The Dancing Years is a musical with book and music by Ivor Novello and lyrics by Christopher Hassall. The story takes place in Vienna, from 1911 until 1938. It follows the life of a penniless Jewish composer and his love for two women of different social classes, set against the background of Nazi persecution. The piece opened in 1939 in London's West End, starring Novello. Like many of Novello's musicals, The Dancing Years was given an expensive, spectacular production, with several scene changes and a large cast.
Synopsis
Rudi, a penniless young Jewish composer, plays the piano at an Austrian country inn, where he has been friends, since childhood with the innkeeper's daughter, Grete; they pledged to marry some day. He falls in love with Maria, an opera singer, for whom he composes successful operas. Three years later, Grete has become a musical theatre star. Maria overhears Rudi proposing to Grete in jest. Maria misunderstands and returns to Vienna to marry her older patron and former lover, Prince Metterling. Maria bears Rudi's son, Otto, who is brought up to believe that he is Metterling's son. More than a decade later, Maria introduces Rudi to Otto. Rudi and Maria discover that they are still love with each other, but Rudi decides that he cannot break up her marriage for the sake of their son. After more than another decade passes, Rudi is sentenced to death by the Nazis for helping Jews to escape Austria, but Maria uses her husband's connections to get a reprieve for him.
Productions
The musical was first produced at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane on 23 March 1939, directed by Novello's frequent collaborator Leontine Sagan. Novello starred opposite Mary Ellis. It closed at the start of the Second World Warin September 1939 after 187 performances. After a three-year provincial tour, the show reopened at the Adelphi Theatre on 14 March 1942, running there until July 1944, for a total of 969 performances. It was the most popular show of the war and earned an estimated £1,000,000. After this, the show toured extensively in Britain and was revived numerous times, including in London, and was adapted for film and television. The 1968 West End revival starred June Bronhill. The Australian production opened in Melbourne at His Majesty's Theatre in June 1946. The cast included Max Oldaker as Rudi, Elizabeth Gaye as Grete and Viola Wilson as Maria.
