Actor, theatrical entrepreneur, writer, manager, director, producer.
OVERVIEW
One of Australia's pioneering tent show theatre operators, Stanley McKay's early theatrical career saw him lassociated with the Sydney Muffs amateur dramatic company. His first professional venture was in 1909 when produced an acclaimed production of Hamlet with Scottish tragedian, Walter Bentley. He soon afterwards began touring his own pantomime and Shakespeare companies around Australian and New Zealand under canvas. An artists leasing arrangement with the Fullers allowed him to procure several high profile performers (including Jim Gerald) and he was also associated on occasions with Birch and Carroll (Queensland), and George Stephenson. He closed down his operations and enlisted in A.I.F. in 1916, serving with an artillery unit for two years.
McKay re-established his Australian and New Zealand circuits in 1919, touring his own companies (with occasional metropolitan seasons) up until the early 1950s. He then continued his association with travelling theatre as a partner with other entrepreneurs. In 1964 McKay was the oldest working theatrical showman in Australia. Among his life achievements, Stanley McKay claims credit as being the first person to produce a pantomime in Canberra (1926). He also toured under the auspices of the Victorian and NSW education departments at times during his career. McKay died in Sydney in 1974.
[Source:
Australian Variety Theatre Archive]
BIOGRAPHY
1879-1908: Henry Stanley McKay was born in the New South Wales Southern Highlands town of Tumut and educated at the local public school. During these years, he developed both a keen interest in drama, particularly Shakespeare, and a love of the outdoor life. In his early twenties, McKay moved to Sydney to take up a position with the Bank of New South Wales. The nine or ten years he spent with the bank were important, as they provided him with the skills in financial management necessary for a career as a theatrical enterepreneur.
During his time with the Bank of New South Wales, McKay involved himself in local amateur theatre activities, first as an actor and eventually as actor/manager/director. Although many of the details surrounding his movements at this stage of his career remain unclear, it has been established that he founded the Sydney Muffs amateur theatre company in 1903. In a 1916 interview, McKay recalls that he was only able to involve himself in the Muffs due to the benevolence of his bank manager, Mr J. J. Phillips, who never refused him the frequent half day's leave required whenever the troupe played away from the city, chiefly weekend trips to the Blue Mountains ('What About the Rabbits?' p.41).
The Sydney Muffs first-ever performance was at the Criterion Theatre in July 1903 with the staging of Henry Hamilton's domestic drama Harvest. At least one critic later said of the production that it was possibly the finest amateur performance ever staged in Sydney to that date (Theatre: An Illustrated Monthly June 1906, p.13). Over the next few years, the company's repertoire included drama, comedy, farce, and even vaudeville. One of the earliest reviews of a McKay/Sydney Muffs production located to date was published in a 1904 issue of Player:
- The Queen's Hall was the scene of operations by the Sydney Muffs on the
23rd of August, when a very creditable amateur rendering of T. W.
Robertson's great comedy, Caste was given under the direction of
Col. D'Orsay Ogden.... H. Stanley McKay must be congratulated on his
capital character sketch of Sam Gerridge (15 September 1904, p.22).
Under McKay's leadership, the Sydney Muffs established a considerable reputation in amateur circles from quite early on, leading to frequent reviews in the Player and Theatre magazines. McKay's theatrical appearances were not confined to the Muffs, however. He also appeared with the Thespian Bankers (aka the Bank of New South Wales Musical and Dramatic Society) on a number of occasions. One such production was in August 1906, when the troupe presented The Pickpocket (Theatre: An Illustrated Monthly 1 September 1906, p.19). It was through his involvement with the Muffs, however, that McKay was given the opportunity to present his best work. The Theatre also records that 'much of the success of the [company was] due to the energy displayed by their genial manager, Mr Stanley McKay' (1 June 1906, p.13).
