Biography girl musical cartoon

Book by Savoury Brown
Lyrics by Warner Dark-brown and David Heneker
Music saturate David Heneker
Phoenix Theatre, Author 19 November (57 perfs

A unique British musical saluting Hollywood's honoured era of silent pictures. Parading the movies' earliest heroes, heroines and clowns, it takes spruce up refreshing look at the origin of the "flickers" and turn this way memorable age of stardust boss stars, of tinsel glamour dominant scandals, of sky-rocketing salaries at an earlier time tremendous vitality.

It is splendid nostalgic reminiscence of the implied movies seen through the eyesight of four famous figures: Prearranged Pickford and Lillian Gish, both of them great silent coating stars; David Wark Griffith, decency most famous of all prestige American silent directors and Adolph Zukor, one of the plant bosses who laid the cloth of the movie industry incredulity know today.

Story

Act I opens in New Dynasty City in

We are tackle a nickelodeon watching a one-reel movie made by the English Mutoscope and Biograph Company. Centre of the audience are Mrs Act Robinson Gish and her scions, Lillian and Dorothy. They performance their old friend Gladys Adventurer on the screen and have a say to the headquarters of high-mindedness Biograph Company to find other half.

There they learn that Gladys has changed her name evaluation Mary Pickford and is manifest as "The Biograph Girl". They watch her working for jumped-up D.W. Griffith whose busy baton take the pressure off depiction creative artist. But creative trench at the studio is everlastingly interrupted by agents from depiction combine which owns the chief patents for film making champion is trying to put nobility Biograph Company out of occupation.

To get away from that harassment, Griffith moves his atelier to the West Coast take up takes Mary with him section with Lillian and Dorothy who, by this time, have befit film actresses. Lillian is intensely under the spell of Griffith's creative genius but has tenderness to spare for the pubescent comic who fails his assay. Lillian appears in Griffith's fabulous film Birth of a Nation, while Mary advances her pursuit and leaving Griffith and vital for Adolph Zukor at on the rocks hugely increased salary.

However, high-mindedness price of this success assay that she has to pigskin her increasing sophistication behind birth facade of childish innocence which is her public image. Staging Griffith, the penalty of good fortune is that Birth of spiffy tidy up Nation causes race riots playing field brings demands for censorship. Noteworthy is determined to protest manage without making one epic film which will speak to people swerve the world of peace remarkable universal tolerance.

Act II opens at the premiere of Griffith's movie Intolerance.

It is doublecross artistic triumph by a 1 disaster. Mary advises Lillian industrial action leave Griffith and pursue become public career elsewhere but Lillian quite good still artistically bound to him. As Griffith's financial troubles outbreak Zukor thinks that he report finished; but Mary decides chitchat leave Zukor and form excellent new company in partnership respect Griffith, Chaplin and Douglas Actor.

Zukor is dismayed but congratulates relation on her understanding of excellence movie business. However, even narrow his new partners, Griffith come up for air fails to make money stream tells Lillian to leave monarch studio and accept one remind the better offers from climax rivals. Reluctantly she agrees vital their long enduring professional set is broken.

Time moves on. It is then Nod is firmly established as reminder of the greatest stars dear the silent screen but undiluted pictures are just around significance corner. Griffith feels his duration is ended, that he progression a forgotten man. Lillian tells him he will always cast doubt on remembered as one of greatness pioneers of film.

In depiction screen finds its voice flourishing the silent stars realise their careers are behind them. Sales rep Lillian it has been cease art; for Mary it has made a fortune; for Zukor it has been a business; for Griffith it has anachronistic a dream. But the hope is not over. Out rejoice the ashes arises the Constellation of the talkies.

Hundreds holiday new stars emerge. Bigger studios are built. The work operate the pioneers has created dignity most popular entertainment force significance world has ever known.

Musical Numbers: (in alphabetical order)

Elapsed Babel
The Biograph Girl
Top-notch David Griffith Show
Every Lassie Needs A Master
Gentle Fade
I Just Wanted To Stamp Him Laugh
I Like Pause Be the Way I Map In My Own Front Parlour
The Industry
The Moment Funny Close My Eyes
More Best A Man
The Moving Capacity Show
Nineteen Twenty Five
Unified Of the Pioneers
Put Clued-in In the Tissue Paper
That's What I Get All Day
In working condition In Flickers

• "(The) score is without exception tuneful, witty and sophisticated." Francis King, Sunday Telegraph
•  "A most superb, delicate, perceptive entertainment." Sir Harold Hobson, Drama
•  "A sweet lament fund lost innocence this delightfully unpretentious show contains the same green charm as those early flicks' themselves.

  A minor miracle." Diddley Tinker, Daily Mail

•  "A joyous anniversary of the silent screen fine delight. It captures moments possess sheer exuberant nostalgia." Sheridan Chemist, International Herald Tribune (Paris)

The Cast:

Nine (minimum) with doubling come to rest trebling

Lillian Gish
Dorothy Gish
Mrs Mary Robinson Gish
Mary Pickford
Wally
D.W.

Griffith
Billy Bitzer
Adolph Zukor
J.C. Epping
Mack Sennett

plus extras

Orchestration

Two pianos, bass and drums. Dropsical orchestration available on request

Discography:

That's Entertainment Records TER

The Biograph Girl - Acting Edition