Curtain Up

by Julius Green

  Hollow, The (novel) 199, 259, 260, 564

  Hollow, The (aka The Suspects) 248, 259–301, 303, 383, 386, 417, 447, 564; AC on 259–60, 273, 274–5; Ambassadors Theatre, transfer to 287–8, 289, 294, 311, 325, 419; cast 264, 268, 272–3, 274, 275, 278, 280, 281, 282, 285–6, 287, 289, 294, 317, 380, 528; director 17, 265–8, 274, 275, 278, 282–5, 298, 383, 474, 496; finances 268–72, 288, 289–90, 319; Fortune Theatre, West End run 276–87, 302, 311, 418; rights/licences 264, 290, 292, 298–301; Mallowan on 260–1; plot and themes 7, 261–4, 319, 383, 426, 447, 454, 469–70, 471, 475, 476, 484; Poirot and 260, 267–8, 276, 279–80, 281; pre-West End tour 273–6, 278, 289, 365; publicity 273, 282; reviews 280–2, 286–7; Rosalind Hicks response to 274–6; royal family and 287; Saunders and 264–5, 266, 267, 268, 269, 270–1, 272, 273–6, 277, 278, 282, 286–7, 288–91, 292, 293, 294, 299, 300, 301, 310–11, 428; script 19, 248, 259–64, 282–5, 319, 449; success of 285–6, 290, 319, 321, 325, 364, 484, 494, 553, 557; The Suspects (US version) 293–301, 321, 377, 379, 388, 452, 480

  Hound of Death, The (short story collection) 334

  Last Séance, The 48, 50, 502, 558, 561

  Lie, The 61, 64–9, 71, 72, 82, 112, 136, 145, 203, 221, 292, 430, 448, 449, 463, 558, 562

  Listerdale Mystery, The (collection of short stories) 111, 112, 152, 563, 566

  Lord Edgware Dies 154

  Love From a Stranger (adapted by Frank Vosper from The Stranger) 111–26, 149, 150, 152, 154, 158, 185, 191, 198–9, 238, 244, 270, 271, 377, 547, 556, 566

  Man in the Blue Suit, The 48, 64

  Marmalade Moon 52–3, 561

  Masque from Italy, A 37–9, 126, 560–1

  Miss Perry 529–33, 537, 539, 551, 566

  Mousetrap, The (formerly, Three Blind Mice) 302–33, 402, 421, 422, 425, 432, 557, 564; AC attends milestone events 323–4; AC on 303–4, 305, 311, 312, 315, 323–4, 326, 333, 347, 539, 540, 546, 547; AC attendance of performances 312, 323–4; Beaumont and 271; cast 311–12, 314–15, 316, 317, 319, 320–1, 322–3, 324–5, 329–30, 346, 365, 383–4, 393, 400, 403, 406, 424, 533; design 305, 495; directors 16, 17, 26, 265, 312–19, 322–3, 327, 330–3, 335, 383, 420, 474; film rights 328–9; financing 319–20, 385; income from 311, 323, 356, 372, 373, 524, 554; longevity 24, 311, 323–9, 345, 349, 356, 376, 388, 393, 413, 422, 442, 460, 466, 551; Mallowan on 326, 327; National Theatre ‘100 Plays of the Century’ and 328; New York opening 395–6; origins of (Three Blind Mice) 18, 265, 302–15, 452; plot, themes and characters 7–8, 12, 91, 304–10, 319, 320–1, 327, 336, 338, 347, 348, 404, 432, 472, 478, 507, 509, 528, 558; pre-London tour 319, 365, 528; records set 325, 376, 466; relocation from Ambassadors to St Martin’s 552; reviews/critics and 24, 305, 320–2, 325, 395–6; rights/licences 25, 310–11, 315–16 328–30, 372, 373, 377, 393–4, 423, 554; Saunders and 25, 26, 310–11, 312, 313, 314–20, 322, 323, 324, 325, 327, 328, 329–31, 332–3, 345, 346, 347, 348, 349; scripts 18, 20, 302–10, 311, 314, 315, 317, 318–19, 469; success of 324–7, 364; title 265, 309, 315–16, 328, 341, 452; US, decision to withhold from 329, 377, 393–5, 412, 480; Washington DC production 393–5; West End opening 320, 322; writing of 303–5, 334

