Cirrus@Austlit

Staged under the direction of Elton Black, this production of the popular Aladdin pantomime comprised members of Black's Follies company (which had been ensconsed at the Cremorne Theatre since early September).

The musical numbers included 'My Idea of Heaven' and 'Tell all the World' (sung by Nell Fleming), 'Red Lantern' and 'A Heart That's Free' (Nellie Lafferty), and 'Positively Absolutely' (Connie Harris).

[Source: Australian Variety Theatre Archive]

Hop O' My Thumb was staged by the Famous Diggers a little over 12 months after the start of its two and a half year engagement at the Cremorne Theatre, Brisbane (1923-1925). It was also possibly the troupe's first ever pantomime.

Although advertising for this production indicates that it is an adaptation of the Grimm brothers fairytale (also known as Thumbling), the list of characters suggests that Middleton may have also been influenced by Charles Perrault's 1697 story. In that tale the tiny hero defeates an ogre thus saving his older siblings after they have all been abandoned by their parents. In the Grimms' story Hop O' My Thumb is an only child who is also abandoned by his parents but finds himself being swallowed by various animals until he finally escapes by tricking the final animal - a wolf.

One of the local settings was 'The Village of Humpybong' (formerly situated on the Redcliffe Peninsula). The The Brisbane Courier 1864 theatre critic records that the villages only residents were beer-hums and ballet girls (20 December 1924, p.16). A character referred to in a later review of the production but not named in advertising was Baron Bombastikulostikos (2 January 1925, p.7).

Among the songs incorporated into the production were 'I am a Wandering Troubadour Bold' and 'Humpybong' (sung by Iza Crossley), 'Dear, I Love You' (Ern Kopke), 'Slumber Song,' and 'Down in the Forrest' (Wynne Macoboy), and the quartettes 'Good Night Beloved' and 'There's a Rong Around the Moon' (Crossley, Macoboy, Kopke and Lawrence). Middleton's song "Coo-ee" was also performed during the course of the production.

Two of the features of the production were said to be the children's ballet and the final scene - 'The Giant Christmas Cake.'

[Source: Australian Variety Theatre Archive]

'Described in the Brisbane Courier as 'a gorgeous production in 18 scenes' (16 December 1921, p.2), John N. McCallum's 1921 Christmas pantomime reportedly cost more than £2,000 for costumes, scenery, properties, and lighting effects. The costumes alone numbered more than 350. The scenic art, which was also praised by the Brisbane Courier critic, featured the scenes 'The Fairy Dell', 'Shoe in the Woods', 'The Bal Masque', the Transformation of the seasons ('Spring', 'Summer', 'Autumn', and 'Winter'), 'Snowland', 'The Woodlands of Wild Flowers', 'The Giant's Forest', and the 'Palace of Jewels' (Brisbane Courier 17 December 1921, p.13).

The favourite character, Dame Anastasia, played by Fred Bluett, was portrayed as 'a conventional, warm-hearted, garrulous lady of doubtful antecedents who weighed down by her numerous matrimonial troubles showed scant reticence when confiding her intimate affairs to the audience' (17 December 1921, p.7).

Songs known to have been either written for the production or inserted are 'Open Your Heart' and 'Thoughts of You' (sung by Lottie Collins), 'Everybody Calls Me Honey' (Linda Nicholls), the ragtime ditty 'My Man' (Nell Fleming), 'Come to the Dance' (Olga Muir), and 'Good Night Mr Kangaroo' (Little Bernice Berg).

Musical scena.

Inspired by the Brisbane season of Oscar Asche's famous musical extravaganza Chu Chin Chow, which had closed the previous week.

The second Grand Christmas Pantomime produced by John N. McCallum at the Cremorne Garden Theatre, Cinderella again utilised the talents of his Town Topics variety company (under the direction of Elton Black). Concerning the story line, the Brisbane Courier critic records that 'following modern tendencies, which have almost developed into an accepted tradition, the plot was, of course, more apparent than real. There were sufficient incidents in the action, however, to make the story intelligible to young and old' (18 December 1920, p.7).

The same critic reports that the singing was a feature of the production, as it was 'not often that a pantomime was fortunate enough to secure interpretation by vocalists - to use the word in its true sense' (p.7). One of the songs known to have been written or incorporated into the pantomime was 'The Gypsy Warned Me' (sung by Elton Black).

Punchinello is described in the Brisbane Courier as 'an artistic dance play' and a 'novel Terpsichoran number' (13 Sept. 1919, p.12). The paper's theatre critic also indicates that Punchinello was a new version of the old French story, re-written and with an additional prologue. It is also recorded that it had previously been inserted into the revue Bric-a-Brac, staged at the Alhambra Theatre, London. The music, however, was especially written for the Brisbane season by Fred Whaite. The prologue was spoken by Elton Black (q.v.) and introduced the three principal characters: Columbine, Harlequin, and Punchinello.

One of the features of the 1919 production is said to have been Molly Asher's pantomime performance as Columbine.

Musical scena.

Musical scena.

