A chauffeur in Japan (Nissan Fuga shown)

A chauffeur is a person employed to drive a passenger motor vehicle, especially a luxury vehicle such as a large sedan or limousine.

Originally such drivers were always personal servants of the vehicle owner, but now in many cases specialist chauffeur service companies, or individual drivers provide both driver and vehicle for hire, although there are service companies that just provide the driver.

History[link]

The term "chauffeur" comes from the French term for stoker^[1] because the earliest automobiles, like their railroad and sea vessel counterparts, were steam-powered and required the driver to stoke the engine. Early petrol/gasoline-powered motor cars, before the advent of electric ignition, were ignited by 'hot tubes' in the cylinder head which had to be pre-heated before the engine would start. Hence the term 'chauffeur' which, in this context, means something like 'heater-upper'. The chauffeur would prime the hot tubes at the start of a journey, after which the natural compression cycle of the engine would keep them at the correct temperature. The chauffeur also maintained the car, including routine maintenance and cleaning, and had to be a skilled mechanic to deal with breakdowns and tire punctures enroute; very common in the earliest years of the automobile.

Only the very wealthy could afford the first automobiles, and they generally employed a chauffeur rather than driving themselves. A 1906 article in the New York Times reported that "...the chauffeur problem to-day is one of the most serious that the automobilist has to deal with.", and complained that "...young men of no particular ability, who have been earning from $10 to $12 a week, are suddenly elevated to salaried positions paying from $25 to $50..."—and recommended the re-training of existing coach drivers.^[2]

Scope[link]

While the term may refer to anybody who drives for a living, it usually implies a driver of an elegant passenger vehicle such as a horse-drawn carriage, luxury sedan, motor coach, or especially a limousine; those who operate buses or non-passenger vehicles are generally referred to as "drivers". In some countries, particularly developing nations where a ready supply of labor ensures that even the middle classes can afford domestic staff and among the wealthy,^[3] the chauffeur may simply be called the "driver".

People currently sometimes employ chauffeurs full-time to drive themselves in their own personal vehicles, yet there are also professional services offering limousines or rental cars^[4] driven by chauffeurs. This is very similar to but more luxurious than taking a taxicab. A variety of benefits are cited for using chauffeurs, including convenience, productivity and time savings,^[5] and driving safety for businesspeople and seniors.^[6] Indeed, insurance costs for luxury vehicles are often lower if the designated driver is a chauffeur.^[7]

The legal requirements to be a chauffeur vary depending on the local jurisdiction and class of vehicle. In some cases a simple permit is all that is required, but in others an additional professional license with certain minimum standards is areas such as: age, health, driving experience, criminal record, local geographic knowledge,^[8] training attended.^[9]

Training[link]

In addition to the minimum legal requirements, limousine companies often require their chauffeurs to undergo specific extra training.^{[citation needed]} These courses may involve evasive or defensive driving techniques, the proper methods to ensure safety in the most extreme conditions such as inclement weather, a flat tire at high speeds, or other exterior influences for loss of vehicular control, etc. Most companies will also have their own courses as to what they expect from their chauffeurs. Chauffeurs may be taught proper etiquette for use when they are in presence of their clientele. They may also be trained for services to the client beyond the caritself, such as for a personal valet or bodyguard. Many companies and local licensing agencies currently require random drug screening^{[citation needed]} - in the United States this was especially the case after professional ice hockey player Vladimir Konstantinov's career-ending injuries when his recently hired chauffeur, Richard Gnida, already serving a license suspension for drunken driving, lost control of their limousine and crashed, seriously injuring Konstantinov and his other passengers.^[10][11]

Dress[link]

In many places (or at times in the past), proper physical presence is presented by the chauffeur at all times. This usually includes a well-groomed individual, conservatively dressed in a clean and crisply pressed black or dark suit or tuxedo, dress shirt, and appropriately matching tie, with black leather gloves and freshly polished matching footwear. In some areas, such as Japan, white gloves are the norm. Some companies have complete uniforms for their chauffeurs, and some require that hats be worn as part of the uniform. Some companies do not keep strictly to this standard, and there is wide variation globally throughout the transportation industry.^{[citation needed]}

Examples[link]

