Heroes of Mariah - Mariah's play special page


 
At this moment November the 8th. 2003, we don't know yet what will be the exact title of the play, if it will be more theatrical or more musical, on which version the play will be based or if it's officially confirmed, even if Mariah talked about it to a fan at the Milan Meet and Greet.  But I already decided to give you all the infos about the play, the movie and the musical which have been made.  All the infos that you will find here were taken from multiple sources on the internet and in libraries.  So, please, if you want to use something from this page, don't forget to credit Heroes of Mariah for the research and the Mariah lobby card, thanks.

The writer
Terence Rattigan - born on June the 10th. 1911 - Rattigan attended Harrow, Trinity College at Oxford was his next stop. There, Rattigan moved into a theatre crowd to develop his growing talent. His first play was written while at Trinity and was produced in 1934. Fittingly titled "First Episode," his introduction to the theatre community moved quickly from Surrey to London's fashionable West End Theatre District. Rattigan enjoyed uninterrupted success from 1936 until 1956. Terence Rattigan died on Wednesday, November 30th, 1977.
His work:
Plays:
"First Episode" (1934), written with Philip Heimann
"A Tale of Two Cities" (1935, first performed in 1950), written with John Gielgud
"Grey Farm" (1935, first performed in 1940), written with Hector Bolitho
"French Without Tears" (1936)
"After the Dance" (1939)
"Follow My Leader" (1938, banned by Lord Chamberlain until 1940)
"Flare Path" (1942)
"While the Sun Shines" (1943)
"Love In Idleness" (aka "O Mistress Mine," 1944)
"The Winslow Boy" (1946)
"Playbill" (1948), including "The Browning Version" and "Harlequinade"
"Adventure Story" (1949)
"Who Is Sylvia?" (1950)
"The Deep Blue Sea" (1952)
"The Sleeping Prince" (1953)
"Separate Tables" (1954), including "Table by the Window" and "Table Number Seven"
"Variation on a Theme" (1958)
"Ross" (1960)
"Joie de Vivre" (1960)
"Man and a Boy" (1963)
"A Bequest to the Nation" (1970)
"In Praise of Love" (1973), including "Before Dawn," "After Lydia," and "In Praise of Love"
"Duologue" (1976), adapted from television play "All on Her Own"
"Cause Célèbre" (1977)
Screenplays:
"French Without Tears" (1939, dir. Anthony Asquith)
"Quiet Wedding" (1940, dir. Anthony Asquith), written with Anatole de Grunwald
"The Avengers" (1942, dir. Harold French), written with Anatole de Grunwald and Patrick Kirwan
"Uncensored" (1942, dir. Anthony Asquith) written with Wolfgang Wilhelm and Rodney Ackland
"Her Man Gilbey" (1944, aka "English Without Tears," dir. Anthony Asquith), written with Anatole de Grunwald
"Journey Together" (1945, dir. John Boulting)
"Johnny in the Clouds""(1945, aka "The Way to the Stars," dir. Anthony Asquith), written with Anatole de Grunwald
"Brighton Rock" (1947, dir. John Boulting), written with Graham Greene
"While the Sun Shines" (1947, dir. Anthony Asquith), with Anatole de Grunwald
"Bond Street" (1948, dir. Gordon Parry), written with Anatole de Grunwald and Rodney Ackland
"The Winslow Boy" (1948, dir. Anthony Asquith), written with Anatole de Grunwald
"The Browning Version" (1951, dir. Anthony Asquith), 1951 Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay
"Breaking the Sound Barrier" (1952, aka "The Sound Barrier" dir. David Lean), 1953 Academy Award nomination for Best Story and Screenplay
"The Final Test" (1953, dir. Anthony Asquith)
"The Man Who Loved Redheads" (1955, dir. Harold French)
"The Deep Blue Sea" (1955, dir. Anatole Litvak)
"The Prince and the Showgirl" (1957, dir. Laurence Olivier)
"Separate Tables" (1958, dir. Delbert Mann), written with John Gay 1959 Academy Award nomination for Best Screenplay based on Material from Another Medium
"The VIPs" (1963, dir. Anthony Asquith)
"The Yellow Rolls Royce" (1965, dir. Anthony Asquith)
"Goodbye Mr. Chips" (1969, dir. Herbert Ross)
"Bequest to the Nation" (1973, James Cellan Jones)
Original Television Scripts:
"The Final Test" (1951, dir. Royston Morley)
"Heart to Heart" (1962, dir. Alvin Rakoff)
"Ninety Years On" (1964, dir. Michael Mills)
"Nelson--A Portrait in Miniature" (1966, dir. Stuart Burge)
"All on Her Own" (1968, dir. Hal Burton)
"High Summer" (1972, dir. Peter Duguid), adapted from earlier, unperformed stage play
"Nijinsky" (unproduced)
Radio:
"A Tale of Two Cities" with John Gielgud, from the novel by Dickens (1950)
"Cause Célèbre" (1975, prod. Norman Wright)

