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Photo courtesy of Mitchell Library from Australian Variety (1 September, 1915)

Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars i(A105612 works by) (Organisation) assertion (a.k.a. The Who's Who Costume Revue Entertainers; Bert Le Blanc's Big Revue Company)
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1 Step Lively Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Clay's Bridge Theatre Ltd , 1924 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.
1 Holcum-Jazzbo Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , George Marlow , 1922 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.
1 Keep Laughing Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , George Marlow , 1922 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

'The curtain was raised upon an oriental court scene with dancing girls waving palms and moving with sinuous grace for the amusement of the Rajah (Mark Erickson),' writes the Sydney Morning Herald critic:

Bert Le Blanc [Ike Cohen] and Jake Mack [Morris Levi] as the itinerant Jews who land in the precincts of the Rajah's court, and are held captive, succeeded in convulsing everybody with their clownish antics and irrelevant answers to the dignified questions of the Rajah. Evelyn Dudley as Balla, the Rajah's daughter, incurs her father's anger and is to be wed to one of the buffoons and the other is to be roasted alive. When asked the reason the Rajah replies 'Because it gives me pleasure,' and this expression is subsequently used by the victim in other situations with comic effect. Cyrene, the strange white girl (Winnie Knight) easily wins the love of the Rajah but when Levi claims her as his long-lost daughter there is a ludicrous scene as his majesty on bended knee craves the favour of the father's consent (20 November 1922, p.7).
1 1 Wy Wurrie? Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , George Marlow , 1922 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

Billed in Sydney Morning Herald advertisements as 'a score of merry men and maids and the niftiest little pony ballet that ever kicked across the footlights' (7 October 1922, p.2), the 1922 Grand Opera House 'musical comedy concotion', is described by the same paper's theatre as a series of incidents 'strung together in such a way as to produce very humorous character sketches and a great deal of clever and dexterous miming. The author's knack of adaptation in rhyme gave piquancy to the vocal pieces [and] several attractive ballet's were introduced' (9 October 1922, p.10).
1 Razzle Dazzle Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Clay's Bridge Theatre Ltd , 1922 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.
1 Can You Beat It? Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , George Marlow , 1922 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.
1 High Life on Deck Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , William Anderson , 1921 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.
1 Dr Dippy's Asylum Dippy Dippy Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Fullers' Theatres , 1918 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Little is known about Dr Dippy's Asylum in terms of its characters and plot line. One of the feature songs for the 1919 Fuller's Theatre season was 'I Love the Jukelele' [sic], a duet performed by Bert Le Blanc and Jake Mack (Sydney Morning Herald 24 March 1919, n. pag.).
1 Get the Habit Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Fullers' Theatres , 1918 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

Little is known about this sequel to Le Blanc's Do it Now revusical. The Brisbane Courier records that Get the Habit was produced for the first time in Australia during the 1918 Empire Theatre season. No other revivals have been located to this date and the only insight provided in reviews during the week of 23-29 November is the following: 'Its action will disclose what a crazy Russian Nihilist did with certain missing stock certificates' (23 November 1918, p.12).
1 3 Do it Now Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Fullers' Theatres , 1918 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

Described in the Brisbane Courier as a 'burlesque revue', Do it Now is:

The first episode in a story which is revealed more full in the sequel Get the Habit. The revusical's setting is in the stockbroking office of Will Cheatem, with Ike Cohen (Bert Le Blanc) and Morris Levi (Jake Mack) as unsuspecting speculators who soon learn that stockbroking is the art of buying stock that doesn't exist with money you don't possess and selling it for more than it cost (11 November 1918, p.5).
1 Cohen and Levi at Monte Carlo Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Fullers' Theatres , 1918 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

Hebrew larrikins Ike Cohen and Morris Levi find themselves in Monte Carlo, where the fun never stops and neither do they.

Two of the features of the 1918 Bijou Theatre season were a burlesque on banking methods and a procession of infants-in-arms. The war theme was also carried into the musical programme with one of the songs, 'By the Side of the Aegean Sea' (sung by Carlton Chase), having been written especially in memoriam for Australian soldiers who fell at Gallipoli.

1 2 What's the Use Cohen and Levi as Pawnbrokers Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Fullers' Theatres , William Anderson , 1917 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

Ike Cohen (Bert Le Blanc) and Morris Levi (Jake Mack) run a far-from-successful pawnshop that an't help being a place of riotous fun, singing, dancing, and joking. One of the comic incidents in the story involves the selling, for 1s.6d., of an old waistcoat that has £1,000 in one of the pockets. The other characters include Mr Bailey (a theatrical manager), a prima donna of a burlesque company, a show girl, Klondike Mike, Rose Cohen, and a 'lost son and heir' (Age 7 Oct. 1918, p.9).

