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y separately published work icon Chu Chin Chow ... on Ice single work   musical theatre  
Adaptation of Chu Chin Chow : A Musical Tale of the East Oscar Asche , 1916 single work musical theatre
Issue Details: First known date: 1953... 1953 Chu Chin Chow ... on Ice
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

An adaptation of the musical play Chu Chin Chow. Chu Chin Chow ... on Ice ran for three months, and was aired on the BBC as part of its Sunday-night theatre programming.

Notes

  • Contemporary newspapers reported that the costumes for the performance alone cost some £65,000, with the total budget double that:

    No wonder the Robbers' cave is not very richly lined with gold. [...] Tagora warms up the proceedings with an astonishing feast of fire and 7,000 gallons of lavender-perfumed foam are pumped into the harem bath at the rate of 1,000 gallons per minute.

    Source: 'Empire Pool, Wembley', The Times, 1 July 1953, p.5.

Production Details

  • Staged at the Empire Pool, Wembley, Chu Chin Chow ... on Ice ran for three months from June 1953. The staging of a musical in summer was an experiment, since the Empire Pool had previously limited itself to a winter pantomime.

    During its run, it was aired (likely in a truncated form) on the BBC, as part of the Sunday-night theatre programming.

    Cast members included Eddie Delbridge (Nur Al-Huda Ali, Ali Baba's son), Pat Devries (A harem dancer / Bosten, Mahibubah's servant), Sheila Hamilton (Alcolom, Kasim Baba's favourite wife), Leslie Lugg (Mukbill a slave dealer / Otbah, a stallkeeper), George Miller (Kasim Baba, a wealthy merchant), Valerie Moon (Zahrat Al-Kulub, a slave), Gloria Nord (Marjanah, Kasim Baba's slave), Ron Priestley (Abu Hasan, the Shayk of the Robbers), Jeanette Raphael (Mahibubah, Ali Baba's wife), Berkeley Smith (Commentator), Tony Somers (Ali Baiba, Kasim Baba's poor brother), George Stevens (Khuzaymah, a robber chieftain / Mustafa, a cobbler), Denise Vane (The veil dancer), Michael Walker (Abdullah, Kasim Baba's steward), andRon Wells (Musab, a robber).

    Including the voices of J. Grant Anderson, Rafe Caldicott, Patricia Chaplin, Majorie Chase, Leslie de Havilland, Arthur Gomez, Jan Haley, Jane Hillary, Raymond James, Victor Macdonald, Patrick O'Donnell, Frederick Sommer, and Tagora.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) ,
      1953 .
      Note/s:
      • Truncated version aired on the BBC.
      Series: form y separately published work icon BBC Sunday Night Theatre United Kingdom (UK) : British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) , 1950-1959 6432525 1950 series - publisher film/TV

      Anthology drama series made for the BBC between 1950 and 1959.

      The episodes suffered badly during the BBC's purge of its archives in the 1970s, and little of the original series remains.

      In addition, for the first three years (March 1950 - February 1953), the show was aired live, and so no recordings from those years were ever made.

      Number in series: 4.27
      London,
      c
      England,
      c
      c
      United Kingdom (UK),
      c
      Western Europe, Europe,
      :
      1953 .
      image of person or book cover 4863024907957840955.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Note/s:
      • Stage production.
Last amended 1 Oct 2015 11:15:14
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