WILDEST DREAMS A musical entertainment in 2 acts: Music by Julian Slade: Book and lyrics by Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds. Vaudeville Theatre, London - 3 August, 1961 (76 perfs) SYNOPSIS Wildest Dreams centres on two ladies, Harriet, and her niece, Carol who, in the dreary village of Neldenham, have their own wild dreams of romance but in the end settle for a reformed composer and performer of anguishing art songs and a pink-necked journalist. STORY ACT 1 Wildest Dreams is set in the small country town of Nelderham. Two newcomers arrive in the town, Mark Raven and Harriet Gray. Mark is a young journalist who has been sent to find out why Nelderham, of all the towns in England, has alone failed to answer a questionnaire, sponsored by his paper—Nelderham. Harriet has come to take charge of her niece Carol, who is temporarily staying at the house of Mrs. Birdview, a lady well known for her cultural activities. One of Mrs. Birdview’s most prized proteges is Stephen Bent, an inarticulate singer of art. songs—]Mrs. Birdview’s Minuet]. Harriet is alarmed to discover that Carol has just been expelled from school for going out at night with a man in a white sports car. Carol attempts to reassure her— [Please Aunt Harriet], but Harriet finds her niece’s secretive mind difficult to penetrate and concludes that half the time Carol must be lost in some wild dream of her own— [Till Now]. At a famous beauty spot in the district, Clumpington Hill, Carol meets Mark. She says little, but the impression she makes on him is enough to put him off his work— [Girl on The Hill]. Harriet eventually discovers that the man behind the sports car incident is Stephen Bent, the local composer. She expresses amazement that a man so shy could be capable of such an adventure, but he explains that when he is in his car he becomes a changed man— [Zoom, Zoom, Zoom]. Carol proves to be a girl of a very independent spirit— [Here Am I], and Harriet makes little progress in understanding her. She decides to give a party for her and is further bewildered by the sort of music Carol and her friends seem to prefer— [Wildest Dreams]. However, the party is a success and Harriet is pleased to notice the growing friendship between Carol and Mark— [Red Or White]. ACT 2 Carol and Mark slip away from the party and go to a nearby pub, where Mark attempts to interest the locals in his questionnaire. They prove to be unresponsive— [You Can’t Take Any Luggage]. Afterwards Mark takes Carol back to his room, and tries to make her talk, but she remains lost in her private thoughts— [A Man’s Room]. Meanwhile Harriet, waiting up for Carol’s return, has a wild dream of her own in which Stephen is transformed into the ideal romantic lover of her youth— [Holding My Breath]. Mark still has hopes that he can change both Nelderham and Carol. He tells her, and some of her school friends, that he is convinced of their possibilities— [Quite Something]. Harriet also sees possibilities in Stephen, and to please him she attends a recital he is giving of his new song cycle, ‘The Waving Tendril’, but unfortunately, she disgraces herself by laughing— [Green and Oxblood Hill]. Mark is recalled to London and arranges a last meeting with Carol on Clumpington Hill, [There’s A Place We Know]. He tells her he has written his article on Nelderham, which is so unsensational it will probably get him the sack. There is nothing strange about the town. The inhabitants are simply too busy leading their
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