The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall
| The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall | |
|---|---|
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| Music | Clark Gesner |
| Lyrics | Clark Gesner |
| Book | Clark Gesner Nagle Jackson |
| Productions | 1979 Broadway |
The Utter Glory of Morrissey Hall is a musical with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner and a book by Gesner and Nagle Jackson. The production opened and closed on May 13, 1979 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre on Broadway after only seven previews and one regular performance.
Morrissey Hall is a girls school in England. The day has hardly begun when Headmistress Julia Faysle reads in an unflattering remark about the quality of girls produced by her school. The Sixth Form mistake her subsequent concern for their health and grooming as being a sign that they are all about to be sold into slavery. The Fifth Form, in turn, find the Sixth's newest behaviour very strange and prepare their own defenses. The headmistress' secretary, Elizabeth Wilkins, attempts to convey to the audience that she is indeed not any part of this madhouse, then returns to her duties. Meanwhile, the headmistress and her faculty chum, Foresta Studley, get carried away with jolly memories of their own girlhood at Morrissey Hall.
A letter arrives. It is for Helen Wells-Morton, from her boyfriend, Charles. The letter contains a key, and when a trunk arrives for Helen, Headmistress Faysle uses all her wiles to try to get the key so she can open and inspect the trunk. When it is finally opened, Charles leaps out and escapes to the upper reaches of the school. Early on in all this, a salesman, Richard Tidewell, has arrived to see the Headmistress. He has waited patiently in the outer office with Elizabeth for most of the Act, but now he must go. It is revealed that he and Elizabeth have fallen in love.
The Fifth Form, in a history competition, has won a Bumper Car ride, and the huge amusement park contraption is now set on the campus. The school loves the ride, but retaliation is obviously demanded. While Mrs. Delmonde rehearses a St. George and the Dragon pageant, the Bumper Car is attacked. It is obviously the beginning of the end. Miss Winkle, faculty leader of the Fifth Form and now drunk with power as commander of the Bumper Car, whips them around in the ride.
It has obviously been too much for the headmistress. She has, since the beginning of the Act, been sequestered in her office, seeing nobody, and having a lovely, quiet time pressing flowers and arranging them in an album. She is at peace. Helen, too, has found her dear if slightly reluctant Charles, and even manages to get him to sing with her on matters of the heart. But it is all too late. The Fifth and Sixth have been arming themselves from mail order catalogues, and even the Headmistress' perennial optimism seems tentative to say the least, just prior to the outbreak of full scale, all-school, hell-bent-for-leather war.
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