''The Great Big Radio Show!'' is a

musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...

, with music and lyrics by

Philip Glassborow Philip Glassborow is a playwright, lyricist and composer who writes for theatre, radio and television. His best-known theatre musical is The Great Big Radio Show! (music and lyrics) with book in collaboration with Nick McIvor, which was premiered ...

. Piano arrangements and dance music are by David Rhind-Tutt. Book is by Philip Glassborow with Nick McIvor.

Synopsis

"''Radio Show'' takes place in 1933, in the Radio Building, New York, and the big Saturday night broadcast is just about to go on the air, live. It’s the Great Big Radio Show, a weekly variety program starring Gloria Pilbeam. The only trouble is—she can’t be found. Bandleader Blue Woodward has to find a replacement while the show is actually on the air... without letting the sponsor know what’s going on... and in spite of some desperate hoodlums in the studio."

Production history

In 1989, the show won a special prize in the

Vivian Ellis Vivian John Herman Ellis, CBE (29 October 1903 – 19 June 1996) was an English musical comedy composer best known for the song "Spread a Little Happiness" and the theme " Coronation Scot". Life and work Ellis was born in Hampstead, London in ...

Awards, a contest established by the UK

Performing Right Society PRS for Music Limited (formerly The MCPS-PRS Alliance Limited) is a British music copyright collective, made up of two collection societies: the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) and the Performing Right Society (PRS). It undertake ...

to promote achievement in British musical theater, and to honor the composer of West End hits such as Mr Cinders and Bless The Bride. The Awards panel included

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

, Don Black,

Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "th ...

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

and

Sheridan Morley Sheridan Morley (5 December 1941 − 16 February 2007) was an English author, biographer, critic and broadcaster. He was the official biographer of Sir John Gielgud and wrote biographies of many other theatrical figures he had known, includin ...

. Veteran songwriter Vivian Ellis himself publicly declared it “a musical to fall in love with" After the Ellis Awards, ''Radio Show'' was one of seven musicals selected from a field of 491 for a workshop as part of the inaugural season of the UK Quest for New Musicals. Andrew Lloyd Webber was Patron of the Quest and

Richard Stilgoe Sir Richard Henry Simpson Stilgoe (born 28 March 1943) is a British songwriter, lyricist and musician, and broadcaster who is best known for his humorous songs and frequent television appearances. His output includes collaborations with Andrew ...

was its director. The workshop culminated in a staged reading at Buxton Opera House directed and choreographed by Angela Hardcastle, starring Paul Jones,

Elizabeth Counsell Elizabeth Counsell (born 7 June 1942) is an English actress, best known for starring in the BBC television series ''Brush Strokes'', and for her work in classical theatre. Career She played Lady Macbeth to Michael Gambon's Macbeth at the Foru ...

and Peter Goodwright. At that point, the musical came to the attention of Jill Fraser, Artistic and Executive Director of the

Watermill Theatre The Watermill Theatre is a repertory theatre in Bagnor, Berkshire. It opened in 1967 in Bagnor Mill, a converted watermill on the River Lambourn. As a producing house, the theatre has produced works that have subsequently moved on to the West E ...

in Newbury, Berkshire. Although small, the Watermill is one of the UK's most prominent regional stages. The company nurtured several new musicals before mounting a renowned series of revivals under director/designer John Doyle. For her 1993 Fall Season, Fraser produced the professional premiere of ''Radio Show'', again directed by Hardcastle and featuring many of the Buxton cast.

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

and

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

acclaimed the show and critic

(one of the Ellis Awards judges) reviewed it for the International Herald Tribune. He praised the musical as “an immensely loving and knowledgeable parody of the big-band shows of American airwaves”. The sold-out run of ''Radio Show'' at the Watermill raised expectations of a West End transfer, and veteran producer Harold Fielding optioned the rights. Fielding, whose successes included

Half a Sixpence ''Half a Sixpence'' is a 1963 musical comedy based on the 1905 novel ''Kipps'' by H. G. Wells, with music and lyrics by David Heneker and a book by Beverley Cross. It was written as a vehicle for British pop star Tommy Steele. Background ...

on Broadway and in the West End, was in his seventies at the time; sadly, soon after acquiring the rights, he became ill and production plans were suspended. For a number of years, ''Radio Show'' lay fallow as Fielding, though in decline, continued exercising his options. In Fall 2005, the musical was presented off-Broadway by the York Theatre Company in their Musicals in Mufti series, produced by James Morgan. The director was David Glenn Armstrong and the stellar cast included Nancy Anderson, Ed Dixon,

Tyler Maynard Tyler Maynard (born September 27, 1978) is an American stage and film actor. He is best known for playing Mark in the 2005 musical ''Altar Boyz'', for which he won a Theatre World Award and received a nomination for a Drama Desk Award. Biography ...

Seth Rudetsky Seth Dennis Rudetsky (born February 28, 1967) is an American musician, actor, writer and radio host. He currently is the host of ''Seth's Big Fat Broadway'' and ''Seth Speaks'' on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio's '' On Broadway''. The show focuses on R ...

David Staller David Staller (born November 16, 1955) is an American theatre director and actor. He is the founding artistic director of the Off-Broadway theatre company, Gingold Theatrical Group. Early life Staller was born in Glencoe, Illinois. He attende ...

and Lynne Wintersteller. “Manhattan, of course, is the native turf of the musical comedies that ''Radio Show'' is spoofing. It’s tempting to reach for a wisecrack about carrying coals to Newcastle; but audiences are likely to find that this heartfelt musical comedy feels right at home in the hometown of Rodgers and Hart.”Charles Wright, York Theatre program note, October 2005

Musical Numbers

*Overture *Unmistakably *She Ain't Here Yet *Surprises *Nourishvite Jingle *No Matter What *Where Have I Seen You Before? *Pretty As A Picture *Suddenly I'm Singing *You Came By *I Felt Myself Falling *Then I Bumped into You *You Take My Breath Away *Your Turn For A Rainbow *The Balalaika *Tomorrow Is Another Day *Me And My Stradivarius

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Great Big Radio Show Off-Broadway musicals 1993 musicals British musicals