A 20th century author (1897 – 1976) who wrote more than forty books, lots adapted for film, TV and the wireless, had four wives, two children and he has never been mentioned in almost 2,600 posts – incroyable!
He is Paul Gallico a name synonymous with The Snow Goose, the only book of his I have read. But you may know he wrote The Poseidon Adventure in 1969, more famous for the 1972 film adaptation. It’s funny/peculiar such a well-loved, prolific author should have dropped out of sight less than fifty years after his death.
Most of his novels and stories are one-off but he did write a series of four books about an East London charlady, Mrs Harris. She has found a new lease of life in two films (1992, 2022) and a musical (2016). Two of the novels, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris and Mrs Harris Goes to New York, are conveniently bundled together in one paperback, priced modestly at 92p and bought by me on Abe Books this morning.
But I digress. Last week I saw Flowers for Mrs Harris at the theatre-on-my doorstep, Riverside Studios. This production has Jenna Russell as Mrs Harris (to draw hard-core fans of hers) but there’s a cast of a dozen and good parts for all of them. It’s a musical that may become a favourite with drama schools and amateur theatrical societies as it is an ensemble musical. Salad Days has enduring popularity for the same reason but neither are going to be blockbuster West End or Broadway shows. You probably will not see this production, it closes on 25th November; it is a heart-warming show with enjoyable but not memorable numbers and a triumph for Riverside Studios.
The venue looks back at its roots as a TV studio where Dixon of Dock Green (1955 – 1976) and Doctor Who (1963 to present) were made, in a small exhibition in the foyer.
(That’s the sofa to hide behind in the scary bits of Doctor Who.)