Saturday 14th December 1929, York
‘It fits!’
The smallest children stood on their parents’ laps to get the best view of the girl in rags as she tried on the silken slipper. Cinderella turned to the audience, her eyes alight with joy. ‘So ends our play, my dream at last come true, I always thought it would though, didn’t you?’
No, I didn’t, thought Sybil, as she waved her jewel-encrusted wand over the happy couple and the chorus of townspeople broke into their final song and dance. No, she thought, I never thought it would come to this. But professional to the last, her smile did not betray her melancholic thoughts and was as bright and fixed as the spotlight bathing the beautiful young lovers in eternal bliss.
Sybil kept the beneficent smile on her face all through the three curtain calls, as the theatregoers of York said their final goodbye to the pantomime troupe who had entertained them for two weeks. Next stop on the tour was Newcastle – the Theatre Royal – where Sybil and the cast would have to do it all over again. Sybil felt sick. Not just sick at the thought of having to perform the silly songs and the silly dialogue ad nauseum, but literally sick. She rushed into the wings, barged past Baron Bombard, the Uglies and Billy Buttons – the latter swearing at her with a broad Geordie accent – and just made it into the dressing room before she fell to her knees and vomited into a wastepaper basket.
She had been feeling ill all day. And that on top of a rash she’d developed a few days earlier. She’d put it down to sensitivity to the new brand of tinted face cream she was using. She had smeared it on her face, arms, neck and chest, to give the fairy godmother an ethereal quality, but had had some kind of reaction to it. She had a week now before rehearsals started again up in Newcastle. Time to let her skin recover. She would revert to her old cream after that.
Sybil wiped her mouth on the hem of her skirt. She was shaky and clammy and had a blazing headache. The lights around her dressing table mirror were like sharp pinpricks stabbing into her eyes. She rose unsteadily to her feet and made her way to the stool, slumping onto it. Still quivering, she removed her elaborate Marie Antoinette wig, then used cotton wool and cold cream to take off her make-up.
She looked at herself in the mirror, her image blurring in and out. Was she coming down with the flu? She should probably have an early night. She didn’t have the energy to take off her fairy godmother gown, so she just put on her coat and hat over the top of it and made her way unsteadily to the dressing room door. As she reached it someone knocked and said: ‘Miss Langford?’
She opened it to see a stagehand standing with an envelope in his hand. ‘Miss Langford? A letter for you.’
Sybil leaned unsteadily on the doorframe.
‘Are you all right, Miss Langford?’ he asked, his voice tinged with concern.
‘I – I – I’m feeling a little unwell. Will you tell Mr Brown I’ll be missing the after-party? I’m going back to the boarding house for an early night.’
‘Of course, Miss Langford. Can I help you at all?’
‘Can you call a taxi for me?’
‘Yes, miss. There are taxis lined up outside. I’ll get you one in two ticks.’
Sybil went back into the dressing room and sat down, the envelope from the lad in hand. The handwriting was familiar. She opened the envelope and read the note, the words jumbling in her vision before finally coming into focus. Then her eyes grew wide. ‘Oh, dear God, not now. He’s the last person I want to see. But I don’t have a choice …’
Fifteen minutes later Sybil was sitting in the back of the taxi, her cheek pressed against the cool of the window glass.
‘Are you sure you want me to drop you here, miss? It’s dark and there’s no one about.’
‘Oh, there’s someone about,’ said Sybil, her voice barely above a whisper.
The Stage, 16th December 1929
LAST-MINUTE CAST CHANGE FOR CINDERELLA
Newcastle upon Tyne – The role of the fairy godmother in the Newcastle leg of the Starlight Players’ northern tour of Cinderella will be played by Miss Isobel Baxter. Miss Baxter will be waving the magic wand in the popular Christmas panto due to the sudden withdrawal of Miss Sybil Langford at the end of the York run.
Mr Tubby Brown, the tour manager, told The Stage that Miss Langford withdrew from the tour by telegram, stating that she was unable to continue due to personal reasons and would be returning to London. He said she did not elaborate on what those reasons were.
Fortunately, Miss Baxter, who hails from Sunderland and has played the role before, has been able to step in at the last minute.
Newcastle audiences last saw the classically trained Miss Langford – who was born in the north-east city – twenty years ago in her most memorable performance as Ophelia. They will be sorry not to see her on this tour. The Stage has been unable to reach Miss Langford for comment at her home in London.