Stage Door Records are pleased to announce the original London cast recording of the 1981 musical ‘Worzel
Gummidge’ will be released on November 10th, 2014. The CD release continues Stage Door’s London cast
album series and commitment to preserve ‘lost’ British theatre scores of the past 50 years.
Following the successful UK television series based on Barbara Euphan Todd's children's classic, writers Keith
Waterhouse, Willis Hall and composer Denis King created a new stage musical adaptation of the story of
'Worzel Gummidge'. The naughty, petulant, greedy, yet always lovable scarecrow was reimagined for the stage
with all the familiar characters: Aunt Sally, The Crowman, Sergeant Beetroot and Sue and John.
Featuring the principal cast members from the TV series (Jon Pertwee, Una Stubbs and Geoffrey Bayldon), the
‘Worzel Gummidge’ musical was first staged at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre over the 1980 Christmas
period, receiving sensational reviews from the press. The production transferred to London’s Cambridge Theatre
for the following Christmas season, opening on December 22nd, 1981 and by popular demand extended its run
through till February 27th, 1982.
An original cast album produced by Norman Newell was recorded at Abbey Road Studios in the weeks preceding
the London opening. The Original London Cast Recording now makes its debut on CD and is accompanied with
the 'The Worzel Gummidge Christmas Maxi Single' featuring songs from the 1980 Christmas TV spectacular 'A
Cup Of Tea And A Slice Of Cake'.
"With this show, Keith Waterhouse and Willis Hall, backed by some smart, snappy tunes from Denis King, have
succeeded in accomplishing something that looked impossible. They have built a family musical of comic charm,
vivacity and a sort of battered elegance from the adventures of a scarecrow." - Daily Express
For more information and sound clips from the forthcoming release, visit:
