Scene from Act 1, featuring the cast of Kissing Time. From Play Pictorial, vol. XXXIV, no. 207, 1919.
With hostilities in Europe at an end, the exchange of shows between the West End and Broadway was once again possible. Almost as soon as shipping reopened, George Grossmith Jr. (1874–1935) booked a fare and was on his way to the Big Apple.
Grossmith had been a big star at London’s Gaiety Theatre when it was under the management of George Edwardes, but during the war years, following Edwardes’ death in 1915, his stage appearances became less frequent due to his obtaining a commission as a Lieutenant in the Air Service of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (R.N.V.R.) in October 1916, with which he served until the end of the war. He had been involved in the production of several musicals at the Gaiety—Tonight’s the Night (1915) and Theodore and Co. (1916)— and at the Prince of Wales—Mr. Manhattan (1916) and Yes, Uncle! (1917)—but he was keen to split with the Gaiety and find his own theatre and his own niche.
Hoping to find something totally fresh for his new venture, Grossmith was attracted by the musicals of Bolton and Wodehouse. Arriving in America in October 1918, his first task was to obtain the West End rights to Oh, Boy! (which he would stage at the Kingsway Theatre in January 1919 under the title Oh, Joy!). While in New York, he saw The Girl Behind the Gun—and immediately saw the possibilities of mounting the show in London with himself in the Donald Brian role.
In partnership with Edward Laurillard, Grossmith had acquired the lease of the old Mogul Saloon/Middlesex Music Hall in Drury Lane. Renaming it the Winter Garden, he set about having it remodelled into a stunning new 2000 seat theatre, a suitable venue in which to showcase the new brand of American musical comedies, albeit, reworked to suit British tastes.
Wodehouse returned to London to start work on the libretto ahead of the show’s West End premiere. Choosing not to take on the role of lyricist as well, Clifford Grey was entrusted with the task of supplying several new songs. As the Winter Garden was still five months away from being complete, there was plenty of time for rewrites and rehearsals. To give the show greater peacetime appeal, it was rechristened Kissing Time. Wodehouse and Bolton were not happy with the change, but as Wodehouse observed: ‘It may not be so bad for London. “[Any time is] Kissing Time” was the hit song of Chu Chin Chow.’
George Grossmith’s Winter Garden Theatre, 1919
From The Graphic, 24 May 1919, p.696
Cover of theatre program for Kissing Time, Winter Garden Theatre, London, 1919
Courtesty of Rex Bunnett
The “Old Mogul” in New Guise
The Winter Garden, when it reopens between May 10 and 15 with Kissing Time, a musical comedy, will be practically a new theatre. Patrons of the “Old Mogul” will find it difficult to recognize their old haunt in the new scheme of decoration, which is based on the old French gardens of the transitional period between Louis XIV and Louis XV, when the treillage style of architecture came into vogue. All the old plaster decorations have been removed and new models have been erected for the whole of the interior. The colour of the treillage is green with stone background. Dividing the stalls from the promenade will be a notable balustrade with pedestals and vases at intervals. The carpet is of faded rose and the proscenium curtain, which is of a vivid yellow, is intended to be as near the hue of sunlight as art can approach nature. The box fronts will have crystal cascade lights, while the rest of the lighting is in the form of glorified Japanese lanterns.
[The Times (London), 1 May 1919, p.15]
Kissing Time
Kissing Time opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on 20 May 1919 and ran until 3 July 1920—a total of 433 performances. The musical was directed by Felix Edwardes. The scenery was painted by Ronsin, Marc-Henri and Laverdet. Modern dresses designed by Mlle St. Martin and executed by Hockley’s, Bond Street, London. Fancy dresses designed by Comelli and executed by Miss Mary E. Fisher Ltd., B.J. Simmons & Co. and Morris Angel & Son. The dress worn by Phyllis Dare in Act II, Scene 3 designed and executed by Idare Ltd. Uniforms and men’s clothing by B.J. Simmons & Co. and Morris Angel & Co. The orchestra was under the direction of Willie Redstone.