  Moving Finger, The 405

  Murder in the Mews (collection) 196

  Murder at the Vicarage, The (novel) 77, 154, 239, 567

  Murder at the Vicarage, (adapted by Moie Charles and Barbara Toy from The Murder at the Vicarage) 239–46, 248, 258–9, 260, 267, 269, 270, 313, 417, 419, 546, 547, 552, 567

  Murder is Announced, A (Leslie Darbon adaptation) 555

  Murder is Easy (Clive Exton adaptation) 555

  Murder of Roger Ackroyd, The 70, 73–6, 159

  Murder on the Orient Express 154

  Mysterious Affair at Styles, The 47, 62, 89

  Mysterious Mr Quin, The (collection of short stories) 126, 563

  ‘Mystery of the Baghdad Chest, The’ 501–2, 503

  ‘Mystery of the Spanish Chest, The’ 502

  Partners in Crime (radio adaptation) 312

  Peril at End House (novel) 41, 149, 154, 158, 567

  Peril at End House (adapted by Arnold Ridley from Peril at End House) 149–52, 155, 159–60, 184, 195, 198, 205, 216, 238, 243, 556–7, 567

  Personal Call (radio script) 112

  ‘Philomel Cottage’ 111–12, 114

  ‘Rajah’s Emerald, The’ 503

  Rose and the Yew Tree, The (Westmacott) 435

  Rule of Three 557, 566; AC on 546; amateur and repertory productions 525–6; cast 507, 514, 516; censor and 507–9; director 506, 507, 512, 514–17, 518, 520, 521, 522, 523, 526; origins 499–500; plot, themes and characters 500–8, 510–13, 514–16, 522–3, 526; pre-West end tour 509–10, 517, 519; reviews 502, 509, 519–23, 524–5; rights 525–6; Saunders and 499, 500, 507, 508, 509, 510–11, 512, 513, 514–18, 519, 520, 521, 524, 525, 526–7, 528; scheduling of original production 507; script 499–513, 514–16; TV broadcast 525; West End run 511, 513–25, 526, 533; writing of 499–500

  Secret Adversary, The 63

  Secret of Chimneys, The 63, 70, 80, 82, 83, 102, 103, 126

  Seven Dials Mystery, The 83

  Someone at the Window 59, 126–33, 203, 233, 262, 486, 563

  Stranger, The 112–17, 125–6, 145, 159, 221, 292, 424, 430, 563

  Spider’s Web 16, 258, 388, 401–14, 425, 427, 445, 510, 519, 528, 553, 557, 565; AC on 403, 412, 537, 540, 541, 546; cast 401–6, 412–13, 470, 483, 528; design 407, 441; director 16, 406–7; film and 22, 412, 437; finances 388, 413–14, 428, 464, 546; New York premiere 412; novelisation of 483; plot, themes and characters 402–10, 424, 454; pre-London tour 388–9, 406; publicity 406; reviews 411, 413; rights/licences 412; royal family and 411–12; Saunders and 401, 402, 406, 407, 410, 412, 413; stage tour of 412, 483; success of 413–14; title 405; West End opening and run 410–11, 413; withheld from New York 412, 480; writing of/script 403–4, 405, 407–10

