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In 2012, London’s Finborough Theatre had an instant sell-out with Ivor Novello’s final musical, Gay’s the Word. This sparkling backstage musical comedy (written in 1951 for Dame Cicely Courtneidge) was the first commercial production of a Novello show in London for over forty years.

Bankrupt stage star Gay Daventry opens a drama school, but finds what is needed to get her back on top is, to name the show’s hit song, Vitality!. Other numbers include If Only He’d Looked My Way (subsequently recorded by Frank Sinatra), Bees Are Buzzin’ and On Such a Night as This, combining Novello’s melodies with Alan Melville’s wit.

West End favourite Sophie-Louise Dann stars as Gay, alongside fast-rising Helena Blackman and Josh Little, and an amazing supporting cast including Tony Award-winner Elizabeth Seal, whose career began in the chorus of the original production of Gay’s the Word.

Welsh-born composer, author and actor Ivor Novello (1893-1951) was one of the most eminent British entertainers of the last century. His West End musicals included Glamorous Night, The Dancing Years and King’s Rhapsody. As an actor, he was Britain’s first major male film star, appearing in over twenty silent features including Alfred Hitchcock’s classic The Lodger.

This production of Gay’s the Word was revived at Jermyn Street Theatre in 2013. Ben Stock replaced Jonny Purchase; Andrea Miller took over from Myra Sands; Adam Anderson and Martin Milnes replaced James Irving and Sebastian Smith; production assistance was by Gareth McLeod; lighting was by Rob Mills; music supervision was by Ross Leadbeater.