The action was now divided as follows:
Act 1 Garden of Georgette’s villa (Fontainebleau)
Act II Scene 1 Porch of Georgette’s house
Scene 2 Outside the Café des Allies, Paris
Scene 3 Interior of the Café des Allies, Paris
The cast for the first UK performance was as follows:
Of the female leads, Phyllis Dare (1890–1975) had been a child star in the early 1900s performing in pantomimes and musical comedies, often with her sister Zena Dare. The Dare sister were extremely popular and featured on hundreds of postcards at this time. While Zena retired from the stage in 1911 (she returned in 1926), Phyllis was a regular in musical comedies, creating leading roles in numerous shows, including The Arcadians (1909), The Girl in the Train (1910), Peggy (1911), The Quaker Girl (1911), The Sunshine Girl (1912), The Girl from Utah (1913) and Miss Hook of Holland (1914). She took a break from acting in 1917 returning to the stage for Kissing Time in 1919. Thereafter she performed in several more musicals, but from the late 1920s turned to straight plays and even appeared in a few films.
French-born Yvonne Arnaud (1890–1958) originally trained as a concert pianist, but decided to pursue a career on the musical comedy stage instead. She made her debut in London in 1911 as understudy to Elsie Spain in The Quaker Girl. When the opportunity arose to play the role of Princess Mathilde, she was a instant success. She next took the lead in The Girl in the Taxi (1912) playing Suzanne; followed by Mam’selle Tralala (1914), Odds and Ends (1914), Excuse Me! (1915), and Kissing Time (1919). From 1922, after damaging her vocal chords, she appeared solely in straight plays, including the highly successful comedy Tons of Money (1922). She also appreared in numerous films.
In addition to George Grossmith Jr., the other principal male star was Leslie Henson (1891–1957). Having made his London debut in 1912 in Nicely, Thanks, he appeared in the musicals Tonight’s the Night (1915), Theodore and Co. (1916) and Yes, Uncle! (1917). During the war he ran a concert party entertaining the troops, but with the war over, he returned to the stage for Kissing Time. Over the following four decades he remained a popular comedy actor on stage and in films. During the 1920s, in association with Tom Walls (who was also in Kissing Time), he co-produced a series of hit farces at the Aldwych Theatre, beginning with Tons of Money in 1922 (and starred in the 1930 film version with Walls and Arnaud).
“Kissing Time” at the Winter Garden
If ghosts walked at the Winter Garden Theatre last night, we should like to have heard the views of the last chairman of the “Old Mogul” on the scene which unfolded itself. We can imagine him perched somewhere near the roof, perhaps on one of those green and white elephants which really seem to be the only things to connect the new building with the old, rapping with his imaginary hammer, and resigning himself to the fact that in Drury-lane times have changed indeed.
For in his old haunts he would have found one of the most beautiful theatres in London filled to overflowing with an enthusiastic audience, that cheered anything and everybody—the surroundings, the scenery, stage favourites of past and present generations (the later they arrived, by the way, the more overwhelming their reception, even though the overture suffers thereby), the perfect bevy of demobilized comedians, and the host of attractive singers. It would be a captious critic indeed who could ask for more enthusiasm than prevailed last night.
And even apart from the somewhat artificial excitement, there was very good ground for the prevailing good temper. Kissing Time itself is just a happy-go lucky musical comedy, with a certain amount of plot, some very bright music from Mr. Caryll's flowing pen, and an atmosphere which inevitably brought back memories of the old days at the Gaiety, when Mr. George Grossmith, jun., and Mr. “Teddie” Payne held sway. Mr. Payne, alas! is no longer with us, but his natural successor has been found, in Mr. Leslie Henson, and here are Mr. Henson and Mr. Grossmith, both demobilized, and both as young and as high-spirited as ever. Mr. Grossmith still tumbles in and out of scrapes, matrimonial and other, as he has been doing for years past, sings, dances, and makes love in the most charming fashion. Mr. Henson, it is almost unnecessary to say, is immense.