  Snow Upon the Desert 39

  Sparkling Cyanide 193

  ‘Stronger Than Death’ 50

  Tea for Three (adapted by Margery Vosper from ‘Accident’) 152–3, 168, 499, 566–7

  Teddy Bear 41–3, 53, 324, 561

  Ten Little Indians (Broadway production of Ten Little Niggers) 181–91, 233, 236, 237, 297, 395, 452, 528, 563; cast 189–90, 236; direction 189–90; finances 187; licences/rights 181–8, 293; opens, Broadhurst Theatre 187; Plymouth Theatre run 187, 208; production values 187–8; reviews 187–8; script changes 188–9; Second World War and 189; Shuberts and 27, 181, 182–5, 186–8, 189, 190, 246, 292, 452; success of 188–9, 208, 209, 219, 220, 235, 292, 296, 301, 321, 329, 377, 480; title 185–7

  Ten Little Niggers (novel aka: And Then There Were None) 154, 157–8, 180, 185, 194

  Ten Little Niggers (aka Ten Little Indians/And Then There Were None) 8, 157–81, 191–3, 283, 292, 304, 306, 546, 563; AC attends dress rehearsal 169, 170; AC on 159–60, 164–5, 167–8, 169, 170, 176, 192–3, 248; birth of 158–9; Broadway production of see Ten Little Indians (Broadway production of Ten Little Niggers); cast 164, 168, 176, 210, 236, 304, 420; directors 166–8, 170; film rights 184, 186, 209, 390; finances 161–5, 169, 170–4, 179, 215, 247; international productions of 191; origins/novel and 157–8, 161, 165, 166, 180–1, 184, 185; PES and 170–4, 181, 215; plot, themes and characters 8, 158, 164–5, 176–7, 180, 200, 211, 221, 306, 395, 426, 452, 470, 473, 480, 484, 485, 528, 558; post-West End tour 210; producers 161–8; repertory productions of 191–2; reviews 175–6; revival, West End, 1962 517–19, 520, 525; rights/licences 163, 166, 181–8, 191–2, 209, 219, 390; scheduling 169; scripts 19, 158–61, 164–5, 176–7, 195, 200, 207, 210; Second World War and 160, 177–81, 191, 192; success of 179–80, 192–3, 194, 204, 207, 240, 244; title 6, 157–8, 185–7, 551; touring productions 195, 231, 241–2; Toy and 161–5, 169, 170; as turning point in AC’s playwriting career 192–3; TV version of 406; West End opening and run 174–5, 190–1, 195, 206, 246; Wimbledon opening 169–70, 213, 216

  Ten Years 50–1, 53, 71, 561


  They Do It with Mirrors 12, 310

  Three Act Tragedy 239

  Three Blind Mice (radio play) 303–4, 564

  ‘Three Blind Mice’ (short story) 303–4, 334

  Three Blind Mice and Other Stories (collection) 304, 317, 564

  Towards Zero (novel) 194, 209, 416, 567

  Towards Zero 194, 208–9, 218–27; cast 223–4; directors 223–4, 236; failure of 194, 329, 377; film rights 209; Harris script doctoring 219–20, 223, 224–5; origins/novel and 194, 208–9; plot and themes 7, 199, 201, 221–3, 237; reviews 224; rights/licences/royalties 209, 218–19, 227, 233–4; script 209, 218–23, 224–6, 234, 247; Shuberts and 208–9, 218–21, 223, 225–6, 227, 234, 292–3; sketch of scene setting (possibly by Frank Clark) 225; title 209, 219; ‘try-out’ production in US (world premiere), Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse 221, 223–6, 236, 301, 303, 439

  Towards Zero (adapted by Gerald Verner – with nominal assistance from AC – from Towards Zero) 417–28, 567; AC attends rehearsals 428, 440; AC lends name to 209; AC on 418, 421, 425, 546; AC’s contribution to script 424–6, 428; AC’s royalties from 417, 425, 426; cast 424–5; continued performance of 557; critics and impression of AC’s authorship 426–7; differences between AC’s original stage version and 223, 426; directors 421–4, 459; finances 428; marketing 426–8; Meyer and 359, 417–18, 421–2; reviews 427, 439, 442, 478; rights/licences 349, 417–18, 421–3, 426, 428; Saunders and 422, 423, 424, 425, 426, 428; script 416–17, 418, 424–6, 428; set 223, 225; touring productions 428; Verner assigns rights to AC 422–3, 426; Verner background and 419–20; West End run 423–8, 466, 473

