Ace of Clubs (musical)
Ace of Clubs is a musical written, composed and directed by Noël Coward. The show is set in a 1949 London nightclub called "Ace of Clubs". Nightclub singer Pinkie Leroy falls in love with a sailor. Pinkie and her lover get mixed up with gangsters, a lost package and a missing diamond necklace. In the end, the police arrest the perpetrators, and Pinkie gets her man. The musical premiered at the Palace Theatre, Manchester, on 16 May 1950, followed by more tryouts at the Liverpool Empire Theatre and the Birmingham Alhambra Theatre. It transferred to the Cambridge Theatre, London, on 7 July 1950, where it ran for 211 performances until 6 January 1951. The cast included Pat Kirkwood, Sylvia Cecil, Graham Payn, Jean Carson and Myles Eason. Mantovani was the musical director. Stage and costume designs were by Gladys Calthrop. Despite its modest run, Ace of Clubs contained several songs that survived independently, in Coward's later cabaret acts and elsewhere, including "Sail Away" and "I Like America". A CD of the original London cast recording was released in 2004. Background After the Second World War Coward strove for a time to regain his pre-war popularity. His 1945 revue Sigh No More ran for only 213 performances in the West End, and the failure of his musical Pacific 1860 in 1946–47 was in contrast to the success of the show that followed it at Drury Lane, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, which ran for more than ten times as long. Ace of Clubs was one of several other less successful Coward works of the period. Cast Elaine – Bubbly Rogers Rita Marbury – Sylvia Cecil Benny Lucas – Raymond Young Sammy Blake – Robb Stewart Felix Fulton – Myles Eason Ace of Clubs Girls: Dawn O'Hara – Sylvia Verney Doreen Harvey – Margaret Miles Sunny Claire – June Whitfield Ruby Fowler – Erica Yorke Greta Hughes – Pamela Devis Betty Clements – Lorna Drewes Mimi Joshua – Vivien Merchant June April – Lisbeth Kearns Baby Belgrave – Jean Carson Hercules Brothers – Victor Harman, Ronald Francis, Stanley Howlett Joseph Snyder – Elwyn Brook-Jones Gus – Patrick Westwood Pinkie Leroy – Pat Kirkwood Harry Hornby – Graham Payn Clarice – Eileen Tatler Eva – Renee Hill Yvonne Hall – Jean Inglis Mavis Dean – Gail Kendall Detective-Inspector Warrilove – Jack Lambert Policeman – Michael Darbyshire Mr Price – Philip Rose Mrs Price – Stella White Juvenile delinquents – Peter Tuddenham, Colin Kemball, Norman Warwick First plain-clothes Man – Manfred Priestley Second plain-clothes Man – Christopher Calthrop Drummer – Don Fitz Stanford Waiters – George Selfe, Richard Gill, Jacques Gautier Night club habitués and visitors Source: Theatrical Companion to Coward. Synopsis Benny runs the Soho nightclub "The Ace of Clubs" for the owner, Rita. Felix, the compère, introduces the club's girls, who perform their opening number. Benny plans the pickup of a parcel with a gangster, Smiling Snyder. The parcel is in the cloakroom wrapped in a raincoat. When Snyder forcibly steals a kiss