Production
Novello starred in the lead part. The story, set in Vienna in pre-1914, shifting to 1938, follows the life of a penniless composer and his love for two women. The women are completely different in their social classes, one being an innkeeper's daughter and the other an opera singer. The background of Nazi persecution was very topical in 1939 when the musical was first played. The opening night was 23 March 1939 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. After a closure at the start of the Second World War in September 1939, it reopened at the Adelphi Theatre on 14 March 1942 and ran there until July 1944, for a total of 969 performances. It was the most popular show of WW2, having similar attraction as Chu Chin Chow had in the First World War. It earned an estimated £1,000,000.
Read more about this topic: The Dancing Years
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