| A Wedding Bouquet was the brainchild of Lord Berners, who was inspired to compose a ‘choral ballet’ after one of Gertrude Stein’s plays, and who both wrote the music and created the designs. The scenario, devised by Berners, Ashton and Constant Lambert during weekends spent at the former’s country house, is an early 20th-century French provincial wedding at which chaos descends as – among other mishaps – the Bridegroom’s rakish exploits are revealed, Julia whom he has ‘ruined’ in the past becomes ever-more demented, and another guest gets delightfully drunk. Initially, Stein’s words (mostly from They Must Be Wedded To Their Wife) were sung by a costumed chorus. During the war, these singers were replaced by a narrator, and the ballet has since been performed in both versions. |
MUSIC
Lord Berners
Words by Gertrude Stein (mostly from They Must Be Wedded To Their Wife)
SCENERY & COSTUMES
Lord Berners
DANCERS
Webster: Ninette de Valois; Two Peasant Girls: Linda Sheridan, Joan Leaman; Two Peasant Boys: Paul Reymond, Alan Carter; Josephine: June Brae; Paul: Harold Turner; John: William Chappell; Violet: Pamela May; Ernest: Claude Newman; Thérèse: Elizabeth Miller; Julia: Margot Fonteyn; Bridegroom: Robert Helpmann; Pépé (Julia’s dog): Julia Farron; Arthur: Leslie Edwards; Guy: Michael Somes; Four Guests: Gwyneth Mathews, Wenda Horsburgh, Joy Newton, Anne Spicer; Two Gendarmes: Paul Reymond, Alan Carter; Bride: Mary Honer; Bridesmaids: Molly Brown, Jill Gregory
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Vic-Wells Ballet, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, 27 April 1937
During the 1940 summer season at Sadler’s Wells, the singing chorus was replaced by Constant Lambert’s declamation of the words; thereafter the ballet was performed this way, until later revivals at the Royal Opera House, when the chorus was restored at Frederick Ashton’s request
New Stagings / Productions
Sadler’s Wells Ballet, 1949
STAGING
Sadler’s Wells Ballet
DANCERS
Josephine: June Brae; Julia: Moira Shearer; Bridegroom: Robert Helpmann; Bride: Margaret Dale
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Opera House, London, 17 February 1949
Royal Ballet, 1970
STAGING
Royal Ballet
Tribute to Sir Frederick Ashton; excerpt only
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Royal Opera House, London, 24 July 1970
Ballet for All, 1972
STAGING
Ballet for All
excerpts only
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Spa Pavilion, Felixstowe, 13 October 1972
Royal Ballet touring section, 1974
STAGING
Royal Ballet touring section
DANCERS
Josephine: Vyvyan Lorrayne; Julia: Margaret Barbieri; Bridegroom: Alain Dubreuil; Bride: Marion Tait
FIRST PERFORMANCE
Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, 14 May 1974
Joffrey Ballet, 1978
STAGING
Joffrey Ballet
REPRODUCED BY
Christopher Newton
DANCERS
Josephine: Jan Hanniford; Julia: Beatriz Rodriguez; Bridegroom: Gary Chryst; Bride: Lynn Glauber
FIRST PERFORMANCE
City Center Theater, New York NY, 18 October 1978
Copyright © 2004 by David Vaughan
This listing is part of a chronology that was originally published in Vaughan’s Frederick Ashton and His Ballets (Alfred E Knopf 1976; 2nd ed., London: Dance Books, 1999) and includes new productions added since then, and up until 2007