The play
The Sleeping Prince - Great Britain - October 1954 - Written by Terence Rattigan (in 1953) - Directed by Geoffrey Wardwell - Performed at Preston Repertory Company, Royal Hippodrome Preston from 1954 to 1955 and at the Coronet Theatre, NY, USA from November the 1st. 1956 to December the  22nd. 1956 - Lyrics and music for "The Coconut Girl" by Vivian Ellis.
Story:
The Grand Duke Charles, on the eve of his coronation, decides to spend it with a chorus girl. She feels sorry for the loneliness his life must endure, and they fall in love.
Setting:
The Royal Suite of the Carpathian Legation in London. June, 1911.
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The movie
The Prince and the Showgirl - Great Britain - 1957 - Screenplay by Terence Rattigan - Directed by Laurence Olivier.
Cast:
Marilyn Monroe: Elsie - Laurence Olivier: Charles, the Prince Regent
Story:
Laurence Olivier is the Carpathian prince visiting England for the coronation of George V. Marilyn Monroe is Elsie Marina, an American actress doing a musical review at a nearby theater. When an old flame of the prince's turns out to be Elsie's boss at the theater, their paths cross--and Elsie's determined not to let them uncross. After the prince confirms her worst fear--that he's interested only in a quick seduction--she nonetheless finds herself falling for him. As his mother-in-law takes a shine to Elsie, she finds herself attending every official function of the coronation--to the chagrin of the prince and her jealous boss. The crusty prince must decide whether to let love into his duty-bound life, and Elsie must decide if happily-ever-after ever really comes true. Olivier shines in his dour, bumbling straight-man role, while Monroe is at her charming, luminous, naive best.
Jack Cardiff, director of photography on The Prince and The Showgirl interview:
JC: "The whole unit respected Larry as the great actor and director he was. Marilyn was less respected mainly because she was always late coming on the set and causing big problems for Larry. But she and I became good friends. I felt great sympathy for her as she had so many psychological problems and was so touchingly vulnerable. Many times we would shoot a couple of dozen or more takes because Marilyn forget her lines and Larry would print many NG takes hoping they could be shuffled around in the editing. But when we saw the rushes Marilyn was simply wonderful. It was her extraordinary screen presence that made up for everything".
"She had this double identity. On one part she was the great Marilyn Monroe, the sex goddess, the person that everyone in America wanted to go to bed with. That was the Monroe character, and the other one was like a little child of about 14 - very innocent girl to talk to - she obviously couldn't have been innocent but she seemed like that you know and in many ways the sort of person you wanted to protect".
Reviews:
The Prince and the Showgirl is great fun if you don't take it seriously. ~New York Times
The unpredictable waverings of Marilyn Monroe's acting promise to soar to a triumphant peak in The Prince and the Showgirl... ~New York World-Telegram and Sun
This, I am sure, is Miss Monroe's best cinema effort. ~Los Angeles Times
Marilyn Monroe has never seemed more in command of herself as a person and as a comedienne. `New York Post
Awards:
French Crystal Star: Best Foreign Actress (Marilyn Monroe)
David Di Donatello (Italy): Best Foreign Actress (Marilyn Monroe)
Lobby card:

Pictures:








