''Tell Me on a Sunday'' 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 music by

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948), is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 21 musicals, ...

and lyrics by Don Black. A one-woman show, it has been performed by a number of female singers/actors, most notably

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 ...

and

Bernadette Peters Bernadette Peters ( ''née'' Lazzara; born February 28, 1948) is an American actress, singer, and children's book author. Over a career spanning more than six decades, she has starred in musical theatre, television and film, performed in solo co ...

. A one-act

song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...

, it tells the story of an ordinary

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

girl from

Muswell Hill Muswell Hill is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey, north London. The hill, which reaches over above sea level, is situated north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate, Hampstead Garden Suburb, East Finchl ...

, who journeys to the United States in search of love. Her romantic misadventures begin 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 ...

, lead her to

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

, and eventually take her back to

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

Background

The musical is based on an idea originally conceived by

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'', ' ...

, who intended to develop it as a cycle of television shows with songwriting partner Andrew Lloyd Webber. The two relished working on a small-scale project following ''

Evita Evita may refer to: Arts * Evita (1996 film), ''Evita'' (1996 film), a 1996 American musical drama film based on the 1976 concept album of the same name * Evita (2008 film), ''Evita'' (2008 film), a documentary about Eva Péron * Evita (album), ''E ...

''. Shortly after they began working, however, Lloyd Webber realized Rice was writing specifically for

Elaine Paige Elaine Jill Paige (née Bickerstaff; born 5 March 1948) is an English singer and actress, best known for her work in musical theatre. Raised in Barnet, Hertfordshire, Paige attended the Aida Foster Theatre School, making her first professiona ...

, with whom the married father of two young children was having a blatant affair. Lloyd Webber felt that allowing Paige to appear in the series would suggest he approved of the relationship, so he decided to look for a new lyricist. He opted for Don Black who, following a successful stint in Hollywood (including an

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...

for "Born Free"), had begun writing for the theatre. Although it had proven to be unsuccessful, his ''

Bar Mitzvah Boy "Bar Mitzvah Boy" is the first episode of seventh season of the British BBC anthology TV series ''Play for Today''. The television play was originally broadcast on 14 September 1976. It was written by Jack Rosenthal, directed by Michael Tuchner ...

'' had impressed Lloyd Webber, who thought Black would be a good match. Rice's original concept had kept 'the girl' in the UK. It was Black who suggested she emigrate to the States. He quickly began writing lyrics for several tunes Lloyd Webber already had composed. It was their intent to present as complete a work as possible at the

Sydmonton Festival The Sydmonton Festival is a summer arts festival presented in a deconsecrated 16th century chapel on the grounds of Sydmonton Court, the country estate of Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is in Hampshire, located approximately 85 kilometres southwest of Lo ...

in September 1979. The two decided to cast

, who was portraying

Eva Perón María Eva Duarte de Perón (; ; 7 May 1919 – 26 July 1952), better known as just Eva Perón or by the nickname Evita (), was an Argentine politician, activist, actress, and philanthropist who served as First Lady of Argentina from June 194 ...

at the matinee performances of ''Evita'', as their heroine, and the show was first presented at the 1979 Sydmonton Festival.

Productions

Original album and broadcast

The positive reception at Sydmonton led to the show being recorded as an

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

. Following this, a special performance was filmed at the

Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.

in London on 28 January 1980, and later broadcast on 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 ...

on 12 February. The broadcast was a critical success and garnered high ratings, leading it to be repeated the following month. Following its transmission, the album reached #2 on the UK charts, and the single release of "

Take That Look Off Your Face "Take That Look Off Your Face" is the title of a hit song by musical theatre composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. Collaborating with lyricist Don Black, it was written for the song cycle show ''Tell Me on a Sunday'' in 1978. It was sung and released by ...

" reached #3. This success propelled

into a household name, despite being in the theatrical business for twenty years. She followed this with a number of her own albums and two further top 20 singles.

