Salad Days was a musical comedy with music by Julian Slade and lyrics by Dorothy Reynolds and Julian Slade. The musical was specifically written for the Bristol Old Vic before being transferred to the West End where it ran for an impressive 2,283 performances.

The term ‘Salad Days’ is a Shakespearean idiomatic expression, first used in Anthony and Cleopatra, during her speech where she is bemoaning the loss of not only her youth but the idealism which went with it. What this has to do with a very light hearted (a more pleasant way of saying shallow) story involving magic pianos and flights in space ships is beyond me, apart from the fact it’s a good title.

The plot of the show is peculiarly British in tone, reflecting a portion of the privileged elite and their desire to relive their relatively chased love lives. The plot lacks complexity, which probably added to its popularity.

Following their graduation Timothy and Jane meet to plan the next stage of their lives, which naturally involves then getting married, an idea Timothy’s parents reject. They send him off to meet a selection of his most influential uncles who happen to be a Government Minister, a General, a Scientist and one that works in the foreign office in an attempt to find him suitable employment for one of his station.

Keen to get married, Timothy and Jane decide that he should just take the first job offered, when as chance would have it they meet a tramp who offers them the princely sum of seven pounds a week to look after his piano. After they accept the job they discover that every time the piano plays people are overcome with the urge to dance. The plot continues much in this vain of being a light-hearted fantasy.

The same can be said of the music, at its best it remains inoffensive, sticking mostly to simple harmonies and melodies.

The play did phenomenally well in its day and even has had a couple of revivals, it won awards and until My Fair Lady held the title of the longest running musical, all on the back of something which at best can be described as inoffensive and probably the reason which none of the songs really have a life of their own outside a musical aficionados collection.

Track listing:

Act I

'Opening' – Orchestra
'The Things That Are Done by a Don' – Company
'We Said We Wouldn't Look Back' – Jane and Timothy Dawes
'Find Yourself Something to Do' – Company
'I Sit in the Sun' – Jane
'Oh, Look at Me!' – Jane and Timothy Dawes
'Hush Hush' – Nigel
'Oh, Look at Me! (Reprise)' – Company
'Out of Breath' – Company

Act II

'Cleopatra' – Uncle Zed
'Sand in My Eyes' – Unknown
'It's Easy to Sing' – Timothy Dawes, Jane and Nigel
'We're Looking for a Piano' – Company
'The Time of My Life' – Jane
'The Saucer Song' – Jane, Timothy Dawes and Uncle Zed
'We Don't Understand Our Children' – Timothy's Mother and Jane's Mother
'Oh, Look at Me! (Reprise)' – Company
'We Said We Couldn't Look Back (Reprise)' – Jane and Timothy Dawes

6

Charles Packer