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{{Short description|Musical}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Musical
| name = Salad Days
| image = Salad_Days_(musical).jpg
| caption = Original cast recording, 1954
| music = [[Julian Slade]]
| lyrics = Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds
| book =
| basis =
| productions = 1954 Bristol <br /> 1954 [[West End theatre|West End]] <br /> 1958 New York <br /> 1976 West End revival <br /> 1996 West End revival <br /> 2009–12 Hammersmith (two revivals)
<!-- Please do not include production-specific (acting, directing, etc.) awards -->
| awards =
}}
'''''Salad Days''''' is a [[Musical theater|musical]] with music by [[Julian Slade]], and with [[libretto|book and lyrics]] by [[Dorothy Reynolds]] and Julian Slade. The musical was initially performed in 1954 in the UK in [[Bristol]] and then in the [[West End theatre|West End]], where it ran for 2,283 performances.
==Background==
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==Synopsis==
Jane Raeburn and Timothy Dawes meet in a park, soon after their graduation, to plan their lives. They agree to get married, and do so in secret, but Timothy's parents have urged him to ask his various influential uncles—a
After attempts by the Minister of Pleasure and Pastime (Timothy's Ministerial uncle) to ban the disruptive music, the piano vanishes, and Timothy enlists his scientific Uncle Zed to take them in his [[flying saucer]] to retrieve it. When it is found, the tramp reappears to tell them that their month is up and the piano must be passed on to another couple. He also reveals that he is a hitherto unknown uncle of Timothy (whose parents had referred to as "the one we don't mention"). Timothy and Jane look forward to the future with confidence.
==Musical numbers==
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* "Find Yourself Something to Do" – Father, Mother, Aunt Prue, and Timothy
* "I Sit in the Sun" – Jane
* "Oh, Look at Me!" – Jane and Timothy
* "Hush Hush" – Uncle Clam, Fosdyke, and Timothy
* "Oh, Look at Me!" (Reprise) – Company
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==Productions==
[[File:Salad Days performance Bristol Old Vic Sat 12 June 1954.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Diary showing performance of ''Salad Days'' on Saturday 12 June 1954 at Bristol Old Vic.]]
''Salad Days'' premiered in the UK at the Theatre Royal, Bristol in June 1954, and transferred to the [[Vaudeville Theatre]] in London on 5 August 1954, running for 2,283 performances<ref>[http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_s/salad_days.htm "Salad Days History, Story, Roles and Musical Numbers"] guidetomusicaltheatre.com, accessed March 16, 2012</ref> to become the longest-running show in musical theatre history until overtaken by ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' in the U.S. (1956) and ''[[Oliver!]]'' in the U.K. (1960). In the [[Evening Standard Awards]] for 1955, ''Salad Days'' was given the Award for Most Enjoyable Show (although ''[[The Pajama Game]]'' won as Best Musical). The musical was produced by Denis Carey, with dances arranged by Elizabeth West, and with a cast that featured Dorothy Reynolds in a variety of roles, [[John Warner (actor)|John Warner]] as Timothy and [[Eleanor Drew]] as Jane. Slade played one of the two pianos. The reviewer in ''The Guardian'' wrote: "There is no pointed satire, only a passable line of wit, but the effect is one of genuine high spirits and those who liked it on Thursday were ready to call it the gayest piece of entertainment since ''The Mikado''. Others were heard to compare it to a children's party, meaning that they found the fun jejune, 'undergraduate,' and limited."<ref>Hope-Wallace, Philip. [http://web.me.com/wmmvrrvrrmm/The_Christine_Finn_Webshrine/The_Guardian_Newspaper_Article_I_Salad_Days.html "Another Present From Bristol "Salad Days"] ''The Guardian'', reprint in web.me.com, The Christine Finn Webshrine, 31 July 1954</ref> It played to over 1.25 million people and grossed over $1.8 million.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=July 1, 1959|title='Salad Days' Really Is|page=1|url=http://www.archive.org/stream/variety215-1959-07#mode/1up|accessdate=May 19, 2019}}</ref> ▼
