Twang!
Encyclopedia
Twang!! is a musical
written by Lionel Bart
, based on the character of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood
. It is most famous for its disastrous box-office failure. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre
in London's West End
on the 20th December 1965 and closed on 29th January 1966 after just 43 performances, playing to mostly empty houses.
Bart wrote both the music and lyrics and also directed and produced it together with Joan Littlewood
. Bart and television writer Harvey Orkin had collaborated on the book of the musical.
’s strongest players including Ronnie Corbett
, Barbara Windsor
and James Booth
. Booth had won the coveted Robin Hood role and it had the potential to be a great vehicle for him, and he was repeatedly assured that the part would be expanded to starring dimensions. Also featured in the cast were Bernard Bresslaw
, Maxwell Shaw, Toni Eden and Philip Newman.
to fulfill his creative responsibilities. The day before press night, Littlewood quit the company. A “theatre doctor”, American Burt Shevelove
, was brought in to salvage things, leading to still more confusing changes, but nothing helped.
The show opened in disarray and closed soon after, to universal scorn and derision. What angered the public in previews was that the scenes had no relation to the songs, and the tabloid predictions of doom only heightened the bad reception. Opening night was a fiasco, the musical director, Ken Moule
, collapsed of exhaustion and he had failed to orchestrate the second act. The house lights kept going up and down throughout the performance and vicious arguments were overheard backstage. Two songs were cut out in the hours before the curtain rose and a decision had been made to camp everything up - even to add some transvestism. The show had been intended as a romp and nothing more. It aimed to satirize the Crusades, the attitude of the Church and the human flaw of wanting to turn an outlawed man into a kind of heroic saint. Orkin believed the show failed because they failed to establish the exact butt of that satire, it was all too vague, unfocused and inconsequential. The critics were angered by the lack of heroics in this version of the Robin Hood legend and the pseudo-pantomime delivery. It has been noted that Twang!! did have some very effective musical sequences - a scene around a gallows became a morris dance around a maypole.
James Booth said that he had never felt good about Twang!!. Against his own better judgment he had allowed himself to be flattered and cajoled into accepting the half-baked part of Robin Hood when he could have been doing other things. He voiced his concerns over and over again, sticking with Twang! only from a sense of obligation. He had made no money during the year it took to prepare for Twang!.
In contrast, for Ronnie Corbett the failure of Twang!! was a lucky break - it meant he was free to participate in The Frost Report
which was his first real breakthrough in television. He says of it "in retrospect its failure was as important to my career as any of my successes".
A cast album was recorded and released on LP and cassette. Label- TER 1055. It has yet to be released on CD.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
written by Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart
Lionel Bart was a writer and composer of British pop music and musicals, best known for creating the book, music and lyrics for Oliver!-Early life:...
, based on the character of the legendary outlaw Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Robin Hood was a heroic outlaw in English folklore. A highly skilled archer and swordsman, he is known for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", assisted by a group of fellow outlaws known as his "Merry Men". Traditionally, Robin Hood and his men are depicted wearing Lincoln green clothes....
. It is most famous for its disastrous box-office failure. It opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre
Shaftesbury Theatre
The Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...
in London's West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
on the 20th December 1965 and closed on 29th January 1966 after just 43 performances, playing to mostly empty houses.
Bart wrote both the music and lyrics and also directed and produced it together with Joan Littlewood
Joan Littlewood
Joan Maud Littlewood was a British theatre director, noted for her work in developing the left-wing Theatre Workshop...
. Bart and television writer Harvey Orkin had collaborated on the book of the musical.
The Story
The plot of Twang!! concerns the efforts of Robin Hood and his Merrie Men to break into Nottingham Castle in a variety of preposterous disguises, in order to prevent a marriage between the nymphomaniac court tart Delphina and the hairy Scots laird Roger the Ugly, arranged for the purpose of securing the loan of Scottish troops for bad Prince John.Cast
Twang!! brought together a cast that included the Littlewood's Theatre WorkshopTheatre Workshop
Theatre Workshop is a theatre group noted for their director, Joan Littlewood. Many actors of the 1950s and 1960s received their training and first exposure with the company...
’s strongest players including Ronnie Corbett
Ronnie Corbett
Ronald Balfour "Ronnie" Corbett, OBE is a Scottish actor and comedian of Scottish and English parentage who had a long association with Ronnie Barker in the British television comedy series The Two Ronnies...