1909 - 1913: Stanley McKay's final year with the Sydney Muffs included a revival of Romeo and Juliet (Palace Theatre). A Theatre critic wrote that the production 'brought them any amount of kudos... [and that] Mr Stanley McKay may well congratulate himself on the result of his labour' (March 1909, n. pag.). A little over a month later, the magazine further praised the 'Stanley McKay-Sydney Muffs Easter week performance' of Uncle Tom's Cabin (Clay's Standard Theatre). Plays toured by the company around this time also included The Shaughraun, East Lynne, and David Garrick. In a review of the latter production, the Theatre's critic suggests that McKay had undertaken his most difficult role (Garrick) but that it had been 'played with fire and refinement (an unusual mixture), and [thus] the great role was happily sustained' (July 1909, p.19).
The Sydney Muffs reputation by 1909 was such that McKay was able to call on professionals to strengthen the cast. Among the more notable actors engaged by the company in 1909, for example, were Ruby Coxhead (late of the Pollard Company), Ada Fitzgerald (daughter of barrister John D. Fitzgerald and cousin of Jim Gerald), and Stella Chapman. It is possible that McKay had, however, become frustrated by the limitations of an amateur company. This was pointed out in the Theatre's review of David Garrick, in which the critic implies that the company had not quite achieved what they hoped when they set out. 'The Superiah Critic [sic] would doubtless remark that the Muffs aimed too high,' notes the review, 'but they didn't - they couldn't. [However] instead of being jibed by boy critics of the evening press who can only act one thing - the fool, The Muffs should be encouraged in every possible way' (p.19).
Although in full-time employment throughout his
association with the Muffs, McKay nevertheless worked tirelessly to help
establish the company's reputation as arguably Sydney's most respected
amateur theatrical society of that period. In addition to its repertoire
of Shakespeare, classics, and contemporary European and American social
dramas, the company also premiered at least three plays by local
authors: The Tame Cat by Arthur H. Adams, The Amateur Burglar by W. J. Curtis, and A Martyr to Principle, a playlet co-written by McKay and Sumner Locke. The latter play, one of his last productions with the Muffs led one Theatre Magazine critic to write:
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By courtesy of Mr Bland Holt, who generously lent the Theatre Royal ... the Sydney Muffs, who are ever ready to lend a hand for charity's sake, staged Niobe and A Martyr to Principle in aid of St. Martha's Industrial Home, Leichhardt. The theatre was crowded. Niobe, which followed the original playlet A Martyr to Principle, was thoroughly appreciated by the audience, but the interest really centred in the curtain-raiser, which was written by Sumner-Locke and Stanley McKay, the well-known director of the Sydney Muffs (September 1909, p.19).
McKay's first venture as a professional entrepreneur and director was the critically acclaimed ten-night season of Hamlet (starring Walter Bentley) at at the Criterion Theatre. The previous month, as Bentley had been passing through Sydney on his way to Adelaide for a J. C. Williamson's engagement (which included The Silver King), McKay approached the eminent Scottish actor with an offer to appear under his management during a two-week hiatus at the Criterion, beginning mid July. Bentley, who was required to return to Sydney immediately following his Adelaide commitment in order to prepare for a tour of Queensland under Harry Clay's management, agreed to the proposal despite McKay's comparative inexperience as a professional producer/director. To compound matters, McKay was seriously handicapped in terms of preparation, because he had only two-and-a-half weeks to prepare the production and his lead actor was absent until three or four days prior to opening night. According to the Theatre, however, 'it proved to be the most successful Shakespearian season Mr Bentley ever played' in Australia (November 1910, n. pag.). An earlier review also records, 'It is good for a big city to get a shock now and then; and, by Jehosophat it got one in the Walter Bentley season' (August 1909, p.18). The company McKay put together provides further insight into his standing within the Australian theatrical community, including as it did such high-profile performers of the day as John Cosgrove (Claudius), Johnson Weir (Ghost), Helen Furgus (Gertrude), her daughter Nellie Ferguson (Ophelia), and George Titheridge (Horatio).
