Pacific 1860

Pacific 1860 is a musical written by Noël Coward. The story is set in a fictional Pacific British Colony during the reign of Queen Victoria. It involves a visiting Prima Donna and her conflict between love and career. There is also the problem of snobbishness from the island's establishment.

The original London production opened in 1946, starring Mary Martin, and played for four months.

History

The musical premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London on 19 December 1946 and was the first post-war production by Coward. The show was not a success and ran for only four months, closing on 12 April 1947 The lead was taken by Mary Martin, and the other principal actors included Graham Payn, Maidie Andrews, Sylvia Cecil and Winifred Ingram. Sets and costumes were designed by Coward's friend and regular designer, Gladys Calthrop.

The Times said of the piece that the island on which it was set was equable in temperature, adding "This mild romance with its abundance of easy theatrical sentiment so gracefully expressed has precisely the same climate, and there are moments, as one pretty song succeeds another, when we rather hanker after a tropical storm." Of the cast, the paper said, "Miss Mary Martin sings the heroine with much assurance and charm, and Mr Graham Payn is fully equal to the demands made on her 'opposite number'." The Manchester Guardian thought the first act fell "entirely flat" and judged the whole show old-fashioned, but praised the cast and the production. The Observer was still less favourable: "This operetta is an orgy of good taste, and people who are nervous of that quality may be comforted by knowing that there is plenty of honest dullness in the very conventional plot."

Songs

(In the order listed in The Lyrics of Noël Coward, pp. 232-63):

• Family Grace
• If I were a Man
• Dear Madame Salvador
• Hy Horse Has Cast a Shoe
• I Wish I Wasn't Quite Such a Big Girl
• Samolan Song (Ka Tahua)
• Bright was the Day
• Invitation to the Waltz
• His Excellency Regrets
• The Party's Going with a Swing
• Birthday Toast
• Make Way for Their Excellencies
• Fumfumbolo

• One Two Three
• This is a Night for Lovers
• I Never Knew
• This is a Changing World
• Come Back to the Island
• Gipsy Melody
• This is the Night
• Mother's Lament
• Pretty Little Bridesmaids
• I Saw No Shadow
• Wedding Toast
• Uncle Harry

References

• Coward, Noël. The Lyrics of Noël Coward, Heinemann, London, 1965.
• Lesley, Cole. The Life of Noël Coward. Cape 1976. ISBN 0-224-01288-6.
• Tanvitch, Robert. The London Stage in the 20th Century Haus Publishing Ltd ISBN 978-1-904950-74-5