• Kay Summersby, chauffeur to Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force Dwight D. Eisenhower
• Roosevelt Zanders, drove Fidel Castro, Richard Nixon, Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, and many others.^[12]
• William Grover-Williams, chauffeur to William Orpen

In fiction[link]

• Aloysius "Nosey" Parker
• Thomas Watkins

References[link]

*[1]

Chris Corner
Chris Corner in July 2009
Background information
Birth name	Christopher Anthony Corner
Born	(1974-01-23) 23 January 1974 (age 38)
Origin	Middlesbrough, Cleveland, England
Genres	Indietronica
Occupations	Multi instrumentalist songwriter, producer, remixer
Associated acts	IAMX Sneaker Pimps Robots in Disguise Imogen Heap
Website	www.iamx.eu

Chris Corner is an English musician and songwriter. He was a founding member of the band Sneaker Pimps and is now active with the IAMX solo project.^[1]

He has been living in Berlin since 2006, where he has set up his new IAMX studio for music and visual work.^[2][3]

Corner composed and produced the soundtrack to the film Les Chevaliers du Ciel (2005). It included Sue Denim and Placebo.^[4]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official IAMX Website
• Official IAMX Streetteam Page
• IAMX/Chris Corner Experimental Site
• BoutiqueIAMX

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Simon Le Bon
Simon Le Bon, 2004
Background information
Birth name	Simon John Charles Le Bon
Born	(1958-10-27) 27 October 1958 (age 53) near Bushey, Hertfordshire, England
Genres	New Wave, rock, alternative rock, New Romantic
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, harmonica, ocarina, saxophone
Associated acts	Duran Duran Arcadia

Simon John Charles Le Bon (born 27 October 1958) is an English musician, best known as the lead singer, lyricist and musician of the band Duran Duran and its offshoot, Arcadia.

Early life[link]

Simon John Charles Le Bon was the first born son of John Le Bon and Ann-Marie, followed by two further sons, David and Jonathan. He is descended from exiled French Huguenot stock. His mother encouraged his artistic talent when he was six years old by entering him in a screen test for a Persil washing powder TV advert; he won and starred as the little boy with the off-white shirt, but had no spoken lines.

He was a member of the local church choir from a young age, but was also trained as an actor. Simon went to Pinner County Grammar School, the same school that Elton John attended some years earlier. He worked as a theatre porter at Northwick Park Hospital Accident and Casualty, and also auditioned for a punk band at Harrow College. He appeared in a few television commercials and also in several theatre productions including Tom Brown's Schooldays in the West End of London. He worked on a kibbutz – an Israeli collective community – in the Negev desert in Israel in 1978, and then returned to England to study drama at the University of Birmingham before meeting the fledgling band Duran Duran in 1980.

Le Bon attended Birmingham University at the same time as Blancmange lead singer Neil Arthur. This fact came up during a Smash Hits interview of Blancmange done by Chris Heath. According to Arthur, Le Bon recognised his old university classmate immediately upon running into him backstage at a Top of the Pops taping, and the two met up for a drink and friendly chat.

Career[link]

Duran Duran[link]

Duran Duran was founded by childhood friends John Taylor and Nick Rhodes along with singer/songwriter Stephen Duffy in 1978, but Duffy left a year later, convinced they weren't going anywhere. The band went through a long succession of lineup changes after Duffy's departure, but finally settled on a guitarist and drummer. The band had a powerful pop sound flavoured with disco, funk and electronics, built on a solid rock rhythm section, and all they needed was a charismatic singer with a distinctive voice.

Le Bon's ex-girlfriend, Fiona Kemp (a barmaid at the Rum Runner nightclub where Duran Duran was rehearsing), introduced him to the band in May 1980, recommending him as a potential vocalist. As band legend has it, he turned up for the audition wearing pink leopard-print trousers, and carrying a notebook containing a large collection of poems he had written—several of which would later become tracks on the early Duran Duran albums.^[1] After listening to the songs the band had already composed together, Le Bon spent some time fitting one of his poems ("Sound of Thunder") to one of the instrumentals, and found they had a good match. Le Bon agreed to "try [Duran Duran] out for the summer"; within six weeks the band was playing steadily around Birmingham, London and Nottingham, and a national tour supporting Hazel O'Connor led to a record deal with EMI Records in December.