▲''Salad Days'' premiered in the UK at the Theatre Royal, Bristol in June 1954, and transferred to the [[Vaudeville Theatre]] in London on 5 August 1954, running for 2,283 performances<ref>[http://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_s/salad_days.htm "Salad Days History, Story, Roles and Musical Numbers"] guidetomusicaltheatre.com, accessed March 16, 2012</ref> to become the longest-running show in musical theatre history until overtaken by ''[[My Fair Lady]]'' in the U.S. (1956) and ''[[Oliver!]]'' in the U.K. (1960). In the [[Evening Standard Awards]] for 1955, ''Salad Days'' was given the Award for Most Enjoyable Show (although ''[[The Pajama Game]]'' won as Best Musical). The musical was produced by Denis Carey, with dances arranged by Elizabeth West, and with a cast that featured Dorothy Reynolds in a variety of roles, [[John Warner (actor)|John Warner]] as Timothy and [[Eleanor Drew]] as Jane. Slade played one of the two pianos. The reviewer in ''The Guardian'' wrote: "There is no pointed satire, only a passable line of wit, but the effect is one of genuine high spirits and those who liked it on Thursday were ready to call it the gayest piece of entertainment since ''The Mikado''. Others were heard to compare it to a children's party, meaning that they found the fun jejune, 'undergraduate,' and limited."<ref>Hope-Wallace, Philip. [http://web.me.com/wmmvrrvrrmm/The_Christine_Finn_Webshrine/The_Guardian_Newspaper_Article_I_Salad_Days.html "Another Present From Bristol "Salad Days"] ''The Guardian'', reprint in web.me.com, The Christine Finn Webshrine, 31 July 1954</ref> It played to over 1.25 million people and grossed over $1.8 million.<ref>{{cite news|publisher=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]|date=July 1, 1959|title='Salad Days' Really Is|page=1|url=http://www.archive.org/stream/variety215-1959-07#mode/1up|accessdate=May 19, 2019}}</ref>
The Canadian premiere of ''Salad Days'' in 1956 was at the Hart House Theatre, [[University of Toronto]] for several months<ref name=morse>Morse, Barry. "Those Were My Salad Days", ''Remember With Advantages'' (2006), McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-2771-0}}, pp. 126–31</ref> with [[Barry Morse]] as director and Alan Lund as choreographer. The Canadian cast included [[Jack Creley]], Betty Leighton, Barbara Franklin, [[John Clark (actor)|John Clark]], Roland Bull, Norma Renault and [[Eric Christmas]].<ref>"Monday Is 'Salad' Day". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', September 15, 1956.</ref> The show transferred to the [[Royal Alexandra Theatre]] and then to Her Majesty's Theatre in Montreal. Morse wrote that it played "successfully" and was "again a triumph".<ref name=morse/> Morse revived the production at the Crest Theatre, Toronto, and then brought it to New York with a slightly different cast. The New York production, featuring [[Richard Easton]], opened at the Barbizon Plaza Theatre (then located at [[Avenue of the Americas]] and 58th Street) on November 10, 1958 and ran for 80 performances.<ref>Kenrick, John. [http://www.musicals101.com/1950s.htm "Broadway Musical Chronology: The 1950s"], musicals101.com, accessed March 15, 2012</ref><ref>Atkinson, Brooks. "Salad Days Review", ''The New York Times'', November 11, 1958, p. 24</ref> Morse described the theatre as "not a Broadway theatre ... a perfectly comfortable and centrally situated theatre which was housed in a hotel." He further wrote "as rotten luck would have it there was a newspaper strike which started just a few days before we opened."<ref name=morse/><ref>The 19-day news delivery strike in December 1958 in New York City closed nine major New York City newspapers. See Spielvogel, Carl. "Where Did Strike Hurt Most?", ''The New York Times'', December 30, 1958, p. 58</ref> There were no reviews, and the show closed in January 1959 when, according to Morse, "our financial resources were used up."<ref name=morse/>▼
