Perchance to Dream (musical)

Perchance to Dream is a musical romance with book, lyrics and music by Ivor Novello. It was the only musical for which Novello wrote lyrics. The title is a quotation from William Shakespeare's play Hamlet. The plot, like many of Novello's plots, is a romantic adventure tale, telling the parallel stories of the fates of several inhabitants of the same house through differing time periods. The stories interconnect and have unforeseen repercussions, one upon the other.

It opened on the London stage at the Hippodrome Theatre on 21 April 1945. The show starred Novello as Sir Graham, Valentine Fayre and Bay Fayre; Margaret Rutherford as Lady Charlotte Fayre; Olive Gilbert as Ernestine Flavelle, later called Mrs. Bridport; Roma Beaumont as Melinda Fayre, Melanie and Melody; Muriel Barron as Lydia Lyddington, Veronica Lyddington and Iris; and Bobbie Andrews as William Fayre. Zena Dare was a replacement as Lady Charlotte. Sylvia Cecil replaced Muriel Barron during the run. It was directed by Jack Minster, with choreography by Frank Staff and Keith Lester.^[1] The musical is one of Novello's most successful works and enjoyed an original run of 1,022 performances (the longest of any of Novello's runs) and finally closed on 11 October 1948.^[1] It enjoyed many subsequent tours and revivals. A 2011 revival at the Finborough Theatre, London, was the first professional production since the 1980s. The hit song of the show was "We'll Gather Lilacs".^[2]