The band's first album, Duran Duran, was released in 1981, and they quickly shot to fame as part of the New Romantic movement. Three more albums followed in quick succession: Rio (1982), Seven and the Ragged Tiger (1983) and the live album Arena (1984). Each album release was accompanied by heavy media promotion and a lengthy concert tour. By mid-1984, the band was ready for a break. Duran Duran's only other work that year was an appearance on the 1984 Band Aid charity single, "Do They Know It's Christmas".

Following the departures of Roger Taylor and Andy Taylor, Le Bon, Rhodes and John Taylor continued on as Duran Duran, recording and releasing Notorious (1986) and Big Thing (1988). The group added guitarist Warren Cuccurullo and drummer Sterling Campbell (his only album as a member of the band) and recorded the album Liberty (1990), but the band's success had begun to wane in the late-1980s.

Duran Duran had a resurgence in popularity in 1993 with The Wedding Album. Several months into the extensive worldwide concert tour supporting this album, Le Bon suffered from a torn vocal cord, and the tour was postponed for six weeks while he recovered.

In 1995, Duran Duran released the covers album Thank You, and Le Bon had the chance to cover some of his favourite artists, (Jim Morrison, Lou Reed and Elvis Costello), but the album was severely panned by critics from all quarters. That year Le Bon also performed Duran Duran's 1993 hit "Ordinary World" with opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti during a "Children of Bosnia" benefit concert for War Child. Le Bon described the event to Jam! Showbiz thusly: "If you're talking about name dropping, he's one of the biggest names you could drop, Pav-The-Man."

When bassist John Taylor left the band in 1997, Le Bon and Rhodes remained as the only two members who had been with Duran Duran from the beginning. The successive two albums with Le Bon, Rhodes and Cuccurullo, Medazzaland (1997) and Pop Trash (2000) were not commercial successes.

Simon Le Bon performing in 2005

In 2001, Duran Duran's original five members reunited to record a new album, Astronaut, for Epic Records. Astronaut was released worldwide on 11 October 2004. The album was preceded by the single "(Reach Up For The) Sunrise", their first UK Top 10 single in a decade.

Arcadia[link]

Before Duran Duran reunited in 1986, Le Bon formed the band Arcadia with fellow Duran Duran members Nick Rhodes and Roger Taylor. The band had a UK/US top 10 hit with their first single "Election Day", and released one album, So Red The Rose in 1985.

Solo excursions[link]

While Le Bon has been in Duran Duran for the band's entire recording history, he has also dabbled in solo outings. In 1985, for the Whitbread Round the World Race, he contributed a song entitled "Grey Lady Of The Sea" and narrated a video of that year's race called Drum (1987). "Grey Lady Of The Sea" was released as a single in Japan in 1988.

In 1989, for Jonathan Elias' Requiem For The Americas project, Le Bon contributed "Follow In My Footsteps", with The Bangles' Susanna Hoffs on background vocals. The track was released on 7" single in Italy that year.

In 1998, along with friend Nick Wood and wife Yasmin, he set up SYN Entertainment (Simon Yasmin Nick) in Tokyo, Japan. Having first conceived the idea in 1988, Le Bon is currently described as SYN's "Founder and Chairman", while Wood is "Founder, President and Creative Director".

In 1999, Le Bon was reported to be involved in Napalm Death's new album, a collaboration brought about through their shared love of hometown Birmingham.

In 2000, SYN Entertainment founded SYN Records which has released a number of compilations, some of which have included contributions by Le Bon. Another solo track, "Dreamboy", was featured on the SYN-released soundtrack to the Mario Van Peebles movie Love Kills.

Also in 2000, SYN co-executive produced the Duran Duran album Pop Trash along with Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo's side-venture TV Mania.

In October 2005 Dutch trance DJ Ferry Corsten released the track "Fire", with vocals by Simon Le Bon. It was a remix of the lesser known Duran Duran single Serious, from the album Liberty. (full credits: Ferry Corsten feat. Simon Le Bon - Fire (Flashover remix), on Flashover Recordings)

In late 2006, Le Bon became a member of Shinzou Sound, and took part in the Japan-based online manga project, 'Synesthesia', by co-writing the theme song 'Nobody Knows' along with Nick Wood. Shinzou Sound is a group of creative collaborators specializing in manga, music, web design and popular culture. They joined forces with the simple concept of merging their talents in an effort to deliver the new entertainment of music and manga in an innovative way. Exclusive songs, inspired by the manga story were commissioned from international and Japanese DJs, and the story was launched in fortnightly episodes on the Net, with the individual songs available free through iTunes Japan.