The musicals numbers inserted into the narrative for the 1917 Brisbane season included 'What a Wonderful Love that Would Be' (sung by Ivy Moore), 'Sailing on the Nancy Lee' and 'The Lights of My Home Town' (Carlton Chase), and 'A Million Dollars Worth of Love' (Queenie Paul).

For the 1918 Brisbane production the songs presented included 'Sailing on the Nancy Lee' and 'My Old Lady' (sung by Mike Connors), 'They're all Good Australian Names' (Mack, Le Blanc, and Connors), 'Gillee Gallah Galloo' (Olga Ray), and 'There's a Garden in Old Italy'.
1 2 Then They Woke Up Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Fullers' Theatres , George Marlow , William Anderson , 1917 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

The songs, dances, and improvised 'business' are loosely tied to a story concerning two Jewish sailors, Ike Cohen (Le Blanc) and Morris Levi (Mack), who are wrecked on the languorous island of Bong. They fall asleep and dream of becoming king and grand secretary respectively, and have, as one review notes, 'a right royal time' (Brisbane Courier 3 December 1917, p.9). For the 1919 Brisbane season, Le Blanc and Mack appeared as a couple of soldiers.

One of the songs incorporated into the 1917 Brisbane season was 'By the Blue Aegean Sea', sung in commemoration of the 'brave men who fell at Gallipoli and in recognition of Heroes Day' (Brisbane Courier 3 December 1917, p.9). The Brisbane Courier notes that in the 1919 production, 'the opening number "Gee! This is a Lonesome Town", seemed to be the key to a very dull proposition, but there was little lonesomeness in the air when things began to develop' (p.9). Other songs incorporated into the storyline included 'Great Big Wonderful Baby' and 'I Want to Go to Tokyo'.
1 4 Keep it Dark Cohen and Levi in Paris Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Fullers' Theatres , Clay's Bridge Theatre Ltd , 1917 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical

Those two eccentric jokers, Ike Cohen (Le Blanc) and Morris Levi (Mack), are ensconced in the Lovey Dilly Hotel in Paris. They set out to see the sights of Paris, including a cabaret club, and create all sorts of mayhem and hilarity. The revusical included a burlesque on hotel-keeping methods.

The 1917 Brisbane season (Empire Theatre) included such songs as 'When the Sun Goes Down in Romany' (sung by Queenie Paul), 'The House on the Hill' (Carlton Chase), 'My Little Bon Bon Girl' (Ivy Moore), and the ragtime number 'Minstrel Band'.

1 In Watts ; Or, A Bombshell of Joy Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Fullers' Theatres , Holland and St John , 1916 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

Described in advertising as a 'bright, sparkling, fresh and surprisingly original musical travesty, presented by sixteen superbly versatile artists' (Truth 9 April 1916, p.7) and as a 'breezy new revue bombarding audiences with happiness' (Brisbane Courier 12 April 1918, p.2), the action revolves around three tramps: Ike (Bert Le Blanc), Morris (Jake Mack), and Pete (aka Sacramento Pete). The title refers to the town of Watts, situated somewhere near Los Angeles, California, which was 'founded by a gentleman of that name who let his dwellings for a dollar down and a dollar a month fifteen years before the story commences. The plot deals with the efforts of several different varieties of rogue, male and female, Jew and Gentile, to impersonate Watts, who has disappeared, and collect the fifteen years' rental' (Age 23 September 1918, p.5). Much of the action takes place in the town's hotel, with other characters including Hazey Fogg, a local farm girl with aspirations to enter society; Mrs Watts; and Eazey, a farm hand. Although generally well received by the critics, the September 1918 Age review proposes that the production was slightly marred by a somewhat unconvincing ending.

The September 1918 Bijou Theatre season (Melbourne), in which Le Blanc, Mack, and Harry McDonna were billed as 'Melbourne Ike', 'Sydney Morris', and 'Brisbane Pete', included such msucial items as 'I Want You Dearie' (Queenie Paul and Wee McGregor) and 'Mate O' Mine' (Leslie Jephcott).

One of the songs incorporated into the 1919 Brisbane season was 'Wouldn't that be a Dream?'
1 The Gay Mrs Cohen Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Fullers' Theatres , William Anderson , 1915 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

Billed as 'the musical comedy revue of the season [with] delightful novelties, tuneful melodies, new spectacular scenery, exquisite costumes, hilarious situations [and] beautiful concerted numbers' (Truth 26 March 1916, p.7), this revusical sees Bert Le Blanc as Ike Cohen (a man of money) and Jake Mack as Morris Levi (after the money). Complications and much hilarity arise, however, as Mrs Cohen sees to it that she spends the money. The Truth theatre critic wrote of the 1916 Brisbane production:

Full of real humour, [The Gay Mrs Cohen] introduces many novelties and abounding as it is in tuneful melodies and sparkling songs, gives ample scope for the leading lights to show their abilities (26 Mar. 1916, p.7).

