Bless the Bride

Bless the Bride
Original cast album cover
Music	Vivian Ellis
Lyrics	A. P. Herbert
Book	A. P. Herbert
Productions	1947 West End 1987 West End revival

Bless the Bride is a musical with music by Vivian Ellis and a book and lyrics by A. P. Herbert, the third of five musicals they wrote together. The story is about an English girl who elopes with a debonair French actor; he goes off to serve in the Franco-Prussian War, and his friend, who bears a grudge against the English, tells his bride that he has been killed in action. The musical is remembered as Ellis's best work and for the recordings of "This is my lovely day" and "I was never kissed before", with Lizbeth Webb and Georges Guétary. The musical was Charles B. Cochran's 125th production. Cochran had signed 19-year-old Adele Leigh as the lead, but the next day the new Royal Opera offered her principal roles. After much negotiation, Cochran released her from the contract.

The premiere production opened at the Adelphi Theatre in London on 26 April 1947, just before Oklahoma! and was directed by Wendy Toye. It was not overshadowed by the American hit, enjoying a good reception from the critics and audiences, and running for three years and a total of 886 performances. The production was notable for its highly stylised scenery by Tanya Moiseiwitsch, a break with the realism of earlier musical comedy sets. One of Webb's songs with Guétary, "This Is My Lovely Day", became one of the BBC's most requested songs of all times, and the song's popularity, and that of the show, were increased by their association with the wedding in 1947 of Princess Elizabeth and Lt. Philip Mountbatten.

Only four of the songs were recorded as studio singles by the original cast. A "disappointing" studio recording was made in 1967 with Mary Millar and Roberto Cardinali, and a revival was presented in London in 1987. In 1994, a recording of songs by the original cast was released, produced by David Cunard, as a result of a discovery in the United States of recordings of a radio broadcast.