''Where the Rainbow Ends'' is a children's play, originally written for Christmas 1911 by

Clifford Mills Clifford Mills (aka Emlie Clifford, née Bennet) (1863–1933) was a British playwright, best known for the plays ''Where the Rainbow Ends'' and '' The Luck of the Navy.'' Career Mills's real name was Emlie (aka Emilie) Clifford. She adopted the ...

and John Ramsey. The

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

was composed by

Roger Quilter Roger Cuthbert Quilter (1 November 1877 – 21 September 1953) was a British composer, known particularly for his art songs. His songs, which number over a hundred, often set music to text by William Shakespeare and are a mainstay of the En ...

. ''Where the Rainbow Ends'' is a fantasy story which follows the journey of four children, two girls, two boys and a pet lion cub in search of their parents. Travelling on a magic carpet they face various dangers on their way to rescue their parents and are guarded and helped by

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldier ...

. The rainbow story is a symbol of hope with its magic carpet of faith and its noble hero St. George of England in shining armour ready now, as in olden times, to fight and conquer the dragon of evil. Most of the story is set in ‘Rainbow Land’ complete with talking animals, mythical creatures and even a white witch.

First production

The first performance took place at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy Pala ...

, London, 21 December 1911. The play starred

Reginald Owen John Reginald Owen (5 August 1887 – 5 November 1972) was a British actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American films and television programs. Career The son of Joseph and Frances Owen, Reginald Owen studied at Sir Herbert ...

as St. George of England and

Lydia Bilbrook Lydia Bilbrook (6 May 1888 – 4 January 1990; sometimes credited as Bilbrooke) was an English actress whose career spanned four decades, first as a stage performer in the West End, and later in films. Bilbrook made her first stage appearan ...

as well as a cast of 45 children. The children in the cast included a 12-year-old

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

as well as

Esmé Wynne-Tyson Esmé Wynne-Tyson (29 June 1898 – 17 January 1972) was an English actress, writer and philosopher. As a child she acted in West End plays, and became a close friend, confidante, and collaborator of Noël Coward. She left the stage in 1920 a ...

Hermione Gingold Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold (; 9 December 189724 May 1987) was an English actress known for her sharp-tongued, eccentric character. Her signature drawling, deep voice was a result of nodules on her vocal cords she developed in the 1920s and e ...

and

Philip Tonge Philip Asheton Tonge (26 April 1897 – 28 January 1959) was an English actor. Born into a theatrical family, he was a child actor, making his stage debut at the age of five. Among the stars with whom he performed while he was a boy were Henry I ...

. In the first few years many future stars performed in the play including

Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence (4 July 1898 – 6 September 1952) was an English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End of London and on Broadway in New York. Early life Lawrence was born Gertr ...

Nora Swinburne Leonora Mary Johnson (24 July 1902 – 1 May 2000), known professionally as Nora Swinburne, was an English people, English actress who appeared in many Cinema of the United Kingdom, British films. Early years Swinburne was born in Bath, Somer ...

Jack Hawkins John Edward Hawkins, CBE (14 September 1910 – 18 July 1973) was an English actor who worked on stage and in film from the 1930s until the 1970s. One of the most popular British film stars of the 1950s, he was known for his portrayal of mili ...

and

Brian Aherne William Brian de Lacy Aherne (2 May 190210 February 1986) was an English actor of stage, screen, radio and television, who enjoyed a long and varied career in Britain and the United States. His first Broadway appearance in ''The Barretts of W ...

. The play was originally produced by Charles Hawtrey with the children acquired and managed by Italia Conti who in future years produced the show. Charles Hawtrey had left Italia Conti to her own devices to prepare the play but he did not realise how much music Roger Quilter was writing until the first rehearsal that he attended. He expressed fears that it seemed to be an opera rather than a play. It is a substantial play in four acts (for a time rearranged into three without losing any of the material). After the success of Rainbow, the children wanted Conti to continue to work with them, and so the

Italia Conti Academy The Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts is a performing arts conservatoire based in Woking, England. It was founded in 1911 by Italia Conti, an actress. The first production at Italia Conti Academy was the play ''Where the Rainbow Ends''. For ...

was born and, with only an occasional exception, she gave up her acting career for it.

Reception

The play was very well received. A review in ''

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'' (fou ...

'' described it as "masterly", "marvellously trained crowds of little folk-dancers", "the score has tune and dramatic meaning", and "answers its purpose very well". ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' said of the opening night that "the reception could not have been more enthusiastic". The play with music was performed professionally every year for 49 years (except for two years) including during the two World Wars. Despite the financial success of the show, and the capacity houses, it became difficult to find a theatre in which to stage the production. The last professional production was at the Granada Theatre, Sutton, in Surrey, in the 1959-60 season, with

Anton Dolin Anton Dolin may refer to: * Anton Dolin (ballet dancer) Sir Anton Dolin (27 July 190425 November 1983) was an English ballet dancer and choreographer. Biography Dolin was born in Slinfold in Sussex as Sydney Francis Patrick Chippendall Healey ...

taking the part of St. George. The show was for years part of the regular Christmas scene. After its last professional season it has been performed regularly by amateur groups.

Music

Roger Quilter's "Where the Rainbow Ends" suite was performed at the 1912

Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

on 26 September 1912. The music became known throughout the whole world through the medium of the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

who were constantly broadcasting it on the radio. On 23 December 1937, the 11-year-old Princess Elizabeth was taken by Queen Elizabeth to see a performance of ''Where the Rainbow Ends'' at The Holborn Empire, London. The Queen and Princess rose with the audience and the actors and joined in singing the National Anthem with a new specially written Rainbow verse that had been written for them.

Other versions

After "Where the Rainbow Ends" was first staged, Clifford Mills turned the story into a novel, which saw a number of editions. In 1921 the play was made into a film, directed by

Horace Lisle Lucoque Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 – 27 November 8 BC), known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The rhetorician Quintilian regarded his ' ...

. It was one of

Roger Livesey Roger Livesey (25 June 1906 – 4 February 1976) was a British stage and film actor. He is most often remembered for the three Powell & Pressburger films in which he starred: ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'', ''I Know Where I'm Going!' ...

's first screen performances.

First production

Reception

Music

Other versions

References

Further reading