A Bright Particular Star - Gertrude Lawrence

 

Limehouse Blues

A Bright Particular Star

Gertrude Lawrence

Decca Records DL 74940

From the back cover: Richard S. Aldrich (her husband and author of Gertrude Lawrence As Mrs. A*), wrote "It was true that many myths had grown up around Gertrude. Her outrageous comic pranks; including young members of the British royal family; her fabulous clothes, furs and jewels; above all, her glamour – a word which she had brought back into parlance, and the only term our language affords which even haltingly describes her radiant charm – these are the stuff which legends are made."

This is a musical remembrance of a remarkable entertainer... Gertrude Lawrence (born Gertrud Alexandra Dagma Lawrence Kasen, in London on July 4, 1902). She has, in the course of her fabulous career, been called "the undisputed queen of the light comedy stage", and has appeared before millions of delighted theatergoers in such successful productions as Private Lives, Tonight At 8:30, Susan And God, Lady In The Dark, Pygmalion, The King And I, and the motion picture version of The Glass Menagerie.

Originally a dancer, she went on to singing and later speaking roles... making theatrical history while teamed with Noel Coward in Private Lives. In a multiplicity of diverse roles – private as well as theatrical – Gertrude Lawrence exhibited an almost uncanny versatility and capacity.

During World War II, Miss Lawrence was a lieutenant in the Red Cross Motor Corps, Colonel in the Ambulance Corps, Vice President of the American Theater Wing, and with her own U.S.O. company toured the Pacific, France and Belgium. Turning author, she published an autobiography entitled "A Star Danced".

A performer whose fame reached almost legendary proportions, Gertrude Lawrence was a beloved personality to countless admirers in her native England and the United States.

Off-stage, Gertrude Lawrence can best be seen through the eyes of her husband, and the words of his vivid literary tribute, "Gertrude", he wrote, "was the most outgiving person I have ever known. Her own need for affection, urgent as it was, was always surpassed by the need she felt for bestowing affection."

And, in writing of her untimely death in 1952, a passing which was felt the world over, Mr. Aldrich gives us another glimpse of the woman who was to become one of the most fabulous personalities of our time. "More than ever I was aware of Gertrude's extraordinary human appeal – that divine spark of vitality, warmth, zest for life – that brought a glow to all those who stood in her presence. It was more than a theatrical gift; it was the essence of her whole being".

Someone To Watch Over Me

I've Got A Crush On You

Do-Do-Do

A Guy Named Joe

Someday I'll Find You

Together

Limehouse Blues

Exactly Like You

Poor John

Jenny

On The Sunny Side Of The Street