Critical Reception
The Times, having called the show "a most pleasing imitation of Edwardian musical comedy", added "Miss Mildred Mayne, taking the part of Zuleika at short notice, is not, perhaps, all that Beerbohm painted her, but she is always engaging and she sings easily and well." In The Manchester Guardian, Philip Hope-Wallace was unconvinced by the new Zuleika: "What the incomparable Max would have thought of Mildred Mayne, the new leading lady, one fails to imagine." In The Observer, Kenneth Tynan called the show "the best British musical since The Boy Friend", but thought Mayne "competent in a role for which competence is not enough"." Rupert Hart-Davis, who accompanied Elisabeth Beerbohm to the first night, was privately less tactful: he called the show "delightfully gay and charming," but added, "the leading lady is quite without looks, charm or talent. With someone like … Marilyn Monroe it would run for ever."
The show ran for 124 performances, closing on 27 July 1957.
Read more about this topic: Zuleika (musical)
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