Conversation Piece (musical)
From the outset, Coward had the French star Yvonne Printemps in mind for the leading role of Mélanie, despite the fact that she spoke no English.On learning that Coward himself proposed to take the role, Brent gladly resigned, "providing you let me still come to rehearsals and watch you find out what a bloody awful part it is.Other members of the large cast included Louis Hayward, Maidie Andrews and George Sanders, with Valerie Hobson in the chorus.The big tune from the show, "I'll Follow My Secret Heart", caused Coward much difficulty while he was composing the score, and he was on the verge of giving up the whole show: The London production had a truncated run of 177 performances, by contrast with Coward's earlier romantic musical Bitter Sweet, because Printemps had to leave the cast to fulfil a film commitment in France, and no suitable replacement could be found.[9] Coward sang the role of Paul, and the recording featured opera singer Lily Pons, the young Richard Burton, Cathleen Nesbitt and Ethel Griffies.