Still Dancing (musical) explained

Still Dancing (or Still Dancing!) is a 1925 musical revue produced by Charles B. Cochran, with book by Arthur Wimperis and Ronald Jeans, lyrics by Philip Braham, Noble Sissle & Eubie Blake, and music by Ivor Novello, Irving Berlin, Vivian Ellis, Isham Jones and Marc Anthony. Dialogue was by Ernest Thesiger, and ballet numbers were choreographed by Leonid Massine. The cast included Alice Delysia, Joan Clarkson, Hermione Baddeley, Florence Desmond, Nigel Bruce, Douglas Byng, Richard Dolman, Walter Gore, as well as Thesiger and Massine.

The show opened at the London Pavilion on 19 November 1925 and closed on 27 February 1926, after 114 performances.

Background

Still Dancing was a second edition of On with the Dance, with the original ballets retained from the original show but without any of Noël Coward's material.

In a preview published in the Weekly Dispatch on 15 November 1925, the reviewer - "B. N." - mentioned: Massine's ballet, "Pompeii à la Massine"; a scene by Aubrey Beardsley featuring Greta Fayne and Richard Dolman; a "secret" scene inspired by Gordon Selfridge; Ernest Thesiger appearing as a boxer, a Cockney, a sportsman lover, a cricketer, and a mountain climber; and French designer Jean Patou, who created 12 frocks that Alice Delysia had to change into within eight minutes. Printed alongside the preview was a photo of Felice Lascelles, with a caption reading: "Felice Lascelles, to appear in Still Dancing, the new revue at the Pavilion."

On the eve of the show's opening, the theatrical newspaper The Era summarised the new show thus: "(...) there are 27 scenes, and new songs by Braham, Novello, Sissle and Blake, Irving Berlin, Marc Anthony and others. Delysia, who will wear twenty new gowns, has been provided with "Poppy of the Pav", by Arthur Wimperis and Philip Braham; Hermione Baddeley has a song with music by Ivor Novello, entitled "The First Up Is the Best Dressed"; Greta Fayne has a "South Sea" number with Richard Dolman; Ernest Thesiger plays a variety of new roles, and there are many other changes. The Hogarth Impressions and Dance Memories will be retained. Max Rivers has produced the dances and Massine the ballets."

Original production

The show opened at the London Pavilion on 19 November 1925 and closed on 27 February 1926, after 114 performances. It was directed by Charles B. Cochran, with the following programme and cast:

Part I

Scene 1. "Lost Property Office"

• Keeper of Lost Property office – Fred Winn
• A Reporter – Lance Lister
• A Wife – Joan Clarkson
• An Elderly Lady – Violet Gould
• A Chauffeur – Nigel Bruce
• A Timid Gentleman – Douglas Byng
• A Flash Young Lady – Hermione Baddeley
• A Stranger – Ernest Thesiger

Scene 2. Song: "Poppy" (Wimperis & Ellis)

• Alice Delysia
• Terri Story, Greta Beronius, Vera Bryer, Averil Haley, Decilia Mobray, Noranna Rose, Nancy Barnett, Nora Lorrimore, Florence Desmond, Felice Lascelles, Clare Watson, Thalia Barberova, William Cavanagh, Billy Reynolds, Kenneth Henry, Fred Wallace, Jean Perrie, Donald Neville

Scene 3. "At the Fight"

• Bill – Douglas Byng
• Alf – Nigel Bruce
• Sid – Lance Lister
• Ivy – Hermione Baddeley
• Attendant – Ernest Thesiger
• A Lady – Joan Clarkson
• Her Son – Herbert Richards
• M.C. – Ernest Lindsay

Scene 4. "Still Dancing"

• The Hussars – Decilia Mobray, Nancy Barnett, Nora Lorrimore, Thalia Barberova
• Danse Eccentrique – Florence Desmond
• Valse Moderne – Greta Beronius
• The Faun – Terri Story
• Old Moscow – Vera Bryer
• The River Rag – Felice Lascelles, Florence Desmond, Clare Watson, Noranna Rose, Terri Story, Decilia Mobray, Nora Lorrimore, Greta Beronius, Averil Haley, Thalia Barberova, Vera Bryer, Nancy Barnett

