King's Rhapsody

The musical was first produced at the Palace Theatre, London, on 15 September 1949 and ran for 841 performances, surviving its author, who died in 1951.

[1] It starred Novello in the title role of the heir to the throne under pressure from his long-lived mother, Queen Elana, to abdicate in favour of his infant son,[1] with Phyllis Dare as his mistress Marta Karillos, Zena Dare as Queen Elana, Vanessa Lee as Princess Cristiane, Robert Andrews as Vanescu, and Olive Gilbert as Countess Vera.

[2] In The Observer, Ivor Brown was of the opinion that Novello, "can with his tranquility stand up to all the bounding Oklahomans and Brigadooners in the world"; and in The Sunday Times, Harold Hobson considered it "a better musical than South Pacific.

[5] The 1955 British film version was directed by Herbert Wilcox, and starred Errol Flynn as Nikki and Anna Neagle as his mistress.

Vanessa Lee reprised her role of Princess Cristiane from the original stage production, and Griffith Jones played Nikki, with Margot Grahame as his mistress.