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Stage Door Records presents an album of selections from the George Posford and Eric Maschwitz London musicals 'Zip Goes A Million' and 'Happy Holiday'. 'Zip Goes A Million', based on the 1902 novel 'Brewster's Millions', was written as a vehicle for variety entertainer George Formby who would make his musical theatre debut in the production. Produced by theatre impresario Emile Littler, 'Zip Goes A Million' co-starred Sara Gregory and Warde Donovan and opened at London's Palace Theatre on October 20th 1951 following tryout performances in Coventry and Manchester. The production was an instant hit and garnered overwhelmingly positive notices from both the critics and audiences. Six songs from the London production were recorded with the original cast and issued across three 78rpm records on the HMV label. Six months into the London run Formby fell seriously ill and was forced to withdraw from the production, he was replaced by comedian Reg Dixon who remained with the show until it closed in 1953. Following the success of 'Zip Goes A Million', the writing team of Posford and Maschwitz and impresario Emile Littler collaborated on a second London musical; 'Happy Holiday'. An adaptation of the Arnold Ridley play 'The Ghost Train', 'Happy Holiday' was described as "A New Christmas Show of Fun, Mystery and Song" and opened at London's Palace Theatre on December 22nd 1954. The production reunited the creative team with Reg Dixon who played the lead role of Charlie Purseglove in a cast that also included Janet Brown, Marie Burke and Austin Melford. Despite the personnel involved, the production failed to emulate the success of 'Zip Goes A Million' and closed after just 31 performances. Reg Dixon recorded four songs from the London production which were subsequently issued across two 78rpm records on the HMV label. This collection compiles all the Original London Cast recordings from both 'Zip Goes A Million' and 'Happy Holiday' along with a number of pop covers and instrumentals from each score performed by such artists as Pearl Carr, Ronnie Harris, Leslie A. Hutchinson and the Frank Barber Orchestra. As a special bonus, the disc includes selections from a live radio broadcast of 'Zip Goes A Million' as featured on the long running BBC radio programme 'Henry Hall's Guest Night'. The release also features detailed liner notes by director and theatre historian Stewart Nicholls.
George Formby