West End Wednesday: Stephen Ward

Stephen Ward is a 2013 West End musical based on the infamous Profumo affair. Andrew Lloyd Webber became interested in the idea of musicalising the political scandal but instead of focusing on the War Minister John Profumo himself or his mistress Christine Keeler, Webber chose to centre the musical around the Osteopath and socialite Stephen Ward himself, the one responsible for bringing the two together. The 1963 affair caused a stir in the conservative party, what with Taylor being a 19 year old model at the time. It caused the Prime Minster Howard Macmillan to resign for health reasons and damaged the reputation of the party, whilst also proposing a potential risk of national security as Taylor had also been seeing a soviet naval attaché at the same time. Upon his resignation, other rumours of scandal started. Profumo claimed to be scapegoated as he was charged with several morality offences that caused him to take a fatal overdose whilst in the final stages of his trial. As Ward was the one who took Taylor into his own home at 17 and was the one responsible for the introduction, Lloyd Webber chose to focus on him and his lifestyle as it was a catalyst for the whole affair.

The idea of the musical was first announced in 2012 on a radio show with Chris Evans and it was workshopped in early 2013. The first public outing of the musical was when the title song was sung on a programme celebrating Lloyd Webber’s forty-year long career. In June 2013, it was officially announced that Stephen Ward would premiere at the Aldwych Theatre in December of that year. The show had a score by Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Don Black, a book by Christopher Hampton, direction by Richard Eyre, choreography by Stephen Mear, set design by Rob Howell, lighting by Peter Mumford and sound by Paul Groothius.

The show opened for previews on 3 December 2013. The opening night included: Alexander Hansen as Stephen Ward, Charlotte Spencer as Christine Taylor, Joanna Riding as Valerie Hobson and Daniel Flynn as John Profumo. The night the show opened was the same night of the Apollo Theatre incident, meaning many people left at the interval and all media were diverted to the incident. The post show press room was also cancelled once it became apparent how people had been injured in the incident and it was more severe than initially thought. The show opened to mixed reviews and closed in March 2014, as opposed to its initial booking to May. Although critics embraced Lloyd Webber’s ability to write passionately, they were confused as to why it was produced what with it being an incident that happened half a century ago and many people in the modern audience couldn’t connect with.

Stephen Ward is a little gem of a show with some great tunes in it. Give it a listen if you haven’t already, Besties!

Cast recording available on Spotify and AppleMusic.

FACTS:

Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber
Lyrics: Don Black
Book: Christopher Hampton

Theatre: The Aldwych Theatre
Run: 3 December 2013 – 29 March 2014 (around 120 performances)