In 2010, Le Bon collaborated on the song "Record Collection", the title track from Mark Ronson's third album. In the song, Le Bon is heard singing the chorus, along with Mark Ronson and hip hop artist Wiley. The song does not have a current single release date. Ronson later produced Duran Duran's 2010 album All You Need Is Now.

Personal life[link]

In the early 1980s, Simon was engaged to his then longtime girlfriend, model-turned-actress Claire Stansfield. While still with Claire, Le Bon wooed young fashion model Yasmin Parvaneh after seeing her face in a magazine and phoning her modeling agency to track her down, even as magazines speculated on a possible wedding with Stansfield. Simon and Yasmin married on 27 December 1985. After Yasmin suffered two miscarriages, the couple has three daughters: Amber Rose Tamara Le Bon (born August 25, 1989 - a model like her mother),^[2] Saffron Sahara (born September 25, 1991) and Tallulah Pine (born September 10, 1994).^{[citation needed]} The family, along with their dogs, a Pug named Luigi, a Chihuahua named Tinka and a Boston Terrier named Cecil, live in Putney, South West London.

While Duran Duran was on hiatus in 1985, Le Bon drew media attention when his maxi yacht, Drum, lost her keel and capsized during the Fastnet race, just off Falmouth, along the southern coast of Cornwall. Before being rescued, Le Bon and other crew members were trapped underwater, inside the hull, for forty minutes. Despite the accident, Le Bon and Drum went on to participate in the 1985-1986 Whitbread Round the World Race, coming in third overall in elapsed time. Le Bon and his partners eventually sold Drum; the events surrounding Drum and the races were chronicled in a 1989 movie entitled Drum – The Journey Of A Lifetime and the book One Watch at a Time^[3] written by Drum's skipper, Skip Novak. It was Le Bon's participation in the Whitbread that led to the phrase rock star sailor.

Twenty years after his accident, in 2005, Le Bon made public his desire to race again. During a touring hiatus in August 2005, Le Bon again raced 'Drum' in the Fastnet race, borrowing the vessel from her current owner (the Scottish multi car garage owner Sir Arnold Clark) to participate, and raising funds for the RNLI charity. Le Bon had to leave the race unfinished, as light winds were slowing 'Drum' (and 'Drum's' competitors), and would have delayed the boat's arrival at Plymouth, interfering with Le Bon's obligation to perform in Japan.^[4]

In 2009 Le Bon (who describes himself as a "concerned agnostic")^[5] contributed an essay to the book The Atheist's Guide to Christmas, edited by Ariane Sherine.

Le Bon injured his vocal cords and was unable to finish his 2011 summer tour. He remarked, "I am trying to be philosophical."^[6]

In a 2011 interview with New York, Le Bon stated that he currently enjoys the bands Scissor Sisters, The Killers, Fall Out Boy, and 30 Seconds to Mars-- all of which Le Bon cites as having a similar "feathers-and-mascara" image.^[7]

Le Bon is a supporter of Manchester United.

References[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Simon Le Bon

External links[link]

• SYN Entertainment official website
• Duran Duran official website

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2011)

Kirsty Hawkshaw
Background information
Born	(1969-10-26) 26 October 1969 (age 42) London, UK
Genres	Electronic music
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Singing, synthesizers
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Coalition/EastWest, Mainline/EMI, Nettwerk, Magnatune
Associated acts	Opus III, Pulusha, Warm
Website	www.kirstyhawkshaw.co.uk

Kirsty Hawkshaw (born 26 October 1969 in London, UK) is a British dance/electronica/house/trance musician and songwriter. She is known for her participation as lead vocalist for the group Opus III, and her collaborative work with other musicians and producers.

Career[link]

Kirsty Hawkshaw is the daughter of the British production music/film music composer and disco record producer Alan Hawkshaw.

