Penguin Random House Noel Coward on (and In) Theatre (Englisch), Sonstige Literatur

1 Early Stages But I Heard the Curtain Going Up The Boy Actor I can remember, I can remember. The months of November and December Were filled for me with peculiar joys So different from those of other boys. For other boys would be counting the days Until end of term and holiday times But I was acting in Christmas plays While they were taken to pantomimes. I didn t envy their Eton suits, Their children s dances and Christmas trees. My life had wonderful substitutes For such conventional treats as these. I didn t envy their country larks, Their organised games in panelled halls While they made snow-men in stately parks I was counting the curtain calls. I remember the auditions, the nerve-racking auditions: Darkened auditorium and empty, dusty stage, Little girls in ballet dresses practising positions Gentlemen with pince-nez asking you your age. Hopefulness and nervousness struggling within you, Dreading that familiar phrase, Thank you, dear, no more. Straining every muscle, every tendon, every sinew To do your dance much better than you d ever done before. Think of your performance. Never mind the others. Never mind the pianist, talent must prevail. Never mind the baleful eyes of other children s mothers Glaring from the corners and willing you to fail. I can remember. I can remember. The months of November and December Were more significant to me Than other months could ever be For they were the months of high romance When destiny waited on tip-toe, When every boy actor stood a chance Of getting into a Christmas show, Not for me the dubious heaven Of being some prefect s protégé! Not for me the Second Eleven. For me, two performances a day. Ah, those first rehearsals! Only very few lines: Rushing home to mother, learning them by heart. Enter Left through window Dots to mark the cue lines: Exit with others Still, it was a part. Opening performance legs a bit unsteady, Dedicated tension, shivers down my spine, Powder, grease and eye-black, sticks of make-up ready Leichner number three and number five and number nine. World of strange enchantment, magic for a small boy Dreaming of the future, reaching for the crown, Rigid in the dressing-room, listening for the call-boy Overture Beginners Everybody Down! I can remember. I can remember. The months of November and December, Although climatically cold and damp, Meant more to me than Aladdin s lamp. I see myself, having got a job, Walking on wings along the Strand, Uncertain whether to laugh or sob And clutching tightly my mother s hand, I never cared who scored the goal Or which side won the silver cup, I never learned to bat or bowl But I heard the curtain going up. I knew in my teens that the world was full of hatred, cruelty, vice, unrequited love, despair, destruction and murder. I also knew at the same time that it was filled with kindness, pleasure, joy, requited love, fun, excitement, generosity, laughter and friends. And through all my years I have never changed in my mind the balance of these absurd phenomena. Noël Coward was literally born to the sound of music. At the turn of the century music in a domestic context meant the family gathered round the piano for a sing-song. Noël could sing those familiar songs and hymns word perfectly to the end of his life. But that early exposure certainly helped bring o.