Search - Gertrude Lawrence :: Gertie

Gertie Is Not Forgotten

04/27/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Gertrude Lawrence, the legendary English theatrical performer, is quite simply an important part of musical theatre history. She was the first performer ever to introduce Gershwins' "Someone To Watch Over Me," and, incidentally, was the original Broadway Anna in R&H's "The King and I." Tragically, this turned out to be her last appearance. Check out that glorious 1951 cast album! Here, as on other important G.L. CDs: "Star" and "Star Quality," the latter of which features some rare and intriguing LIVE recordings, her charm is unmistakeably there. It was said by many fortunate to have witnessed her live that her stage presence cast a glow "the like of which we shall never see again." I think Noel Coward said this. This truth is evident in the wonderfully remastered songs on this CD, some of which are found on "Star" and some not. Particularly noteworthy is "My Sweet," "Let's Say Good-bye," "An Hour Ago This Minute," "What Now," and all the wonderful medleys which incorporate her standards such as "A Cup of Coffee, a Sandwich and You," "Do, Do, Do," (a rousing rendition) and, of course, "Limehouse Blues." Any individual who has been enchanted by Gertrude Lawrence's unparalleled charisma will find this Naxos Nostalgia CD an important musical and historical account of this bright, particular star."

Gertie...the star...the legend

Byron Kolln | the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood | 11/29/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Gertrude Lawrence had the most amazing life. She was born Gertrud Alexandra Dagmar Klasen in 1898, and her childhood was spent in and around the tenement suburb of Clapham, London. When she was around twelve years old, she first met Noel Coward, as they were both pupils at Italia Conti's stage school. At the age of seventeen she made her professional debut in music hall, and soon managed to get into the chorus of Andre Charlot's legendary London revues (beginning with "Some" and "Cheep!" in 1916; which also fostered the talents of Jack Buchanan, Beatrice Lillie and Noel Coward). After slaving away in the chorus and understudying the various female leads for many, many months, Charlot selected her to headline the Broadway transfer of "Andre Charlot's London Revue of 1924", which cemented her place as an important new star. From there, she headlined several new musicals including "Oh, Kay!" and "Nymph Errant"; and also starred in the long-running "Susan and God". Noel Coward wrote the character of Amanda in "Private Lives" with her in mind, and the original production is still regarded as a watershed moment in British theatre. Noel and Gertie also starred in "Tonight at 8:30", a delicious revue best-remembered for the Red Peppers skit.



In 1941, Lawrence returned to Broadway in "Lady in the Dark", a highly sophisticated musical from Kurt Weill which became the talk of the town; Lawrence stopped the show nightly with the circus dream number "The Saga of Jenny". From there, Lawrence toured extensively in "Lady in the Dark" and also toured Europe as part of the ENSA wartime entertainment troupe. Following the war she focused her attentions on the Cape Cod Playhouse (most notably "Skylark"), when in 1950 she found the part of a lifetime. She happened to read "Anna and the King of Siam", an historical novel from Margaret Landon, which in turn was based on the diaries of Anna Leonowens who had been the schoolteacher of the Siamese King Mongkut's many children. Gertie felt this would make a humdinger of a musical, and so approached Rodgers and Hammerstein about adapting it for the stage, with the role of Anna tailored especially for her. R&H had never before approached writing a musical as a `star vehicle', and weren't too keen on the project, until their wives agreed that the subject would make for a thrilling stage production. "The King and I" opened in 1951, co-starring Yul Brynner as the King. Lawrence received outstanding praise for her performance and settled down for what she anticipated to be a long run. Like so many other performers of her generation, Lawrence was a real workhorse and would rarely miss a performance (though she was temporarily replaced by Celeste Holm for her annual holiday breaks). That said, midway through the run of "The King and I", Lawrence began feeling quite unwell and later (quite alarmingly) died, apparently from complications involving hepatitis (stemming back to an illness she had suffered during the ENSA tour) though it is believed cancer was also to blame. She was buried in her pink satin ballgown from the show. "The King and I" continued with Constance Carpenter, but Gertie would never be forgotten. Her life later formed the basis of the 1968 movie musical "Star!" with Julie Andrews in the lead role.



This CD from Naxos features the two main love scenes from "Private Lives"; and the Red Peppers from "Tonight at 8:30". The disc takes as a main focus her earliest recorded hits (medleys of "Someone to Watch Over Me", "A Cup of Coffee...", "Wild Thyme", "Experiment" and "Limehouse Blues" among the tunestack). Recorded scenes from her acclaimed performances in "Shadow Play" and "Moonlight is Silver".



An excellent retrospective of the legendary Gertie.



[Naxos 8.120560]"