''Song and Dance''

Lloyd Webber decided the piece could work well on the stage if paired with another one-act piece. He previously had considered writing a brief operatic piece about the friendship between

Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long li ...

and

Ruggiero Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo ( , , ; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera '' Pagliacci'' (1892) that remained h ...

, going so far as to compose a melody that would later become "Memory", but decided it would not fit well with 'the girl's' saga. He tried adapting the

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

work ''

The Signal-Man "The Signal-Man" is a first-person horror/mystery story by Charles Dickens, first published as part of the ''Mugby Junction'' collection in the 1866 Christmas edition of '' All the Year Round''. The railway signal-man of the title tells the na ...

'', but decided it was too gloomy and rejected it as well. Eventually he and Black set aside ''Tell Me on a Sunday'' and turned to other projects. In 1982, the creative team decided to combine ''Tell Me on a Sunday'' with a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

choreographed to Lloyd Webber's ''

Variations Variation or Variations may refer to: Science and mathematics * Variation (astronomy), any perturbation of the mean motion or orbit of a planet or satellite, particularly of the moon * Genetic variation, the difference in DNA among individuals ...

'', a classical piece based on the A Minor Caprice No. 24 by Paganini that had debuted at Sydmonton in 1977. Following some revisions, including a new song "The Last Man in My Life" and several changes to the lyrics, ''Tell Me on a Sunday'' became Act I of ''

Song and Dance ''Song and Dance'' is a musical comprising two acts, one told entirely in "Song" and one entirely in "Dance", tied together by a unifying love story. The "Song" act is ''Tell Me on a Sunday'', with lyrics by Don Black and music by Andrew Ll ...

'', which was staged at the West End with Marti Webb again starring as 'the girl'. Over the course of its run, she was succeeded by

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

Gemma Craven Rita Gemma Craven (''née'' Gabriel; born 1 June 1950) is an Irish actress. She is best known for her role as Joan Parker, the frigid wife of Arthur (Bob Hoskins), in the BBC TV drama '' Pennies From Heaven'' (1978). Biography Craven's family ...

Liz Robertson Liz Robertson (born 4 May 1954) is an English actress and singer and the widow of playwright and lyricist Alan Jay Lerner. She is especially well known for her performances as Madame Giry, having played the role in the original cast of '' Love Ne ...

, and

Sarah Brightman Sarah Brightman (born 14 August 1960) is an English classical crossover soprano singer, actress and dancer. Brightman began her career as a member of the dance troupe Hot Gossip and released several disco singles as a solo performer. In 1981, ...

. Three years later, lyricist

Richard Maltby Jr. Richard Eldridge Maltby Jr. (born October 6, 1937) is an American theatre director and producer, lyricist, and screenwriter. He conceived and directed the only two musical revues to win the Tony Award for Best Musical: '' Ain't Misbehavin (1 ...

was brought in to help adapt the show for an American audience, in anticipation of a

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 ...

run.

was chosen for the role of 'the girl', who was now renamed Emma. It opened on 18 September 1985 to mixed reviews. Writing in the ''

New York Post The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com. It was established ...

'',

Clive Barnes Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, ''The New York Post.'' Barnes had sign ...

thought it was "the best thing that Lloyd Webber has written for the theater," but

Frank Rich Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO. Rich is current ...

of the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' was not impressed, observing that "empty material remains empty, no matter how talented those who perform it. Emma is a completely synthetic, not to mention insulting, creation whom no performer could redeem." Peters went on to win the

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical is awarded to the best actress in a musical, whether a new production or a revival. The award has been given since 1948, but the nominees who did not win have only been publicl ...

, but the show failed to win Best Musical or Best Original Score. Black, unimpressed that Peters had insisted on gathering background information about the character, later said he preferred the original London production and Webb's performance.

Subsequent productions as a stand-alone piece

Reverting to its one-act format, ''Tell Me on a Sunday'' was substantially rewritten, with five new songs and additional material by

Jackie Clune Jackie Clune (born 13 December 1965) is a British actress and writer. She became established through her Edinburgh Fringe one-woman cabaret shows and her 1995 Karen Carpenter tribute act before graduating to mainstream acting. Early life Jacki ...