Scene 5. "Number 13"

• Ruby – Hermione Baddeley
• Young Doctor – Nigel Bruce
• A Postman – Ernest Lindsay
• A Lady Journalist – Joan Clarkson

Scene 6. "The Rake" A Hogarth Impression (Choreography by Leonide Massine: Music by Roger Quilter)

• First Dancer – Greta Fayne
• Second Dancer – Greta Beronius
• Third Dancer – Betty Oliver
• Posture Woman – Florence Desmond
• Corset Woman – Eleanora Marra
• First Fat Woman – Ernest Lindsay
• Second Fat Woman – Violet Gould
• The Rake – Terry Kendall
• Musicians:
  • The Dog – Helen Gardom
  • The Bull – Edith Tooley
  • The Cat – William Cavanagh
  • The Cock – Billy Reynolds
• The Woman with Bound Hair – Laurie Devine
• The Thin Man – Richard Dolman
• The Beau – Leonide Massine
• Man Dancer – Jean Perrie
• Boot Man – Donald Neville
• Giant – Kenneth Henry
• Globe Man – Fred Wallace
• Man with Compass – Fred Winn
• Cupid – Arthur Howe
• Coloured Woman – Emma Williams
• Dances:
  • Trio – Greta Fayne, Greta Beronius, Betty Oliver
  • Solo – Eleanora Marra
  • Duo – Eleanora Marra and Leonide Massine
• Entrance of Grotesques – Donald Neville, Kenneth Henry, Laurie Devine

Scene 7. "Remember" (Music and Words by Irving Berlin)

• Yvonne – Alice Delysia
• Major Hamilton – Nigel Bruce
• Maid – Jessie Taylor

Scene 8. Song: "South Sea Blues" (Wimperis & Ellis)

• The Man – Richard Dolman
• The Maid – Greta Fayne
• Mr. Gloom – Douglas Byng

Empire Theatre, 1890
Song: "Georgie" (Chateau and Albertino)

• Yvonne – Alice Delysia
• Gaiety Theatre, 1888
• Pas de Quatre (Meyer Luis)
• Greta Beronius, Vera Bryer, Thalia Barberova, Terri Story

Moulin Rouge, 1888–1890
"Quadrille" (Offenbach)

• La Goulue – Greta Fayne
• Grille d'Egout – Josephine Head
• Casque d'Or – Pat Kendall
• La Melinite – Laurie Devine
• Valentin le Desosse – Terry Kendall

Scene 9. "Gown and Out" or "The Animals Went in Tout-Pa-Tout"

• Magenta Slipp-Boddys – Alice Delysia
• Sir John Slipp-Boddys – Nigel Bruce
• Geoffrey Blazer – Ernest Thesiger
• Sir Rupert Slumberware – Lance Lister
• Georgette (Magenta's Maid) – Vera Bryer

Scene 10. "Still Dancing" (Braham)
Hermione Baddeley, Richard Dolman and Greta Beronius, Vera Bryer, Felice Lascelles, Nancy Barnett, Nora Lorrimore, Terri Story, Florence Desmond, Averil Haley, Decilia Mobray, Noranna Rose, Thalia Barberova, Clare Watson

• The Dancers:

1. Greta Fayne and Max Rivers
2. Vera Bryer, Florence Desmond, Terri Story, Decilia Mobray, Nancy Barnett, Thalia Barberova, Douglas Byng, Billy Reynolds, Kenneth Henry, Fred Wallace, William Cavanagh, Jean Perrie
3. Pat and Terry Kendall
4. Laurie Devine
5. Head and Zapp

Finale – Part I

• Alice Delysia and Entire Company

Part II

Scene 11. "A Hungarian Wedding"

