Actor Martin Jarvis is convinced that the humor in "By Jeeves," though undoubtedly veddy veddy British, is also universal. Nevertheless, he recalls one American woman in the audience having difficulty grasping what was happening on stage. As Jarvis tells it, she apparently thought she had come to the wrong theatre. Indeed, the show's play-within-a-play completely baffled her. " 'I didn't come to see a banjo concert,' she told her husband. Later, when she realized what was happening, she couldn't stop laughing."
With its drollery, broad farce, and music hall song-and-dance ditties, "By Jeeves," based on the stories of P. G. Wodehouse, bowed on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theatre on Oct. 28. The book and lyrics are by Alan Ayckbourn, the music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. The story, such as it is, is set in the "Little Wittan Community Center" circa 1939, where the community (which includes the audience) has gathered to raise money for the hamlet's church steeple.
The feckless and readily flustered Bertram Wooster (John Scherer), who has been slated to entertain the crowd with his banjo playing, discovers to his horror that the banjo is missing. In its place, he has been handed a frying pan. To say that Wooster is rattled and more than a tad desperate is an understatement. But he needn't fear. His ever-present butler, Jeeves (Martin Jarvis), has already prepared an alternative show based on--and starring--the oddball eccentrics who people his employer's life. These characters are on hand to reenact the madcap, at times slapstick, misadventures they've shared with their good friend Bertie.
Bertie stars in the show, as does Jeeves, "who is a player and, at the same time, a narrator who knows exactly what will happen. It's all very surreal," remarks the 50-something Gloucestershire-born Jarvis, meeting with us in the balcony of the Helen Hayes Theatre shortly before a preview performance.
"Jeeves is a brilliant servant with all the answers who oils the wheels. He is an urbane presence who shimmers into a room; he doesn't walk, he shimmers. Every gesture is calculated; it's choreographed," Jarvis continues. "But there's an element of revenge here, too. He is putting Bertie through the hoops."
Jeeves--by Jarvis--is one of those peculiarly British creations, the servant who is always distant and respectful. He knows his place, yet can be profoundly condescending. His stiff gait, limited range of motion, and immobilized expression blend perfectly with his restrained vocal style.
"I hear the voice in the Wodehouse stories," notes the easygoing, articulate, and gracious Jarvis; in person, he is a far cry from his rigid onstage alter ego. "I go back to the speech patterns of the period. I study them. There's nothing curlicue or baroque about Jeeves' speech, but the sentence construction is Dickensian."
Jarvis knows Jeeves intimately; he is well versed in all the 67 Jeeves stories written by Wodehouse, has recorded a fair number of them, and has recently completed filming the video version of "By Jeeves," eventually slated for American TV broadcast (it's already been seen on Canadian TV).
"Do you know Jeeves' Christian name?" Jarvis asks, a hint of mock challenge in his voice. "It's Reginald!"
Jarvis is one of Britain's most distinguished and recognized actors. He has appeared in the West End and with the Royal National Theatre in plays by such writers as Ayckbourn, Harold Pinter, and Michael Frayn. His television credits include "Inspector Morse," "A Touch of Frost," "Murder, She Wrote," and "Walker, Texas Ranger." He was awarded an OBE (Officer of the British Empire) by the Queen for his contribution to theatre.
A Writer as Well
Jarvis was brought up in south London, the son of an insurance underwriter who unwittingly paved the way for his son's future career in theatre. "He was an assessor for risk," Jarvis recalls. "He would bring home the statistics [the odds of someone living or dying within a certain time] and I would read them aloud. I infused the numbers with great dramatic intention."
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