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The Musical
The girl who came to supper
A Musical Comedy in Two Acts, 16 Scenes. Book by Harry Kurnitz. Based on the play The Sleeping Prince by Terence Rattigan. Music and lyrics by Noel Coward. - Broadway Theatre, New York - 8 December, 1963 (112 performances)
Synopsis:
ACT I
On the night before the coronation of George V in 1911, London is in a gala mood. At the Majestic Theatre, the first act finale of a charming period musical The Coconut Girl ends. At its conclusion, the Grand Duke Charles - Prince Regent of Carpathia - visits the company, who honour him by singing the Carpathian National anthem, while his body guards in patriotic fervour fly into a czardas. The Prince Regent then explains his colorful ancestral background.
Chorus girl Mary Morgan has caught the Regent's eye, and Northbrook, assigned by the British government to the Carpathian retinue during their stay in London, brings Mary an invitation from the Prince Regent to dine at the Carpathian Embassy after the show. Mary imagines herself as the toast of the international set, cleverly and wittily dazzling all the guests. At the Carpathian Embassy, the normal routine is somewhat upset. The Prince Regent arrives, perturbed by reports of riots in his homeland. Northbrook enters with Mary, who is nervous about how to behave in the presence of nobility. Northbrook instructs her to address royalty as Sir or Ma'am and to obey the rules of protocol. She is suspicious of the prepared supper for two; however, after Northbrook refers to closer Anglo-Carpathian relations, the Congress of Vienna and balance of power, she agrees to stay-for only forty-five minutes.
When the Prince Regent and Mary are alone, they seem pleased with one another. He plies her with vodka but is soon interrupted by a series of arrivals: the elderly Queen Mother of Carpathia comes to plead with her son for greater leniency toward his teenage son, King Nicolas, who has been conspiring with the rebels at home against his father's autocratic rule.
Further interruptions include a telephone call reporting the arrest of Carpathia's opposition leader, a verbatim recital by Mary of the Bill of Rights, and the arrival of King Nicolas protesting his arrest. When they are alone at last, the Prince Regent pleads that he is lonely, but Mary, who has had too much vodka, passes out.
Mingling with the people in St. Martin's Lane, Nicolas meets Ada Cockle, Cockney extraordinaire, peddler of fish and chips, lowing lover of life and London, who belts out Cockney ballads.
The next morning, Mary, clad in a bedspread and under the euphoric misconception that she has given all for love, proclaims her newborn love for the Prince Regent. Her "darlings" addressed to him bring only an icy "Miss Morgan" in return, and her rapturous references to last night are met with the acid comment that he was unfortunately unable to be present. Mary dresses hurriedly, and, when Nicholas returns, tells him she is rooting for him against the "mean, stubborn tyrant." She is only partially flattered by the boy's worldly compliment that he likes her better than any of his father's other mistresses.
Northbrook's attempts to smuggle Mary out of the Embassy are intercepted by a fanfare and the Carpathian royal retinue in full regalia on their way to the coronation. However, when her lady-in-waiting becomes ill, the Queen Mother appoints Mary to the position for the occasion and bedecks her in diamonds and sable, while the infuriated Prince Regent is forced to invest Mary with the Order of Perseverance, given only for personal service to the head of state.
ACT II
At Westminster Abbey, the assembled nobles lament their boredom, punctuated by Mary's enthrallment. Mary goes back to the Embassy to return the jewels but is interrupted by Nicholas, who prevails upon her to place a conspiratorial phone call for him to the German ambassador. The call is cut short, however, by the arrival of the Regent, who has had the wires tapped and places his son under house arrest. Mary delivers a lecture on fatherly love, then is dismissed by the Regent, who finds, for the first time, that he has lost the mastery of a situation.
