Bless the Bride

Summary

This BBC Television production of A. P. Herbert’s musical Bless the Bride, with music by Vivian Ellis, was considered to be ‘one of [the BBC’s] most ambitious programmes to date’, with four large sets and a substantial amount of filmed material (The Irish Times, 1 November 1956, p. 8).

Theatre play

Bless the Bride by A. P. Herbert [more information]

Play synopsis

On the day before her marriage, young Lucy, from a very well-to-do family, discovers love with a French actor who is not with her intended husband. This musical tells how true love wins the day following their elopement, without undue loss of pride for the family.

Production history

This musical was staged in the mid-1940s at the Adelphi Theatre, London (Radio Times, 26 October 1956, p. 15).

Date of transmission

Sunday 28 October 1956

Time

8.30pm (90 mins)

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Producer

Francis Essex

Adaptor of Script

Francis Essex

Book by

A. P. Herbert

Composer

Vivian Ellis

Lyrics

A. P. Herbert

Musical Direction

Tommy Linden ('production numbers staged by’)

Musical Associate

William Hill-Bowen

Conductor

Eric Robertson (orchestra and chorus)

Designer

Fanny Taylor

Dancer

Mavis Ascot

Dancer

Jimmy Craigie

Dancer

Maureen Creigh

Dancer

Shelagh Dey

Dancer

Arthur Solomon

Dancer

Terence Theobald

Dancer

Angela Van Dreda

Dancer

Ralph Wood

Cast

John Adams
Tamba Allen	Buttons
Margaret Ashton	Elizabeth
Sally Bazely	Lucy Willow
Pamela Beezley	Ann
Carl Bernard	M. Robert
Mark Brackenbury
Ernest Butcher	Albert Willow
June Clare	Charlotte
Robert Crewdson	M. Frontenac
Petra Davies	Flower Girl
Guy Deghy	Chief Gendarme
Edmund Donlevy	Augustus Willow
Edmund Goffron	Pierre Fontaine
Richard Golding
Pamela Harrington	Alice
Jeremy Hawk	Cousin George
Katie Johnson	Harriet Willow
Hilary Paterson	Millicent
Betty Paul	Suzanne Valdis
Brian Reece	Thomas Trout
John Rutland	Newspaper Boy
Brian Tate
Elizabeth Trevor	Frances
Lionel Wheeler
Hubert Willis
Anona Winn	Nanny
Joan Young	Mary Willow

Additional details

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

musical

Print sources

Title

Another Play from Canada: BBC Shows The Sponger (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Manchester Guardian, 29 October 1956, p. 4

Title

Bless the Bride (Newspaper review)

Reference

The Irish Times, 1 November 1956, p. 8

Title

Quasi-War News (Newspaper review)

Author/creator

Maurice Richardson (Author)

Reference

The Observer, 4 November 1956, p. 11

Title

Radio Times, 26 October 1956 (Magazine)

Linking notes

pp. 6 and 15