''The Good Companions'' is a

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

with a book by

Ronald Harwood Sir Ronald Harwood ( né Horwitz; 9 November 1934 – 8 September 2020) was a South African-born British author, playwright, and screenwriter, best known for his plays for the British stage as well as the screenplays for ''The Dresser'' (for w ...

, music by

André Previn André George Previn (; born Andreas Ludwig Priwin; April 6, 1929 – February 28, 2019) was a German-American pianist, composer, and conductor. His career had three major genres: Hollywood films, jazz, and classical music. In each he achieved ...

, and lyrics by

Johnny Mercer John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallich ...

. It is based on the 1929 novel of the same title by

J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley (; 13 September 1894 – 14 August 1984) was an English novelist, playwright, screenwriter, broadcaster and social commentator. His Yorkshire background is reflected in much of his fiction, notably in ''The Good Compa ...

Plot

The plot focuses on the trials and tribulations of a touring concert party known as the Dinky-Doos who are stranded in the English countryside when their manager absconds with the most recent box-office revenue and the lady pianist. Jess Oakroyd, an amiable man who has abandoned his shrewish wife, endears himself to the company with his homespun advice, and they invite him to join them as a carpenter, baggage handler, and

dogsbody A dogsbody, dog's body, or less commonly dog robber is someone who does menial or drudge work.''Oxford English Dictionary'', 3rd edition, 2010''s.v.''/ref> Originally, in the British Royal Navy, a dogsbody was a semi-sarcastic colloquialism for a ...

. Elizabeth Trant comes to their rescue when she decides to use her inheritance to finance the troupe and escape from her boring life in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

. Because of his habit of playing the piano late at night, songwriter Inigo Jollifant has been fired from his position at the Washbury Manor School in

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

, and he replaces the concert party's recently departed pianist, bringing with him banjo player and

illusionist Magic, which encompasses the subgenres of illusion, stage magic, and close up magic, among others, is a performing art in which audiences are entertained by tricks, effects, or illusions of seemingly impossible feats, using natural means. It ...

Morton Mitcham. As Miss Trant slowly achieves managerial authority, she encourages the troupe – which includes

comedian A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing Amusement is the state of experiencing humorous and entertaining events or situations while the person or a ...

Susie Dean and singer Jerry Jerningham – to change its name to The Good Companions. The group continue their tour and eventually arrive at the Sandybay Pavilion, where they play to a full house when a storm forces passersby to seek shelter in the theatre. Their success leads Inigo to contact a music publisher, who buys his songs and arranges for an

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

to see The Good Companions in Sandybay. The producer signs Susie and Jerry for his new revue, and he secures the remaining members of the company bookings in high class towns like

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

. In the end, Miss Trant marries her

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

, Susie heads to the West End, Inigo makes a fortune with his music, and Jess Oakroyd departs for

Ontario, Canada Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

to visit his daughter.

Productions

After a tryout in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, ''The Good Companions'' opened on July 11, 1974 at

Her Majesty's Theatre Her Majesty's Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Haymarket, London, Haymarket in the City of Westminster, London. The present building was designed by Charles J. Phipps and was constructed in 1897 for actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree, ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and ran for 252 performances. The cast included

John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...

as Jess Oakroyd,

Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...

as Elizabeth Trant,

Christopher Gable Christopher Michael Gable, CBE (13 March 194023 October 1998) was an English ballet dancer, choreographer and actor. Life and career Dance career Born in London, Gable studied at the Royal Ballet School, joining the Sadler's Wells Royal Ba ...

as Inigo Jollifant,

Marti Webb Marti Webb (born 13 December 1943) is an English actress and singer, who appeared on stage in ''Evita (musical), Evita'', before starring in Andrew Lloyd Webber's one-woman show ''Tell Me on a Sunday'' in 1980. This included her biggest hit si ...

as Susie Dean, Malcolm Rennie as Morton Mitcham, and Ray C. Davis as Jerry Jerningham. Webb replaced

Celia Bannerman Celia Bannerman (born 3 June 1944) is an English actress and director. Career Bannerman was born at Abingdon, Oxfordshire, and trained at the London Drama Centre. She started her professional career with Ralph Richardson as Dolly in Bernard S ...

at short notice during the Manchester tryout when it was decided that Bannerman's singing voice wasn't up to the part. The score was orchestrated by

Herbert W. Spencer Herbert Winfield Spencer (April 7, 1905 – September 18, 1992) was a Chilean-born American film and television composer and orchestrator. Spencer gained industry fame when he teamed up with fellow 20th Century Fox orchestrator Earle Hagen ...

and

Angela Morley Angela Morley (10 March 192414 January 2009) was an English composer and conductor who became a familiar household name to BBC Radio listeners in the 1950s. She attributed her entry into composing and arranging largely to the influence and en ...

. An

original cast album A cast recording is a recording of a stage musical that is intended to document the songs as they were performed in the show and experienced by the audience. An original cast recording or OCR, as the name implies, features the voices of the sho ...

was released on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then rele ...

by DRG in September 1992. The concept of a concert party was foreign to American audiences, and a non-musical stage adaptation of the Priestley novel had closed on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

after only 68 performances in 1931 so, despite the popularity of the Previn/Mercer score, it was decided not to open a production in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. When a proposed West End revival failed to materialize, Warner-Chappell London grante
42nd Street Moon
a

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

company whose mission is to present staged concert revivals of "lost" musicals, the rights to present the American premiere of ''The Good Companions'', which it did in August 2000. Mercer and

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

made two recordings of songs from the musical in October 1974.

Musical numbers

;Act One *Goodbye ..... The Dinky-Doos *Camaraderie ..... The Dinky-Doos *Bruddersford ..... Jess and His Friends :All Mucked Up :The Pools :Aye, Lad *Footloose :The Great North Road ..... Jess :Fancy Free ..... Miss Trant :On My Way ..... Inigo *Pleasure of Your Company ..... Morton and Inigo *Stage Struck ..... Susie *Dance of Life ..... Miss Trant *Pleasure of Your Company (Reprise) ..... Inigo *The Pools (Reprise) ..... Jess *Good Companions .... Morton, Inigo, and the Good Companions ;Act Two *Slippin' Around the Corner ..... Jerry *A Little Travelling Music ..... The Company *And Points Beyond ..... Jess and the Company *Darkest Before the Dawn ..... Miss Trant *Goodbye (Reprise) ..... The Good Companions *Susie for Everybody ..... Susie and Inigo *Ta, Luv ..... Jess *I'll Tell the World ..... Susie, Jerry, and Inigo *Stage Door John ..... Susie *Ta, Luv (Reprise) ..... Susie and Jess *Good Companions (Reprise) ..... The Good Companions

References

External links

''The Good Companions'' at JohnnyMercer.comOvrtur.com Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Good Companions 1974 musicals West End musicals Musicals based on novels Musicals by Johnny Mercer Compositions by André Previn