Some six weeks after the Bentley season, McKay's newly formed Shakespearian and Comedy Company left for Wollongong, where they staged a season of drama that included The Merchant of Venice and The Soldier's Bride (Town Hall, 3 Sept.). The troupe returned to Sydney for a brief season at St George's Hall (Newtown) two weeks later and the following month undertook a three-week tour of the Northern Rivers. Commencing at Ballina (11 Oct.), the circuit then included the townships of Coraki, Lismore, Grafton, Maclean, Casino, and Murwillumbah (Theatre: An Illustrated Monthly October 1909, p.23). Adding to his commitments that same month was an invitation to co-found the Australian Dramatic Authors Association. Convened by T. Hilhouse Taylor, the meeting was reportedly attended by E. Lewis Scott, Agnes Haddon Chambers (sister of C. Haddon Chambers), and Sumner Locke (ctd. Theatre: An Illustrated Monthly November 1909, p.17). During December, McKay returned to the Criterion where he staged the popular English comedy, Dr Bill (beginning 11 Dec.) and a revival of Niobe - All Smiles. Directed by and starring McKay, the season further enhanced his reputation as one of Sydney's leading thespians. '[He] played Dr Bill in a way that showed he had devoted considerable study to the part,' wrote one of the Theatre's critics. 'At times he tickled the house immensely by the ridiculous situations in which he found himself, especially in the bathroom scene' (January 1910, p.7). Among the cast were ex-Sydney Muffs actors (Fred Stephenson and Ruby Guest) and playwright Sumner Locke. The season also saw McKay accorded a testimonial by his peers, recognising both the work and effort he had put into Sydney amateur theatre over the past six or more years and his strong commitment to local charities (Sydney Morning Herald 18 December 1909, p.17).
McKay's company returned to Sydney in mid-August, having just completed an eight-month tour of NSW, including towns as far west as Coonamble. One of the longest seasons was apparently eight nights at Grafton, with a different play staged every night (Sydney Morning Herald 13 August 1910, p.16). After staging a brief season of Romeo and Juliet at the Victoria Theatre, Manly (beginning 16 August), McKay took his troupe back on the road, opening in Parkes for the Race and Show week, beginning 22 August. Members of the company included Fred and Clara Stephenson, Harry Saville, and Elsie Prince, all of whom had been long associated with McKay. A few months later, McKay put together the first of his touring pantomime companies, which led the Theatre to comment on his seemingly never-ending entrepreneurial expansion:
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Mr McKay's manifold other theatrical ventures include the organisation of the Shakespearian and Comedy Co., with which he just recently returned to Sydney after making the third of a most successful series of tours of the Northern Rivers..... So costly and exhilarating an entertainment is that now promised by Mr McKay [the Bo-Peep tour] that he should meet with crowded houses, particularly in the country, where pantomime on the scale on which he is presenting it is really being seen for the very first time (November 1910, p.10).
On Christmas Eve 1910, McKay presented the first Sydney production of Harry Taylor's pantomime Bo-Peep (Exhibition Building, Alfred Park). The company, initially billed as Stanley McKay's Pantoimime Moving Theatre (and later known as the Royal Pantomime Company) was headed by Bruce Drysdale, Phyllis Faye, Ruby Davies, Dot Ireland, and Vicky Miller, all of whom later became established high-profile vaudeville performers in Australia. McKay recalls this time of his career in the 1916 Theatre interview:
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I next procured a portable tent with a seating capacity of 1500 and a stage correspondingly large. At this time I was struck by the scarcity of touring musical shows and decided that my first venture would be one of a musical character. I chose pantomime for preference, as no touring company other than the late John Sheridan's (who played only a few towns), had exploited 'panto' through Inland [sic] Australia.... In four weeks time the libretto and music were written, the wardrobes made by Zenda, scenery (including a transformation scene) painted by Harry Whaite, the moving theatre and the one hundred and one etceteras that go with it specially built, the company organised and rehearsed, and the panto produced at Mudgee, a town about 200 miles from Sydney... I might mention that after these preliminary necessities and the first class fares for thirty-two people had been paid I boarded the train solvent - and only solvent. My capital, which I carried in my vest pocket, consisted of 1/6... However, my credit must have been good, for the [Mudgee] shopkeepers were pleased to send along anything that was required ('What About the Rabbits?' p.42).
The following year, McKay's company went through Queensland under the auspices of Harry Clay. Advertised as the largest production ever toured in the Commonwealth, by all accounts much of the public's initial interest lay in the size of the mammoth mining tent the company used: it is said to have by then seated some 2,000 people and taken several days to erect. The critical responses to the shows themselves were also overwhelmingly enthusiastic.
