Canterbury Tales (musical)

Canterbury Tales is a musical conceived by Martin Starkie and written by Nevill Coghill and Martin Starkie with music by John Hawkins and Richard Hill. Originally presented at the Oxford Playhouse in 1964, it was expanded into a full-length musical and presented at the Phoenix Theatre, London on 21 March 1968 and ran for 2,080 performances. A sequel by the same writers, "More Canterbury Tales", premiered in 1976.
Background.
This was the first stage version of Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales" since it was written over 600 years ago, adapting a celebrated modern English translation of Chaucer's work.
It was considered to be very bawdy, and was written soon after the Lord Chamberlain's censorship of the theatre had just ended.
Synopsis.
The musical took five tales from the Canterbury Tales and told them with song and humour. These were; The Miller's Tale; The Nun's Priest's Tale; The Steward's Tale; The Merchant's Tale; and The Wife of Bath's Tale. In addition, Chaucer's Prologue and Epilogue were spoken.
The purpose behind these stories was that Harry Bailey, one of the main characters, declares that each pilgrim should tell a tale on the way to Canterbury so that the ride would be more enjoyable.
"The Miller's Tale" is about a man named Nicholas, who studied astrology and the art of love at Oxford. Nicolas boards with a wealthy man named John who has a very attractive eighteen-year-old wife named Alisoun. John is highly possessive and very jealous of anyone who even speaks to his wife. One day, Alisoun and Nicholas meet while the husband is away. Nicholas grabs Alisoun and asks her to sleep with him; at first she is reluctant, but after she realises how sweet he is she agrees. However, Alisoun is afraid that her husband John might find out even though Nicholas acts like nothing bad will come of the affair. Unfortunately for Nicholas, he isn't the only one that fancies Alisoun. A very merry man named Absolon also desires her and serenades her and buys her gifts every day. Although Absolon showers her with gifts, Alisouns heart really belongs to Nicholas. So Nicholas devises a plan to get the husband and Absolon away from Alisoun. He fools the old man into believing that there is going to be a flood. However, when the time comes the old man makes a fool of himself and the whole town is there to witness.
"The Wife of Bath's Tale" is about 'What women most desire'. A poor, ugly, old widow saves the life of a young knight and magically transforms back to a beautiful young wife after a kiss. This tale is very close to that of "The Frog Prince".
The Merchant's Tale is like a Fabliau. Here one can find Chaucer's most elaborate display of rhetorical art. The original production was notable for Nicky Henson's rendition of the ambiguously-entitled "I have a noble cock" (based on a real medieval lyric). The object of his affections, the Merchant's wife May, was played by Gay Soper.
Productions.
The London production played for a record-breaking 2080 performances, with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton attending the premiere. There were many fine moments, including Billy Boyle's performance of "Where are the girls of yesterday?" (based on the medieval theme "Ou sont les neiges d'antan?" – "where are the snows of former times?", or "where is last year's snow?"), Nicky Henson's memorable comic rendition of the obscenely punning "I have a noble cock" (an actual mediaeval lyric), and the Prioress's final declamation of "Love Conquers All" (based on her golden ornament with a crowned A, for "Omnia Vincit Amor").
The show subsequently ran throughout the world in all English-speaking countries and was translated for presentations in Hungary, Sweden, Germany, Prague and Norway. It ran for fifteen months in Australia.
The 1969 Broadway version only managed 121 performances. It was presented by Frank Loesser (Frank Productions Ltd) of "Guys and Dolls" fame, Hollywood Producer Jerry Weintraub and Martin Kummer (Management Three Ltd.). The high cost of keeping a show on Broadway at the time (80% to break even) contributed to a premature closure. However, choreographer Sammy Dallas Bayes was nominated for Best Choreography, and the costume designer Loudon Sainthill won that year's Tony Award.
In 1970, Jimmy Hammerstein, son of Oscar Hammerstein II, directed a highly successful US tour with choreography by Tommy Tune. The new, revised show included the very entertaining 'The Nun's Priest's Tale', included in the London, West End version, but not in the Broadway version. The tour was so successful, the show was scheduled to open on Broadway. However, the producer Hal James died suddenly and the tour came to an end.
In 1988 Jason Mullen and Hugh Leadon of Ortrex Ltd produced a scaled-down production of the musical in conjunction with Martin Starkie and Classic Presentations Ltd, touring theatres in Wales and Kent It was directed by Martin Starkie and Sylvia Denning.
Characters.
• Chaucer
• Clerk of Oxford
• Host
• The Miller
• Nun
• Prioress
• Squire
• Steward
• Sweetheart
• The Wife of Bath
• Alisoun
• Cook
• Friar
• Knight
• May
• Merchant
• Molly
• Pardoner
• Priest
• Robin
• Summoner