, Barbara Windsor
Barbara Windsor
Barbara Ann Windsor, MBE , better known by her stage name Barbara Windsor, is an English actress. Her best known roles are in the Carry On films and as Peggy Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders....
and James Booth
James Booth
James Booth was an English film, stage and television actor and screenwriter. Though handsome enough to play leading roles, and versatile enough to play a wide variety of character parts, Booth naturally projected a shifty, wolfish, or unpredictable quality that led inevitably to villainous roles...
. Booth had won the coveted Robin Hood role and it had the potential to be a great vehicle for him, and he was repeatedly assured that the part would be expanded to starring dimensions. Also featured in the cast were Bernard Bresslaw
Bernard Bresslaw
Bernard Bresslaw was an English actor. He is best remembered for his comedy work, especially as a member of the Carry On team.-Biography:...
, Maxwell Shaw, Toni Eden and Philip Newman.
A Legendary Flop
But Twang!! was a disaster from the word go. The script was weak and stayed that way, especially the part of Robin Hood, despite constant, confusing rewrites. Rehearsals were dis-organised and fraught with tension. In front of the whole company, Littlewood accused Bart of being too strung-out on LSDLSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
to fulfill his creative responsibilities. The day before press night, Littlewood quit the company. A “theatre doctor”, American Burt Shevelove
Burt Shevelove
Burt Shevelove was an American musical theater playwright, lyricist, librettist, and director. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he graduated from Brown University and Yale . At Brown in 1935, he acted in the first ever Brownbrokers musical titled Something Bruin...
, was brought in to salvage things, leading to still more confusing changes, but nothing helped.
The show opened in disarray and closed soon after, to universal scorn and derision. What angered the public in previews was that the scenes had no relation to the songs, and the tabloid predictions of doom only heightened the bad reception. Opening night was a fiasco, the musical director, Ken Moule
Ken Moule
Kenneth John Moule was an English jazz pianist, best known as a composer and arranger.-Biography:Born in Barking, Essex in 1925, Kenneth was the only child of Frederick and Ethal Moule...
, collapsed of exhaustion and he had failed to orchestrate the second act. The house lights kept going up and down throughout the performance and vicious arguments were overheard backstage. Two songs were cut out in the hours before the curtain rose and a decision had been made to camp everything up - even to add some transvestism. The show had been intended as a romp and nothing more. It aimed to satirize the Crusades, the attitude of the Church and the human flaw of wanting to turn an outlawed man into a kind of heroic saint. Orkin believed the show failed because they failed to establish the exact butt of that satire, it was all too vague, unfocused and inconsequential. The critics were angered by the lack of heroics in this version of the Robin Hood legend and the pseudo-pantomime delivery. It has been noted that Twang!! did have some very effective musical sequences - a scene around a gallows became a morris dance around a maypole.
Aftermath
The critical fraternity were unaware that Bart had invested his personal fortune in Twang!! and he lost everything. He was devastated by the failure of Twang!!.James Booth said that he had never felt good about Twang!!. Against his own better judgment he had allowed himself to be flattered and cajoled into accepting the half-baked part of Robin Hood when he could have been doing other things. He voiced his concerns over and over again, sticking with Twang! only from a sense of obligation. He had made no money during the year it took to prepare for Twang!.
In contrast, for Ronnie Corbett the failure of Twang!! was a lucky break - it meant he was free to participate in The Frost Report
The Frost Report
The Frost Report was a satirical television show hosted by David Frost. It ran for 29 episodes from 1966 to 1967. It is most notable for introducing John Cleese, Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett to television and also launching the careers of several comedians and performers.The main cast were...
which was his first real breakthrough in television. He says of it "in retrospect its failure was as important to my career as any of my successes".
Songs
- Welcome to Sherwood Forest
- What Makes a Star?
- Make an Honest Woman of Me
- To The Woods
- Roger The Ugly
- Dream Child
- With Bells On
- Twang!!
- Unseen Hands
- Sighs
- You Can't Catch Me!
- Follow The Leader
- Wander
- Whose Little Girl Are You?
- I'll Be Hanged
A cast album was recorded and released on LP and cassette. Label- TER 1055. It has yet to be released on CD.