British-born simultaneous dancers, comedians, pantomimists, revue company operators.
OVERVIEW
A specialist dance act that, according to veteran variety artist Charles Norman, was possibly the only one in the world to perfect the back-to-back in soft shoe (When Vaudeville was King, p.77), George Moon and Dan Morris established high-profile reputations on the Australian variety stage (including pantomimes) throughout most of the 1920s, not only as dancers and comedians but also through the Moon and Morris Revue Company. During their career in Australia, the two performers were associated largely with J. and N. Tait, Harry Rickards' Tivoli Theatres, J. C. Williamson's Ltd, and Fullers' Theatres.
BIOGRAPHY
1918-1921: Moon and Morris arrived in Australia in late 1918 under contract to the Tait brothers to appear as a feature act in their Jack and Jill pantomime. The production, which premiered at the King's Theatre, Melbourne on 21 December, also starred Barry Lupino as Dame Durden and Bert Bailey as Ginger. George Moon was cast as Private Baff and Dan Morris as Private Boff. When the pantomime's national tour was cut short due to the Spanish influenza epidemic, the pair were taken on by the Fullers. Their first engagement was in Brisbane in July 1919 as one of the opening acts on a bill headlined by Hugh Huxham's Serenaders.
They renewed their association with the Taits later that same year, however, when they were engaged to appear as the 'Hubbard boys' in Mother Hubbard at the King's Theatre, Melbourne. Of their performance in the revival staged at Sydney's Palace Theatre in early 1920 (the second stop on the production's national tour), the Sydney Morning Herald records, 'A specialty which caused deserved enthusiasm was the simultaneous dance-duet by George Moon and Dan Morris, exquisitely graceful to flute music of airy charm' (26 April 1920, p.5). The Brisbane Courier similarly records that their specialty turn 'was one of the most distinctive features of the whole programme (30 June 1920, p.8). At the end of the year, their services were taken up by J. C. Williamson's, which cast them as Bam and Boozle (the king's bodyguards) in its Christmas pantomime extravaganza, Humpty Dumpty (Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne). The production later toured most of the other Australian capital cities as well as New Zealand. The Argus critic wrote of their 'slate' scene in the Melbourne production, 'Moon and Morris, well made up as crudely drawn figures, walk off a slate and show their notable accomplishment as simultaneous dancers' (20 December 1922, p.8).
1922-1924: In early 1922, Moon and Morris joined the newly formed Tivoli Frolics. In addition to vaudeville-style turns, the pair also took part in the feature revues. After a season in Melbourne, beginning ca. 4 March, the company undertook a national tour. Among the other feature artists were Eric Masters, Madeline Rossiter (who soon afterwards joined Pat Hanna's Famous Diggers, Hector St Clair, Dorothy Summers, and Vera Benson. During the company's Brisbane season, and the fourth visit by Moon and Morris, the two men 'were again at the fore with irresistible fun-making and clever dancing,' writes the Brisbane Courier theatre critic. The same review reports that their sketch '"Interrupted Melody" had the audience in continual roars of laughter, popular melodies being parodied in a manner characteristic of this talented pair' (25 Nov. 1922, p.4). Another musical sketch, 'Jazz-o-Mania,' performed with Madeline Rossiter, Lena Ryan, Alma Gumbley, and the Tivoli Eight, is said to have brought forward a 'veritable storm of applause' (Brisbane Courier 2 Dec. 1922, p.5). Among the more notable revues they appeared in were At the Seaside, Hunting Days, The Cafe Chantant, and Hoch Aye, along with the 1922/1923 Christmas pantomime The Babes in the Wood. In its review of the opening night performance, the Brisbane Courier reports that 'Messrs. Moon and Morris, as Bam and Boozle, the robbers, carried a heavy burden of the humour, but it would have been difficult to find two better fitted for the task... as the incorrigibles, [they] had the building almost rocking with laughter' (23 Dec. 1922, p.15).
Although details of their movements over the next few years are somewhat unclear, it is believed that the pair remained with the Frolics company throughout most of 1923 and possibly into 1924. In December of that year, they returned to the Fullers, having accepted a contract to appear in the combined Ward-Fullers'-produced pantomime Cinderella, which premiered at Melbourne's Princess Theatre.