  ‘Traitor Hands’ 334

  Triangle at Rhodes 196, 239

  Unexpected Guest, The 467–83, 557, 565; AC on 468, 469, 472, 476; Bristol Hippodrome opening 467, 475–6; cast 467, 474–5, 480, 481–3, 495; design 467, 475–6; director 17, 467, 468, 469, 472–3, 474, 475–6, 477; finances 468; international productions 483; marketing 478; origins and development of 469–70, 471; plot, themes and characters 468, 469–74, 475–6, 489, 500, 510; Queen visits 479–80; restoration of AC’s reputation as playwright and 489–90; reviews 468, 477–8, 482; Saunders and 467, 468, 473, 474, 475, 477, 479, 481; speed of production process 468–9; success of 467, 476–9, 489–90, 494, 495, 510; US production 480–2; West End opening and run 467, 476–7, 483; writing of/script 467, 468–74

  Unfinished Portrait (Westmacott) 138, 147, 436, 448

  Verdict (previously: No Fields of Amaranth) 451–66, 467, 483, 497, 498, 565; AC on failure of 465–6, 468, 546; cast 456–7, 459; closes 467; director 457; ending 452–3, 458–9, 460, 461; finances 464–5, 493, 494; lack of success 452, 463–4, 467, 468, 475, 477–8, 479, 489, 493, 494, 546, 557; Max Mallowan and 448–51; origins and development of 445–51; plots and themes 7, 8, 446–55, 462–3, 469, 509, 558; pre-West End tour 457–8; reviews 457–9, 460–2, 463–4, 474, 492; Saunders and 445, 446, 447, 451–2, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 462–3, 464, 465, 466, 467; scheduling 457; script 449, 452–3, 458–9, 460, 509; title 445, 450, 451–2, 466; West End opening and run 459–61; Westmacott play, as a 462–3

  ‘War Bride, The’ 50

  ‘Wasp’s Nest’ (short story) 108, 144

  Wasp’s Nest, The 108–11, 341, 557–8, 563

  Witness for the Prosecution, The (short story collection) 334

  Witness for the Prosecution 239, 285, 334–96, 405, 406, 410, 411, 421, 564–5; AC on 338, 343, 344–62, 365, 367, 373–6, 559; AC’s legal reading and 337, 338, 344, 374; as AC’s undisputed theatrical masterpiece 334; awards for 343, 389–90, 392; Broadway production of 27, 377–91, 393, 395; cast 340, 341, 342–3, 344, 345, 346, 348–9, 351–2, 359, 360, 361, 362–3, 364, 365, 366, 367, 375, 376, 380, 381, 383, 384, 389, 392, 393, 456–7; closes 425; correspondence between Saunders (in London) and Christie (in Iraq) over script 1953 344–62; directors 16, 109, 338, 340–2, 382–4, 387, 391–2; film of 390–3, 396; film rights 381, 390–2; financing 366, 372–3, 390; legal experts input into 285, 337–8, 350, 352, 353, 354; length of run 377; licences/rights 23–5, 87, 105, 108, 113–14, 119–20, 372–3, 377, 379–80, 381–2, 390–2, 395, 396; Max Mallowan on 366, 376; orchestra 364–5, 376–7; origin and writing of 26, 304, 334–62; plot, themes and characters 8, 12, 239, 334–40, 363–4; pre-Broadway tour 384, 388; pre-West End tour 365; publicity 372; reviews 366–71, 387–8; royal family and 371–2, 412, 437; Saunders and UK productions of 334, 335, 336–7, 338, 340–77, 421, 422; Saunders and US productions and 377–90; scale of 6, 362–4; script 6, 18, 265, 285, 334–42, 343–62, 380; success of 372–3; title 334, 336–7; tours of 270, 556; TV rights 381–2, 390; West End opening and run 364–77

  ‘Woman and the Kenite, The’ 50

  Yellow Iris, The (radio play and short story) 537

  Photograph Section

  Agatha the actress; as Sister Anne in The Blue Beard of Unhappiness.

