From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Darling of the Day
Original Cast Recording
Music	Jule Styne
Lyrics	E.Y. Harburg
Book	Nunnally Johnson
Based upon	Novel Buried Alive by Arnold Bennett
Productions	1968 Broadway

Darling of the Day is a musical with a book by Nunnally Johnson, lyrics by E.Y. Harburg, and music by Jule Styne. It is based on Arnold Bennett's novel Buried Alive and his play The Great Adventure. Styne is supposed to have called this musical his "Lerner and Loewe" score, and the play can indeed be seen as an "upsidedown" My Fair Lady. The show closed after only 31 performances on Broadway, and subsequent attempts at revival have made little headway.

The musical starred Vincent Price as Priam Farll (in his first and only stage musical) and Patricia Routledge as Alice Challice. Also featured were Brenda Forbes and Peter Woodthorpe. In spite of a score still admired by many critics, the show's pre-Broadway run was plagued by difficulties, with three directors and five librettists attempting to resolve perceived problems. Johnson, upset with all the changes, demanded his name be removed from the credits. The show finally reached New York City where, following three previews, it opened on January 27, 1968 at the George Abbott Theatre. Reviews were mixed. Price was cited by some critics as woefully miscast, but there was unanimous praise for Routledge, whose performance earned her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical. The book, however, was criticized, and Darling of the day closed after only 31 performances.

An original cast recording was released by RCA Victor. This, and the CD re-release, are both rare and sought after.

Subsequent attempts at revival have made little headway, in spite of the belief of many students of musical theatre that the show had all the ingredients of success, and that the score is one of Styne's best.^[1]

In 1905 London, Priam Farll is an artist, brilliant, unconventional and shy, although he can be violently outspoken. He once offended Queen Victoria and was exiled to the South Pacific (shades of Gauguin), but Edward VII has succeeded to the throne, and Farll has been recalled to London to receive a knighthood.

Appalled by "society's" expectations of its "darling of the day" (a common Victorian/Edwardian term meaning something like "fashionable celebrity") Farll seizes the chance to "get out of the world alive" when his faithful butler, Henry Leek, suddenly dies, and their identities are confused by an official. Instead of correcting the error, Farll quietly assumes the identity of the deceased, and Leek's corpse is officially buried in Westminster Abbey as the famous artist.

He soon finds himself married to Alice Challice, a bright, well-to-do Cockney widow who had been corresponding with the real Henry Leek - and settles down to a happy "upper working class" existence. Farll continues to paint, and when his wife runs into financial difficulties he sells a few paintings. Complications naturally ensue, and his "cover" becomes increasingly flimsy. Just as it looks as if he will be compelled to resume his real identity, a piece of truly Gilbertian nonsense brings all to a satisfactory conclusion, and he is allowed to stay plain Henry Leek after all.

1. ^ review of a production of the musical

• Not Since Carrie: Forty Years of Broadway Musical Flops by Ken Mandelbaum
• Review and analysis of the show
• Another review and analysis

• Internet Broadway Database listing
• Information about the cast album and the show
• Description of Styne shows, with a profile of Darling