The Prince Regent relents enough to command Nicolas to attend the Foreign Office Ball and orders him to have a good time, while the Queen Mother drafts Mary to accompany Nicolas. The Regent has invited the elegantly beautiful and compliant Lady Sunningdale to supper after the ball. She has every virtue but virtue itself.
Strolling through the streets after the ball, Mary entertains Nicolas with the hilariously complex plot of The Coconut Girl, the touching story of a nut tycoon and his daughter, The Coconut Girl, who becomes involved variously with two Yale men, an Italian villa, a garden swing, some gambling casino chorus girls, a coconut blight and a dance called The Walla Bolla Boola.
Back at the Embassy, Mary confounds the Prince Regent by reading him a proclamation she has drafted for Nicolas, renouncing his conspiracy with the Germans to overthrow his father, who insists that firmness toward his son has brought order to Carpathian chaos. Mary's comforting sympathy elicits the Prince Regent's happy admission that this is the time for true love.
In the morning, the Prince Regent, a new man, makes arrangements for Mary's return with him to Carpathia and decrees free lections at home. But Mary realises the impossibility of his happy plans. With tender longing the lovers bid adieu, with the frail hope that someday - perhaps in Paris - they will be reunited. Weary now of the power he had clung to so fiercely, the Prince Regent wistfully reflects that he will remember her and leaves. As all the gilt and grandeur about her silently recedes, Mary departs, lingering only to pluck one rose, fragrant with memories.
Taken from original notes by Curtis F Brown
Musical Numbers:
Swing Song - Jessie Maynard, Tony Morelli, Ensemble
Yasni Kozkolai (Carpathian National Anthem) - Ensemble
My Family Tree - Charles, Peter, Regent's Aides
I've Been Invited to a Party - Mary
Waltz - Ensemble
I've Been Invited to a Party (reprise) - Mary
When Foreign Princes Come to Visit Us - Major-Domo, Footmen
Sir or Ma'am - Peter
Soliloquies - Charles, Mary
Lonely Charles
London Is a Little Bit of All Right - Ada
What Ho, Mrs. Brisket - Ada, Ensmble
Don't Take Our Charlie for the Army - Ada, Ensemble
Saturday Night at the Rose and Crown - Ada, King Nicholas, Ensemble
London Is a Little Bit of All Right (reprise) - Ada
Here and Now - Mary
I've Been Invited to a Party (reprise) - Mary
Soliloquies (reprise) - Charles, Mary
Coronation Chorale - Mary, Charles, Principals, Ensemble
How Do You Do, Middle Age? - Charles
Here and Now (reprise) - Mary
The Stingaree - Charles, Lady Sunningdale, Ensemble
Curt, Clear and Concise - Charles, Peter
Tango - Charles, Mary, Dancing Ensemble
The Cocoanut Girl: Welcome to Pootzie Van Doyle/Paddy MacNeil and His
Automobile/Swing Song/Six Lillies of the Valley/The Walla Walla Boola - Mary
This Time It's True Love Mary
This Time It's True Love (reprise) - Charles
I'll Remember Her - Charles
Scenes and settings:
The play takes place in London, just prior to and during the Coronation of His Majesty George V.
Act 1
Scene 1: Backstage at the Majestic Theatre. - Scene 2: A Dressing Room Backstage. - Scene 3: Backstage. - Scene 4: The Regent's Apartment, Carpathian Embassy, Belgrave Square. - Scene 5: St. Martin's Lane. - Scene 6: Trafalgar Square. - Scene 7: St. Martin's Lane. - Scene 8: The Regent's Apartment. The next morning. - Scene 9: The Great Hall of the Embassy.
Act 2
Scene 1: Westminster Abbey. - Scene 2: The Regent's Apartment. - Scene 3: A Drawing Room, Carpathian Embassy. - Scene 4: The Foreign Office Ball. - Scene 5: St. Martin's Lane.  - Scene 6: The Regent's Apartment, after the Ball. - Scene 7: The Regent's - Apartment. The next morning.
Cast (in order of appearance):
Jessie Maynard - Mary Morgan - Tony Morelli - Mr. Grimes - Violetta Vines - Peter Northbrook - Colonel Hofmann - Grand Duke Charles, Prince Regent of Carpathia - First Girl - Second Girl - Major-Domo - King Nicholas III of Carpathia - Simka - Queen Mother - Ada Cockle - Baroness Brunheim - Lady Sunningdale - Chorus
Original Broadway cast:
Jose Ferrer, Florence Henderson, Irene Browne, Tessie O'Shea, Roderick Cook, Sean Scully, Carey Nairnes md Jay Blackton.
Picture:

 
 

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Heroes of Mariah 2000
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