Early years in Liverpool gave him the perfect voice for John Lennon in the animated ‘Yellow Submarine’ film

i Newspaper
 
TheIPaper
The Independent around the web
E-break Time
Independent Crossword

Arts: The Week in Review

THE FILM

The Information on: `Hay Fever'

Who Are They?

The Information on: Private Lives

What Is It?

First Night: Mirth-free and misconceived

Private Lives Lyttleton Theatre London

Music sleuth revives Coward masterpiece

HE WAS known as The Master and this was the work he regarded as his masterpiece. But it has taken almost half a century for After the Ball to be performed as Noel Coward wished.

`Oliver!' composer Bart dies

LIONEL BART, "father of the modern British musical", died in London yesterday, age 68, after a long fight against cancer.

Words: ken, n. and v.

NOT NEW to The Complete Lyrics of Noel Coward, and undoubtedly true, "Even Clergymen Are Naughty Now and Then" (On with the Dance, 1925) is not as well known as it might be. (The greatest such gem is "Time Will Tell", cut from several shows.) As for the clergy, Douglas Byng and Ernest Thesiger sang: "There's not a week goes by / In which some one doesn't die, / So we really mustn't grumble very much." One can picture this harmonising vicar and curate: "though we fill the cup of duty to the very brim / Ideas may sometimes swim / Into our ken".

Desert Island Mowlam's choice

WHEN POLITICIANS go on Desert Island Discs, they try to select a choice of records that reveals a more human side. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam chooses a top eight that hints at a sharper humour than some colleagues. (Tony Blair chose Bruce Springsteen's Fourth of July and Neil Kinnock opted for John Lennon's Imagine.)

Words: slut, n.

IT WAS logical enough at the time that the Rev John Skipp's Bible class introduced me to Noel Coward's songs. And so, one now sets aside Tyndale to pick up the new edition of his Complete Lyrics (the American edition is on better paper). It contains 200 lyrics which Mr Skipp cannot have known, such as "A Little Slut of Six" (1924): "When I'm safely married / I'll learn lots of lovely tricks / To save myself from having / Any little sluts of six." The Lord Chamberlain objected, and Coward sort of obliged with: "I shall count my little chicks / And maybe, if I'm lucky / I'll have lots of sluts of six."

Thursday Book: Theatre's glass closet

1956 AND ALL THAT: THE MAKING

Theatre: Gods and monsters, we've got 'em

THE TEMPEST

Letter: Coward's way

Sir: Philip Hoare's paean for the values of Noel Coward (Comment, 1 February) was summed up more than three decades ago in a top newspaper's thundering headline over an editorial on the Chatterley trial: A DECENT RETICENCE. But in reality this is everything that the English do not need.

How We Met: Lionel Bart And Richard O'brien

Composer, lyricist and playwright Lionel Bart, 68, studied at St Martin's School of Art. He had no training in music but was drawn to it through his love of the theatre; his hit musicals include Fings Ain't What They Used T'Be and Oliver! He has written film scores and many individual hits, winning the Ivor Novello Award for song-writing nine times. He lives alone in Acton, west London. Born in Cheltenham, actor and writer Richard O'Brien, 56, lived in New Zealand as a boy. In 1972 he created the cult Rocky Horror Show. In the mid-Eighties he hosted the TV game show The Crystal Maze; he has recently had parts in the Spice Girls movie and Ever After. He lives in Surrey with his second wife, Jane, and has three children

Theatre: A ghost of Noel past

BLITHE SPIRIT SALISBURY PLAYHOUSE
Career Services

Day In a Page

Independent Travel Shop See all offers »
India and Shimla
14 nights from only £1899pp Find out more
Prague city break
Three nights from £199pp Find out more
4* Soreda hotel break, Malta
Seven nights all-inclusive from £399pp Find out more
California and the golden west
14 nights from £1,499pp Find out more
Venice city break
Two nights from only £199pp - third night free on selected dates Find out more
Blu St Lucia, St Lucia, Caribbean
Up to 42% off
OFFER ENDS 26 MAY Find out more
Hotel Savoy, Rome, Italy
Up to 61% off
OFFER ENDS 26 MAY Find out more
Spa day at Nutfield Priory Hotel, Redhill, Surrey
Up to 30% off
OFFER ENDS 26 MAY Find out more
National archives: Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Edward VIII’s phone calls - and how MI5 bugged them

Newly unearthed papers reveal a shocking extra dimension to the constitutional crisis over monarch’s abdication
Sent down at the Old Bailey: A tour of the world's most famous court

Sent down at the Old Bailey

A tour of the world's most famous court
Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

Hollywood's random acts of red-carpet kindness

The Hangover actor Zach Galifianakis’s date for his movie premieres isn’t arm candy  – it’s his 87-year-old friend who he saved from homelessness
British football scores an own goal

British football scores an own goal

Many managers barely survive a year in post. Martin Baker talks to experts who make a case for clubs using forensic business skills to find the best staff
James Lawton: Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again

James Lawton

Sergio Garcia cracks as major fault line opens up again
Dylan Hartley: Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong

Dylan Hartley talks tough

Northampton have spent the season proving all our critics wrong
Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

Watch out Watford: Here comes the secretive Bilderberg Group

A meeting of global power brokers in a Hertfordshire hotel is exciting conspiracy theorists, but what are they really about?
'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system': Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console

'The ultimate all-in-one home entertainment system'

Microsoft finally unveils its Xbox ONE console
Plenty of Fish dating site founder pulls 'Intimate Encounters' option to ward off sleazy men

Plenty of sleaze

Dating website pulls intimate 'hook-up' section to curb harassment
Inferno author Dan Brown 'honoured' to be invited to join the Freemasons

The Freemasons’ Code

Dan Brown reveals the message that told him door to the lodge is open
Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Not secure any more: G4S boss heads for exit at last

Nick Buckles survived the Olympics débâcle and a £5bn bid fiasco but a profit warning finally triggered his downfall
How to say ‘I’m a sellout’: Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar

How to say ‘I’m a sellout’

Tumblr’s David Karp’s message of reassurance to his staff sounded very familiar
Why clubs are keen to take a stand

Why clubs are keen to take a stand

There's a real desire around the grounds for safe standing. But will the authorities listen?
In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

In the end the fans decided Tony Pulis had made a pig's ear of the job at Stoke City

Disillusion with a siege mentality and negative playing style made change inevitable
James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

James Lawton: The James Hunt I knew is the subject of a new F1 movie

British driver was fascinating man whose epic duel with Niki Lauda in 1976 was typical of an era of glamour and glory – but also the ever-present threat of death