y separately published work icon Marvellous Melbourne single work   drama  
Issue Details: First known date: 1886... 1886 Marvellous Melbourne
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

The story begins with the arrival of silly English 'new chum,' Charles Harold Vane Somers Golightly at the Spencer Street Railway Station. A local con artist, Robert Copeland, offers to show Charles around the city in an attempt to take advantage of him. The scenes move briskly to the Burke and Wills Memorial, then out to Fairholme House on the outskirts of Melbourne. Later scenes include a Chinese opium den, and Flemington (during the running of the Melbourne Cup). Other characters include : Dick Ledger (a 'revolutionary' who speaks on behalf of the 'down-trodden wukkin' man wot is a slave every day o' the week and ain't erlowed to git 's beer on a Sunday'), Detective Lynch and Inspector Lannigan (both with an eye of Copeland), Polly Sweetapple, Frank Seymour, Mother Crosbie, Maggie, Dorothy, Joseph Westley and Hang Hi.

Production Details

  • 1889 : Alexandra Theatre, Melbourne ; 19 January -*. Dir. Alfred Dampier ; Scenic Art Alfred Tischbauer (aka Alta). - Cast incl. Alfred Dampier, Alfred Boothman, Walter E. Baker, Lily Dampier, Edmund Holloway, Katherine Russell.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Alternative title: 'Marvellous Melbourne (1890) : An Annotated Edition with Critical Commentary'
First known date: 1993
Notes:
Written as : Delyse Anthony.
Notes:
MA thesis, University of Queensland (1993). 2 vols.
      1886 .
      (Manuscript) assertion
      Note/s:
      • Holding note: FL & Mitchell Library MS B753 - version localized for Sydney production entitled Slaves of Sydney
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Related Works

Marvellous Melbourne John Romeril , Jack Hibberd , 1977 single work drama humour
— Appears in: Theatre Australia , August vol. 2 no. 4 1977; (p. 35-44) Theatre Australia , September-October vol. 2 no. 5 1977; (p. 29-39)
Marvellous Melbourne Clay Djubal (composer), Delyse Ryan , University of Queensland. Dept. of English , 1994 single work musical theatre drama humour

Play with music.

The story begins with the arrival of silly English 'new chum,' Charles Harold Vane Somers Golightly at the Spencer Street Railway Station. A local con artist, Robert Copeland, offers to show Charles around the city, in an attempt to take advantage of him. The scenes move briskly to the Burke and Wills Memorial, then out to Fairholme House on the outskirts of Melbourne. Later scenes include a Chinese opium den and Flemington during the running of the Melbourne Cup. Other characters include Dick Ledger (a 'revolutionary' who speaks on behalf of the 'down-trodden wukkin' man wot is a slave every day o' the week and ain't erlowed to git 's beer on a Sunday'), Detective Lynch and Inspector Lannigan (both with an eye on Copeland), Polly Sweetapple, Frank Seymour, Mother Crosbie, Maggie, Dorothy, Joseph Westley, and Hang Hi.

The musical score, including both pre-taped music accompaniment and live performance, juxtaposed contemporary sounds and styles (rock and pop) with traditional forms such as folk/traditional ballads and Chinese music. Original songs written for the production were 'Marvellous Melbourne', 'Villain's Theme', 'Hero's Theme', 'Mother Crosbie's Girls', 'Heroes and Villains', and 'Opium Den Musak.'

VIEW ALL RELATED WORKS (2)