• The Bride – Greta Fayne
• The Bridegroom – Terry Kendall
• The Best Man – Jean Perrie
• The Chief Bridesmaid – Pat Kendall
• The Groom's Man – Kenneth Henry
• The Second Bridesmaid – Laurie Devine
• The Maid of Honour – Jessie Taylor
• Serving Men – Fred Wallace and Billy Reynolds
• The Host – Nigel Bruce
• The Hostess – Alice Delysia
• The Congratulating Boys – Donald Neville, Ernest Lindsay
• Little Girls – Edith Tooley, Averil Haley
• Little Boys – Louie Bermon, Walter Gore
• Horse Boys – Betty Oliver, Greta Beronius, Felice Lascelles, Terri Story, Clare Watson, Nancy Barnett, Vera Bryer
• Peasant Girls – Nora Lorrimore, Florence Desmond, Decilia Mobray, Noranna Rose, Thalia Barberova
• The Highwayman – Leonide Massine
• Gipsy Girl – Eleanora Marra
• Song: "Hungarian Song" (Anderson & Bela) – Alice Delysia

Scene 12. "Shades of Shakespeare"
Prologue

• An Elderly Actor – Fred Winn
• A Young Actor – Richard Dolman
• Characters in Play:
  • Candelabra – Joan Clarkson
  • Tantalus (Her Butler) – William Cavanagh
  • Asbestos (Lover of Candelabra) – Ernest Thesiger
• Guests:
  • Caramel – Dorothea Varda
  • Nujol – Lance Lister
  • Ovaltine – Sybil Wise
  • Organdy – Douglas Byng
• Gospo (Husband of Candelabra) – Nigel Bruce
• Bodega – Hermione Baddeley

Scene 13. "That Means Nothing To Me"

• Alice Delysia

Scene 14. "Pompeii À La Massine" (Choreography by Massine: Music by Louis Ganne and others)

• Ariadne – Josephine Head
• Attendant Cupid – Averil Haley
• Master of the Ceremonies – Douglas Byng
• Gazelle-Girl – Laurie Devine
• Peacock-Girl – Dorothea Varda
• Leopard-Girl – Clare Watson
• Dove-Girl – Thalia Barberova
• Caterpillar – Greta Fayne
• Flowers – Betty Oliver, Greta Beronius, Terri Story
• Blacksmith – Percy Val
• Alchemist – Eleanora Marra
• Customers – Jean Perrie, Donald Neville
• The Chinese Visitor – Leonide Massine

Scene 15. "I Am Tired of Everything but You" (Isham Jones)

• Pat and Terry Kendall

Scene 16. "The Pattern Wife"

• John Caravel – Ernest Thesiger
• Enid Caravel – Alice Delysia
• Helen Dering – Hermione Baddeley
• Parlour Maid – Kate Strudwick

Scene 17. "3 a.m."

• Percy Val

Scene 18. "The First Up Is the Best Dressed"
Hermione Baddeley and Terri Story, Greta Beronius, Nancy Barnett, Vera Bryer, Averil Haley, Decilia Mobray, Nora Lorrimore, Florence Desmond

Scene 19. "Two's Company"

• Clare – Alice Delysia
• Dennis – Lance Lister
• George – Nigel Bruce

Scene 20. "Pyjama Jazz" (Wimperis and Anthony)

1. Nancy Barnett, Greta Beronius, Decilia Mobray, Nora Lorrimore, Florence Desmond, Vera Bryer, Clare Watson, Terri Story
2. Richard Dolman, Lance Lister, William Cavanagh, Billy Reynolds, Kenneth Henry, Fred Wallace, Jean Perrie
3. Ensemble: Ernest Thesiger, Douglas Byng, Nigel Bruce, Donald Neville, Ernest Lindsay, Sybil Wise, Hermione Baddeley, Kate Strudwick, Dorothea Varda, Jessie Taylor, Noranna Rose, Paula York, Betty Oliver, Edith Tooley, Felice Lascelles, Helen Gardom, Averil Haley
4. Pat and Terry Kendall
5. Eleanora Marra
6. Laurie Devine
7. Leonide Massine
8. Head and Zapp
9. Greta Fayne and Max Rivers
10. Alice Delysia

Finale – The Entire Company

Orchestra under the direction of J. B. Hastings

Songs

• "Poppy" (Wimperis & Ellis/Braham)
• "Remember" (Music and Words by Irving Berlin)
• "South Sea Blues" (Wimperis & Ellis)
• "Georgie" (Chateau and Albertino)
• "Still Dancing" (Braham)
• "Hungarian Song" (Anderson & Bela)
• "I Am Tired of Everything but You" (Isham Jones)
• "The First Up is the Best Dressed" (Wimperis & Novello)
• "Pyjama Jazz" (Wimperis and Anthony)