At a rave event in 1991 she was noticed by producers Ian Munro, Kevin Dobbs and Nigel Walton, who at the time were known as A.S.K. It was through this meeting that they would form a dance act called Opus III. Their first single, a cover version of the song "It's a Fine Day" from their debut album Mind Fruit was an international success and Top 10 hit on UK Singles Chart,^[1] and reached #1 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1992. A reversed sample of Hawkshaw's singing from this track was used in the Orbital track "Halcyon," the music video for which featured Hawkshaw. Opus III also had another US #1 hit on the same chart in 1994 with "When You Made The Mountain", from their second and final album, Guru Mother.

After the group broke up in 1994, Hawkshaw pursued a solo career and since then has been in demand by other acts in the dance, house, Eurodance, trance, and electronica community, ranging from Tiësto to Delerium. In a 2009 interview, she later recalled her decision to end her association with Opus III, in which she felt that she did not want to be part of a "commercialized" act and wanted to go in a different direction, plus she was having internal problems with the band members over having more input in writing and production.^[2]

In addition to dance music, Hawkshaw also recorded an ambient, ethereal album in 1999, 'Enlightenment', which remains unreleased. Her solo effort, "Fine Day", peaked at #62 in the UK Singles Chart in November 2002.^[3]

On 10 October 2005, she released Meta-Message, a collection of older and newer songs, after a growing interest in her out of print album, O.U.T.. In early 2006, she appeared on the Fragma single "Radio Waves".

Hawkshaw also contributed a track titled "Telephone Song", to the children's album For the Kids Too!, released in 2004.

In 2008, Hawkshaw went on tour and released Machinima on the Loverush Digital label.^{[citation needed]}

She runs a club in Second Life called 'Club Connected' and has built a virtual pub.

The record label, Magnatune, released her ambient album, The Ice Castle.

Collaborations[link]

• 1992 "It's a Fine Day" - (with Opus III)
• 1996 "Valencia" - (with Rachid Taha)
• 1997 "Isolation" - (with Pulusha)
• 1998 "State of Grace" - (with Swayzak)
• 1999 "Stereo" - (with Stereo People)
• 2000 "Dreaming" - (with BT) - UK #38^[3]
• 2000 "Running Down the Way Up" - (with BT & Hybrid)
• 2000 "Nature's Kingdom" - (with Delerium)
• 2000 "Inner Sanctum" - (with Delerium)
• 2000 "Where the Sidewalk Ends" - (with Silent Poets)
• 2000 "Visions" - (with Ian Pooley)
• 2000 "Hidden Agenda" - (with Sandor Caron)
• 2001 "Stealth" - (with Way Out West) - UK #67
• 2001 "Battleship Grey" - (with Tiësto)
• 2001 "Urban Train" - (with Tiësto) - UK #22^[3]
• 2002 "Underwater Lady" - (with Harmonic 33)
• 2003 "Calling You" - (with Ikon)
• 2003 "Blackout" - (with Hybrid)
• 2004 "Just Be" - (with Tiësto) - UK #43^[3]
• 2004 "Walking on Clouds" - (with Tiësto)
• 2004 "Sincere for You" - (with Lange)
• 2004 "Don't Sleep Tonight" - (with Clashing Egos)
• 2004 "Maris Stella" - (with Digitonal)
• 2005 "Faith in Me" - (with Pole Folder)
• 2005 "Halcyon and On And On (Live)" - (with Orbital)
• 2005 "All I Want" - (with Hybrid)
• 2006 "The Chauffeur" - (with Sleepthief)
• 2006 "Radio Waves" - (with Fragma)
• 2006 "Just For Today" - (with Hybrid)
• 2006 "Fleeting Instant" - (with Delerium)
• 2006 "Outsiders" - (with Tenishia)
• 2006 "The Last One and the First" - (with Pentatonik)
• 2006 "Love is a Rose" - (with Pentatonik)
• 2006 "Don't Look Behind You" - (with Judie Tzuke)
• 2006 "Lyteo" - (with Mr. Sam)
• 2006 "Split" - (with Mr. Sam)
• 2006 "Insight" - (with Mr. Sam)
• 2006 "Lodestar" - (with Mr. Sam)
• 2006 "View to Me" - (with Future Funk Squad)
• 2007 "Silent Stars" - (with Pole Folder)
• 2007 "Skimming Stones" - (with Sleepthief)
• 2007 "Heaven Sent" - (with Andrew Bennett)
• 2007 "Reasons to Forgive" - (with Tenishia)
• 2007 "Loverush" - (with Loverush UK!)
• 2007 "Beatitude" - (with Duderstadt)
• 2007 "The Phoenix Effect" - (with Delta-S)
• 2007 "Star·Kindler" - (with Delta-S)
• 2008 "Juneau / Glaciation" - (with Alaska)
• 2008 "Love Like Blood / Sunbathing" - (with Outrage and Aperture)
• 2008 "Love Calls" - (with Headstrong)
• 2008 "Invisible" - (with Tenishia)
• 2008 "Love is No Possession" - (with JJoy)
• 2008 "Fine Day 2008" - (Kirsty Hawkshaw vs. Kinky Roland)
• 2008 "Good to Be Alive (Healing Angel)" - (Kirsty Hawkshaw vs. Arnold T.)
• 2008 "Invisible Walls" (collaboration with Nektarios and trance singer Jan Johnston) - (Nektarios meets F-used)
• 2009 "Face to Face" - (Kirsty Hawkshaw Vs Elucidate)
• 2010 "A Million Stars" - (with BT)
• 2010 "Sundog" - (with Alaska)
• 2010 "One Day" - (with Mr. Sam)
• 2010 "Two Trees" - (with Ulrich Schnauss)
• 2011 "Whisper" - (with Blu Mar Ten)
• 2011 "Back in Time" - (with Liquid Kaos)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Blowcast - Trance Podcast
• Hawkshaw at Magnatune
• Hawkshaw on Yahoo!Groups
• Interview from 2005 by Progressive Sounds
• Hawkshaw discography
• Presenter at Cusp Conference 2008