  Agatha and Archie.

  Script page from The Lie.

  Bertie Meyer

  Agatha’s sister, Madge.

  ReandeaN: Alec Rea

  and Basil Dean.

  Charles Laughton

  Francis L. Sullivan as Poirot.

  Advertisement for Chimneys in the Embassy Theatre programme for Britannia of Billingsgate (1931).

  Francis L Sullivan with Christie stage directors Douglas A. Clarke-Smith and Wallace Douglas in the 1937 television performance of The Wasp’s Nest.

  Writer and actor Frank Vosper.

  Script page from Agatha Christie’s The Stranger.

  J.J. and Lee Shubert.

  Barbara Toy in her Land Rover ‘Pollyanna’.

  Irene Hentschel.

  Agatha’s agents Edmund Cork

  and Harold Ober.

  Linden Travers and Terence de Marney in Ten Little Niggers (1943).

  The Broadway cast of Ten Little Indians (1944).

  Script for Agatha Christie’s Towards Zero

  description of set

  set illustration.

  Captain Peter Saunders with the Intelligence Corps in Germany.

  Jeanne de Casalis.

  Hubert Gregg directing Jessica Spencer in The Hollow (1951).

  Peter Cotes and wife Joan Miller.

  Richard Attenborough and Sheila Sim in the original cast of The Mousetrap (1952).

  The Duke and Duchess of Windsor attending Witness for the Prosecution.

  The Broadway production of Witness for the Prosecution (1954).

  Hugh ‘Binkie’ Beaumont.

  Gilbert Miller.

  Peter Saunders in New Haven, USA (1954).

  Margaret Lockwood and company in Spider’s Web (1954).

  Margaret Lockwood and Agatha Christie in a publicity photograph; the corpse is played by Lockwood’s agent Herbert de Leon.

  Patricia Jessel.

  Verity Hudson.

  The 1956 programme for A Daughter’s a Daughter.

  Agatha’s daughter, Rosalind.

  Verdict at the Strand Theatre (1958).

  The Unexpected Guest at the Duchess Teatre (1958).

  Renée Asherson.

  The Playbill for the 1965 US production of the Unexpected Guest starring Joan Fontaine.

  Agatha Christie enjoying the company of Verity Hudson, Hubert Gregg, Robertson Hare, Margaret Lockwood, Pat Kirkwood, Peter Saunders and Marie Löhr to celebrate Verity Hudson’s twenty-one years working for Peter Saunders (1969).

  Mathew Prichard, Max Mallowan, Agatha Christie and Peter Saunders at The Mousetrap’s 21st birthday party (1973).

  About the Author

  JULIUS GREEN has numerous West End plays and musicals to his credit as a producer. In 2001 he produced the twelve-week Agatha Christie Theatre Festival, uniquely presenting a repertoire of Christie’s complete plays as then known, and in 2006 he created the Agatha Christie Theatre Company. He studied history at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre, University of London. He has served on the Bo
ard of Management of the Society of London Theatre and the Board of Directors of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and is a director of the Academy of Circus Arts. Green is a regular columnist for The Stage newspaper and the author of How to Produce a West End Show. He lives in Cambridge, England.

  Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.

  Also by Julius Green

  HOW TO PRODUCE A WEST END SHOW

  Credits

  COVER PHOTOGRAPHS © OLI SCARFF / GETTY IMAGES (ST. MARTIN’S THEATRE)

  Photographs courtesy of the Christie Archive Trust, the Shubert Archive, the University of Bristol Theatre Collection/ArenaPAL, the National Portrait Gallery, the Peter Saunders Archive, the Museum of the City of New York Theatre Collection, the Theatre Royal Bath Archive and Getty Images.

  Copyright

  CURTAIN UP. Copyright © 2015 by Julius Green. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.