IVOR Novello is known for penning highly romantic tunes such as We’ll Gather Lilies, but a new musical about his life has helped uncover a more comic side to his songwriting.
Adrian Fisher spent years researching and writing The Two Most Perfect Things, about the lives of Novello and Noel Coward, whose paths crossed many times over the years.
The play contains many of the duo’s most loved tunes, from Novello’s wartime hit Keep the Home Fires Burning to Coward’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen, along with some lesser-known gems.
Fisher spent weeks trawling through old Novello manuscripts in the archives of stage publishing agency Samuel French, including some that had never seen the light of day.
He said these exciting finds, some of which made their way into the play, revealed a very different side to the composer.
“We found songs which haven’t been heard since the 40s and some manuscripts which had never been published, which was very exciting,” he said. “Some were quite dated but others were absolutely great, though they’re not what you would associate him with.
“Everyone thinks of Novello as being a lushly romantic composer but some of these songs are quite caustically funny and fruity.”
Fisher’s first professional acting role was in the musical revue Oh, Coward! and he has always been a fan of both Coward and Novello, a passion he shares with collaborator Stuart Barham.
The pair wanted to celebrate the musical duo – who were born just six years apart and enjoyed great fame during the 20s, 30s and 40s – and their parallel lives.
Although Coward is more famous today, Novello was arguably the bigger star during their lifetimes, during which they were friends, collaborators and rivals. As a boy, Coward used to entertain guests on the piano at Novello’s flat.
Later, when Coward hit the big time with his controversial play The Vortex, Novello was chosen for the lead role because Coward was not well-known enough.
Fisher believes the reason for Novello’s diminished fame is that while he harked back to the gentler times of a romanticised 19th century, Coward moved with the times and was a cutting edge writer, sometimes too much so for contemporary audiences.
As well as packing in dozens of their best-loved hits, Fisher and Barham wanted to tell the story of their lives through a series of imagined meetings.
The play opens with their fiercely competitive mothers bickering about who is the most talented and catches up with Coward and Novello at different points in their lives, from a post-war cocktail party to the height of their fame in the 30s and 40s.
Although touching on difficulties in their lives, including the two world wars, their secret homosexuality and Coward’s post-war decline in popularity, it is above all a celebration of their lives and works.
“We haven’t shied away from their struggles but we wanted this to be an uplifting experience and a chance for people to enjoy their incredible output side by side,” said Fisher. “The reaction from audiences at Jermyn Street was amazing.
“The only problem was that, despite us including 85 of their titles in some form, almost everyone pointed out songs we’d missed.”
The Two Most Perfect Things is at Hammersmith’s Riverside Studios from Wednesday until July 21. Tickets, priced £20, are available at www.riversidestudios.co.uk or from the box office on 020 8237 1111.
