There really was a new musical adaptation of Love on the Dole first produced in 1970, at the Nottingham Playhouse. Greenwood seems himself to have rejected angrily at least one suggestion in the late thirties that his story would make a good film musical (probably with a happy ending). However, he seems have mellowed by 1970, when a musical about the thirties might seem a different proposition in a very different context. He was not himself involved in the new adaptation, but seems to have approved of the book by Terry Hughes, the lyrics by Robert A. Gray and the music by Alan Fluck. There were some good reviews of the Nottingham Playhouse production, but sadly the hope for move to a London theatre didn’t come off.
Luckily, there was a 1995 revival by the musical director Stewart Nicholls at Woking, as well as a limited edition CD recording which is invaluable in reconstructing the story, lyrics and something of the music of Love on the Dole the Musical.
See: Love on the Dole: the Musical (1970)
Enjoy, best Chris.
Walter Greenwood: Not Just Love on the Dole 