, for a 2003 London production at the

Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 986 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague an ...

. The BBC critic observed, "this may be the smallest show Lloyd Webber's ever written, but the score (to appropriately conversational lyrics by Don Black) contains several of his very best songs." Directed by Christopher Luscombe and starring Denise Van Outen, it ran for ten months. Marti Webb succeeded Van Outen and subsequently toured the UK with the show, alternating with former Steps vocalist,

Faye Tozer Faye Louise Tozer (born 14 November 1975) is an English singer, dancer, and actress, best known as a member of British pop group Steps. Career Music Steps are a pop group that have had a series of charted singles between 1997 and 2020. Their ...

, and actress

Patsy Palmer Julie Anne Merkell (''née'' Harris; born 26 May 1972), known professionally as Patsy Palmer, is an English actress and DJ, known for her roles as Natasha in the children's drama series ''Grange Hill'' (1985–1987), and Bianca Jackson in the BB ...

. In 2008, the Alloy Theater Company staged the original one-act version with Irish actress, Maxine Linehan, at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in New York City. That same year, Bailiwick Repertory produced the Chicago premiere starrin
Harmony France
to rave reviews and the Kookaburra Theatre presented the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n premiere starring

Jolene Anderson Jolene Anderson (born 26 May 1980) is an Australian actress and singer. From 2006 to 2008, she played the character of Erica Templeton on the drama series '' All Saints''. She is also the winner of the second series of celebrity singing com ...

, with

Noni Hazlehurst Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst , (born 17 August 1953) is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter and broadcaster who has appeared on television and radio, in dramas, mini-series and made for television films, as well also on stag ...

and

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his Cinema of Transgression, transgressive cult films, including ''Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), ''Pink Flamin ...

providing the voices of "Mum" and "Married Man" respectively. Despite mixed reviews, it had sellout performances in both

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. The show toured the United Kingdom, beginning on 30 August 2010 at

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

's Royal Theatre and continuing until autumn 2011. The tour starred

Claire Sweeney Claire Jane Sweeney (born 17 April 1971) is an English actress, singer and television personality, best known for playing the role of Lindsey Corkhill in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Brookside'' and playing the role of Roxie Hart in the musical ...

as 'the girl' and was directed by Tamara Harvey. The script was again updated for the 21st century, and 'the girl' was rewritten as originating from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, like Claire Sweeney herself. The song list stayed closer to the original, although a new finale was added, "Dreams Never Run on Time", itself a rewrite of the song "Somewhere, Someplace, Sometime" from the 2003 version. In late 2013, Marti Webb performed the songs "Tell Me on a Sunday" and "Take That Look Off Your Face" at a tribute show to Don Black, where she met Lewis Carnie, the Head of Programmes for

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

, who asked if she would consider performing the entire piece again for broadcast on the station. Producer Robert Mackintosh then suggested the show could be staged for a week at the

St James Theatre, London The Other Palace is a theatre in London's Off West End which opened on 18 September 2012 as the St. James Theatre. It features a 312-seat main theatre and a 120-seat studio theatre. It was built on the site of the former Westminster Theatre, w ...

in January, the popularity of which saw it being restaged for three weeks at the

Duchess Theatre The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street near Aldwych. The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest West End theatres with a proscenium arch. It has 494 se ...

in February and early March, with musical direction by Simon Lee. The latest production in Mandarin, premiered in Shanghai, China in early June 2018 with musical supervision by Fiz Shapur, who also supervised the Mandarin language production of CATS. In January 2016,

Jodie Prenger Jodie Prenger (born 12 June 1979) is an English actress and singer, best known as the winner of BBC television series '' I'd Do Anything'' on 31 May 2008 and the second series of ''The Biggest Loser'' in 2006. In 2022, she began portraying the ...

starred in a revival at 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 We ...

