Ronald’s Other Talents

     Another one of Ronald's many talents was brought out when he met Betty Lawrence, the brilliant composer and pianist, and the musical director of London's Players Theatre Club.  They formed a great friendship lasting many years.  She coached Ronald for singing, when they realized he had a good voice and he in return became her personal adviser.  

     It was on one occasion when Betty was telling Ronald about some titles of songs it had been suggested she should write the lyrics for, and set to music, when she declared she was not a lyricist whereupon Ronald made suggestions as to what and how she could write them.   Betty immediately placed a pad and pen on his lap and told him he should write them, which he did in a very short space of time and she set them to music in an even shorter space of time.  

     This developed into their writing a number of songs together, which caused Ronald to suggest they could write a musical show together with him writing the book and lyrics and she the music. He decided on a reincarnation theme and the show was to be called 'Born Again' or 'The Mists Of Time', which could be regarded as a beautiful fantasy but with hidden meaning for those in favour of reincarnation.  

     The lyrics that Ronald wrote for this show are touching, soulful, poignant, and also humorous, when humor is called for, and the melodies Betty composed for all these songs are perfect expressions of the message the lyrics convey.  Ronald also wrote two ballet sequences into this musical.  One is based on the song, “Where the Wind Blows” and the other is based on the song “Through The Mists of Time.”  A choreographer was discussing the show with Ronald and thought his ideas for the two dance sequences were excellent and she said she’d love to get the opportunity to incorporate his ideas into the ballets.  Although Betty has sadly left us, Ronald holds all the rights to the show and there is still hope that it may be staged.

It has even been suggested to him that this show, as he and Betty wrote it, would make a wonderful film.

  

     Through his great love of music, the theatre, and cinema Ronald was led to form a theatrical company with two friends.  They staged a two-woman show, 'Truths and Trifles' starring Betty and the distinguished actress Nancy Nevinson at London's Cochrane Theatre. Ronald directed the show extremely well and it was well received.

Peter Ingold

Ronald Hearn’s Remembrances Of Betty Lawrence

     Betty Lawrence was a born musician and a child prodigy, who started playing the piano at the age of five, won a scholarship at the age of six, and proceeded to collect prizes in innumerable competitions thereafter.   At the age of nine she was accompanying singers and instrumentalists at concerts.  She won an open competition at age eleven by composing a sonata.  Betty Lawrence also became one of the first child artists to broadcast.

         

      Her great ambition was to become a good accompanist, and this desire was indeed fulfilled since Betty obtained so many diplomas and certificates.  She was undoubtedly one of the finest, and many are grateful for her coaching and great sense of perfection.   Betty Lawrence has worked with many famous performers.  Her most cherished memory is playing for Richard Tauber, who was god-father to her son in "Old Chelsea".   Not surprising, that after listening to her play all  evening, Irving Berlin once asked her in complimentary tones, "Who taught you to play like that?"

       

     Ms. Lawrence wrote a musical, "Step into the Limelight", based on characters in "Nicholas Nickleby" which has been produced twice and issued on CD.    She wrote several others as well as music for film, stage, ballet and TV, along with numerous unpublished works.  In working with London's famous Players Theatre, apart from accompanying, she was involved in arranging many of their productions and was closely associated with the original production of "The Boy Friend".

         

     I used to call Betty ‘The Lady with the Magic Fingers’ because whatever she played had a deeply profound effect. When we sometimes had differences of opinion about what we were writing, to calm the situation, I would ask her to play some of Ivor Novello's music, which would immediately defuse a tense situation.  She always had that effect on all who heard her play.

     Betty was born with the inner belief in reincarnation whilst I am not entirely convinced either way!  With this in mind, I suggested we write a musical with a reincarnation theme, which pleased her greatly.  She wrote the music and I wrote the book and lyrics for this show that was to be called Born Again or The Mists of Time.  Betty cleverly included in one song part of the melody of ‘Happy Birthday.’  More details about this show are included in the first part of this Link.

     On one occasion I gave her a reading in which she received a great deal of information about her previous lives, all of which she accepted, though one could say there was no proof positive!  There was, however, some extremely interesting evidence in the case of a Spanish incarnation.   I told Betty she was a direct descendant of herself, when around 400 years previously she lived in a small place called Elcara, close to Torremolinos.  Betty was known at Dona El Perez, but the interesting aspect was that at first I thought her name was Piroth.   Betty argued that in Spain it would be Perez, and quite likely so.  However, Betty's father was German and in that language the name would be Piroth.  Sometime later Betty went to stay with a cousin in Germany and she asked her one evening if she was interested in family history.   Apparently her husband, who had passed on, had compiled a book of notes on the family, going way back.   One of the first things Betty saw when she opened the book was the name--Piroth.  It transpired, a long way back, one of the family married a Spaniard, hence the combination of German and Spanish.   There was no mention of where they lived, but the timing coincided with the information that had been given.  At a later date she went to Torremolinos determined to find Elcara and see if there could be any connection.   At first, Betty was disappointed as there did not seem to be any place of that name, and nobody seemed to have any idea.   Finally, when visiting a nearby beauty spot she asked a lady in a shop if she had any knowledge of Elcara.   The woman proceeded to bring out maps which were at least 150 years old, and clearly marked, near Torremolinos, was Elcara.   She told Betty the name had been changed some time ago so the chances of anyone knowing about this would be minimal.  Since I have never been to Torremolinos and had no idea of Elcara, I could not have been feeding back something that was in my mind.   Also at the time of the sitting Betty had no knowledge of the family history book.   Although this could not be construed as proof positive, it is strongly evidential.    It certainly would seem that Betty was, indeed, a direct descendant of herself although there could possibly be some other explanation.   However the evidence does seem quite compelling and certainly gives food for thought.

Betty will never be forgotten and her beautiful music will live forever.

Click here for music by Betty and Ronald