Joyce Grenfell Requests the Pleasure . . .

Sketches and Musical Numbers Act One: “Welcome” (sketch by Joyce Grenfell) (Joyce Grenfell); “Three’s Company” (music by George Bauer) (Beryl Kaye, Paddy Stone, Irving Davies); “The Music’s Message” (lyric by Joyce Grenfell, music by Richard Addinsell) (Joyce Grenfell);”Edinburgh Rock” (music by Richard Addinsell) (Beryl Kaye, Paddy Stone, Irving Davies); “Women at Work”: (1) “Curiosity Shop” and (2) “Nursery School” (sketch by Joyce Grenfell) (Joyce Grenfell); “Two Loves” (music by Joan Chorlton and Douglas Gamlin) (Beryl Kaye, Paddy Stone, Irving Davies); “Basquette” (music by William Blezard) (Beryl Kaye, Paddy Stone, Irving Davis); “Period Piece” (Joyce Grenfell); “Heart Ride” (lyric by Oliver Bernard, music by Terry Stanford) (Irving Davis); “The Understanding Mother” (sketch by Joyce Grenfell) (Joyce Grenfell);”Nothing to Do” (music by A. Reif) (Beryl Kaye); “Thought for Today” (sketch by Joyce Grenfell) (Joyce Grenfell); “Favour” (music by Donald Swann) (Beryl Kaye, Paddy Stone); “Three Brothers” (lyric by Joyce Grenfell, music by Richard Addinsell) (Joyce Grenfell); “Palais Dancers” (lyric by Joyce Grenfell, music by Richard Addinsell) (Joyce Grenfell, Beryl Kaye, Paddy Stone, Irving Davies) Act Two: “Slap Happy” (sequence includes “Begin the Beguine,” lyric and music by Cole Porter; from 1935 musical Jubilee) (Beryl Kaye, Paddy Stone, Irving Davies); “Two Young People and a Visitor”: (1) “Visitor”; (2) “Shirley’s Girlfriend” and (3) “Musician” (sketch by Joyce Grenfell) (Joyce Grenfell); “Mañana” (music by William Blezard) (Paddy Stone, Irving Davies); “Running Commentary” (lyric by Joyce Grenfell, music by Richard Addinsell) (Joyce Grenfell); “Ordinary Morning” (lyric by Joyce Grenfell, music by Richard Addinsell) (Beryl Kaye, Irving Davies); “Paddy’s Nightmare” (music by Malcolm Arnold) (Paddy Stone); “Songs My Mother Taught Me” (Joyce Grenfell); “Life and Literature” (sketch by Joyce Grenfell) (Joyce Grenfell); “Three in Time” (music by Dennis Holloway) (Beryl Kaye, Paddy Stone, Irving Davies); “Envoi” (music by Ralph Freed) (Beryl Kaye, Paddy Stone, Irving Davies); “Farewell” (sketch by Joyce Grenfell) (Joyce Grenfell) Joyce Grenfell was both a performer and writer known for her satiric portraits of the foibles of both the cluelessly pretentious and the just plain clueless. She was in some ways a British version of Jean Kerr, whose plays and collections of humor expertly dissected the banalities of everyday life. Grenfell appeared in London revues as the performer of her own monologues, and is perhaps best remembered today for her memorable “Lovely Ducks” cameo in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1950 thriller Stage Fright and as Julie Andrews’s fragile mother in the 1964 comedy-drama The Americanization of Emily. The London production of Joyce Grenfell Requests the Pleasure . . . opened at the Fortune Theatre on June 2, 1954, for 275 performances, and was recorded by Philips (LP # BBL-7004) and later issued by DRG (# SL-5186). For her revue, Grenfell was supported by three singers and dancers (Beryl Kaye, Paddy Stone, and Irving Davies, all of whom had appeared with her in the London production). The evening alternated between Grenfell’s sketches and the trio’s songs and dances, and the four rarely shared stage time with one another. Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times said you had to be “properly tuned in” to appreciate Joyce Grenfell, and he wasn’t tuned in. But he admitted her way with even the simplest statement (“Doreen played for me on the accordion”) was able to reduce the audience into “hysterics.” He said she had “excellent party manners” and a “gift for mimicry,” but wasn’t “malicious or devastating . . . she leaves her victims as she finds them.” And this defined his problem with her, because she too often parodied dull people with parodies that matched their dullness. But he singled out “Running Commentary,” a “humorous” pastoral song in which she portrays a milkmaid extolling the virtues of hill-climbing. But the more she climbs the wearier she becomes and soon her “solemn trotting” and “mounting breathlessness” came together in a delightful comic moment. During the New York run, the song “Period Piece” was dropped for “The Countess of Cotely” (although these may have been the same song with a title change). On opening night, the sequence “Two Young People and a Visitor” consisted of three sketches, “Travel Talk,” “Musician,” and “Visitor,” which underwent rewriting and emerged as “Visitor,” “Shirley’s Girlfriend,” and “Musician.” The program noted that three other songs were performed: “Just the Way You Are,” “I’ll Lend You Everything I’ve Got Except My Wife” (from the 1910 edition of Ziegfeld Follies; lyric by Jean C. Havez, music by Harry Von Tilzer), and “My Little Home in Tennessee” (music by Carson J. Robison); these numbers were probably performed during the sequence “Songs My Mother Taught Me.”

"Joyce Grenfell Requests the Pleasure . . .": the show's own period marketing line.

Music

Richard Addinsell (additional music by Malcolm Arnold, William Blezard, Joan Chorlton, Ralph Freed, Douglas Gamlin, Dennis Holloway, A. Reif, Terry Stanford, and Donald Swann)

Lyrics

Joyce Grenfell (additional lyrics by Oliver Bernard)