FLOWERS FOR MRS HARRIS
WELCOME
other members of the original cast including Louis Maskell (who was last here as Perchik in 2017’s Fiddler on the Roof), Laura Pitt-Pulford, Nicola Sloane and Mark Meadows (who appeared in Quiz last season). Joining them are Joanna Riding and Claire Machin, who both appeared in CFT’s The Pajama Game (2014) and, making a welcome Chichester debut, Gary Wilmot.
DANIEL EVANS AND RACHEL TACKLEY PHOTOGRAPH BY TOBIAS KEY
Welcome to our second musical of Festival 2018 as we move from the uproarious and high-tapping choreography of Me and My Girl to the emotional delicacy of Flowers for Mrs Harris. We hope that you will find an equal amount of joy in Paul Gallico’s much-loved story. Flowers for Mrs Harris was first staged by Daniel at Sheffield Theatres for a short run of performances in 2016. As its composer and lyricist Richard Taylor and writer Rachel Wagstaff acknowledge in their conversation in this programme, a new musical goes through many stages of development and, since that initial production, they have revisited their work in order to refine the things learned from those original performances. We’re enormously grateful to them, and to everyone who worked on the Sheffield production. We’re thrilled that Clare Burt is once again taking the title role, alongside several
If, as Stephen Sondheim famously quipped, “musicals aren’t written, they’re rewritten”, they certainly have to start somewhere; so don’t miss the chance to join Richard Taylor’s workshop ‘Songwriting for Everyone’ on 15 September. Coming up next is our last production of Festival 2018 in the Festival Theatre: the world premiere of Bryony Lavery’s adaptation of David Walliams’s enchanting book The Midnight Gang, with music by Joe Stilgoe. It will be a treat for all ages from 7 upwards, so do join us again for that. We hope you enjoy today’s performance.
Artistic Director Daniel Evans
cft.org.uk
Executive Director Rachel Tackley
COMING SOON
TS ICK E T Y L FAMI AIL ABLE AV
THE MIDNIGHT GANG By David Walliams Adapted by Bryony Lavery Music & Lyrics by Joe Stilgoe This inventive tale of fun, friendship and kindness is directed by Dale Rooks (Running Wild). Jennie Dale returns to play Matron following her acclaimed performance as Parchester in Me and My Girl.
WORLD PREMIERE 13 October – 3 November #TheMidnightGang
cft.org.uk
TH E CAFÉ & THE FOYLE TERRACE The Café in the Festival Theatre is open daily from 10am serving freshly made sandwiches, soup, cakes and pastries. Enjoy our barista coffee or choose from a range of hot and cold drinks including wines and beers. The Café is light and airy and offers al fresco seating and free Wi-Fi. The Bar and The Foyle Terrace in the Festival Theatre are open 90 minutes before the show and both serve a selection of locally produced spirits, beers, lagers and wine by the glass or the bottle. The Foyle Terrace also serves pizzas, quiches, jacket potatoes and salads before the show.
The Brasserie in the Minerva Theatre is open for pre-show dining in new stylish and elegant surroundings. The restaurant serves a contemporary British menu using local and seasonal ingredients as well as an excellent choice of wines. Open 12.30pm - 2.30pm on matinee days and from 5.30pm for evening performances.
Enjoy either a main meal or one of our lighter food options before or after the show in the Minerva Bar & Grill upstairs, which offers a more relaxed atmosphere. Open 90 minutes before matinee performances, from 5pm for evening performances, during the interval and post-show.
RESERVATIONS
To reserve a table in the Brasserie or Minerva Bar & Grill visit cft.org.uk/dining for online reservations. Alternatively please call 01243 782219 or email dining@cft.org.uk
FLOWERS FOR MRS HARRIS Based on the novel by Paul Gallico Book by Rachel Wagstaff Music & Lyrics by Richard Taylor
CREATING MRS HARRIS Richard Taylor and Rachel Wagstaff discuss the birth of this new British musical
What excited you about Paul Gallico’s novel? Rachel Wagstaff The heart of the book seemed to be so simple but so profound; it touched me deeply when I read it for the first time. I loved the warmth and strength and extraordinary generosity of the central character, Mrs Harris. I loved the friendship she shared with her neighbour, Violet Butterfield, and the bizarre but brilliantly delineated world of their clients. I was also drawn to the journey Mrs Harris went on, which, without wishing to give too much away, took her to the most surprising of places (both literal and emotional).
DANIEL EVANS RACHEL WAGSTAFF RICHARD TAYLOR TOM BRADY
Equally appealing, the book is set during a really interesting period of history, shortly after the Second World War, in an age of austerity, where rationing (including clothing) was still in place and many Britons were in mourning. We’ve been more specific than Gallico about the setting but even so, from the book you get a very strong sense of colour emerging from the greyness. Richard and I talked about this a great deal during our first meeting; we were also both very drawn to the dramatic possibilities created by absence and loss. And, finally, there’s also something inherently exciting about writing a musical for and about
women in their fifties, territory not frequently explored in musicals. Richard Taylor You only read something for the very first time once, so I took careful note of my reactions to every twist and turn of the story as I read it. After all, an audience are coming to it fresh, and when you get deeply involved in working on something it’s so easy to lose sight of those moments that made it so special on first reading. It’s a classic Cinderella tale in many ways (the under-dog triumphs in the end) but it’s also so much more: Ada is a wonderful, heartfelt creation, and someone