Ballets

• "The Rake" A Hogarth Impression (Choreography by Leonide Massine: Music by Roger Quilter)
• "A Hungarian Wedding" (Produced by Massine: Music by Imre Magyari and Tzigane Orchestra)
• "Pompeii À La Massine" (Choreography by Massine: Music by Louis Ganne and others)

Critical reception

The day after the opening, on 20 November, the Aberdeen Press and Journal reviewer wrote that "Still Dancing is the most spectacular revue in town, but it is also the most undressed", and speculated that "[i]t must have cost the producers many thousands of pounds in dresses alone, particularly in the scene depicting a Hungarian wedding." The reviewer also complained that "[t]here is a lack of humour about this revue, but one cannot have everything, and certainly Still Dancing is a sufficient attraction without that ancillary to successful revue." The same day, Hubert Griffith in the London Daily Chronicle noted that "Mr. Cochran's sequel to On With the Dance at the London Pavilion, still contains almost as amazing a series of acrobatics as ever." He also mentioned that, of all the sketches, "one, a blank-verse version of Spring Cleaning, is witty", and singled out for praise "Greta Beronius (...), Mr. Percy Val, Mr. Nigel Bruce (very good), Mr. Thesiger, Mdlle. Delysia, and Miss Hermione Baddeley (...)" Finally he quipped that "there is a certain economy about most of the dance costumes, and citizens of Birmingham should keep away."

On 21 November, the Western Mail in Cardiff gushed that Still Dancing, as a sequel to On with the Dance, "is even a more brilliant production than its predecessor. (...) It abounds in beautiful spectacles, and it has melodious music and humour", and that "Delysia arrayed as the Queen of Sheba continues to be the outstanding artiste in the production." The same day, the Daily Herald reviewer - "M. E." - stated that "[f]ifty per cent. of On With the Dance has been retained in Still Dancing. (...) It is none the less excellent for that, and is easily the best spectacular show now running", adding that "[r]ival revue producers must spend sleepless nights wondering where Mr. C. B. Cochrane finds all his beautiful and gifted dancing girls." Still on 21 November, the Birmingham Daily Post reviewer remarked that "[t]he dances are principally old material, or at least indistinguishable from the old, whereas the sketches have been replaced in their entirety", adding that a "clever idea (...) was a sketch of a drama written by the costumiers for the display of their creations. It gives Delysia a chance to wear an astonishing number of scanty and beautiful garments, as does the entire revue." The same reviewer complained that "[o]n the whole the sketches tend to enhance the reputation of the former author, Mr. Noel Coward, who is now unrepresented", but praised Ernest Thesiger, "a consummate actor, who can lend point to the feeblest dialogue and make himself heard at all times."

On 25 November, the theatrical newspaper The Era wrote that the new revue "now has a stronger framework of comedy and is all the better for it", concluding that "Still Dancing, with its magnificent decorations, its colour and music and the excellent comedy should fill the London Pavilion for months to come." The next day, in The Stage, the reviewer praised many of the company's artists, as "clever performers [who] go to make up one of the brightest of dancing shows in recent years", closing the review with: "The unmistakable Cochran touch is over all. It is the touch of a showman whose love of lavish display is tempered by something of a poet's penetrating imagination and a painter's taste for colour harmony." On 28 November, J. L. R. Corpel wrote in the Marylebone Mercury, that "[i]t is a real joyous entertainment given at a breathless pace not only as a tempo, but as to beauty, dialogue, and fun, all of which afford great delight", and concluded that "exquisitely dressed and designed, polished to every small detail, Still Dancing will receive the homage of everyone."

Most reviewers singled out for praise, both the new sketches, such as "Shades of Shakespeare" (a blank verse edition of the second act of Spring Cleaning) "and one of the wittiest burlesques ever put into a revue", as well as Massine's new ballet, "Pompeii à la Massine", highlighted as "a clever ballet arranged by M. Leonide Massine from materials suggested by Pompeian frescoes."

