Original logo for the musical 'The Woman in White.' Copyright Really Useful Group.

The Woman in White is also the name of a popular radio soap opera created by Irna Phillips Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The Really Useful Group (RUG) is a international company set up in 1977 by Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber. ... Irna Phillips (July 1, 1901 - December 22, 1973) wrote and created many of the first American soap operas. ...

The Woman in White is an epistolary novel written by Wilkie Collins and published in 1860. It was recently made into a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Zippel with a book by Charlotte Jones. It is considered to be to the first mystery novel. Titlepage of Aphra Behns Love-Letters (1684) An epistolary novel is written as a series of documents. ... Wilkie Collins William Wilkie Collins (8 January 1824 – 23 September 1889) was an English novelist, playwright, and writer of short stories. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ... Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is a highly successful British composer of musical theatre. ... Mystery fiction is a distinct subgenre of detective fiction that entails the occurrence of an unknown event which requires the protagonist to make known (or solve). ...

The Novel

The Woman in White was published in 1859, and is widely regarded as one of the first (and finest) in the genre of 'sensation novels'. The Sensation novel was a genre of fiction popular in Great Britain in the 1860s. ...

The story begins when the hero, art master Walter Hartright, encounters a mysterious woman dressed all in white on a moonlit road in Hampstead. She is in a state of confusion and distress, and Hartright helps her to find her way back to London. In return, she warns him against a certain (un-named) Baronet, "a man of rank and title". Immediately after they part, Hartright learns that she may have escaped from an asylum. Hampstead is a place in the London Borough of Camden and near to Hampstead Heath. ...

He goes to Cumberland to take up a position as art tutor at Limmeridge House to two young women - Marian Halcombe and her wealthy half-sister Laura Fairlie. He finds to his amazement that the story of the woman in white may be entangled with the lives of the two sisters. As a further complication, Walter and Laura fall rapidly in love. But she is already engaged, by her father's wish, to a man named Sir Percival Glyde.

Walter and Marian together delve deeper into the mystery of the strange woman, and engage in a battle of wits with Glyde's enigmatic Italian friend Count Fosco. The various strands of the plot combine to produce a thrilling story, leading this particular type of fiction to be described as 'sensation'.

The Woman In White is also an early example of a particular type of Collins narrative in which several characters in turn take up the telling of the story. This creates a complex web in which readers are unsure which narrator can, and cannot, be trusted. (Collins used this technique in his other novels, including The Moonstone.) This techinique was also used by other novelists of the period, including Bram Stoker, author of Dracula. The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins is a 19th-century epistolary novel, generally considered the first detective novel in the English language. ... Abraham Bram Stoker (November 8, 1847–April 20, 1912) was an Irish writer, best remembered as the author of the influential horror novel Dracula. ... Bela Lugosi as Dracula; U.S. postage stamp first issued in 1997 as part of a series celebrating Famous Movie Monsters Dracula (1897) is a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, and the name of the worlds most famous vampire character. ...

As was customary at that time, The Woman in White was first published as a magazine serial. The first episode appeared on 29th November 1859 in Charles Dickens's magazine All the Year Round in England, and Harper's Magazine in America. It caused an immediate sensation. Julian Symons (in his 1974 Introduction to the Penguin edition) reports that "queues formed outside the offices to buy the next instalment. Bonnets, perfumes, waltzes and quadrilles were called by the book's title. Gladstone cancelled a theatre engagement to go on reading it. And Prince Albert sent a copy to Baron Stockmar." Serial is a term, originating in literature, for a format by which a story is told in contiguous installments in sequential issues of a single periodical publication. ... Charles Dickens was a prolific writer who was almost always working on a new installment for a story and rarely missed a deadline. ... All the Year Round was a weekly magazine edited by Charles Dickens which was published between 1859 and 1859. ... The Right Honourable William Ewart Gladstone (29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British Liberal statesman and Prime Minister (1868–1874, 1880–1885, 1886 and 1892–1894). ... Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (in full Francis Charles Augustus Albert Emmanuel) (26 August 1819 – 14 December 1861) was the husband and consort of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. ...

Musical Production History

Musical adaptation of the book opened in London's West End, with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by David Zippel, and book by Charlotte Jones, freely adapted from the novel. Directed by Trevor Nunn, it opened Wednesday, 15 September 2004 at the Palace Theatre in London. It gained attention for its set design, which employed projections rather than traditional scenery. The scenery tended to divide audiences and critics; some found it innovative, but Ben Brantley of The New York Times liked it to being "trapped inside a floating upscale travel magazine." The Broadway production opened on 17th November 2005 at the Marquis Theatre to mostly negative critical reaction. This followed much publicity after the show's star, Maria Friedman, who had created the role of Marian Halcombe in the original London production, was diagnosed with breast cancer during previews; however, she underwent treatment to return for the Broadway premiere. For other uses, see London (disambiguation) and Defining London (below). ... Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is a highly successful British composer of musical theatre. ... David Zippel is an American Tony Award-winning Musical theatre lyricist. ... Sir Trevor King (born 14 January 1940) is a loser and film director. ... September 15 is the 258th day of the year (259th in leap years). ... It has been designated the: International Year of Rice (by the United Nations) International Year to Commemorate the Struggle against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO) 2004 World Health Day topic was Road Safety (by World Health Organization) Year of the Monkey (by the Chinese calendar) See the world in... Palace Theatre The Palace Theatre, London, is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus. ... For other uses, see London (disambiguation) and Defining London (below). ... The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur O. Sulzberger Jr. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ...