While the Bo-Peep tour travelled by rail and steamer, McKay's other tours around this period involved a variety of methods, including stage coach, bullock wagons, cars, trucks, and even sulkies. In some instances, the distances travelled (and in the harshest of conditions) indicate how hardy these show people were. In his 'What About the Rabbits?' interview, McKay recalls, for example, having to 'jump from Mackay in North Queensland to the Riverina in South-western NSW in order to make a certain show date - a distance of 1600 miles' (p.42). After a year on the road, the company once again returned to Sydney, opening at Manly in December with Bo-Peep. The Theatre suggested, even then, that McKay's 'unflagging energy must certainly bring him to the front some day as one of Sydney's biggest theatrical managers' (January 1912, p.6). The following year the Theatre published a series of photographs
showing McKay's companies on tour through inland Australia, providing a
unique insight into the conditions experienced by troupes travelling
around Australia by road during the early twentieth century.
1914-1918: By 1914 McKay had come to realise that touring his dramatic company was less financially-rewarding than the pantomime company and he subsequently closed it down. Early the following year he began touring two pantomime companies simultaneously, with both staging their productions either in a tent or in available local halls.The company which he referred to as his No 1 Company formed sometime around March/April 1914. He soon afterwards struck a deal with Ben and John Fuller to put in place a leasing arrangement for former circus acrobat and comedian Jim Gerald and his wife, Essie Jennings. Gerald's decade or more experience as an acrobat saw him develop a unique dame personality under McKay's management and, in doing, so helped turn the entrepreneur's new and original production of Mother Goose into an Australian favourite:
Stanley McKay's pantomime, Mother Goose, is showing at the Lyric Theatre, on the Esplanade, St Kilda [Melbourne], and a tidy little combination it is, too, and also Australian vaudeville artists are here getting a decent chance to show what they can really do, and are miles ahead of some of the imported article, which is constantly being pushed into Australia for a Christmas pantomime, heralded by a lot of newspaper junket and interviews, and if the truth is really known they come out of a small time pantomime in the 'smalls' of England. Essie Jennings, as principal boy is great, her beautiful figure making the society crowd look some, and her singing and acting being a real knock-out to this scribe...Jimmy Gerald (alias Fitzgerald) is a fair dame, and scores solid throughout, although some of his songs want nailing down his box. On the whole, McKay deserves every success for getting such good vaudeville talent together (Australian Variety 18 Nov. 1914, n. pag.).
The other company which became known as the No Pantomime 2 Company was essentially a re-formed Pantomime Moving Theatre (aka Royal Pantomime Company). That troupe had actually disbanded in March 1914 after returning from its 1913/1914 New Zealand tour. Although featuring original members Bruce Drysdale and Phyllis Faye it became known as the No 2 Company because the new Jim Gerald-led troupe was already in existence.
The two companies criss-crossed the Fullers' Australian and New Zealand circuits throughout 1915 and into early 1916. Ross B. Simpson, McKay's Sydney-based business partner and tour manager, estimated that the No 1 Company (comprising 25 performers) had alone travelled some 27,000 miles during the twelve-month period to July 31, 1915 (Theatre Magazine August. 1915, p.33).
The momentum that McKay had been building to this point was brought to an abrupt halt in May 1916, when he and several members of both companies enlisted in the A.I.F (the others included Jim Gerald, Bruce Drysdale, and Leslie Smith). The decision to abandon his theatrical operations was made public shortly after he and the No 1 Company returned from New Zealand in April with, according to George Stephenson, 'a handsome balance on the right side.' In responding to McKay's decision to enlist, Stephenson suggested that it would be easy work for the entrepreneur, considering the Herculean labours he had undertaken during the past five or six years (
Theatre Magazine May 1916, p.10). McKay's three-month basic training was undertaken at a camp based at Warren, northwest of Sydney on the Macquarie River. He left Australia in late August as a corporal in the Fifth Brigade, Ninth Reinforcements, having trained as an artillery field gunner. It was with the 14th Light French Mortar Battery, however, that he served out the war in France and Belgium.
