Tell Me on a Sunday
Tell Me on a Sunday is a musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Don Black. A one-woman show, it has been performed by a number of female singers/actors, most notably Marti Webb and Bernadette Peters. A one-act song cycle, it tells the story of an ordinary English girl from Muswell Hill, who journeys to the United States in search of love. Her romantic misadventures begin in New York City, lead her to Hollywood, and eventually take her back to Manhattan.
Tell Me on a Sunday
1979 Sydmonton Festival
1980 BBC telecast
As part of Song and Dance:
1982 West End
1985 Broadway
As a one-act show:
2003 West End
2004 UK tour
2008 Off-Broadway
2008 Australia
2010 UK tour
2011 Belgium
2014 London revival
2016 St. Louis
2021 Oslo
Background[edit]
The musical is based on an idea originally conceived by Tim Rice, who intended to develop it as a cycle of television shows with songwriting partner Andrew Lloyd Webber. The two relished working on a small-scale project following Evita. Shortly after they began working, however, Lloyd Webber realized Rice was writing specifically for Elaine Paige, with whom Rice was having an affair. Lloyd Webber felt that allowing Paige to appear in the series would suggest he approved of the relationship, so he decided to look for a new lyricist. He opted for Don Black who, following a successful stint in Hollywood (including an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Born Free"), had begun writing for the theatre. Although it had proven to be unsuccessful, his Bar Mitzvah Boy had impressed Lloyd Webber, who thought Black would be a good match.[1]
Rice's original concept had kept 'the girl' in the UK. It was Black who suggested she emigrate to the States. He quickly began writing lyrics for several tunes Lloyd Webber already had composed. It was their intent to present as complete a work as possible at the Sydmonton Festival in September 1979. The two decided to cast Marti Webb, who was portraying Eva Perón at the matinee performances of Evita, as their heroine,[2] and the show was first presented at the 1979 Sydmonton Festival.
Productions[edit]
Original album and broadcast[edit]
The positive reception at Sydmonton led to the show being recorded as an album. Following this, a special performance was filmed at the Royalty Theatre in London on 28 January 1980, and later broadcast on the BBC on 12 February 1980, although it was produced in 1979 according to the credits. The broadcast was a critical success and garnered high ratings, leading it to be repeated the following month.[3] Following its transmission, the album reached #2 on the UK charts, and the single release of "Take That Look Off Your Face" reached #3. This success propelled Marti Webb into a household name, despite being in the theatrical business for twenty years. She followed this with a number of her own albums and two further top 20 singles.
The original version was broadcast again for the first time in over 40 years, on BBC Four, in March 2023.[4]
Synopsis[edit]
'The girl' arrives in New York City, and tells her friend that she does not want to become a hard-bitten career woman or a user of men. Shortly after, she discovers her beau has been cheating on her with numerous other women and she walks out. She meets Hollywood producer Sheldon Bloom, who takes her to Los Angeles. Sheldon's career ambitions preclude his spending much time on a personal relationship and, after realizing life in the film capital is uneventful and Sheldon has been using her as a trophy girlfriend, 'the girl' returns to Manhattan.
Back in Greenwich Village, 'the girl' meets a salesman, and once again faces disappointment when she learns he frequently has been in town with other women when he supposedly was away on business. The two split up and she meets a married man. Intent on succeeding in her career and acquiring a green card, she is content with the noon-to-two relationship they share, until he announces he plans to leave his wife and marry her instead. She is horrified because not only does she not love him, but she realizes she's been using him, something she had vowed never to do. She sends him away and promises herself she will return to being the idealistic and ethical woman she was when she first arrived in the States.
'The girl' is the only person who appears on stage, despite having conversations with her friends and writing letters to her mum.