg
10/9/2014 12:48:57 am

Carey, for future reference, there is a Search box which will help one find things here. But the shorter answer is, "yes," they were posted, and the direct link is --
http://www.elisbergindustries.com/blog/the-return-of-hg-wells-musical-comedy-man

Reply
Maria MacDonell
9/18/2016 02:46:39 am

My 94 year old mother recalls being in a west end production of Ann Veronica with Wendy Hiller perhaps just after the war

Reply
Robert Elisberg
9/18/2016 09:47:58 am

Maria, thanks for that. It's impressive on a lot of levels. (For those without their programs at hand, among a great many things Wendy Hiller was George Bernard Shaw's recommendation to star as Eliza Doolittle in the film version of "Pygmalion.")

Reply



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    Author

    Robert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 

    Elisberg is a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting. He's written for film, TV, the stage, and two best-selling novels, is a regular columnist for the Writers Guild of America and was for
    the Huffington Post.  Among his other writing, he has a long-time column on technology (which he sometimes understands), and co-wrote a book on world travel.  As a lyricist, he is a member of ASCAP, and has contributed to numerous publications.



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