Noel Coward predicted that fame and fortune awaited the Astaires in London, and he was right. Fred and Adele charmed the British nation completely in the 1920s.
By 1921, the dancing Astaires – Adele and her younger brother Fred – were already old stagers who had kept audiences amused with their youthful charm since they were mere kiddies. Their talents had by now taken them as far as Broadway. In fact, their talents more than once outshone the rest of the show they were in. The Love Letter of 1922 was a case in point: a shortlived show of which the Astaires were the highlight. While in it, the duo attracted the attention of Noel Coward, for one. This equally young, ambitious entertainer, himself on the verge of major fame, made a point of befriending the Astaires backstage. Coward urged them to come to England, predicting a marvellous reception for them there.
London Calling
The opportunity to test Coward's prediction arose a few months later. The Astaires had shone again in another musical, For Goodness Sake, a show otherwise undistinguished, according to American critics like Alan Dale and Robert Benchley. Nonetheless, one more English visitor in New York – this one the wealthy impresario Sir Alfred Butt – saw great promise in exposing the clever American duo to a British audience. The Astaires headed across the Atlantic to star in a revamped version of For Goodness Sake, retitled Stop Flirting. The show was polished up for its British debut. Notably, the Gershwin song "(I'll Build a) Stairway To Paradise" (originally from George White's Scandals of 1922), was woven into the score, along with two more Gershwin numbers.
As supporters like Coward and Butt had hoped, at the pre-London tryout in Liverpool, the audience for Stop Flirting stood and cheered. The Astaires' funny, corny "Runaround Dance" was a special triumph. The audience clamoured for curtain calls and a few words from both the ebullient Adele and the shyer Fred. Stop Flirting worked its way via further major provincial venues to Butt's Shaftesbury Theatre in London.
London Debut
The London audience, like the provincial ones, gleefully chorused "oompah-oompah" during the "Runaround" number. The gallery adored them, and so did the sophisticates who had been enticed there by the ever-growing Coward crowd . However, opening night jubilation passed swiftly. With box-office merely mediocre, Butt was ready to close the show after just two weeks. Then a stroke of great luck hit the production: a couple of popular members of the Royal Family declared themselves fans of the Astaires.
In the coming weeks, with the show now installed at another of Butt's theatres (the Queen's), the cast received numerous visits from the sons of King George V, including Edward, Prince of Wales, himself. With this royal seal of approval, the Astaires were really in with the in-crowd. They flitted from one fashionable nightspot to another, and became sought-after weekend guests at aristocratic country houses. With strong advance sales,Stop Flirting moved again in late 1923, to the Strand Theatre.
During a three-week holiday, Fred and Adele made their first visit to Paris, where their smart theatrical set changed from Noel and Gertie, Ivor Novello et al. to Maurice Chevalier, Mistinguett and the Dolly Sisters. Back in London, they moved into the swish Carlton Hotel and settled down for a long run at The Strand. During this part of the run, the Astaires were shocked by the death of their father back home. Butt considerately offered to close the show for a spell, but they understood the importance of carrying on, and did so.
Left 'Em Wanting More
Anxious not to be away from the New York scene for too long, the Astaires eventually asked their American producer Alex Aarons to find a new vehicle for them in the States. Aarons came up trumps by securing George and Ira Gershwin to write the full score for a new project. By agreement with Sir Alfred, Stop Flirting finally closed in London after 418 performances, definitely leaving the audience wanting more. The departure of the Astaires was treated in the British press as a great loss, and theatrical society wished them a speedy return.
The new, 1924 show for which Aarons brought the Astaires home became Lady Be Good, with its score of Gershwin songs like "Fascinating Rhythm". And it was not too long before Lady Be Good, starring the Astaires, made a keenly-awaited Transatlantic crossing. In 1926, it was Sir Alfred again who brought them back to Britain – and to the Empire, Leicester Square. This time, the Astaires' reputation preceded them and they were a smash from the start.
Main sources:
- Astaire the Biography by Tim Satchell, Hutchinson Ltd. (1987)
- Peopleplayuk.org.uk
