Expresso Bongo - Programme, 1958
Title
Expresso Bongo - Programme, 1958
Date
24 March 1958
Description
Full programme for 1958 production of Expresso Bongo, starring Paul Schofield.
What's the story?
Expresso Bongo is described as a play with music and based on an original story by Wolf Mankowitz. Music and lyrics are by Monty Norman, David Heneker and Julian More.
Mankowitz, Norman and Leneker clearly had a strong working relationship, as they worked together on the musical Make Me An Offer, which toured to the Theatre Royal in 1960.
This production is a pre-West End run as it opened at the Saville Theatre, London a month later on 23 April 1958.
Expresso Bongo is described as a satire of the music industry and was filmed in 1959, notable for an early film role for Cliff Richard as Herbert Rudge, aka ‘Bongo Herbert’
Celebrated actor Paul Schofield (1922 – 2008) played the lead role of Johnnie, a slimy small-town music promoter. Often marked out for his great Shakespearean work and for his 1966 role as Sir Thomas Moore in A Man For All Seasons, Schofield’s presence here clearly shows his wide versatility.
Some of the other cast names are noteworthy, such as Barry Cryer, Millicent Martin, Victor Spinetti, Charles Gray and Susan Hampshire.
Expresso Bongo is set in the ‘groovy’ teenager-ridden world of 1950s coffee bars, note the programme advertisement for Nottingham’s own Espresso Bars – ‘El Toreador and the Sargasso’. Memories of these establishments very welcome.
Mankowitz, Norman and Leneker clearly had a strong working relationship, as they worked together on the musical Make Me An Offer, which toured to the Theatre Royal in 1960.
This production is a pre-West End run as it opened at the Saville Theatre, London a month later on 23 April 1958.
Expresso Bongo is described as a satire of the music industry and was filmed in 1959, notable for an early film role for Cliff Richard as Herbert Rudge, aka ‘Bongo Herbert’
Celebrated actor Paul Schofield (1922 – 2008) played the lead role of Johnnie, a slimy small-town music promoter. Often marked out for his great Shakespearean work and for his 1966 role as Sir Thomas Moore in A Man For All Seasons, Schofield’s presence here clearly shows his wide versatility.
Some of the other cast names are noteworthy, such as Barry Cryer, Millicent Martin, Victor Spinetti, Charles Gray and Susan Hampshire.
Expresso Bongo is set in the ‘groovy’ teenager-ridden world of 1950s coffee bars, note the programme advertisement for Nottingham’s own Espresso Bars – ‘El Toreador and the Sargasso’. Memories of these establishments very welcome.
Type
Programme
Location of item
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall
Rights
Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall
Contributor
Researchers: Pete Hewitt & David Longford
Format
12.5cm x 19cm
