AVON: You also talk too much...
TARRANT: Be thankful I'm restricting myself to talk.
AVON: Well now, that's fascinating. You mean you can do something else?
Well yes..... Singing, as it turns out!
1996: By Jeeves
Background
In 1996,
Lloyd Webber and
Ayckbourn decided to revisit the show, jettisoning most of the score and the entire original book. Retitled
By Jeeves (so as to dispel all previous associations with the original production), the character of Roderick Spode and his fascistic intentions were eliminated from the plot. The character list was whittled down from 22 to 10, and the original orchestrations also underwent a reduction to a little band. Only three songs from the original show remained lyrically intact: "Banjo Boy", "Half a Moment" and "Travel Hopefully". The other songs and musical interludes were mostly new or reworked compositions by Lloyd Webber.
Productions
By Jeeves re-opened on 1 May 1996 at the
Stephen Joseph Theatre-in-the-round in
Scarborough, North Yorkshire, an English seaside resort. Audience reaction was generally enthusiastic so the show moved on 2 July 1996 to London for a 12-week season at the fairly intimate
Duke of York's Theatre. The show turned out to be more popular than first thought, and the run was extended to February 1997 with the show moved to
The Lyric Theatre in
Shaftesbury Avenue.
[7]
Steven Pacey played Bertie Wooster and Malcolm Sinclair played his valet Jeeves. The Musical Director was Kate Young. The cast recording has an unusual format, taking a track between every song where Bertie and Jeeves humorously summarize the plot.[8] Pacey was nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical, and By Jeeves also received nominations for Outstanding New Production and Best Costume Designer.
The show had its United States premiere on 12 November 1996, at the
Goodspeed Opera House in
Connecticut. U.S. actor John Scherer took the part of Bertie, and
Richard Klineplayed
Jeeves.
[10] The show was specially recorded and released on
VHS and
DVD where British actor
Martin Jarvis took over from Richard Kline as
Jeeves. It also had a brief run on
Broadway at the
Helen Hayes Theatre, from 28 October 2001 (in previews October 16) to 30 December 2001, for 73 performances. Directed by Ayckbourn, the cast featured Scherer (Bertie),
James Kall (Gussie) and Martin Jarvis (Jeeves) (who received the
Theatre World Award).