1925-1926: Sometime around July 1925, Moon and Morris began an eight-month tour of New Zealand for the Fullers. After returning to Australia in late February or early March 1926, they renewed their act with Sydney audiences, playing a brief season at Fullers' Theatre (Sydney). Shortly after concluding that engagement, the two dancers took up an offer from Sir Benjamin and John Fuller to put together their own touring company. The Moon and Morris Revue Company debuted at the Bijou Theatre in May and then went on the Fullers' Australian circuit. Much of its repertoire, which was largely a combination of revue sketches and vaudeville, was written by Ed Warrington, who had previously been associated with Pat Hanna's Famous Diggers. However, the company did occasionally stage revusicals, with two of the more popular being My Mountain Maid and Dad, Choom and Co.
In addition to Warrington (who also acted as producer), the troupe boasted several well-established and high-profile performers, notably Alec Kellaway (see Jack Kellaway), Americans Durham Marcel and Nell Fleming (ex-Bert Le Blanc Travesty Stars), Irene Vando, and Kathleen Howard. In reporting on the company's Brisbane debut, the Brisbane Courier records, 'The current offering, Wit and Wisdom goes with a swing from the first to the final curtain. It is a pot pourri of dancing, music and song, backed up by a clever ballet and colourful stage settings., and through it all Messrs. Moon and Morris have infused a series of skits that bristle with fun. This quainty pair long ago danced their way into the hearts of Brisbane audiences, but there seems no end to the diversity of their dancing, and this week they introduce much that is new' (19 July 1926, p.9). Among the troupe's other shows were Make it Snappy, Words and Music, This and That, Heads or Tails, Issues, Chuckles, A Mixed Grill, Next Please, Some, and Salads.
1927 - : Little information regarding Moon and Morris's whereabouts after 1926 has been located to date. Charles Norman records that Dan Morris settled in Sydney, where he bought a business 'and was quite happy.' Norman also recalls that Morris 'delighted in showing their top billing on Broadway, New York... over, Al Jolson!' (p.77). George Moon's post-1926 career movements are somewhat difficult to determine due to the emergence of his son, George Moon Junior, on the Australian variety stage during the early 1930s. Because the advertised billing does not always distinguish between the father and son, it is not always clear which one of the two men is being referred to.
It is believed that the George Moon who formed a partnership with Bert Le Blanc at the Gaiety Theatre in Sydney in 1929, under the direction of ex-Travesty Stars/Moon and Morris troupe member Durham Marcel, would have more than likely been Moon Snr. A review in Everyone's records, 'Comedy is the outstanding feature [of the show], with Bert Le Blanc and George Moon running a neck and neck race and each with a sum total of laughs that assures favouritism' (18 December 1929, p.37). It is unclear, however, if George Moon or George Moon Jnr appeared in Ernest C. Rolls revue spectacular, The League of Happiness Revue, which was staged at the Palace Theatre beginning Boxing Day 1931. The company also included variety veterans Fred Bluett, Gus Bluett, Vernon Sellars, Alf J. Lawrence, Al Mack, Lou Vernon, and Jennie Benson.
A comparison of a photograph of George Moon (published in 1919) with stills from Pat Hanna's two films Diggers (1931) and Diggers in Blighty (1933) indicates that George Moon Snr played the character Joe Mulga, and not George Moon Jnr (see Green Room June 1919, p.12). It would appear in this case that a number of sources devoted to cinema, including the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), have inadvertently collapsed the film careers of father and son together due both to the similarity in names and because they have been aware of George Moon Senior's career as an internationally renowned vaudeville performer.
It is likely, too, that George Moon Snr also appeared in A Co-Respondent's Course (1931) and not his son, as the IMDB and other sources indicate. Although little is known of that film, it does have the distinction of being the first narrative film to have been released in Australia with sound.
NB: Richard Fotheringham indicates in his entry on Hanna's Diggers Company in the Companion to Theatre in Australia that George Moon took over the role of Joe Mulga from Joe Valli when Valli decided to develop a new character, Jock McTavish (p.191).
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