Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds had been working together on writing musicals since 1952, writing the book, music and lyrics. Reynolds was also an actress. They wrote Salad Days as a "summer musical for the Bristol Old Vic's resident company.
The title is taken from William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra: "My salad days, When I was green in judgment, cold in blood, To say as I said then!", and the phrase has come to be used generally to refer to one's days of youthful inexperience. The musical's enduring popularity lies in its light-hearted innocence and apparent simplicity, in sharp contrast to the many "hard-nosed" American musicals of the era, and its bright score including the songs "We Said We Wouldn't Look Back", "I Sit in the Sun", and "We're Looking for a Piano.
This show was revived in the West End in April 1976 at The Duke of York's Theatre, running for 133 performances, and featured Elizabeth Seal.Studio cast recorded in 1982
Salad Days features the original cast and their Musical Director, Neil Rhoden of the 1976 West End production. This is the only stereo recording of Salad Days.
Julian Slade and Dorothy Reynolds Salad Days, chronicles the youthful adventures of a couple fresh from university, who find themselves put in charge of looking after a battered old piano by a London tramp. The piano, they name Minnie, has a life of its own, enchanting all who hear it into dancing, an effect that both enlivens and brings trouble for our joyful protagonists.
The celebratory nature of the musical, an old style song and dance extravaganza, led to it becoming, on its initial appearance in 1954, for 6 years, the longest running musical in the West End, only topped by the success of Oliver in the late 1960s. It remains a much loved gem of the music theatre aficionado, an exquisite document of a time gone by and a celebration of those Salad Days we all enjoy.
Tracklisting
1. Opening
2. Things That Are Done by a Don
3. We Said We Wouldn't Look Back
4. Find Yourself Something to Do
5. I Sit in the Sun
6. Oh, Look at Me!
7. Hush-Hush
8. Oh, Look at Me! (Reprise)
9. Out of Breath
10. Cleopatra
11. Sand in My Eyes
12. It's Easy to Sing
13. We're Looking for a Piano
14. Time of My Life
15. Saucer Song
16. We Don't Understand Our Children
17. Oh, Look at Me! (Reprise)
18. We Said We Wouldn't Look Back (Reprise)
