Twang!

Twang!

Infobox Musical
name = Twang!
subtitle =


caption =
music = Lionel Bart
lyrics = Lionel Bart
book = Lionel Bart
basis =
productions = 1965 West End
awards =

"Twang!" is a musical written by Lionel Bart, based on the story of Robin Hood. It is most famous for its disastrous box-office failure. It played at the Shaftesbury Theatre in London's West End, starting in 1965 and ran for six weeks.

Bart wrote both the music and lyrics and also directed and produced it together with Joan Littlewood. The lead actor was James Booth as Robin.

"Twang!" brought together a cast that included the Littlewood's Theatre Workshop’s strongest players including Ronnie Corbett and Barbara Windsor. It had the potential to be a great vehicle for James Booth, who was repeatedly told he was the only person who could do justice to the Robin Hood role, and who was repeatedly assured that the small part would be expanded to starring dimensions.

But "Twang!" was a disaster from the word go. The script was weak and stayed that way, especially the part of Robin Hood, despite constant, confusing rewrites. Rehearsals were disorganized. In front of the whole company, Littlewood accused Bart of being too strung-out on LSD to fulfill his creative responsibilities. A “theater doctor”, american Burt Shevelove, was brought in to salvage things, leading to still more confusing changes, but nothing helped. The show opened in disarray and closed soon after, to universal scorn and derision. Bart had invested his personal fortune in "Twang!" and he lost everything.

James Booth said that he had never felt good about "Twang!". Against his own better judgment he had allowed himself to be flattered and cajoled into accepting the half-baked part of Robin Hood when he could have been doing other things. He voiced his concerns over and over again, sticking with "Twang!" only from a sense of obligation. He had made no money during the year it took to prepare for "Twang!".

ongs

The songs in the musical included:
*Wander
*Dreamchild

References

Garrick Theatre Programme


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