By Jeeves
By Jeeves is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Alan Ayckbourn . It is based freely on novels and short stories by PG Wodehouse , in which Bertie Wooster and his valet Jeeves are theprotagonists. The world premiere took place under the title "Jeeves" on April 22, 1975 at Her Majesty's Theater in London . It was also directed by Alan Ayckbourn.
background
The first performance took place around 2 months after PG Wodehouse died. It is not clear whether and to what extent he was involved and privy to the project himself. The framework of the musical is loosely based on the Wodehouse novel Bertie in Wild Anticipation , because Bertie Wooster plays the banjo in the musical. After the novel, he discovered this passion for himself, to the displeasure of Jeeves in the USA. The musical takes up this idea in principle: Bertie Wooster gives a banjo concert in the East London Club for Unmanageable Boys. Since the strings repeatedly break, Jeeves is sent away to get new strings. Meanwhile, Bertie tells how he was once engaged to three women at the same time. This part of the plot takes up episodes from the Wodehouse novel Alter Adel rostet nicht , one of the most famous novels by Wodehouse, which was voted one of the most important British novels in 2015 by a panel of critics . In fact, Bertie is engaged to two women in this novel: to Madeline Bassett , who wants to marry him because her relationship with Gussie Fink-Nottle is failing, and to Stiffy Byng, who is trying to blackmail her guardian Sir Watkyn Bassett for his consent to their marriage blackmail with the penniless curate Harold Pinker.
The excessive fidelity to the storytelling novels led to excessive length in the musical performance. During the trial run in Bristol, the musical lasted more than five hours. As a result, characters like Aunt Dahlia were deleted, although this role was occupied by the well-known actress Betty Marsden .
The first production of the musical in London was one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's biggest flops and had to be discontinued on May 24, 1975 after just 38 performances. In terms of style and structure, the piece should actually be described as a modern, English Singspiel. Longer text passages are followed by cheerful operetta-like melodies.
Others
The play was performed on May 1, 1996 in a revision under the title "By Jeeves" at the Stephen Joseph Theater . The original line-up was cut from 21 to 11 people. The success was so great that they soon moved to the larger Duke of York's Theater in London. From there the show moved on to The Lyric Theater, London. The show was also shown on Broadway in 2001.
German translation
The German translation was done by Inge Greiffenhagen and Bettina von Leoprechting. The German-language premiere took place on December 1, 2001 in Heilbronn. A production by the Koblenz Culture Factory followed in 2003/04.
The songs
1st act
- Wooster Will Entertain You
- Travel Hopefully
- That Was Nearly Us
- Loves Maze
- Hello song
2nd act
- Entr'acte
- By Jeeves
- When Love Arrives
- What Have You Got to Say, Jeeves?
- Half a moment
- It's a pig!
- Banjo boy
- Wizard Rainbow Banjo Mix
- Playout
Web links
- By Jeeves in the Internet Broadway Database (English)
- felix-bloch-orben.de
- kamue.com
- Alan Ayckburn: Background to the musical By Jeeves
- By Jeeves , review of the 2011 revival in London. Published in the Guardian on February 21, 2011
Single receipts
- ↑ PG Wodehouse: Thank you, Jeeves. First published in 1934. German title: Bertie in wilder expectation.
- ^ PG Wodehouse: The Code of the Wooster , first published in 1938, German title: Alter Adel nicht rostet.
- ↑ a b Alan Ayckburn: Background to the Musical By Jeeves , accessed on May 3, 2016.
- ↑ The best British novel of all times - have international critics found it? In: The Guardian , accessed May 3, 2016.
- ↑ By Jeeves , review of the 2011 revival in London. Published in the Guardian on February 21, 2011, accessed May 3, 2016.