The Brisbane Courier records:

'Mr Huxham with comrades attired as diggers appeared in [this] picturesque camp fire scena... and provided most effective harmony - a sweetness of sound which was later reproduced when the entire company joined in "Old Songs Up-to-Date" and selections from Il Trovatore' (8 March 1919, p.6).

Described as in the Brisbane Courier as a 'distinctly dramatic' Oriental scena, A Dream of the East introduced songs and dances, including 'the famous Indian love lyrics,' and a poignant death scene. Edith Huxham portrayed a native Indian (25 January 1919, p.12).

Musical scena.

Musical scena.

Described in the Brisbane Courier as a Chinese scene showing 'life in the fascinating dreaming Chinatown' (11 January 1919, p.11).

One of several one act musical comedies staged by Walter Johnson's Town Topics company during its 1919 Cremorne Garden Theatre season, the story is set in the public room of the Inn Napoleon in a small village outside Ajacio, Corsica.

The musical numbers performed were : 'In Corsica' (sung by the company), 'The Garden of Gods' (Leslie Jephcott and chorus), 'Look! Look! Look!' (chorus), 'What I Know about the Girls' (Lou Vernon), 'You'll Have to Put Him to Sleep with the Marseillaise' (Alice Bennetto and chorus), 'Nobody's Baby' (Irene Barlee and chorus), 'Kiss Me' (Alice Bennetto and Elton Black), 'Strutter's Ball' (Dorothy Leigh and Girls) and 'Democracy' (Lou Vernon and ccompany).

Very likely a spoof on the 1917 Alfred Hill comic opera, The Rajah of Shivapore (which had been staged in Brisbane in 1918), the production is described in the Brisbane Courier as a picturesque Eastern comic opera (18 August 1919, p.8). It was likely to have been staged, however, in the style of a one-act musical comedy . The storyline involved Elton Black as a sergeant of marines, with Alice Bennetto as the graceful daughter of a rajah, Lou Vernon as an Indian potentate, and Reg Hewett as the royal executioner.

Songs known to have been presented within the production are 'Invitation' (sung by Olga Muir), 'Up from Somerset' (Percy Mackay), and 'I'm the Rajah of Dampoor' and 'Achoo' (both sung by Lou Vernon). One of the highlights of the November 1919 revival, according to the same Brisbane Courier review, was Elton Black's 'feelingly' descriptive idea of being 'In Love.'

The synopsis of scenes held in the John N. McCallum section of the Nat Phillips Collection (Fryer Library), indicates the following:

Act 1: Scene 1. Port of Hull;

Scene 2. Toy Shop;

Scene 3. Between Decks on the Good Ship Saucy Sally;

Scene 4. Cabin of the Ship;

Scene 5. On the Main Deck;

Scene 6. Beneath the Waves;

Scene 7. The Wreck;

Act 2: Scene 1. Chinese Court of Chu Chin Chow;

Scene 2. The Beach at Discovery Island;

Scene 3. Interior of the Island;

Scene 4. On the Beach;

Scene 5. Finney's Hat Department;

Scene 6. The Beach at Discovery Island;

Scene 7. Coral Island;

Scene 8. The Corridor to the Hall of Lamp Shades;

Scene 9. The Palace of Lamp Shades.

The songs and dances written for or incorporated into the pantomime were 'Opening Chorus' (fisher girls), 'I'm Polly Perkins from Paddington Green' (Bennetto), 'Gather Around My Hearties' (Vernon), 'Fol De Rol Diddle Dol Dy' (Black and Gray), 'Oh! What a Beautiful Baby' (Bennetto and girls), 'Ho Ye Lads Ye Ho' (Mackay and Girls), 'I Hate to Lose You' (Bennetto and Raines), 'Off the Choral Island' (Raines and Girls), 'Wrap Me in a Bundle' (Baby Toppin and children), 'I'll Be Your Santa Claus' (Muir, Kennedy, and girls), 'My Wine Glass Girl' (Gray and girls), 'I'm Throwing Myself Away' (Black), 'Hurrah for the Rolling Sea' and 'Go to Sea' (Mackay and chorus), 'Hoko Moko Isle' (Jones and girls), 'Fairy Queen Song' (Muir), 'Mannequin Parade' (Gray, Muir, Bennetto, and Raines), 'Chu Chin Chow' (Harford), 'A Song of the Desert' (Jephcott), 'All Bound 'Round The Mason Dixie Line' (Bennetto and girls), 'Comic Song' (Sydney Jones), 'Lindemann's Champagne Bottles' (girls), 'She Trimmed Them all So Neatly' (Harford, Asher, and girls), 'A Song of the Rolling Sea' (Vernon), 'Dance of the Sea Shells' (solo dance by Mollie Asher), 'I'll Throw a Ring Around You' (Muir, Millette, and children).

Romantic comic opera.

The Girl of Seville is described in advertising as a 'Spanish comic opera.'

Described in advertising as a 'potted pantomime', this version of the popular children's pantomime burlesqued the traditional lines and characters while staying more or less bound by the familiar story.

Musical scena.

Described in advertising as a picturesque Indian scena.