About the show
A mini-series of comic and dramatic monologues which celebrates the era of the Music Hall.
The cameo performances were originally designed as a 'vignette', a short programme in its own right. The short 'filler' programmes originally designed to be watched more than once, which is why each item will have a running time of between 2mins and 5 mins so that it could be repeated, as one might do with a favourite sound track or song.
The cameo performances were originally designed as a 'vignette', a short programme in its own right. The short 'filler' programmes originally designed to be watched more than once, which is why each item will have a running time of between 2mins and 5 mins so that it could be repeated, as one might do with a favourite sound track or song.
Comic & Dramatic Monologues
extraordinary performances unseen for 40 years
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Barry Cryer . . .
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Maureen Lipman . . .
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Julie Walters . . .
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Cilla Black . . .
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Leonard Rossiter . . .
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Richard O'Callaghan . . .
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Alec McCowen . . .
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Ronald Lacey . . .
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Diane Langton . . .
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Harold Innocent . . .
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The legendary Arthur Askey performs . . .
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The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog
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The Monologues were originally commissioned by Channel 4 so that each monologue could be used mostly when the transmission controllers needed to synchronise schedules coming up to the hour.
Therefore, these were produced at a time when the latest idea (in 1983) was for other programming to be of variable lengths. But, this new philosophy did not last long and the more standard programme length resumed which viewing audiences have been more familiar with all along. A mini-series titled The Green Tie on the Little Yellow Dog (in itself a parody of another monologue called The Green Eye of the Little Yellow God). |
They were designed to be entertaining and fun, to be appreciated especially by those who enjoy more spoken word, and who get more from each piece the more times they hear it. The original thinking behind the show was that the monologues would be used rather like listening to music today using a 'shuffle' play-list, i.e. by random selection.
Michael Marshall worked with us whilst compiling and editing this book and the launch of the book was designed to coincide with these short programmes.
To set the scene, Barry Cryer is our master of ceremonies at a dinner hosted at a posh London address. People at the dinner are our household-name artists, famous actors who each get up to perform a monologue to their contemporaries (as their audience) as if one might do after a good feast when the after-dinner speeches are made, or in the Victorian and Edwardian era as one might enjoy in the parlour gathered around the piano.
It seems today a number of our Celebrity Guests are very sadly no longer with us. We have some very rare footage captured in these shows, some wonderful actors from 1982/83 and performances which most likely have not previously seen by today's audiences.
Michael Marshall worked with us whilst compiling and editing this book and the launch of the book was designed to coincide with these short programmes.
To set the scene, Barry Cryer is our master of ceremonies at a dinner hosted at a posh London address. People at the dinner are our household-name artists, famous actors who each get up to perform a monologue to their contemporaries (as their audience) as if one might do after a good feast when the after-dinner speeches are made, or in the Victorian and Edwardian era as one might enjoy in the parlour gathered around the piano.
It seems today a number of our Celebrity Guests are very sadly no longer with us. We have some very rare footage captured in these shows, some wonderful actors from 1982/83 and performances which most likely have not previously seen by today's audiences.
Neil Anthony, Producer
