A musical tale of the East by Oscar Asche
Set to music by Frederic Norton
Presentation written by Henrik Ege
Characters in the order of their appearance
The Story-Teller, Bruce Winston
Robbers, dancers, servants, slaves, etc.
The BBC Theatre Chorus (trained by Charles Groves), and the BBC Theatre Orchestra (leader, Tate Gilder), conducted by Mark H. Lubbock
The programme arranged and produced by Gordon McConnel with the musical collaboration of Gwen Williams
None who saw it will ever forget the tuneful and spectacular melange that was Chu Chin Chow. Produced at the end of August in 1916, Chu Chin Chow ran at His Majesty's Theatre for just under five years, Its total of 2,238 performances created a record that has never been broken.
The broadcast tonight will concentrate chiefly on the music. The dialogue of the play will be omitted, but the plot will be explained by a story-teller, who will link together the various musical excerpts that will be heard.
All the best-known songs in the score will be included, and Henrik Ege, who has been responsible for many adaptations, has written the narration in the idiom set down by Oscar Asche in the original book.