Me and My Girl is a musical with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay. It takes place in the late 1930s in Hampshire, Mayfair, and Lambeth.

The musical had a successful original run on the West End in 1937 and very successful revivals in both London and New York in the 1980s. The show stopper, “The Lambeth Walk”, was the subject of a news story in The Times of October 1938: “While dictators rage and statesmen talk, all Europe dances — to The Lambeth Walk.”

A film version was produced in 1939, titled The Lambeth Walk.

Production history[link]

It originally opened at the West End Victoria Palace Theatre on December 16, 1937, and starred Lupino Lane. Lane had previously played Bill Snibson in a horseracing comedy play, Twenty to One, that opened in 1935. Me and My Girl was conceived as a fresh vehicle for the character.^{[citation needed]}

At first attracting little notice, the production gained immediate success after a matinee performance was broadcast live on BBC radio, following the cancellation of a sporting event. On May 1, 1939, a performance was televised from the theatre, one of the first times such was done. The original West End production ran for 1,646 performances.

It was revived in 1952. In 1984, a revised production opened at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre with a revised script by Stephen Fry and contributions by Mike Ockrent. It transferred to the West End Adelphi Theatre on February 12, 1985 and closed on January 16, 1993 after an eight year run and 3,303 performances. It starred Robert Lindsay as Bill Snibson, Emma Thompson, and Frank Thornton. The production won two Olivier Awards: Musical of the Year and Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Musical (Robert Lindsay).^[1][2] Cast changes included : Enn Reitel (as Bill Snibson) and Su Pollard (as Sally Smith) in 1986; Gary Wilmot (as Bill Snibson) and Jessica Martin (as Sally Smith) in 1989. Thornton was succeeded by Nicholas Smith. The production subsequently toured throughout Britain.

The revised London production opened on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre on August 10, 1986, and closed on December 31, 1989, after 1,420 performances. Directed by Mike Ockrent with choreography by Gillian Gregory, the cast starred Robert Lindsay and Maryann Plunkett, with George S. Irving and Jane Connell. The production was nominated for 13 Tony Awards and won for Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Choreographer. Jim Dale succeeded Lindsay in the lead role of Bill.^[3] Tim Curry played Bill Snibson in the extensive US Tour that followed the Broadway run.

Numerous productions have been staged over the years all across the UK. In 1997 it even appeared at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre for a limited run with Adam Schumacher as Bill Snibson.

A 70th anniversary production of Me and My Girl had an eight-month British tour during 2006-07.^[4] It was directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle with a cast including Richard Frame (Bill Snibson), Faye Tozer (Sally Smith), Sylvester McCoy, Trevor Bannister and Dillie Keane.