But it was not only Mr. Grossmith and Mr. Henson who were welcomed back last night. There was almost equal enthusiasm for Miss Phyllis Dare, who has been too long absent from the London stage. Since we saw her last her dancing and acting have greatly improved; her singing was always good, and the result is that she now takes her place in the very front rank of musical comedy heroines. One of her numbers, “Some Day”, was particularly pleasing. The dainty way in which Miss Dare sang it added greatly to the value of Mr. Caryll's melody. There were other people whom it was good to see again - Mr. Tom Walls in his usual role of the peppery colonel, but adding a touch of originality to it which must be difficult after all these years; Mr. George Barrett, who contributed to the general hilarity whenever he had the opportunity, though such occasions were not too frequent; Miss Yvonne Arnaud, with her delightful broken English; and Miss Avice Kelham, pertest of lady’s maids. According to Chu Chin Chow, “Any Time is Kissing Time”. Certainly at the Winter Garden it will be Kissing Time for a year or two.
[The Times (London), 21 May 1919, p.10]
George Grossmith and the ‘Winter Garden Girls’
From The Sketch, 21 May 1919, cover
Phyllis Dare, 1919. Photo by Rita Martin.
From The Sketch, 14 May 1919, p.190
LONDON THEATRES. WINTER GARDEN THEATRE ''KISSING TIME”
The unavoidable postponement from Thursday did not prevent Messrs. Grossmith and Laurillard from opening on Tuesday, as arranged, the Winter Garden Theatre, recently call the New Middlesex, and formerly the Old Mogul. Much has been written of the re-decoration of the house in gold and a lighter tint of the trelliswork behind the stalls, serving to bear out the new title; of the four rows of “pit-circle” to which the pit-ites have been relegated and of the admirably capacious shilling gallery, which seems capable of accommodating any number under a thousand or thereabouts. These points, and also the illumination by means of lanterns of Eastern type were duly noted by some sections, at any rate, of a crowded, excitable, and enthusiastic first-night audience, that was so prodigal of recall and encores that the performance lasted until midnight, a speech from Mr. George Grossmith being called for even then. Perhaps the undue length of the opening representation was owing also to the pace, like that of a snail or a tortoise, at which the plot dragged its slow length along. A cause of this, too, was the frequent interposition of lengthy items of comic business, together with topical allusions, quite in the manner of some former Gaiety musical comedies, in which Mr. Grossmith was concerned. Most heart-felt receptions awaited that actor -manager, and Mr. Leslie Henson, the latter, happily returned from the war, making his first entrance as a military chauffeur with motor blown to bits, and the former coming on picturesquely in a fair beard and in full trench-equipment, helmet and all. These popular comedians were appearing as two more or less peccant husbands of a familiar type in a piece the present title of which is given at the beginning of the first finale, “We've done with war time; it's now Kissing Time”.
We think we are right in saying that “Kissing Time”, as this play by Guy Bolton and P.G. Wodehouse, set to characteristically melodious music by Ivan Caryll, is now called, was termed “The Girl Behind the Gun” when played in America, its New York production being at the New Amsterdam in that city, September 16, 1918. In the present version, founded on “Madame et son Filleul” of Hennequin and Weber, the action takes place in 1919, the scenes being laid at the villa at Fontainebleau, of Georgette St. Pol, an actress known as “Georgette of the Casino”, and outside and within the Cafe des Allies at Paris. Georgette had, it seems, for godson one Brichoux, cook in the 33rd Regiment, and most of the many complications of the plot result from his identity and papers being assumed by or passed on to two other men; Georgette’s husband Bibi, whom she has just detected in an intrigue with “the little woman in Paris”, whom this typically careless soldier- chauffeur had run over, and Max Touquet, also in the 33rd, husband of Lucienne, with whom Georgette's guardian, Colonel Bolinger, from Algeria, becomes enamoured in a train. To make Georgette consider a play of his, Tonquet induces Brichoux to change papers with him, and later on a mistake on the part of Bolinger leads to poor Bibi being turned into Brichoux. the cook-godson, and to Max being regarded as Georgette’s loving spouse. We need not give further details of a story that ends in the usual perfunctory fashion in the Cafe, where the real Brichoux gets back his precious “army book”.