References

Sources

Books

• Book: Mander and Mitchenson

. Mander . Raymond . Mitchenson . Joe . Mander and Mitchenson . . 2000 . 1957 . Theatrical Companion to Coward . 2nd . hardcover . London . Oberon Books . 978-1-84002-054-0.

• Book: Wearing , J. P. . J. P. Wearing . The London Stage 1920–1929: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel . 2014 . 2nd . hardcover . Lanham, MD . . 978-0-8108-9301-6.

Magazines and newspapers

• News: Still Dancing! - Pavilion, London . 15 November 1925 . . Vital Choice for Musical Comedy . London . 6,474 . 11; col.4. A dazzling array of new ideas is promised in Mr. Cochran's revue Still Dancing, which makes its debut at the Pavilion during the week. One of them is a ballet called "Pompeii à la Massine", in which I understand Massine's conception of Pompeii to be very different from that of the historians. Then there is an Aubrey Beardsley scene for Miss Greta Fayne and Mr. Richard Dolman, and a "secret" which is due to the inspiration of Mr. Gordon Selfridge. It is good to learn that the superb artist Mr. Ernest Thesiger will have a great deal to do. He appears in a boxing match number in which only the spectators are seen, and also as a Cockney, a sportsman lover, a cricketer, and a mountain climber. Quick changes.—An interesting problem is to be raised in Still Dancing—namely, are the dresses more important in certain scenes than the dialogue? It is to be solved by a sketch written by the famous French designer Jean Patou, in which Delysia has to change her frock no fewer than twelve times in eight minutes. All the other characters in the sketch also have several changes. [Photo caption:] Felice Lascelles, to appear in Still Dancing, the new revue at the Pavilion.--> . subscription . 6 June 2024 . . .
• News: Still Dancing . 18 November 1935 . . Theatrical Gossip . London . 89 . 4,548 . 8; col.1. The sequel to On With The Dance will be presented by Mr. C. B. Cochran at the London Pavilion on Thursday. In the revue, which opens in a Lost Property Office, there are 27 scenes, and new songs by Braham, Novello, Sissle and Blake, Irving Berlin, Marc Anthony and others. Delysia, who will wear twenty new gowns, has been provided with "Poppy of the Pav", by Arthur Wimperis and Philip Braham; Hermione Baddeley has a song with music by Ivor Novello, entitled "The First Up Is the Best Dressed"; Greta Fayne has a "South Sea" number with Richard Dolman; Ernest Thesiger plays a variety of new roles, and there are many other changes. The Hogarth Impressions and Dance Memories will be retained. Max Rivers has produced the dances and Massine the ballets.--> . subscription . 7 June 2024 . . .
• News: Still Dancing . 20 November 1925 . . London Letter . Aberdeen . 928, 3rd Year (Old Series—No. 22,122. 178th Year) . 6; col.5. Dramatic art is essentially a medium which makes an appeal to the imagination. In the version of dramatic art presented at the London Pavilion by Mr. C. B. Cochran, little is left to the imagination. Still Dancing is the most spectacular revue in town, but it is also the most undressed. It is a wonderful production, affording a succession of beautiful numbers of truly artistic merit. It must have cost the producers many thousands of pounds in dresses alone, particularly in the scene depicting a Hungarian wedding. In another item Miss Alice Delysia changes her dress about a dozen times in as many minutes, and each dress must have cost a tidy sum because each is an exclusive Paris creation. There is a lack of humour about this revue, but one cannot have everything, and certainly Still Dancing is a sufficient attraction without that ancillary to successful revue.--> . subscription . 7 June 2024 . . .
• News: Griffith . Hubert . STILL DANCING . 20 November 1925 . . London . 19,881 . 9; col.5. More Acrobatics in New Cochran Revue at the Pavilion. Still Dancing, Mr. Cochran's sequel to On With the Dance at the London Pavilion, still contains almost as amazing a series of acrobatics as ever. People high-kick to incredible heights, people stand on their heads, people walk on their hands, people throw cartwheels as rapidly as the fly-wheel of an engine revolves, crack themselves like stock whips, and tie themselves into knots. If you like this sort of thing—as most of us do, at any rate for an hour or so—you will like Still Dancing. There is plenty of it, tempered by the Hogarth Ballet, still retained from the last edition, and augmented by a new Pompeian ballet, both by Massine, and a few sketches, of which one, a blank-verse version of Spring Cleaning, is witty. I liked best of the dancers Miss Greta Beronius (in a dance near the beginning) and Mr. Percy Val. Mr. Nigel Bruce (very good), Mr. Thesiger, Mdlle. Delysia, and Miss Hermione Baddeley do the sketches. By the by, there is a certain economy about most of the dance costumes, and citizens of Birmingham should keep away.--> . subscription . 7 June 2024 . . .
