Half a Sixpence

Expressly created for Brit pop star Tommy Steele and based on H.G. Wells's novel Kipps: The Story of a Simple Soul, Half a Sixpence is pure English corn syrup, circa 1965. Steele plays Arthur Kipps, an orphan who climbs the social ladder before losing it all and realizing that you just can't buy happiness (the stuff musical theater is made of, to be sure). David Heneker (who had also worked on Irma La Douce and Charlie Girl) wrote both music and lyrics, but what really sold the show (and it did well indeed) was Steele's outsize presence. Indeed, he appeared in every song except for the overture and a solo by Polly James. Half a Sixpence gained its footnote in Broadway history by being the last West End show to transfer successfully to New York before the late-'70s and early-'80s Lloyd Webber musicals. --Elisabeth Vincentelli