Works about this Work

'Does All Melbourne Smell like This?' : The Colonial Metropolis in Marvellous Melbourne Delyse Ryan , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 21 no. 1 2003; (p. 81-91) A few years after George Augustus Sala had coined the term 'Marvellous Melbourne' in 1885, a play with that title was written and performed with great success in Melbourne, the place perceived by many at the time as the premier city of the Australian colonies. Unlike Sala, however, the play uses the term sarcastically to describe the seedier side of Melbourne's urban life. Ryan's article examines the play, its reception and its images of Melbourne in the context of contemporary theatrical conventions. She finds that the play, which gave the audience an opportunity to comfortably enjoy images of their familiar local environment, presented Melbourne as a metropolis 'which could equal the crime, misery, and debauchery, as well as the glamour and sophistication, of other major urban centres around the world' (90).
The Australian Character on the Nineteenth Century Stage Richard Fotheringham , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Defining Acts : Australia on Stage : A Centenary of Federation Exhibition Celebrating the Australian Character on the Popular Stage over the Past 100 Years 2001; (p. 8-13) 'Pity Eliza and Ann Winstanley. They came to Australia as children in 1833 and a few years later became two of Sydney's star actors, only to be yelled off the Royal Victoria Theatre stage by the cabbage-tree mob because they were 'un-Australian'. The cabbage-tree youths were the first European children born in Australia. They were the sons and daughters of convicts, soldiers and settlers. Fiercely proud of their 'native' status, they wore hats woven from cabbage-tree palm leaves and tied with black ribbon. Already, it was being noticed that they spoke with a different accent and that with sunshine and plenty of fresh meat they were growing taller than their parents: 'cornstalks''. (p. 8)
The Howls of the Gallery Boys : Alfred Dampier and an Australian Popular Theatre Garrie Hutchinson , 1984 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Autumn vol. 43 no. 1 1984; (p. 49-55)
Untitled 1889 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 23 February vol. 10 no. 471 1889; (p. 7)
— Review of Marvellous Melbourne Alfred Dampier , J. H. Wrangham , Garnet Walch , Thomas Somers , 1886 single work drama
Untitled 1889 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 21 January no. 10581 1889; (p. 5)
— Review of Marvellous Melbourne Alfred Dampier , J. H. Wrangham , Garnet Walch , Thomas Somers , 1886 single work drama
Alexandra Theatre 1889 single work review
— Appears in: Table Talk , 25 January 1889; (p. 2)
— Review of Marvellous Melbourne Alfred Dampier , J. H. Wrangham , Garnet Walch , Thomas Somers , 1886 single work drama
The Alexandra Theatre : "Marvellous Melbourne" 1889 single work review
— Appears in: Argus , 21 January 1889; (p. 6)
— Review of Marvellous Melbourne Alfred Dampier , J. H. Wrangham , Garnet Walch , Thomas Somers , 1886 single work drama
Untitled 1889 single work review
— Appears in: Australasian , 26 January 1889; (p. 186)
— Review of Marvellous Melbourne Alfred Dampier , J. H. Wrangham , Garnet Walch , Thomas Somers , 1886 single work drama
Untitled 1889 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 21 January no. 10581 1889; (p. 5)
— Review of Marvellous Melbourne Alfred Dampier , J. H. Wrangham , Garnet Walch , Thomas Somers , 1886 single work drama
Untitled 1889 single work review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 23 February vol. 10 no. 471 1889; (p. 7)
— Review of Marvellous Melbourne Alfred Dampier , J. H. Wrangham , Garnet Walch , Thomas Somers , 1886 single work drama
'Does All Melbourne Smell like This?' : The Colonial Metropolis in Marvellous Melbourne Delyse Ryan , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , May vol. 21 no. 1 2003; (p. 81-91) A few years after George Augustus Sala had coined the term 'Marvellous Melbourne' in 1885, a play with that title was written and performed with great success in Melbourne, the place perceived by many at the time as the premier city of the Australian colonies. Unlike Sala, however, the play uses the term sarcastically to describe the seedier side of Melbourne's urban life. Ryan's article examines the play, its reception and its images of Melbourne in the context of contemporary theatrical conventions. She finds that the play, which gave the audience an opportunity to comfortably enjoy images of their familiar local environment, presented Melbourne as a metropolis 'which could equal the crime, misery, and debauchery, as well as the glamour and sophistication, of other major urban centres around the world' (90).
The Australian Character on the Nineteenth Century Stage Richard Fotheringham , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Defining Acts : Australia on Stage : A Centenary of Federation Exhibition Celebrating the Australian Character on the Popular Stage over the Past 100 Years 2001; (p. 8-13) 'Pity Eliza and Ann Winstanley. They came to Australia as children in 1833 and a few years later became two of Sydney's star actors, only to be yelled off the Royal Victoria Theatre stage by the cabbage-tree mob because they were 'un-Australian'. The cabbage-tree youths were the first European children born in Australia. They were the sons and daughters of convicts, soldiers and settlers. Fiercely proud of their 'native' status, they wore hats woven from cabbage-tree palm leaves and tied with black ribbon. Already, it was being noticed that they spoke with a different accent and that with sunshine and plenty of fresh meat they were growing taller than their parents: 'cornstalks''. (p. 8)
The Howls of the Gallery Boys : Alfred Dampier and an Australian Popular Theatre Garrie Hutchinson , 1984 single work criticism
— Appears in: Meanjin , Autumn vol. 43 no. 1 1984; (p. 49-55)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (8)
Last amended 7 Mar 2013 15:58:35
Newspapers:
    Powered by Trove
    X