The Co-Optimists is a stage variety revue that opened in London on 27 June 1921. The show was devised by Davy Burnaby. The piece was a co-operative venture by what The Times called "a group of well-known musical comedy and variety artists" presenting "an all-star 'pierrot' entertainment in the West-end."[1] It opened at the small Royalty Theatre and soon transferred to the much larger Palace Theatre.[2] The show ran initially for 500 performances; it was completely rewritten and revived at regular intervals to keep it fresh. The final edition, beginning in November 1926 and closing on 4 August 1927, was the 13th version.[3]
The Co-Optimists provided an early platform for the comedy actor and singer Stanley Holloway and brought him wider notice throughout the UK. In 1929, the revue was made into a feature film with the same name, again starring Holloway.[4] In December 1926, Lee DeForest filmed Betty Chester singing "Pig-Tail Alley" in a short film, Betty Chester, the Well-Known Co-Optimist Star, made in his Phonofilm sound-on-film process.[5]
- ^ "The Theatres", The Times, 20 June 1921, p. 9
- ^ "The Palace Itself Again – Co-Optimists' Cheery Burlesque", The Times, 23 August 1921, p. 6
- ^ "The Co-Optimists", The Times, 30 November 1926, p. 12
- ^ "The Film World", The Times, 18 December 1929, p. 12
- ^ "The Co-Optimists". AMC. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
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