On Friday 20 January 2006, it was officially announced by produced Sonia Friedman and The Really Useful Theatre Company, following weeks of rumours, that the show would close in London on Saturday 25th February 2006 after a run of 19 months just reaching its 500th performance. It will be replaced at the Palace Theatre, London by Andrew Lloyd Webber's Whistle Down The Wind (musical) for a short and selective period of time from the 15th March to the 12th August 2006 and then the theatre will reopen on the 2nd October with the production of Monty Python Spamalot Palace Theatre The Palace Theatre, London, is an imposing red-brick building that dominates the west side of Cambridge Circus. ... Whistle Down the Wind is a musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the 1961 film Whistle Down the Wind. ... Monty Pythons Spamalot is a comedic musical based on the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975). ...

Additionally, in a surprising announcement, the Broadway production closed even earlier than the London production on Sunday 19 February 2006 at the Marquis Theatre having played just 109 regular performances and 20 previews. The producers cited Friedman's frequent absences (as well as the negative reviews) as difficult obstacles to overcome. The Marquis Theatre is a Broadway theatre. ...

However, it is not the end; The Woman In White will undertake a one-year major national UK tour, which will be opening January 2007 in Milton Keynes. Furthermore, there are even plans to bring the show back to London in a reconcieved production, either before or after the national tour.

Musical numbers

A railway cutting near Limmeridge, Cumberland, June 1870

• "Prologue"

ACT I--Limmeridge, Cumberland

• "I Hope You Like It Here"
• "Perspective"
• "Trying Not to Notice"
• "I Believe My Heart"
• "Lammastide"
• "You See I Am No Ghost"
• "A Gift For Living Well"
• "The Holly and the Ivy"

Blackwater House, Hampshire

• "All For Laura"
• "The Document"
• "Act I Finale"

ACT II--Blackwater House, Hampshire

• If I Could Only Dream This World Away"
• "The Nightmare"

London

• "Evermore Without You"
• "Lost Souls"
• ("If Not For Me For Her", cut from later productions)
• "You Can Get Away With Anything"
• "The Seduction"
• "Asylum"

A railway Cutting, near Limmeridge, Cumberland June 1871

• "Finale"

Cast Members

N.B.- The Original Broadway Cast was also the final Broadway cast, as the production pan for only just over 100 performances on Broadway, closing on 19 February 2006.

In the role of Marian Halcombe:

• Laura Michelle Kelly (Sydmonton Workshop)
• Maria Friedman (Original London and Original/Final Broadway Cast)
• Ruthie Henshall (London Cast, August 2005 - February 2006)
• Yvette Robinson (London Cast, 6 February 2006 - 25 February 2006: member of final London cast)

In the role of Count Fosco: Laura Michelle Kelly (born 1981) is a British actress and singer who achieved critical acclaim in the role of Mary Poppins at the Prince Edward Theatre in the West End musical of the same name which premiered in December 2004. ... The introduction to this article provides insufficient context for those unfamiliar with the subject matter. ... Ruthie Henshall is a British singer, dancer, and actress. ...

• Roger Allam (Sydmonton Workshop)
• Michael Crawford (Original London Cast)
• Michael Ball (Second London and Original Broadway Cast)
• Anthony Andrews (London, May-August 2005)
• Simon Callow (London, August-November 2005)
• David Burt (London, November 2005 - February 2006: member of final London cast)

In the role of Anne Catherick: Roger Allam (born October 26, 1953) is an English actor, best known for his stage career. ... Michael Crawford (born January 19, 1942 in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England), is a British actor and singer. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Antony Andrews (b. ... Simon Philip Hugh Callow, CBE (born June 15, 1949 in London, England) is a highly-regarded British actor of stage, film and television, and a biographer of Orson Welles and Charles Laughton. ... David Burt is a British actor, famed for his many and wide-ranging West End performances. ...

• Angela Christian (Original London and Original/Final Broadway Cast)
• Elinor Collett (Current London Cast, as of August 2005: member of final London cast)

In the role of Walter Hartright: This article needs to be wikified. ...

• Martin Crewes (Original London Cast)
• Adam Brazier (Original Broadway/Final Cast)
• Damian Humbley (Current London Cast, as of August 2005: member of final London cast)

In the role of Laura Fairlie: Martin Crewes (born in 1968 in London, England), is principally a performing arts actor. ...

• Anne Hathaway (Sydmonton Workshop)
• Jill Paice (Original London and Original/Final Broadway Cast)
• Alexandra Silber (Current London Cast, as of August 2005: member of final London cast)

Anne Whitney Hathaway (born November 12, 1982, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American film actress. ...

Awards and nominations

Olivier Award Nominations:

• Best New Musical
• Best Actress in a Musical, Maria Friedman
• Best Performance in a Supporting Role in a Musical, Michael Crawford - WINNER
• Best Set Design
• Best Sound Design -- WINNER

External links

• The Woman in White, available for free via Project Gutenberg
• Homepage of the Really Useful Group, Andrew Lloyd Webber's production company
• Homepage of the Musical
• Discussion Group for fans of the musical