Revived lost musical to be performed in Yorkshire

THE WORLD’S first complete revival of a lost musical by My Fair

Lady writers Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe will be performed in Sheffield next month.

The Day Before Spring, which was rediscovered and reconstructed by researchers at the University of Sheffield, is among the highlights of the university’s Festival of Arts and Humanities.

The plot concerns a married woman who meets the man with whom she almost eloped 10 years previously at a college reunion. After discovering he has written a novel about her, she considers leaving her husband.

The show will be performed on Tuesday, May 2 at the university’s Firth Hall.

Another highlight of the 20day festival, now in its third year, is a screening by Man Booker Prize winner Ben Okri of the film for which he wrote the script, N – The Madness of Reason, at the Showroom Cinema followed by a question-and-answer session on Wednesday, May 3.

David Olusoga, renowned historian, broadcaster and author of Black and British: A Forgotten History, is also joining the festival on Monday, May 22 to hold a talk on why Black British history is an integral and essential aspect of mainstream British history.

Professor Jackie Labbe, vicepresident and head of the University of Sheffield’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities, said: “We have a variety of events taking place throughout May which we hope the public can share and enjoy with us.”