The widow of legendary funnyman Ken Dodd has licensed all theatrical rights to his material — the ticklish gags, comedy routines, Diddymen scripts and songs that had audiences rolling in the aisles over his six-decade career — for an undisclosed sum to a top West End producer to create a theatre show about his life.
I can reveal that Michael Harrison, who presents the pantomimes at the London Palladium and hit musical The Drifters Girl, among others, licensed the treasure trove of rib-ticklers from Lady Anne Dodd, who married the comedian two days before he died, aged 90, in 2018.
The couple had been partners for 40 years; and worked together professionally. Anne, a former dancer and singer, often appeared in Ken’s shows billed as Sybil Jones, and handled his bookings and marketing.
The widow of legendary funnyman Ken Dodd (pictured) has licensed all theatrical rights to his material for an undisclosed sum to a top West End producer to create a theatre show about his life
Lady Anne Dodd (left), who married the comedian two days before he died, aged 90, in 2018. The couple had been partners for 40 years; and worked together professionally
Like all ace jokers, Dodd maintained voluminous notes on his thousands of one-liners. ‘He believed that there’s an art and a science to telling jokes,’ Harrison told me over lunch.
For 60 years he kept a record of every joke, referencing how much laughter each received from punters in different cities, which enabled him to calculate whether or not to adjust his timing and delivery. ‘If we can get seven laughs a minute, then we’re motoring,’ Dodd told Jeremy Isaacs on the BBC’s Face To Face in 1995.
Last night, Lady Dodd told me she’s ‘thrilled and delighted’ that Harrison’s bringing ‘Ken’s story to the stage’. She added: ‘It will be a tattyfilarious celebration of laughter and happiness.’
Dodd (right) also owned the material he performed on TV, including the two An Audience With… programmes he made for ITV in 1994 and 2001
For 60 years he kept a record of every joke, referencing how much laughter each received from punters in different cities, which enabled him to calculate whether or not to adjust his timing and delivery
Harrison saw Dodd perform dozens of times, his grandfather being a fan. ‘I saw him on TV, but it was seeing him live that made you realise he was a comic artist in a class of his own,’ he told me.
Harrison explained that the deal includes ‘everything written down, filmed and recorded … even witticisms scribbled on scraps of paper’. Dodd also owned the material he performed on TV, including the two An Audience With… programmes he made for ITV in 1994 and 2001.
That first programme is available on BritBox and I watched it the other night. It still holds up. In the audience, I spotted the late Jack Tinker, the Daily Mail’s celebrated theatre critic, beside himself with glee as he watched the man he hailed as one of the greatest comedians of his age.
Anne (left), a former dancer and singer, often appeared in Ken’s shows billed as Sybil Jones, and handled his bookings and marketing
‘The key is going to be: how do you cast a genius?’ Harrison wondered. Luckily, he has plenty of time to find such an actor.
Development of the project is at a very early stage. Harrison said once he had contracted a playwright, they would meet with Lady Anne, spend time at Knotty Ash in Liverpool, where Dodd lived from birth, ‘comb through the barrels full of laughs, and then write a show’. It’ll be two or three years before we see what emerges.
Dodd’s signature song was Happiness. ‘The world needs more of that than ever,’ Harrison said, correctly.
Musical theatre star Sally Ann Triplett is in talks to play Mrs Wilkinson, the ballet teacher who helps a miner’s son win a place at the Royal Ballet School — during the 1980s miners’ strike — in a new production of Billy Elliot.
The award-winning show by Elton John and Lee Hall will open at Leicester’s Curve Theatre this summer.
Musical theatre star Sally Ann Triplett is in talks to play Mrs Wilkinson, the ballet teacher who helps a miner’s son win a place at the Royal Ballet School — during the 1980s miners’ strike — in a new production of Billy Elliot
Sally Ann Triplett as Lauren in the Viva Forever! musical at The Piccadilly Theatre in London
And Triplett (pict Cured), a consummate stage artist who has enjoyed a wide and varied career, is in negotiations to appear for a six-week run from July 7.
Final decisions on young lads to play the title role — three or four boys will share it — and all other parts will be made late next month.
Director Nikolai Foster and choreographer Lucy Hind have been rehearsing dozens of children, who hope to win parts.
I still have a distinct memory of watching Triplett in Cameron Mackintosh’s 1987 production of Follies at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
The award-winning show based on the 2000 film (pictured) by Elton John and Lee Hall will open at Leicester’s Curve Theatre this summer
Later, she starred as Reno Sweeney in director Trevor Nunn’s rollicking Anything Goes at the National Theatre and enjoyed two terms as the lead in Mamma Mia.
Haydn Gwynne was the original Mrs Wilkinson at the Victoria Palace — and on Broadway.
However, the Curve’s Billy has been given licence to start from scratch with the script and songs and create the show afresh … distinct from Stephen Daldry’s 2005 London version.