in Newbury directed by Paul Foster before touring the UK. The production will tour again, starring Prenger from June 2021. Tell Me On Sunday was the first show to open in Oslo, Norway past the pandemic. It opened at Chateau Neuf Theatre on May 31st and starred Charlotte Brænna. This version was based on the definitive 2016 version and was directed by Julie Ibenfeldt Lindvik, with musical supervision by Christian Sthäler. It was translated by Christian Ranke and Martine T. Lundeberg

Synopsis

'The girl' arrives in New York City, and tells her friend that she does not want to become a hard-bitten career woman or a user of men. Shortly after, she discovers her beau has been cheating on her with numerous other women and she walks out. She meets Hollywood producer Sheldon Bloom, who takes her to Los Angeles. Sheldon's career ambitions preclude his spending much time on a personal relationship and, after realizing life in the film capital is uneventful and Sheldon has been using her as a trophy girlfriend, 'the girl' returns to Manhattan. Back in

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

, 'the girl' meets a salesman, and once again faces disappointment when she learns he frequently has been in town with other women when he supposedly was away on business. The two split up and she meets a married man. Intent on succeeding in her career and acquiring a

green card A green card, known officially as a permanent resident card, is an identity document which shows that a person has permanent residency in the United States. ("The term 'lawfully admitted for permanent residence' means the status of having been ...

, she is content with the noon-to-two relationship they share, until he announces he plans to leave his wife and marry her instead. She is horrified because not only does she not love him, but she realizes she's been using him, something she had vowed never to do. She sends him away and promises herself she will return to being the idealistic and ethical woman she was when she first arrived in the States. 'The girl' is the only person who appears on stage, despite having conversations with her friends and writing letters to her mum.

List of musical numbers

Original 1980 album *

*Let Me Finish *It's Not the End of the World (If I Lose Him) *Letter Home To England *Sheldon Bloom *Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad *You Made Me Think You Were in Love *It's Not the End of the World (If He's Younger) *Second Letter Home *Come Back with the Same Look in Your Eyes *Let's Talk About You *Take That Look Off Your Face (Reprise) *Tell Me on a Sunday *It's Not the End of the World (If He's Married) *I'm Very You, You're Very Me *Nothing Like You've Ever Known *Let Me Finish (Reprise) 2003 London production *Take That Look Off Your Face *Let Me Finish *It's Not the End of the World *Goodbye Mum, Goodbye Girls *Haven in the Sky *First Letter Home *Speed Dating *Second Letter Home *Tyler King *Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad *You Made Me Think You Were in Love *Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad (Reprise) *It's Not the End of the World (If He's Younger) *Third Letter Home * Unexpected Song *Come Back With the Same Look in Your Eyes *Let's Talk About You *Take That Look Off Your Face (Reprise) *Tell Me on a Sunday *Who Needs Men *It's Not the End of the World *Fourth Letter Home *Ready Made Life/I'm Very You *Let Me Finish *Nothing Like You've Ever Known *Fifth Letter Home *Somewhere, Someplace, Sometime 2010 UK tour *Let Me Finish *It's Not the End of the World (If It's Over) *Writing Home (For the First Time) *Sheldon Bloom *Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad *You Made Me Think You Were in Love *Capped Teeth and Caesar Salad (Reprise) *It's Not the End of the World (If He's Younger) *Writing Home (For the Second Time) *Unexpected Song *The Last Man in My Life *Come Back With the Same Look in Your Eyes *Take That Look off Your Face *Tell Me on a Sunday *It's Not the End of the World (If He's Married) *Married Man *Writing Home (For the Third Time) *I'm Very You, You're Very Me *Ready Made Life *Let Me Finish (Reprise) *Nothing Like You've Ever Known *Writing Home (For the Fourth Time) *Take That Look off Your Face (Reprise) *Dreams Never Run on Time (Finale)

References

External links

Official websiteOfficial 2010 UK tour website
{{Authority control 1979 musicals BBC Television shows Broadway musicals Musicals by Andrew Lloyd Webber West End musicals British musicals Sung-through musicals