▲The Canadian premiere of ''Salad Days'' in 1956 was at the Hart House Theatre, [[University of Toronto]] for several months<ref name=morse>Morse, Barry. "Those Were My Salad Days", ''Remember With Advantages'' (2006), McFarland & Company, Inc. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-2771-0}}, pp. 126–31</ref> with [[Barry Morse]] as director and Alan Lund as choreographer. The Canadian cast included [[Jack Creley]], Betty Leighton, Barbara Franklin, [[John Clark (English actor)|John Clark]], Roland Bull, Norma Renault and [[Eric Christmas]].<ref>"Monday Is 'Salad' Day". ''[[The Globe and Mail]]'', September 15, 1956.</ref> The show transferred to the [[Royal Alexandra Theatre]] and then to Her Majesty's Theatre in Montreal. Morse wrote that it played "successfully" and was "again a triumph".<ref name=morse/> Morse revived the production at the Crest Theatre, Toronto, and then brought it to New York with a slightly different cast. The New York production, featuring [[Richard Easton]], opened at the Barbizon Plaza Theatre (then located at [[Avenue of the Americas]] and 58th Street) on November 10, 1958, and ran for 80 performances.<ref>Kenrick, John. [http://www.musicals101.com/1950s.htm "Broadway Musical Chronology: The 1950s"], musicals101.com, accessed March 15, 2012</ref><ref>Atkinson, Brooks. "Salad Days Review", ''The New York Times'', November 11, 1958, p. 24</ref> Morse described the theatre as "not a Broadway theatre ... a perfectly comfortable and centrally situated theatre which was housed in a hotel." He further wrote "as rotten luck would have it there was a newspaper strike which started just a few days before we opened."<ref name=morse/><ref>The 19-day news delivery strike in December 1958 in New York City closed nine major New York City newspapers. See Spielvogel, Carl. "Where Did Strike Hurt Most?", ''The New York Times'', December 30, 1958, p. 58</ref> There were no reviews, and the show closed in January 1959 when, according to Morse, "our financial resources were used up."<ref name=morse/>
The show was revived in the West End in April 1976 at [[The Duke of York's Theatre]], running for 133 performances, and featured Elizabeth Seal.<ref>[http://broadwayworld.com/bwidb/sections/productions/index.php?var=7000 "'Salad Days' (London Revival, 1976)"], Broadwayworld.com, accessed March 17, 2012</ref> ''Salad Days'' was next revived in April 1996 at London's [[Vaudeville Theatre]], directed by [[Ned Sherrin]] and featuring Simon Connolly, Nicola Fulljames and Richard Sisson. In his review for ''The Guardian'', [[Michael Billington (critic)|Michael Billington]] wrote: "Time has also changed both the show and our attitude towards it. What seemed hopelessly innocent in 1954 has now acquired the patina of camp."<ref>Billington, Michael. "First Night: Humour Wilts In New Season Crop", ''The Guardian'' (London), April 19, 1996, p.2</ref>
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==Cultural impact==
The musical was parodied, in a particularly bloody manner, by [[Monty Python]] in their sketch "[[Sam Peckinpah's "Salad Days"|Sam Peckinpah's ''Salad Days'']]".
£7,000 from the Salad Days profits – a large sum in those days— was given to the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School towards the purchase and conversion of two large adjoining Victorian villas at 1 and 2 Downside Road in Clifton. In 1995 the enduring benefit to students of that donation was formally recognised when a new custom-built dance and movement studio in the School's back garden was named the Slade/Reynolds Studio.
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==References==
*Everett, William A. and Paul R. Laird (2002). [https://books.google.com/books?id=0dkmJazu298C
*[http://www.allmusicals.com/s/saladdays.htm Information about the musical at Allmusicals.com]
*[http://www.mckellen.com/stage/00142c.htm Information about 1963 production]
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[[Category:British musicals]]
[[Category:West End musicals]]
[[Category:Musicals set in London]]
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