Red, Red Rose

Last night was Burns Night, the night when many Scottish people celebrate the life and works of the man who is widely considered to be Scotland’s national poet, Robert Burns (1759-1796). Although both Burns Night and Robert Burns himself are interesting subjects in their own right, I have decided to stray into Singing Librarian territory and try to write something about the little-known musical Red, Red Rose, which is based on Burns’s life.

Red, Red Rose is one of Burns’s best known poems, and has enjoyed popularity for over 200 years. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately if the critics are to be believed) the musical Red, Red Rose was not fated to be so successful. As far as I have been able to discover the musical was only performed once, at the Musical of the Year competition held in Aarhus Concert Hall, Amsterdam in September 1996. Despite winning third place and a prize of £10,000, the reviews were unfavourable and, as far as I know, the musical was never performed again. One reviewer in The Times (London), described the musical as:

… a brash, coarse assessment of the lusty life and wild times of Robbie Burns.

(September 25th, 1996)

while the critic from the Daily Mail, Jack Tinker, said that it was

Ill-advisedly written as an all-American tribute to the Scots lover-poet Robbie Burns [and that it]dredged up every cliche in the musical-biog lexicon…Not even the highly personable John Barrowman, in a swirling kilt, could redeem it.

(September 27th, 1996)

I first became aware of the existence of the musical Red, Red Rose (as well as several other musicals I had never heard of before, thank you SL) when I listened to John Barrowman’s CD ‘Reflections from Broadway’. On the CD he sings the title song from the musical Red, Red Rose. I rather like the song; it’s a pleasant enough tune, and has some pretty flute parts in the accompanying orchestral arrangement. Mr Tinker of the Daily Mail was not so kind, accusing the writers, George Rosie and Paul  Alan Johnson, of

rendering the immortal My Love Is Like A Red Red Rose into the kind of Muzak you would walk up ten flights of stairs to avoid hearing in a lift.

(27th September, 1996)

which I thought was a bit harsh, to say the least. Mind you, I have never agreed with anything the Daily Mail has said, so perhaps this is unsurprising.

I would like to be able to listen to the whole musical myself and form my own opinion based on more than just one song and a couple of reviews, but I don’t think that any recordings of the show exist. So, for now (or perhaps forever), I will have to content myself with listening to the song ‘Red, Red Rose’ and only imagining what the rest of the ill-fated musical was like.

George and Paul, if you’re out there, I hope it comforts you to know that the song ‘Red, Red Rose’ is liked and listened to often by at least one person. I would never climb the stairs in order to avoid hearing it in a lift – and I don’t even like lifts!

P.S. I hope that readers will excuse the rather arbitrary use of the comma in ‘Red, Red [or Red Red] Rose’, but there doesn’t seem to be consistent use (or not) of the comma in the title of either the poem or the musical.