• News: STILL DANCING . 21 November 1925 . . Cardiff . 17,617 . 6; col.5. Still Dancing, at the Pavilion is a sequel to On with the Dance, and, unlike most sequels, is even a more brilliant production than its predecessor. As the title implies, dancing is still the theme and the predominating feature, but there are many other factors that contribute to its success. It abounds in beautiful spectacles, and it has melodious music and humour. In the scene entitled "Shades of Shakespeare" a droll attempt is made to render that sparkling play, Spring Cleaning, in the Shakespearian manner. There are other sketches by Ronald Jeans and Arthur Wimperis which are scarcely less entertaining. Two brilliant ballets, including "The Hungarian Wedding", are retained from the last production. Delysia arrayed as the Queen of Sheba continues to be the outstanding artiste in the production.--> . subscription . 7 June 2024 . . .
• News: Still Dancing . 21 November 1925 . . London . 3,057 . 7; col.5. STILL DANCING. New Items in Pavilion Revue. Fifty per cent. of On With the Dance has been retained in Still Dancing at the Pavilion, which is not so much a new revue as a new edition of a former revue. It is none the less excellent for that, and is easily the best spectacular show now running. Of the new items, "Shades of Shakespeare" is really witty. Hamlet having been done in plus fours, the author imagines how Spring Cleaning might be done in blank verse. The idea is carried out with the greatest skill and dexterity. Monsieur Massine has devised a new Pompeii ballet for the occasion, for which Miss Doris Zinkeisen's costumes, while charming individually, fail to make a harmonious whole. Madame Alice Delysia and Miss Hermione Baddeley add to a generous array of talent. Rival revue producers must spend sleepless nights wondering where Mr. C. B. Cochrane finds all his beautiful and gifted dancing girls. M. E.--> . subscription . 7 June 2024 . . .
• News: STILL DANCING . 21 November 1925 . . Birmingham . 21,042 . 17; col.3. NEW EDITION OF THE REVUE PAVILION. Unlike most revue producers, who call a revised version a second edition, Mr. C. B. Cochran has renamed the Pavilion revue and described it as sequel to its predecessor. Still Dancing is well enough named. The dances are principally old material, or at least indistinguishable from the old, whereas the sketches have been replaced in their entirety. Of the recognisably new dances, one may mention "Pompeii à la Massine", a clever ballet arranged by M. Leonide Massine from materials suggested by Pompeian frescoes. Those who have visited the dead city may recall that there are certain mural decorations which are not shown to women tourists. The materials for this ballet, therefore, offer a chance for the producer to be daring, which is not allowed to escape for want of courage. The Hogarthian orgy scene, with its startling colour and grotesque choreography, remains in the programme. Massine himself is a dancer of amazing agility. Grace and rhythm play little part in his performances. Angularity and dazzling speed are the means he employs to make his effects. There is, as a matter of fact, very little dancing which can be described as beautiful, though Miss Greta Beronius has a charming interlude in the traditional style. The sketches, mainly the work of Mr. Arthur Wimperis, are uneven. The best of them occur in the second half of the programme. One proved exceedingly amusing. After Shakespeare modernised, why not a modern play Shakespeareanised? So we are given the well-known dining-room scene from Spring Cleaning in blank verse. Another clever idea which will go better with a little pulling together was a sketch of a drama written by the costumiers for the display of their creations. It gives Delysia a chance to wear an astonishing number of scanty and beautiful garments, as does the entire revue. Miss Hermione Baddeley is not too well served by her author. Her one sentimental piece ends in bathos, and once in an evening is quite sufficient to prove that she can play the part of a woman of the streets. On the whole the sketches tend to enhance the reputation of the former author, Mr. Noel Coward, who is now unrepresented. The mainstay of the male parts is Mr Ernest Thesiger, a consummate actor, who can lend point to the feeblest dialogue and make himself heard at all times. Dancing, however, is the principal ingredient.--> . subscription . 7 June 2024 . . .