“Kissing Time” produced under the direction of Mr. Grossmith, by Mr. Felix Edwardes, with Mr. Sydney Ellison as stage director, is staged and dressed sumptuously and lavishly, the musical director being Mr. Willie Redstone, though on the opening night the accomplished Mr. Caryll greeted very warmly indeed, conducted his own music. Among the most tuneful and catchy numbers in this are a lively quartet, “I like it”, a “Live in Harmony” trio of almost Folk- Song genre; a charming ballad “Some day we’ll dry our tears away”, beautifully rendered by Miss Phyllis Dare, a delightfully refined and gracious Lucienne; duets, “Joan and Peter” and “There’s a light in your eyes”, which she has with Mr. Grossmith, who has to play a Grossmith part in the old way after his first scene; and a Spanish scena of Carmanesque suggestion, for sprightly and piquant Miss Yvonne Arnaud, the Georgette, in the last act which ends with a banal “Good Old London” trio. In this is concerned Mr. Henson, as droll and as apt with quip and crank as ever, and funny throughout as Bibi, both as chauffeur and as incompetent cook. Mr. Henson is very amusing also in a burlesque operatic scene and in an old-men duet with Mr. Tom Walls, duly martial of mien as the peppery and also giddy Colonel. Frankly heterogeneous of nature “Kissing Time” proves to be as its action proceeds, for, whilst there is a good deal of sentiment, provided mainly by Miss Dare, whose “Thousand Years Ago” song and dance, with chorus “off”, should also be mentioned, there are many references to current matters in the dialogue and lyrics, besides songs of the accepted musical comedy type. Miss Avice Kelham, as Georgette’s maid Zelie, and Mr. George Barrett, as the girl’s sweet heart, the real Brichoux, make the most of such opportunities as they have; and much the same applies to Mr. Stanley Holloway, a young R.A.F. officer, to Miss Isobel Jeans, as an English lady, to the exponents of a number of subsidiary roles, and to the hard-working and efficient chorus of both sexes, who help to impart liveliness and animation to a musical comedy which certainly needs both quickening its action and drastic cutting. The scenery and dresses and Comelli’s colour scheme are factors of note in the excellent ensemble of “Kissing Time”.
[The Stage (London), 22 May 1919, p.16]
Play Pictorial, vol. XXXIV, no. 207, 1919, featuring George Grossmith and Phyllis Dare on the cover
Tom Walls (Colonel Bolinger), George Grossmith (Max) and Yvonne Arnaud (Georgette). Photo by Foulsham and Banfield.
From The Tatler, 2 July 1919
The Songs
The West End production featured seven of the original songs by Wodehouse/Caryll1, with an additional six numbers penned by either Clifford Grey2, George Grossmith and Clifford Grey3, or Clifford Grey (with music by Willie Redstone)4. The musical numbers were:
Act 1
Opening Chorus (Stanley Holloway & Four Girls) 1
‘Godmothers’ (Yvonne Arnaud & Chorus)1
‘My Motors’ (Leslie Henson & Chorus) [replacing ‘True to Me’] 2
‘A Happy Family’ (Yvonne Arnaud, George Grossmith & Leslie Henson) 1
‘Some Day Waiting Will End’ (Phyllis Dare) 1
‘Desertions’ (George Grossmith) 2
‘I Like It’ (Yvonne Arnaud, Tom Walls, George Grossmith & Leslie Henson) 1
‘Don’t Fall in Love with Me’ (Phyllis Dare & Leslie Henson) 2
Finale (George Grossmith, Yvonne Arnaud, Tom Walls, Avice Kelham, Leslie Henson & Mixed Chorus)
Act 2, Scene 1
Opening Chorus (Leslie Henson & Girls’ Chorus) 1
‘Oh! How Warm It is To-day’ (Yvonne Arnaud, Tom Walls & George Grossmith) 1
‘Women Haven’t Any Mercy on a Man’ (Leslie Henson) 1
‘Joan and Peter’ (Phyllis Dare & George Grossmith) 3
Finale (Phyllis Dare, Tom Walls, Yvonne Arnaud, George Grossmith & Leslie Henson) 1
Act 2, Scene 2
‘Thousands of Years Ago’ (Phyllis Dare) 2
Act 2, Scene 3
Dance—‘The Hudson Belle’
‘Oh, ma Cherie!’ (Yvonne Arnaud) 4
‘There’s a Light in Your Eyes’ (Phyllis Dare & George Grossmith) 1
Finale (Ensemble) 1