The original star of Me And My Girl, Lupino Lane, was commemorated at The Actors Church, Covent Garden on Tuesday 10 November 2009 by The Music Hall Guild of Great Britain and America.

Sheffield Theatres, United Kingdom produced a revival of 'Me and My Girl' at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield with previews beginning 2 December 2010 until 29 January 2011. An expected transfer to London's West End was scrapped due to there not being a venue available.^[5]

Plot[link]

Act I

In the 1930s, the Harefords, a family of haughty aristocrats, are seeking the legitimate heir to the title of Earl of Hareford. Bill Snibson, a Cockney from Lambeth is found and named as the long-lost “Earl of Hareford”. It seems that the 13th Earl had secretly and briefly wed a girl from a bad neighborhood. But Bill's rough Cockney ways do not satisfy the Will of the last Earl: In order to gain his inheritance of the title and estate, Bill must satisfy the very proper executors (Maria, Duchess of Dene, and Sir John Tremayne) by learning gentlemanly manners. The Duchess thinks that she can make Bill “fit and proper”, but not his Cockney girlfriend, Sally Smith. The Duchess plans a party in Bill's honour, but Sally is not to be invited. Sir John tells Sally that she and Bill ought to return to Lambeth, but he is moved by Sally's heartfelt declaration of love for Bill.

At the party, Bill puts on airs and tries to please his new-found upper-class lawyers, family and servants, but his everyman roots quickly begin to show. Sally shows up in inappropriate garb, with her Lambeth friends, saying that she is going back to where she belongs. Bill seconds this at first but then teaches the nobility The Lambeth Walk.

Act II

Bill must make a speech in the House of Lords in coronet and “vermin”-trimmed peer's robes. Sally leaves, telling him to marry someone with good blood, and, in a scene inspired by Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore, the portraits of Bill's ancestors awaken to remind him of his noblesse oblige.^[6] Bill and Sally have gained an ally in Sir John, who offers to help them by engaging a speech professor who will help Sally impress the Duchess.

Bill constantly bemoans his separation from Sally. Preparing another party for Bill, the Duchess realises how much Sally means to him. This puts her in a romantic mood, and she accepts an offer of marriage from Sir John. Bill, dressed in his old outrageous Cockney clothes, declares that he's going home and goes upstairs to pack. Just then, Sally astonishes everyone by arriving in an elegant gown and tiara and speaking with a perfect upper-crust accent. When Bill returns downstairs, Sally conceals her identity. When she reveals it, Bill is relieved and the couple gain the acceptance of the family.

Musical numbers[link]

Based on the 1986 Broadway production

Characters[link]

• Bill Snibson - a cockney costermonger who inherits Lord Hareford's land and titles.
• Sally Smith - Bill's sweetheart.
• Sir John Tremayne - an older gentleman, who is kind to Sally and Bill. He is in love with the Duchess.
• The Duchess of Dene - an intimidating aristocrat. Bill's Aunt.
• Gerald Bolingbroke - an attractive young man. He is in love with Jackie.
• Lady Jacqueline (Jackie) Carstone - breaks off her engagement to Gerald to pursue Bill.
• Herbert Parchester - the family solicitor.
• Lord Jasper Tring - an elderly and hard-of-hearing nobleman.
• Charles - a manservantoddities.
• Lord and Lady Battersby, Lady Brighton, The Honourable Margaret Aikington, Charles Boulting-Smythe - other members of the family who are mostly interchangeable.
• Mrs Brown - Sally's landlady.
• Bob Barking - a friend of Bill and Sally.

Film adaptation[link]

In 1939, the play was turned into a film directed by Albert de Courville. Lane reprised his stage role of Snibson. The film took its name from the well-known song and dance. The film was a largely faithful adaptation of the musical and was commercially successful and popular with critics.^[7]

Awards and nominations[link]

London Revival 1984[link]

Original Broadway production[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Me and My Girl at the Internet Broadway Database
• Synopsis and production information at guidetomusicaltheatre
• NY Times review, Aug.11, 1986
• Me and My Girl (1939 BBC broadcast) at the Internet Movie Database
• The Lambeth Walk (1940) at the Internet Movie Database
• [1]