• News: STILL DANCING . 25 November 1935 . . Theatrical Gossip . London . 89 . 4,549 . 6; col.5–6. At the London Pavilion. Revue, in twenty scenes, by Arthur Wimperis and Ronald Jeans, presented by Charles B. Cochran at the London Pavilion on Thursday, November 19. To set out to improve upon On With the Dance was a painting-the-lily undertaking that only such an impresario as Mr. Cochran would essay. As a matter of fact he has given us something better in Still Dancing without touching the bloom of the last revue. He has recognised, like your good gardener, that lilies need supports and has called in Mr. Arthur Wimperis to supply them. To drop the analogy the Pavilion revue now has a stronger framework of comedy and is all the better for it. Mr. Wimperis shows in such skits and sketches as "Shades of Shakespeare" and "Two's Company" that his clever hand has lost none of its cunning. The former is a blank verse edition of the second act of Spring Cleaning and one of the wittiest burlesques ever put into a revue. Many familiar Shakespearian expressions have been cleverly worked into the dialogue and given a most amusing modern twist. It is great fun and the audience rocked with laughter at the audaciousness and aptness of the wit. Miss Joan Clarkson, who acts consistently well throughout the show, spoke finely as Candelabra (the wife) and Mr. Ernest Thesiger was excellent as the lover, Asbestos. "Two's Company" follows more closely the usual run of revue sketches wherein the whole point is in the last line. Mr. Wimperis kept his surprise well wrapped up and the final curtain was a great success. "The Pattern Wife" is another bright trifle in which the wife and a slangy young flapper, most realistically played by Miss Hermione Baddeley, meet to discuss the future ownership of the husband, and when the husband intervenes to stop the quarrel he finds that they are only deciding the colour and style of the wife's new frock. Clothes are also the point of "Gown and Out", which Jean Patou, the Paris dress designer, has written to introduce his creations. In this Delysia changes her frocks about a dozen times, and in the most critical moments she and the others pose as mannequins to exhibit the dresses and suits. A funny notion, although it was unavoidably attenuated. Besides Delysia, Miss Vera Bryer (who was extraordinarily good as the maid), Nigel Bruce and Mr. Thesiger appear well in this sketch. "At the Fight" is a brief interlude and an opportunity for Mr. Douglas Byng, Mr. Bruce, Mr. Lance Lister, Miss Baddeley, Mr. Thesiger, Miss Clarkson and Mr. Herbert Richards to put in a few moments of real acting, for as spectators they describe in words and actions a boxing match of one round. If the revue has a weakness it is that Delysia hasn't a good song. This clever actress is wasted on sentimental ballads like "Remember", and although everything she does has point and finesse, better numbers should be provided for her. Miss Baddeley has the most original number in "The First Up is the Best Dressed" which, with the chorus clothed in a various assortment of dress and undress was fairly diverting. "The South Sea Blues" had a sprightly rendering from Mr. Richard Dolman and Miss Greta Fayne, and one of the successes of the evening was made by Pat and Terry Kendall in the dance that followed the number "I'm Tired of Everything But You". Two of the ballets from On With the Dance remain in the Hogarth Impression, "The Rake", Massine's wonderful choreographic blending of symbolism and realism, and the delightfully coloured "Hungarian Ballet". The new ballet is "Pompeii à la Massine", with rich decorative settings and costumes by Miss Doris Zinkeisen and music by Louis Ganne and others. The dancing is mainly noticeable for a queer, fascinating [Grazia] Annesi dance by Mr. Leonide Massine. Mr. Cochran has wisely kept in those quaint memories of the Empire Theatre, the Gaiety and the Moulin Rouge in the late eighties. Among the other dances should be mentioned Mr. Percy Val's wonderful loose limbed piece of eccentricity called "3 a.m." and those given by Miss Florence Desmond, Miss Greta Beronius, Miss Terri Storri, and Miss Vera Bryer. In the "Still Dancing" scene at the end of the first half of the programme Miss Greta Fayne and Mr. Max Rivers, Pat and Terry Kendall, Laurie Devine and Head and Zapp, as well as the very capable chorus, contributed an amazing variety of dances, eccentric, tango, high-stepping, contortionist and acrobatic, all as intriguing as they are original. The evening now ends with a hilarious "Pyjama Jazz" in which the whole of the clever company takes part. Still Dancing, with its magnificent decorations, its colour and music and the excellent comedy should fill the London Pavilion for months to come.--> . subscription . 7 June 2024 . . .
• News: THE LONDON PAVILION, STILL DANCING! . 26 November 1935 . . London . 2,332 . 20; col.6. That bright and alluring dance-show On With the Dance! was given sequel honours at the London Pavilion on Thursday evening last week (November 19), when Mr. Charles B. Cochran presented in its place Still Dancing! by Arthur Wimperis and Ronald Jeans. This carries with it new songs and items by Philip Braham, Sissle and Blake, Ivor Novello, Marc Anthony, Irving Berlin, and others, and is as lively and exhilarating a show as one could wish to maintain the traditional after-dinner gaiety of Piccadilly Circus. A picturesque ballet, "Pompeii à la Massine", is a riot of colour and movement suggested to its choreographist, Mr. Leonide Massine, by Pompeian frescoes. It is supposed to represent a festival presided over by Ariadne (Miss Josephine Head), and Massine himself appears in it as a fantastic Chinaman. Mr. Percy Val is wonderful as an acrobatic blacksmith called in to repair Ariadne's heart. In what may be called a straighter sense, there is a burlesque of Spring Cleaning, written in pseudo-Shakespearean blank verse. Some of these lines are very funny, and the whole thing is rattled off very pleasantly by Miss Joan Clarkson, that fine comedian, Mr. Ernest Thesiger, Mr. Nigel Bruce, Miss Hermione Baddeley, and others. Miss Alice Delysia, delightful and piquant in everything she does, is very funnily partnered with Mr. Thesiger in a sketch, "Gown and Out", which has been designed by the costumier Jean Patou, with the object of proving that it is the clothes alone that matter in a theatre. Their stiff mannequin posings cause great laughter, and they are joined in the bright nonsense by Mr. Nigel Bruce, Mr. Lance Lister, and Miss Vera Bryer. Among Delysia's other successes are a new song, "Poppy of the Pav." (Wimperis and Vivian Ellis), and the charmingly sympathetic "You Forgot to Remember" (Irving Berlin. }
• News: Corpel . J. L. R. . Still Dancing at the Pavilion . 28 November 1925 . Marylebone Mercury . London . 3,553 . 3; col.5–6. A real Cochran production, full of the London atmosphere, surpassing its predecessor in every detail, Still Dancing will go on dancing for many more months. It is a real joyous entertainment given at a breathless pace not only as a tempo, but as to beauty, dialogue, and fun, all of which afford great delight. The reminiscences of the Empire, the Gaiety, and Moulin Rouge have remained with their simpering impropriety of the "Pas de Quatre", a queer contrast to our jazz. Many new sketches have been added, amongst the best of which can be mentioned "Gown and Out", "Spring Cleaning", "Two's Company", "A Little College is a Dangerous Thing", and the beautiful "Pompeii" ballet. Mlle. Alice Delysia is as full of vigour, as joyous, as irresistible as ever. Miss Hermione Baddeley is seen at her best in a sketch of a little London drudge, Mr. Nigel Bruce is throughout as excellent as Mr. Thesiger, whose humour is devastating. Produced as it is by the leading master of the profession, exquisitely dressed and designed, polished to every small detail, Still Dancing will receive the homage of everyone.--> . subscription . 8 June 2024 . . .

Websites

• Web site: Still Dancing . London Revues . [Scroll down to pp. 354–358] . The Guide to Musical Theatre . guidetomusicaltheatre.com . 4 June 2024 . .