Synopsis
Half a Sixpence is an English musical comedy based on the H.G. Wells novel 'Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul'. Set in Edwardian England in the county of Kent it tells the story of orphan Arthur Kipps and his childhood sweetheart Ann. Kipps leaves Ann to be an apprentice for the cruel draper, Mr. Shalford where he lives under the rules of "system, efficiency and economy." Before they are parted Arthur gives her a token of his love, half a sixpence, saying that as long as they each keep their half they will always be each others'. Years later they meet up and fall in love once more. Unexpectedly, Arthur comes into a good sum of money and despite saying all he's ever wanted was a banjo, he gets pulled into the world of the upper-class, leaving Ann behind. He meets an eccentric theatre producer called Harry Chitterlow who persuades him to invest £100, a vast sum of money for the day, into his new play. He falls for the charms of the super-rich Helen Walsingham and soon finds himself engaged but friendless. He competes for Helen's friends in the local boat race against his old chums and wins accompanied by an upbeat song encouraging them all to "row, row, row, row together!" Soon, Arthur realises that he doesn't love Helen and begs Ann for her forgiveness, who agrees to take him back. They get married accompanied by the show stopping number "Flash, Bang, Wallop" and it looks like they're going to live happily ever after. The couple plan to build themselves a big new house but quickly begin to quarel about how many bedrooms they will have (Ann just wants a simple place but Arthur wants a place to show his wealth off) and Arthur is embarrased by Ann's insistence on cleaning when they have staff to do things like that. After a massive argument the couple split up once more and Arthur is left alone and miserable. He's cut all ties with his previous life although things are about to get even worse as he find out that his fortune has all been lost by his thieving accountant known as "Young Walshingham", who happens to be the brother of his ex-fiance. He is poor once more but can now at least be happy. Ann hears about his lost fortune and returns, realising that love has been more important than money all along. Finally there is a happy ending for the couple as Chitterlow reappears to say that his play was a huge success and that Kipps has once again got enough money to live comfortably on.
Main Characters
- Arthur Kipps - Known as Artie to his friends, Arthur has no prospects before he goes off to Folkestone to be an apprentice for a draper. He makes some good friends and has a reasonable life although he is always looking for more.
- Ann - Artie's childhood sweetheart. She is a sensible, down to earth girl who is not comfortable being a lady with a vast fortune. She takes Artie back more times than most girls would but things turn out ok for them in the end.
- Helen Walsingham - Arthur's wealthy fiance who he meets at a woodworking class where he is being sent by the draper to give him a hobby. He falls for her beauty and when he has money she introduces him to life in high society.
- Harry Chitterlow - An eccentric who brings Arthur the good news that he is rich and then returns at the end to give him even better news.
- Sid Pornick, Buggins and Pearce - Fellow apprentices at the drapers and Arthur's friends. Sid is a Socialist, Pearce a dandy and Buggins a pessimist but they all get on rather well in the shop!
Musical Numbers
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The wedding reception - right at the end of the musical when everything is all ok again!
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Creators
Music/Lyrics by David Heneker
Heneker (1906-2001) was a writer and composer of musicals and British popular music although it is Half a Sixpence that he is best known for. He was educated at Sandhurst and followed his father into a military career, attaining the rank of Brigadier. After recuperating from a riding accident in 1934 he was drawn to a career in music due to listening to Noel Coward's Bitter Sweet. He was the first British writer to have two shows on Broadway which ran for more than 500 performances, the other being Irma La Douce which originally had success in Paris. His longest West End run was with the 1965 production of Charlie Girl which lasted for five and a half years.
Heneker (1906-2001) was a writer and composer of musicals and British popular music although it is Half a Sixpence that he is best known for. He was educated at Sandhurst and followed his father into a military career, attaining the rank of Brigadier. After recuperating from a riding accident in 1934 he was drawn to a career in music due to listening to Noel Coward's Bitter Sweet. He was the first British writer to have two shows on Broadway which ran for more than 500 performances, the other being Irma La Douce which originally had success in Paris. His longest West End run was with the 1965 production of Charlie Girl which lasted for five and a half years.
