Download The Noel Coward Diaries fb2

by Graham Payn

Arts & Literature

Author:

Graham Payn
ISBN:

0316695505
ISBN13:

978-0316695503
Genre:

Bio / Memoris
Publisher:

Little Brown & Co (September 1, 1982)
Pages:

698 pages
Subcategory:

Arts & Literature
Language:

English
FB2 format

1888 kb
ePUB format

1817 kb
DJVU format

1913 kb
Rating:

4.2
Votes:

726
Formats:

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The Noel Coward Diaries book. The Noël Coward Diaries is a social and theatrical chronicle as stylish and irresistible as the man himself.

The Noel Coward Diaries book.

Graham Payn (25 April 1918 – 4 November 2005) was a South African-born English actor and singer, also known for being the life partner of the playwright Noël Coward. Beginning as a boy soprano, Payn later made a career as a singer and actor in the works of Coward and others. After Coward's death, Payn ran the Coward estate for 22 years. Payn was born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, the son of Francis Dawnay Payn and his wife, Sybil, née Graham.

Coward's diaries from 1941 to 1969 offer an intimate look at the last 30 years of the life of the popular, sophisticated . Wonderful, witty look at 25 or so years in Coward's life

Coward's diaries from 1941 to 1969 offer an intimate look at the last 30 years of the life of the popular, sophisticated British playwright and author. While some of the entries are of the "Stayed out. Wonderful, witty look at 25 or so years in Coward's life. Common terms and phrases.

About the Author: Graham Payn, a lifelong friend of Coward who appeared in many of his most successful plays, now lives at Chalet Coward in Switzerland, from where he runs the Coward estate.

The diaries of Noel Coward in this book begin in 1941, continuing through December, 1969. In my lifetime, Noel Coward was an icon of theatrical entertainers. Now I realize why, He gave everything of his talents and his time to his professional life and never sold out his own vision of his creations, musically and otherwise.

The Noel Coward Diaries is a social and theatrical chronicle as stylish and irresistible as the man himself. Graham Payn, a lifelong friend of Coward who appeared in many of his most successful plays, now lives at Chalet Coward in Switzerland, from where he runs the Coward estate. The Perseus Books Group. Sheridan Morley is the drama critic of the Spectator and the International Herald Tribune and author of the first Coward biography, A Talent to Amuse.

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The Noel Coward diaries. Coward, Noël, 1899-1973; Payn, Graham; Morley, Sheridan, 1941-. Books for People with Print Disabilities. Internet Archive Books.

Noï¿½l Coward is remembered as the most witty and elegant of theatrical personalities. The Noï¿½l Coward Diaries is a social and theatrical chronicle as stylish and irresistible as the man himself

Noï¿½l Coward is remembered as the most witty and elegant of theatrical personalities. He left behind over fifty plays, twenty-five films, hundreds of songs, and several books. Fortunately, he also left behind these diaries chronicling the last thirty years of his life, from 1941 to 1973. The Noï¿½l Coward Diaries is a social and theatrical chronicle as stylish and irresistible as the man himself. If the item details above aren’t accurate or complete, we want to know about it. Report incorrect product info.

Journals chronicling the last thirty years of Coward's life provide a candid account of his theatrical career on both sides of the Atlantic and a revealing, entertaining portrait of Coward, himself

Gardall

The diaries of Noel Coward in this book begin in 1941, continuing through December, 1969. His early years in the theatre and his war diaries have been published elsewhere. In my lifetime, Noel Coward was an icon of theatrical entertainers. Now I realize why, He gave everything of his talents and his time to his professional life and never sold out his own vision of his creations, musically and otherwise. He never envisioned being "profound"; he wanted the light touch, the deft revelations even in domestic comedy. He deplored the "kitchen sink" drama boys when they appeared in England who all seemed to take over and destroy lucidity; audibility; and compassion in the theatre thereafter. Readers will thoroughly enjoy the graceful, revealing and sincere "talking" these annual diaries convey from the mind of Noel Coward. He has a very good friend in himself, one feels. That is quite a feat in itself.

It is apparent reading his diaries- with the fascinating details of the processes- that to him, creating his musicals, his poetry and novels and his plays gave a joy to him in the making. Producing, directing and dealing with the vagaries of his stars and casts was another kettle of fish. He records them all, at their best and worst; most of them had been his friends for years. Reading about his work and weekly social calendars is enough to exhaust the reader; he rarely refused an invitation, and was usually working on a piece at the same time.

He records the joy and progress that he and his close associates made through the world, literally, seeking the perfect house, actually houses, to relax in; eventually, to find the home locales that gave him tax relief from the harsh British tax climate.

It was enchanting to learn he presented the first "special" in color, in the U.S., nationally broadcast in 1955, starring Noel with Mary Martin. Both sang their popular numbers and performed some skits, for 90 minutes, a record in those days. Noel had to restage all the camera work before the performance which was live. The crew had "no idea how to film musical theatre before a camera." The national audience response was ecstatic for this "little box" show of Big Talent. All the reports said they were hungry for the witty, sophisticated & purely lovely talented singers, bright romantic songs and dances. It is sad to realize the public is still waiting for this kind of quality entertainment from television today. 690pp.

Gaudiker

Enjoyed it very much. Reading his daily journal was so much more like a personal account than some of the biographies on Coward that I have read. Wish it had covered even more of his life. I could actually hear his voice thru his entries. Did not want the book to end.

avanger

Bought this as a gift for my wife and she loved it. Full of fascinating details.

Runemane

BRILLIANT WRITING AND BRILLIANT EDITING...

Arcanescar

wonderful read, timely shipping!

Gaua

fantastic. Insightful without pretention

White gold

Excellant.

If you like talk about the theatre and about celebrities (as opposed to instructive information about people or the theatre), or if you are already a fan of Mr. Coward, you will probably like this book. Though how anyone can sit through almost 700 pages of the same old revelations of self-love time and again staggers me. And yet somehow there's nothing really personal in all this talk about himself. In spite of his friends' (lovers'?) careful editing, Coward's hypocrisy and snobbishness glow through.
Other peculiarities about the editing are 1) the continual failure to identify all the people who are close to Coward whom he refers to by nicknames. Probably these were identified in the first few pages, yet the reader is expected to remember who they are 100, 200, 300 pages later. On the other hand, 2) the editors see fit to identify every well-known celebrity, politician, etc. in careful footnotes. It's as if they're saying that the reader wouldn't know such minor players as Gloria Swanson, Lillian Gish, Helen Hayes, Judy Garland, Joan Crawford, Maria Callas and vast numbers of others because they were, after all, such lesser lights than Noel.
I didn't get much beyond the bottom of p. 407 where Coward calls the novel Lolita "exceedingly pornographic." Of course he does say that he "tried" to read it. Nevertheless, I defy anyone to find one sentence of pornography in that great book. Oddly enough, neither Nabokov nor his novel is listed in the index. Now here is a man (Coward) who approached the Hollywood procurer Scotty Bowers and asked Bowers to arrange 15 dates with young men so that he (Coward) could fellate them one after the other. Now tell us who is pornographic, Ms. Coward.

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