Wil l
Waspe
I was fascinated by the half-page advertisement for the American musical, Pippin, in the Sunday Times. My eye was taken by it because of all those ecstatic quotes — no fewer than fourteen of them — whereas my general impression had been that the critics' response to Pippin had been lukewarm, to say the most. Well, actually, the fourteen quotes weren't quite what they seemed. Five critics were quoted twice, one quote was from a New York paper, and another (the single word, ' Magnificent ') was from something called Girl About Town.
The whole ad. was boldy headlined, "London's New Musical Comedy Sensation." The sort of sensation, apparently, that might easily escape the notice of readers of the Sunday Times, whose own critic had described it as looking like "a No. 2 touring version of The Vagabond King."
National unity
No opportunity is being neglected at the National Theatre to emphasise the cordiality of relations between the new Director; Peter Hall. and his predecessor, Lord Olivier. Even though Olivier, now but an Associate Director, is to take a lengthy leave next year, the current word is that he will return for the opening of the new building in 1975 to play the really big one, King Lear, under Hall's direction. One thing both men are keen on, by the way, is getting the company out on extended tours to prove that it's really National. Olivier wanted to do more of it. Only last weekend in Sheffield, Hall insisted that he will. The folks out in the regions will believe it all when it happens.
Previous page
