Paul Courtenay wrote: "I certainly read in someone's memoirs or diaries that a theatre audience stood and applauded, but I can't remember whose. "
Following on to Paul, and Tony's question as to whether a 1945 theatre audience ovation actually occurred, from Gerald Pawle, THE WAR AND COLONEL WARDEN (London: Harrap, 1963, 105) we learn that it did: "After he left Downing Street Mr Churchill stayed for a while at Claridge's. Still pondering on his dismissal, he was genuinely puzzled by the warmth of the welcome accorded to him when he appeared in public. It was, indeed, an astonishing phenomenon, for wherever he went he was acclaimed with hysterical fervour. He attended a performance of Noel Coward's comedy, Private Lives, and the entire audience rose and applauded him for several minutes as soon as he entered the theatre. At the end of the play John Clements made a moving speech about him from the stage, and once again the audience rose and cheered as though they would never stop. When he moved into the flat of his son-in-law, Duncan Sandys, crowds gathered night after night in the hope of seeing him, and searchlights played on the building. At the Savoy, where he dined one evening with James Stuart, every one in the restaurant stood up and clapped and cheered as he passed through the room. " Nor was this the first time stiff upper lip types gave Churchill spontaneous standing ovations. Henry Pelling, in WINSTON CHURCHILL (London: Macmillan, 1974), 315, writes that in 1926 at the end of the General Strike: "...he was greeted with cries of 'We want Winston!' and 'Good old Churchill!' Such a demonstration was somewhat embarrassing, as the performance, which was of the musical Lady Be Good, had already begun. But the audience insisted on stopping the show, and Adele Astaire, Fred Astaire's sister, who was on-stage, called upon the audience to give three cheers for the Chancellor, who then 'bowed his acknowledgements'. But [opponents] would not have regarded a London theatre audience as a cross-section of the British public. As the Gallup Poll had not yet been founded, the question of whether Churchill lost popularity as a result of his role in the strike must remain open." --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/ChurchillChat?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