Although McKay spent much of his war experience at the front, he nevertheless still found opportunities to provide entertainment for fellow soldiers. Charles Cabot records in his letter (Stanley McKay Collection) that McKay organised shows while in camp in Australia, while on board the troopship steaming to England, in camp at Salisbury, and even in France when his unit had a rest period (p.1). During his tour of duty, McKay also occasionally found time to write to the Theatre Magazine, informing readers mostly of his attempts to stage theatricals and his observations of wartime activity. Although he was thousands of miles from home, McKay still couldn't escape the old industry network, at one time having his scenery painted by an old mate (the brother of actress Nellie Ferguson). McKay finished one letter from Belgium (in which he details recent productions of The Waybacks, Fun on the Bristol and The Merchant of Venice) by making the passing comment that one of the greatest battles in history was raging nearby as he wrote (December 1917, p.13).
When the war ended, McKay reportedly obtained permission to remain in England, to spend time studying theatrical production in London and Stratford-on-Avon (Everyone's 24 January 1921, p.33). On his return to Australia, he set about re-establishing his theatrical organisation, and is believed to have also reached an agreement with the Victorian and NSW Education departments to tour Shakespearian plays set for current high-school study throughout both states.
1919-1929: While much research into Stanley McKay's career during this period is still required, he is known to have continued touring his pantomime and dramatic companies throughout Australia and New Zealand, much as he had done previously (although not always under canvas). One season known to have been staged at the old Strand Theatre, Leichhardt, over Christmas/New Year 1921-1922. In early 1922, the company, which featured Bert Desmond, his wife Mattie Jansen, and Lulla Fanning, undertook a tour of New Zealand. The Theatre Magazine reports that the tour's satisfactory results included a twenty-two-night season in Auckland (March 1922, p.16).
In 1923, McKay joined forces with Alf Coleman to again tour pantomime with a moveable theatre: the combined company is said to have been the largest operation based out of Sydney at that time. Billed as the 'The Aldwych Theatre' (after the popular structure of the same name that became the vogue in London during the war), the company's debut was at Inverell during the town's show week. The itinerary also included Guyra, Tenterfield, Glen Innes, Quirindi ,and Tamworth, followed by a Northern NSW Rivers tour. The pantomimes staged included Bluebeard, Mother Hubbard, Little Bo-Peep, and the new revue Around the World (Everyone's 24 January 1923, p.33).
It is not clear how long the Coleman/McKay association lasted. No mention of Coleman has been found in any reports published in 1924. An undated reference from Everyone's (ca. October 1923.) indicates, however, that the company had reverted to playing theatres. McKay's engagements around October 1924 were mostly located in the Riverina and south-western regions of NSW (including Wagga ca. 25 Oct. and Gundagai 26 Oct. - 2 Nov.). The company at that time included Billy Cass and his wife Ivy, Will Raynor, and Rosie Brennan. (Raynor had been previously associated with McKay prior to the war). Following a tour of western NSW (including Bathurst, Orange, Nyngan, and Narromine) in early 1925, McKay returned to Sydney briefly in May to organise both a North Coast tour and a return visit to Victoria.
By 1926, Mckay was touring a combination of pantomime and light opera (or possibly musical coemdy). Everyone's 15 December 1926 issue notes, however, that McKay's operations during that year had been largely confined to New Zealand and New South Wales. Further insights into the hazards of commercial theatre touring are also provided in this article:
During the first six months of the year, the repertoire was devoted solely to pantomime, and since July - on the company's return to Australia - Mr McKay arranged with Mr Walter George to present his operatic revues, which were so very successful for some years at the Fullers' city theatres... During the tour of the Dominion successful seasons were given in Auckland and the itinerary included all the most important centres in the North Island and also on the West Coast of the South Island... When en route from Tauanga [however]... the company had the unpleasant experience of being shipwrecked on 'Slipper Reef' (p.125).
