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“The Show Is Over” (1934)

“The Show Is Over.” Words and music by Sam Coslow, Con Conrad, and Al Dubin (1934). Recorded by Elsie Carlisle with orchestral accompaniment on May 18, 1934. Decca F. 3990 mx. TB1259-2.

Elsie Carlisle – “The Show Is Over” (1934)

“The Show Is Over” is a “fox trot ballad” in which the singer expresses disappointment and a sense of disillusionment over a love relationship that has been dissolved. It relies on an extended theatrical metaphor: the singer has “played the part of the fool in the play” by being taken in by her former partner, who was “just acting a part in the play” when he pretended to be in love. Realizing that their relationship has been more like acting than real life and that in reality her lover is in love with someone else, the singer suggests that the two put away any pretense of being friends, concluding that “the show is over.”

The song had three songwriters, but I detect most in it the sensibility of Sam Coslow. Elsie Carlisle recorded four songs in 1934 for which Coslow had written words, music, or both, the others being “This Little Piggie Went to Market,” “A Place in Your Heart,” and “My Old Flame.” All are excellent songs, in spite of the fact that they take the risk of being saccharine, sentimental, or overly serious. All four songs, therefore, benefit from Elsie Carlisle’s skills as an actress; even while singing that “the show is over,” she impersonates perfectly the disillusioned lover and lends sincerity to what could otherwise be a somewhat artificial role.

“The Show Is Over” was also recorded in 1934 by the BBC Dance Orchestra (directed by Henry Hall, with songwriter Sam Coslow on the vocals), Harry Roy and His Orchestra (with vocals by Ivor Moreton), Roy Fox and His Band (with singer Peggy Dell), Alex Freer and His Band, Billy Cotton and His Band (with vocal refrain by Alan Breeze and Harold “Chips” Chippendall), Ray Noble and His Orchestra (with Al Bowlly), Jay Wilbur and His Band (with vocalist Leslie Douglas), the Casani Club Orchestra (under the direction of Charlie Kunz, with singer Harry Bentley), Ambrose and His Orchestra (with Sam Browne), Bertini and His Band (with Leslie Douglas), and Larry Brennan and the Winter Gardens Dance Band (with Ken Beaumont singing “The Show Is Over” as part of a medley).

2 thoughts on ““The Show Is Over” (1934)”

  1. one of the three great singers of the 1930s on the British scene – the others Al Bowlly and Sam Browne – I could wrap myself up in their voices forever.

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"The Idol of the Radio." British dance band singer of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.