Andrew Lloyd Webber and Alan Ayckbourn’s By Jeeves will be the next show available free of charge on The Shows Must Go On YouTube channel. The show will be available for 48 hours from 7pm (BST) on Friday 8 May 2020.
Described by Lloyd Webber as “the musical that I privately look forward most to seeing”, the film version features veteran British star Martin Jarvis as Jeeves and American actor John Scherer as the hapless Bertie Wooster. The duo starred in the 2001 production which debuted in Pittsburgh for a month before arriving on Broadway for a short run in late 2001. Jarvis’ performance in the role earned him a Theatre World Award for most Outstanding New York City stage debut.
Featuring music by Lloyd Webber and lyrics and a book by acclaimed playwright Ayckbourn the 1920s-set musical was inspired by PG Wodehouse’s original much-loved stories. By Jeeves first appeared in the West End in 1975 where it played just 38 performances.
The composer and the playwright produced a re-worked version featuring an entirely new book and new music in 1996 which proved to be a crowd pleaser when it played Ayckbourn’s home venue, the Stephen Joseph Theatre. It then transferred to the West End to play a 12-week season at the Duke of York’s Theatre followed by a season at the Lyric Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue. Ayckbourn returned to direct a well-received production at The Old Laundry Theatre in the Lake District in 2017.
Aimed at giving locked-down theatre fans access to a West End or Broadway experience in their own homes, the new channel was launched last month by Universal Pictures Home Video Entertainment’s Content Group.
A new show is released online every Friday from 7 pm British Standard Time for a limited 48-hour period. With no charge or sign-up fee payable, theatre fans who are able are being asked to make a donation to charitable organisations offering help and support to people in the industry facing hardship as the theatre closedown continues. The charities listed on The Shows Must Go On channel include Acting For Others, Broadway Cares and the Actors Benevolent Fund.
Alongside the full-length shows, clips of famous performances and behind-scenes footage are also being uploaded regularly to the channel.
Angela Thomas
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