Book by Beverley Cross
Cross (1931-1998) was born in London into a theatrical family; his mother was a dancer and his father was a producer. The playwright, librettist and writer will probably be best known for his first play, One Man River and his success with Half a Sixpence. In his personal life, Cross will be remembered for his romance and subsequent marriage to Dame Maggie Smith who plays Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series. He first met her in 1952 but Beverley went on to marry someone else. He never forgot Maggie and cast her in his second play having written a role specifically for her. He proposed to her even though he was already married and whilst waiting for his divorce to come through, Maggie and Beverley had an affair. Unfortumately, this was not yet the happy ending they hoped for. Maggie fell in love with another actor whilst working in Laurence Olivier's new National Theater at the Old Vic, and they married. Beverley tried to move on by marrying for a second time, this time to a model, but when he heard that Maggie's marriage had broken down in 1973 he quickly applied for divorce number two. The couple were married in a civil ceremony at the Greenwich Registry Office in 1975 and remained together until his death from heart disease.
Cross (1931-1998) was born in London into a theatrical family; his mother was a dancer and his father was a producer. The playwright, librettist and writer will probably be best known for his first play, One Man River and his success with Half a Sixpence. In his personal life, Cross will be remembered for his romance and subsequent marriage to Dame Maggie Smith who plays Professor McGonagall in the Harry Potter series. He first met her in 1952 but Beverley went on to marry someone else. He never forgot Maggie and cast her in his second play having written a role specifically for her. He proposed to her even though he was already married and whilst waiting for his divorce to come through, Maggie and Beverley had an affair. Unfortumately, this was not yet the happy ending they hoped for. Maggie fell in love with another actor whilst working in Laurence Olivier's new National Theater at the Old Vic, and they married. Beverley tried to move on by marrying for a second time, this time to a model, but when he heard that Maggie's marriage had broken down in 1973 he quickly applied for divorce number two. The couple were married in a civil ceremony at the Greenwich Registry Office in 1975 and remained together until his death from heart disease.
Notable Productions
This musical is pretty unique for the time in that it was written with the leading man already in mind. Tommy Steele, who played the role of Arthur Kipps in the original London and Broadway runs as well as in the film, was a famous singer in England. Billed as the "British Elvis" he expressed an interest in musical theatre and Half a Sixpence was written for him. In fact he was so important to the show that he appeared in 12 out of the 15 musical numbers.
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Half A Sixpence was first performed at the Cambridge Theatre, London, on March 21, 1963 and enjoyed a 677 performance run.
It moved to the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway in 1965 and ran for 511 performances. It was nominated for 8 Tony Awards but failed to win any. The film version was released in 1967, directed by George Sidney, his final film. The reception for the movie, however, wasn't great. The New York Times reviewer saying it "should be visually fascinating to anyone in a state that I think is best described as stoned." |
Interesting Facts
- The show stopper song "Flash, Bang Whallop!" was only written a couple of days before the show opened in London when the production team realised they didn't have a stand out song for audiences to remember after the curtain had fallen.
- "Flash, Bang Wallop!" explains the noise the camera would make at weddings but also describes several other wedding photographs, including the marriage of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This particular verse was dropped from the film version.
- Julia Foster who played Ann in the film is the mother of British TV star Ben Fogle through her first marriage. Her singing voice was dubbed by the actress who had portrayed Ann in the original production, Marti Webb, as Foster wasn't thought to be strong enough vocally. You'll notice in the "Flash, Bang, Wallop" video above that she isn't singing at all.
- Lesley Judd, a dancer in the movie, went on to be a Blue Peter presenter between 1973 and '78.
- A sixpence is part of Britain's old money, before decimalisation. 12 pennies made up a shilling and there were 20 shillings in a pound. There's a link in the sources below if you want to find out more!
- In the revival version of the show the boat race has been replaced by a cricket match with an equally up tempo song to acompany it.