A Night Out (musical)

A Night Out
Marcelle, Matthieu's "ghostly" daughters, Matthieu and Pinglet
Music	Willie Redstone Cole Porter
Lyrics	Clifford Grey
Book	George Grossmith, Jr. Arthur Miller
Basis	L'Hôtel du libre échange by Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallières
Productions	1920 West End

A Night Out is a musical comedy with a book by George Grossmith, Jr. and Arthur Miller, music by Willie Redstone and Cole Porter and lyrics by Clifford Grey. The story is adapted from the 1894 French comedy L'Hôtel du libre échange by Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallières. The sculptor Pinglet gets an evening away from his domineering wife and dines with the attractive Marcelle Delavaux. After a series of coincidences and mix-ups, he manages the deception without suffering any adverse consequences.

The musical was presented with success at the Winter Garden Theatre, London, from 1920 to 1921 and then toured in Britain.

In 1896, "A Night Out", a non-musical adaptation of L'Hôtel du libre échange, opened in London and ran for 500 nights. The musical adaptation, produced by George Grossmith, Jr. and Edward Laurillard followed the story of the earlier adaptation (and the French original) closely. The score was by the resident conductor of the Winter Garden Theatre, Willie Redstone, with music for additional numbers provided by the young Cole Porter as some of his earliest professional work.

The musical was first presented at the Winter Garden Theatre, London, on 18 September 1920 and ran for 309 performances, closing on 18 June 1921. A touring company presented the piece in the British provinces in 1921, with Norman Griffin in the lead as Pinglet. In 1925, the musical was produced in the US, and in Australia, in the 1920s, it was an enormously successful vehicle for Cecil Kellaway.

The sculptor Joseph Pinglet is henpecked by his domineering wife, and is ready to rebel by a little unauthorised outing. He intends to dine with the attractive Marcelle Delavaux, the neglected fiancée of Maurice Paillard, in a private room at the Hotel Pimlico. Madame Pinglet has been summoned to visit her sick sister, but she locks Pinglet in his studio before she leaves. Pinglet uses the bell-pull as a rope and escapes by the balcony.