Dorothy Fields Forever
A musical revue about the life and career of Broadway and Hollywood’s greatest, if often neglected, lady lyricist. Conceived and written by Eden Phillips, co-conceived and directed by David Kernan.
Watch
Cast
With Angela Richards as Dorothy Fields and Robert Meadmore, Kathryn Akin, Rebecca Lock and Stori James.
The Show
Based on the life and lyrics of Dorothy Fields, the show charts her triumphs and disappointments, illustrated in her own words and accompanied by music from the golden age of American song.
With the music of Jerome Kern, Jimmy McHugh, Arthur Schwartz, Sigmund Romberg and Cy Coleman.
Song list
ACT ONE
- I Can’t Give You Anything But Love (Jimmy McHugh)
- On the Sunny Side of the Street (McHugh)
- Blue Again (McHugh)
- I’m in the Mood for Love (McHugh)
- I Won’t Dance / Never Gonna Dance (Jerome Kern)
- Bojangles of Harlem (Kern)
- A Fine Romance (Kern)
- Remind Me (Kern)
- The Way You Look Tonight (Kern)
- A Lady Needs a Change (Kern)
- Pink Taffeta Sample Size 10 (Cy Coleman)
- Close As Pages in a Book (Sigmund Romberg)
- Make the Man Love Me (Arthur Schwartz)
- He Had Refinement (Schwartz)
- Lottie Gibson Specialty (Schwartz)
- The Uncle Sam Rag (Albert Hague)
- ‘Erbie Fitch’s Twitch (Hague)
- Where Am I Going? (Coleman)
ACT TWO
- There’s Gotta Be Something Better/ My Personal Property / It’s a Nice Face / I’m a Brass Band / The Rhythm of Life (Coleman)
- If My Friends Could See Me Now (Coleman)
- Soliloquy (Coleman)
- Welcome To Holiday Inn (Coleman)
- I’m Way Ahead (Coleman)
- Nobody Does It Like Me (Coleman)
- I Must Have That Man / Don’t Blame Me (McHugh)
- I Can’t Give You Anything but Love / On The Sunny Side of The Street reprise (McHugh)
- More People Like You (Coleman)
- It’s Not Where You Start (Coleman)
- Finale medley: I Feel a Song Coming On / Exactly Like You / You Couldn’t Be Cuter / Big Spender / Lovely To Look At / I Love to Cry at Weddings / Pick Yourself Up / It’s Not Where You Start / The Rhythm of Life
All lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Composers as shown in brackets.
Reviews
David Kernan and Eden Phillips’ show is wonderfully performed at the King’s Head, a venue that consistently pulls the proverbial rabbit from the hat on the musical front. For all the big budget, blockbuster shows in the West End, the King’s Head seems so often to have the last word – “Dorothy Fields Forever” is no exception.
Tom Keatinge, londontheatre.co.uk
★★★★★
First things first: Dorothy Who?
It’s sad to have to explain, and there’s no need once you see the show, since her work sings for itself, without the need to advertise or trumpet its virtues…
First seen at the tiny Jermyn Street Theatre in February, this effervescent fringe treat makes a highly welcome return to the slightly larger King’s Head, whose dinner theatre ambience is perfectly suited to the show’s intimate charms…
Director David Kernan and co-deviser and writer Eden Phillips have cleverly weaved some 40 songs into a brief biographical tale of her life. With the writer herself embodied by the mature, stately presence of Angela Richards, much of the narration is given in the first person, a device that allows us to see the woman behind the songs as well as the songs of the woman.
Richards is ably supported in putting those across by Rebecca Lock, Robert Meadmore, Kathryn Akin, Stori James and pianist/singer Nathan Martin.
whatsonstage.com
★★★★★
Watching the show it struck me that anthologies are often more enjoyable than full blown musicals: you get the plums without having to sit through the duff stuff. And Kernan, aided by choreographer Nick Winston, stages the songs neatly with a talented cast of five.
Angela Richards endows Fields herself with a wry detachment and delivers one of her lyrics, He Had Refinement, in the highly comic baby-voiced style of Judy Holliday. And she is elegantly supported by the self-satirising Robert Meadmore and the slit-skirted Rebecca Lock. Joy at the end was unconfined at a show that serves up old standards while also taking us into fresh Fields and pastures new.
Michael Billington, The Guardian
It’s a very happy show to be in, and I know everyone says this about their fellow cast members, but we really do have an amazingly talented group.
Angela Richards, interview for Playbill
Dorothy Fields Forever is a Side-by-Side-style revue, by Eden Phillips and David Kernan, that pays tribute to the lyricist Dorothy Fields. A hugely talented woman who wrote songs for shows, revues and cabaret from the 1920’s to the 1970’s, she made her way in what was then (as now) an essentially male-dominated area…
Paul Webb, Theatrenow
