DC Editor Adam writes…
Today I'm updating my Kensington Playlist – I'm out and about leading the Old Kensington tour with London Walks at 2pm this afternoon (meet at High Street Kensington Tube).
Catch up with earlier Kensington Playlist posts on Sir Arthur Bliss and Queen.
Catch up with earlier Kensington Playlist posts on Sir Arthur Bliss and Queen.
Step forward songwriter and actor Michael Flanders 1922-1975.

Flanders was educated at Westminster School
– at the same time as Peter Ustinov and Peter Brook – and Christ Church,
Oxford. He left the latter to join the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve but contracted
polio in 1943 and, as a result, used a wheelchair for the rest of his life. One
of his less-celebrated achievements was his campaigning to make theatres more
accessible.
His debut with Swann under the billing
Flanders and Swann, with their revue, At The Drop Of A Hat, took place in 1959
at the now demolished New Lindsey Theatre Club, Kensington Palace Gardens
Terrace. It transferred to the Fortune Theatre in the West End for 759
performances before transferring to Broadway.
For my Kensington Playlist I've chosen A
Transport of Delight from the Fortune Theatre recording of At The Drop Of A Hat
- mainly because of its very London-y subject matter (a London bus) but also
because of a reference in the intro by Flanders to Tony Armstrong-Jones, the
soon-to-be husband of Princess Margaret. Keeping up my Kensington theme, the couple would reside at Kensington
Palace.
Flanders lived at 1a Scarsdale Villas, Kensington from 1953 to 1962 - briefly sharing the house with Swann. A Blue Plaque marks the spot…
And here's my Kensington Playlist so far…
Keep In Touch…





No comments:
Post a Comment