For the 1915 Perth season, Glenville Jones and Jack Quinlan, of the New York Comedy Four, impersonated well-known theatrical personalities Martin Brennan (Australian Variety editor) and Sid Russell. Australian Variety records that one of the 'absolute screams' of the 1916 Adelaide production was the Le Blanc/Mack sketch 'The Dying Gladiator' (5 January 1916, n. pag.).
1 3 At the Exposition At the San Francisco Exposition Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Fullers' Theatres , George Marlow , 1915 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

This 'bright musical travesty' (Age 24 July 1915, p.16) is advertised in 1917 as 'A confusion of girls, gowns and giggles... [who] all travel to the Exposition in search of money and excitement. See Ike and Morris get the money. See the others get the excitement" (Brisbane Courier 22 December 1917, p.2). A review of the 1918 Brisbane production further indicates that action takes place at the Panama Exposition in San Francisco (Brisbane Courier 30 December 1918, p.5).

Among the musical highlights of the 1915 production were two songs performed by Carrie Moore: 'Boys of the Expedition' and 'I've got a Motor Bike'. The first number was performed by Moore in front of a moving picture depicting a march past by the first Expeditionary force. She sang the second song while driving across the stage on a motor bike attended by a group of chorus girls. The Age review of the Bijou production also notes that 'a number of catchy songs rendered by other members of the company were duly applauded [and that] there were fresh dancing specialties and pretty ballets' (26 July 1915, p.14).
1 4 In Old Seville Central 3251 Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Fullers' Theatres , Clay's Bridge Theatre Ltd , William Anderson , 1915 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

Set in Spain, but staged in 1915 under the cryptic title Central 3251, this one-act 'musical travesty' continues the adventures of Ike Cohen and Morris Levi amid 'a succession of laughable turns, merry dances and tuneful songs'. An Age critic further notes:

Messrs Bert Le Blanc and Jake Mack as Ike Cohen and Morris Levi [bear] the brunt of the travesty upon their shoulders ... Farcical interludes followed one another in rapid succession, [with] particular amusement being aroused by their fishing scene (12 July 1915, p.14).

The production was staged from 1916 onwards as the 'spicy, sparkling Spanish spree' In Old Seville (Brisbane Courier 5 January 1918, p.2). A Brisbane theatre critic indicates that Le Blanc (Ike) and his off-sider Jack Mack (Morris) play a pair of bullfighters. The review also refers to the production as a 'musical burlesque' (7 Jan. 1918, p.9).

The 1915 Melbourne production saw Carrie Moore garner much acclaim for 'My Bird of Paradise' (her 'latest song success') and the rousing patriotic ditty 'I Love You Australia' (performed as squadron after squadron of Light Horse marched across a cinematograph screen at the back of the stage). Along with Nellie Fallon's three well-received songs and dances and Carlton Chase's hit 'In the Heart of the City', the production's other musical sequences involved performances by the New York Comedy Four and the Pony Ballet's humorous 'Charlie Chaplin Ballet'. Four other ballets were staged by this troupe of dancers: 'The Quaint Pyjama Ballet', 'The Pretty Pierrot Ballet', 'The Novel Railroad Ballet', and 'The Clever Spanish Ballet' (Age 10 July 1915, p.16).
1 5 Fuzzy Wuzzy Bert Le Blanc , Bert Le Blanc's Travesty Stars , Fullers' Theatres , George Marlow , Birch and Carroll , William Anderson , 1915 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

Arguably one of Bert Le Blanc's most popular creations, Fuzzy Wuzzy was staged regularly by his Travesty Stars between 1915 and ca. 1922. The action is set in a bank, with Ike Cohen and Morris Levi putting in and taking out 'mornings and evenings'. The Truth newspapers indicates that the narrative allowed 'good choruses, splendid solos, clever dancing and amusing patter [to be] worked in' (12 March 1916, p.7). As such, it was variously described as a 'revue', a 'musical extravaganza' (Truth 1 April 1916, p.7), 'the quintessence of musical comedy... crammed full with tuneful musical numbers' (Brisbane Courier 17 December 1917, p.11), and 'a musical travesty' (Brisbane Courier 9 December 1918, p.5).

The principal characters are Ike Cohen and Morris Levi (on business and pleasure), General Steele and his four daughters, Percy Cheatem (a bad-un), Harvard Yale (educated), and the society women Lady Grafter and Lady Fleecem.

Although there would likely have been quite a number of changes to the revusical over the years, the latter versions probably share a foundation with the 1915 production. Specific comedy routines and songs, however, would have been reworked in order to provide topicality and social relevance.

Songs incorporated into the 1918 production included 'Dance that Dengozo with Me' and 'In a Bungalow Where the Red Roses Grow' (sung by Lilian Colenzo); 'Lonesome Baby' (Olga Ray); 'The Strains of a Wedding March', 'Where the River Shannon Flows', and 'Summer Moon' (Mike Connors); and 'The Deathless Army' (Will Raynor).
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