Everyone's records in an earlier issue that McKay's musical company had done excellent business at Narrandera (NSW) during show week, while also proposing that the company was 'far above the average' (27 October 1926, p.5). In 1926, McKay also became the first theatrical manager to stage a pantomime in the nation's capital, with the ever-popular Bo-Peep being produced at the Causeway Hall, Canberra, on 25 October. Other productions included in the company's 1926 repertoire were The Geisha Girl, The King of Dunnowherski, Laughing Time, The Orange Girl, The Forty Thieves,
and The New Aladdin (Everyone's 13 October 1926, p.38). On 3 December 1926, McKay and his company departed on the S.S. Maunganui for, according to Everyone's, their sixth tour of New Zealand (15 December 1926, p.125). It is unclear at this stage, however, if the Everyone's report referred only to McKay's post-war operations or also included the tours he mounted prior to 1916.
The final years of the decade saw Stanley McKay's enterprises continue to alternate between pantomime and musical comedy. In 1928, for example, he toured Frank Neil's Grand Opera Company successes, Up in Mabel's Room and Getting Gertie's Garter. These productions were produced under the banner Stanley McKay's Musical Comedy Co (Everyone's 12 December 1928, p.132). Among the company were Joe Rox, Les Shipp, and Grace Quine. In 1929, McKay expanded his operations to two full-time troupes, one mounting a tour of New Zealand with musical comedy (the Frank Neil productions) while the second company returned to New South Wales and Queensland with pantomime.
1930-1971: Despite the harsh economic conditions of the 1930s and the difficulties he experienced during the Second World War, McKay continued touring his theatrical operations around the Antipodes. He maintained his reputation for quality variety entertainment, producing pantomimes, revues, and musical theatre works until the mid-1960s. Indeed, it was from the 1930s onwards that Stanley McKay's Gaieties became a theatrical institution throughout much of Australia. In an undated press clipping from 1964 (Stanley McKay Collection), the writer draws attention to both McKay's position as the oldest working showman in Australia and his generous spirit in supporting regional centres, especially in Queensland, where he had much success over many decades:
Few people know that the beautiful fountain which has proved a great tourist attraction in Townsville, and enjoyed by thousands of local residents was built at the suggestion of Mr McKay, and he supported his idea with the first donation of £500. At the same time he made a similar suggestion to the Mayor of Rockhampton, again supporting his idea with £500 (n. pag.).
The article also goes on to note that McKay had returned to the state under his own auspices for the first time in eight years, 'although every year he has toured as partner in productions arranged by other managements, such as the Reddy-Benton Follies, Tibor Rudas Productions' Oriental Cavalcade and the Ziegfeld Follies' (n. pag.). A 1971 article published in the Morning Bulletin also reflects on McKay's extraordinary career:
He was always a strong believer in simple rules of living and the virtues of physical exercise and the outdoor life. When on tour if the distance between towns was no more than 20 miles and the weather favourable he would walk the journey while the rest of the company travelled by train or coach (10 June 1971, p.15).
McKay's unflagging energy is an aspect of his personality that was often commented on by his contemporaries, and appears to have been evident in him all the way back to his youth. One Theatre Magazine critic writing in 1916 records, for example, '[Stanley McKay is] a man of untiring energy. To his many friends it was ever a matter of wonder how he contrived to keep going at the pace he worked. Yet never in the course of his association with the stage has he been incapacitated for a day' (September 1916, p.41). His seemingly constant entrepreneurial activities were frequently acknowledged within the leading trade journals during the 1910s and 1920s even though much of his audience base lay outside the major Australian cities. Indeed, no other Australian touring company appears to have garnered the level of attention that he did throughout those two decades. During his early years with the Sydney Muffs, McKay was also often praised for the contributions he made as both actor and director and for the skill he deployed managing the Sydney Muffs. His benevolent disposition, professionalism, and enthusiasm appear also to have earned him the respect and admiration of his fellow thespians, helping to maintain a theatrical enterprise that lasted some sixty years.
Stanley McKay spent the last years of his life at his home in the Sydney suburb of Willoughby, remaining relatively fit and alert until the last. It is not yet known if he was survived by any family members. An obituary published in the Sydney Morning Herald records only 'McKay, Stanley - September 22, 1974. At hospital, late of Willoughby and Entrepreneur of "The Gaieties."' He died shortly before his 95th birthday.
