Ivor Novello at the Grand and Opera House

Ivor Novello was a huge star in the first half of the 20th century and had international success in films as an actor hailed at the British Rudolph Valentino; indeed the New York Times declared him to be “the handsomest man in Britain!” Novello was also a famous composer and achieved great success with his musicals. They were lush, romantic and in many ways utter nonsense but people loved the escapism, especially during the depression in the 1930s and then the war years. People wanted to forget reality for a couple of hours and escape into Novello’s world of Ruritanian Kings and Queens. He gave them what they wanted by the bucket load. To put it in context, Novello was the Andrew Lloyd Webber of his time but he also starred in the musicals too! He has never been surpassed in the theatre world.

Novello was no stranger to Blackpool in both a personal and professional capacity. He often took trips to the resort with friends to enjoy the brash northern ‘kiss me quick’ experience along the promenade and, his absolute favourite, the Pleasure Beach and its thrill seeking rides. Professionally he appeared at the Grand Theatre in his play Second Helping in late 1939 after his hit musical The Dancing Years was closed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane at the outbreak of the war in the September. In spite of the disappointment, Novello picked himself up and went on tour with this play Second Helping to cheer himself and his audiences up – the play eventually opened in the West End with a different title: Ladies Into Action. The cast included his friends and they enjoyed a successful run. The Dancing Years was revived and then went on tour and also visited Blackpool Opera House in 1941.

By 1942 his musical The Dancing Years had reopened in the West End at London’s Adelphi Theatre and played there for most of what remained of the war; all in spite of wartime bombs and the dreaded doodlebugs. In 1945 The Dancing Years was on tour in the United Kingdom again and inevitably was booked to play at Blackpool’s famous Opera House – the largest theatre in Europe, a title it still holds to this day – Novello took on the lead role of Rudi Kleber an oppressed and imprisoned composer who falls in love with a famous opera singer played by Mary Ellis (for whom Novello wrote the part) but Kleber is Jewish and imprisoned by the Nazis. Ellis’s character Maria saves him and it all ends happily. It is easy to see why it was such an appealing show at the time, for Novello it was a serious plot that reflected actual world events, although he had to fight to get it approved for public performances by the the government’s sensors. In the scene where Novello’s character is in prison, visited by Maria, he had this speech, a speech as resonant today as it was in the 1940s:

“We shall see great changes and feel it here – times of unrest and anger and hatred in the world – and these things are strong. We shall almost forget to laugh and make music, but we shan’t quite forget, and some day we’ll wake up, as from an evil dream, and the world will smile again and forget hate, and the sweetness of music and friendliness will once more be important…”

Novello played Rudy Kleber for the last time in The Dancing Years at a performance at Blackpool’s Opera House. It was a packed performance and, according to his recollection of the night, the crowd roared and roared its cheers of approval and applause. A very emotional night all the more poignant for Novello as it came after he was imprisoned for 6 weeks in 1942 for Petrol Fraud. At the time he worried it would destroy his career but his public saw the injustice of his harsh sentence and rallied to his defence.

So, Novello’s most famous musical The Dancing Years had its premiere at The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in March of 1939 and had its final performance with Novello playing Rudy Kleber at Blackpool Opera House in early 1945.

The last performance of The Dancing Years at the Opera House Blackpool in 1945. Novello seated centre – second row.

Blackpool author David Slattery-Christy has written a biography on Novello available at Amazon and all good bookstores in Hardback and Paperback editions:

“David is the absolute authority on Novello, and this new edition including Novello’s own My Life is a bit of a must…” Alexandra Coghlan – The Sunday Times

David was the Ivor Novello Consultant and script consultant for the Oscar and BAFTA winning Robert Altman film Gosford Park. During the process, he told Robert Altman about Novello being an early screenwriter for the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan movies and how Novello came up with the line, ‘Me Tarzan, you Jane.’ David was also the ‘guest of the week’ for the BBC Radio 3 special Composer of The Week dedicated to Novello (image below).