History Theatre / ByJeeves

In 1975, Alan Ayckbourn and Andrew Lloyd Webber produced a musical, ''Jeeves,'', based on the works of Creator/PGWodehouse about [[Literature/JeevesAndWooster the eponymous valet and his hapless master Bertie Wooster]], that only ran for about a month and stands as Lloyd Webber's one and only flop. Its central point of failure was that it was about four hours long and much too complicated. In 1996, Ayckbourn and Lloyd Webber revisited the play, pared it down considerably, wrote mostly new music for it, and retitled it ''By Jeeves.'' In its new, simpler incarnation, ''By Jeeves'' was considerably more successful.

In 1975, Alan Ayckbourn and Andrew Lloyd Weber produced a musical, ''Jeeves,'', based on the works of Creator/PGWodehouse about [[Literature/JeevesAndWooster the eponymous valet and his hapless master Bertie Wooster]], that only ran for about a month and stands as Weber's one and only flop. Its central point of failure was that it was about four hours long and much too complicated. In 1996, Ayckbourn and Weber revisited the play, pared it down considerably, wrote mostly new music for it, and retitled it ''By Jeeves.'' In its new, simpler incarnation, ''By Jeeves'' was considerably more successful.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: The largely American cast of the 2001 movie do a decent job of imitating RP English accents... ''except'' John Scherer as Bertie, whose accent isn't totally convincing. Or even remotely convincing.

In 1975, Alan Ayckbourn and Andrew Lloyd Weber produced a musical, ''Jeeves,'', based on the works of P.G. Wodehouse about the eponymous valet and his hapless master Bertie Wooster, that only ran for about a month and stands as Weber's one and only flop. Its central point of failure was that it was about four hours long and much too complicated. In 1996, Ayckbourn and Weber revisited the play, pared it down considerably, wrote mostly new music for it, and retitled it ''By Jeeves.'' In its new, simpler incarnation, ''By Jeeves'' was considerably more successful.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping: The largely American cast of the 2001 movie do a decent job of imitating RP English accents... ''except'' John Scherer as Bertie, whose accent isn't totally convincing.

his act.

An American production of the play was filmed in 2001 and released on region 2 DVD, starring MartinJarvis as Jeeves.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: In-universe example, as most of the characters are played by the church's staff, who are on the whole far more amiable and reasonable than the people they're portraying (even though some of them occasionally get a little carried away with their roles). Special mention must go to Sir Watkyn-Basset, who is played by the amiable Bernard "Bumpy" Baisley. Early in the show, Bertie even breaks character a couple of times to comment on this and praise his portrayal... whereupon Bumpy also breaks character to humbly thank him before continuing his act.

* {{Adorkable}}: Harold "Stinker" Pinker, the only character other than Bertie and Jeeves who portrays himself in the impromptu show. Like in the books, he's a well-meaning [[TheKlutz Klutz]], but here he also has a bit of a surprisingly endearing awkwardness to him, as it's pretty clear he's not prepared for any of this. Already before the show starts, he bungles the opening speech while accidentally breaking a chair.

* DeadpanSnarker: Jeeves himself, to an extent Wodehouse would probably not have countenanced. Jeeves makes several quips to the audience at Bertie's expense, which Wodehouse would ''never'' have had him do.

* LetsPutOnAShow: Possibly one of the most literal invocations of the trope. Bertie has no choice but to put on a show—or, more accurately, take part in the show Jeeves is putting on. He does this more by ''improv role-playing himself'' than by intentionally reproducing what he actually did at the time, because his memory is terrible.

* LetsPutOnAShow: Possibly one of the most literal invocations of the trope. Bertie has no choice but to put on a show—or, more accurately, take part in the show Jeeves is putting on. He does this more by ''role-playing himself'' than by intentionally reproducing what he actually did at the time, because his memory is terrible.

!!Tropes Include:

The play finds Bertie Wooster ostensibly giving a banjo concert at a church fundraiser—but he gets to the point of launching into song when it turns out someone has stolen his banjo and replaced it with a frying pan. Faced with having to entertain the audience for two hours before a replacement can arrive, Wooster has no choice but to [[LetsPutOnAShow put on a show]] by reminiscing about one of his adventures—with the able assistance of stage manager Jeeves, who remembers those events much better than he does and has roped the church's staff into taking on the roles of Bertie's acquaintances as they play out the events that transpired.