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Source: Sydney Morning Herald 24 December (1895), p.2.
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Staged in three acts and ten tableaux, the pantomime opened with the traditional Fairy Land setting, where children dressed as elves hammered miniature anvils with little golden hammers. After the Forces of Evil are called up, the scene changes back to Earth: a nautical setting on the banks of the Thames. From here, the story follows, in a fashion, Defoe's original story, including Crusoe's embarkation, the storm and shipwreck, and the island upon which he finds himself stranded. The storyline deviates at various intervals, largely as a means of incorporating spectacle. Two such scenes are 'The Fight with the Tigers' (act 2, scene 2) and 'The Rajah's Palace' (last act), where the Rajah of Chimpanzee consents to the marriage of his daughter with Crusoe, thus bringing the pantomime to an end.

The musical program included 'Sweet Bells Say' (sung by Marie Luella), 'At My Window' and 'What is it Whispering in My Heart' (Edith Moore), 'He Got it Where the Chicken Got the Axe' and 'Ting a Ling Ting' (Bobby Watson), 'The Fighting Tailor' (Tommy Cosgrove), 'I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard' (Florrie Ranger), and 'The Band Played On' and 'The Boy in the Gallery' (Amy William and Amy Gourley). Other musical music highlights included 'The Sinbad Ballet' (performed as Crusoe departs on his voyage of discovery), 'The Trilby Ballet' (staged with 'an entirely new novelty'), 'The Cannibal Ballet', 'The Harem Ballet' (an Oriental dance), and a thirty-member hornpipe dance performed by children.

Among the numerous novelties incorporated into the narrative were 'Peter Jackson the Fighting Kangaroo' and 'Henry the Braying Donkey.' The visual spectacle saw a depiction of Crusoe's ship wrecked in the thunderstorm, with the staging including a mechanical device that allowed Crusoe to be tossed about on his raft. The harlequinade was also described as novel, being staged aboard a train that was apparently racing through the countryside. The transformation scene was titled 'Through the Mazes of Fairy Land to the Home of the Naiads.'

Notes

  • Although the pantomime was written by Bert Royle and Frank Eugarde expressly for Woods and Marshall (lessees/managers of Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney), the Sydney Morning Herald nevertheless records that the book was revised by Alfred Woods and stage manager Mr Hodson 'with such judgment as to save an hour on the "first night" performance' (27 December 1895, p.6).
  • Advertising in the Sydney Morning Herald incorporates the publicity blurb from the season program: 'A Grand Mammoth and Original, Dramatical, Pantomimical, Nonsensical, Nautical, Pastoral, Oriental, Comical, Cannibal, Up-to-date Burlesque of Defoe's Mythical, Historical Story' (24 December 1895, p.2).
  • The Boxing Day performance saw a sensational incident occur within the auditorium, when a man by the name of John Smith attempted suicide by throwing himself off the top gallery of the theatre and on to the stalls some forty feet below. Although Smith broke two iron seats and hurt himself internally, his injuries are not believed to have proven fatal (Sydney Morning Herald 27 Dec. 1895, p.4).
  • The State Library of New South Wales catalogue confusingly records that this publication was 'published' by A. Jerome [and/or?] W.M. Maclardy, while the National Library of Australia records only Jerome. Both institutions (as with most libraries) have also mistakenly classified this publication as a libretto, when in fact it is a production program (bibliographically classified as ephemera). As such its publishing would have been overseen not by a printery but by the producers - in this instance Woods and Marshall, who were also lessees of Her Majesty's Theatre.

    Why Jerome's name appears in the cataloques is unclear. As his AustLit entry records, Jerome's brief period of activity in Sydney in the mid-1890s saw him engaged in writing and editing. He never set up a printery business, and by late 1896 had been convicted of forgery and sent to prison for three years. W. M. Maclardy, on the other hand, was a printery business located in George Street, Sydney. It appears to have been operating in that capacity from at least the late 1880s onwards.


Production Details

  • 1895: Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, 24 December 1895 - 7 February 1896.

    • Manager Alfred Woods; Lessee Woods and Marshall; Scenic Art William Kinchela; Music Director/Arranger Frank Eugarde; Stage Manager Mr Hodson.
    • Cast incl. Marie Luella (Crusoe), Edith Moore (principal girl), Lilla Wilde (Fairy Queen), Harry Leston, Bobby Watson, Amy William, Alfred Woods, Lily Everett, Edith Barrow, Ada Page, Edith Stellibrass, Violet Desmond, Maud Lita, Ada Montgomerie, Annie Sinclair, Roy Solomon, Edna Elden, Harry Hodson, Charles Woods, J. S. Ryan, Walter Rivers, Frank Foster, Harry Overton, Tommy Cosgrove, E. Carden Wilson, Cecil Calvert, Frank Sceats, Les Tynes and Martini, the Fausts, William and Amy Gourlay, Little Florrie Ranger, Baby Tracey, Master Claude Calvert.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Sydney, New South Wales,: Woods and Marshall , 1895 .
      Printed by W. M. MacLardy
      Extent: 80p., [6]p. of platesp.
      Description: illus., ports
      Note/s:
      • Production program. Includes photographs of Bert Royle and the principal actors.
      • Cover reads: "Christmas Pantomime: Her Majesty's Grand Mammoth, Spectacular, Dramatical, Nonsensical, Pastoral, Nautical, Comical, Up-to-date and Original Version of Defoe's Famous Story: Robinson Crusoe. Written expressly for [Her Majesty's Theatre] by Bert Royle ... New music composed and arranged by Mr. Frank Eugarde.'

      Holdings

      Held at: National Library of Australia
      Local Id: NL 782.812 E87

      Holdings

      Held at: Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW
      Local Id: DSM 782.9/R

Works about this Work

Her Majesty's - 'Robinson Crusoe' 1895 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25 December 1895; (p. 6)

— Review of Robinson Crusoe Bert Royle , 1895 single work musical theatre
Her Majesty' Theatre 1895 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 27 December 1895; (p. 6)

— Review of Robinson Crusoe Bert Royle , 1895 single work musical theatre
Her Majesty's Theatre 1895 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 14 December 1895; (p. 10)

— Review of Robinson Crusoe Bert Royle , 1895 single work musical theatre
Preview
Her Majesty's Theatre 1895 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 14 December 1895; (p. 10)

— Review of Robinson Crusoe Bert Royle , 1895 single work musical theatre
Preview
Her Majesty' Theatre 1895 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 27 December 1895; (p. 6)

— Review of Robinson Crusoe Bert Royle , 1895 single work musical theatre
Her Majesty's - 'Robinson Crusoe' 1895 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 25 December 1895; (p. 6)

— Review of Robinson Crusoe Bert Royle , 1895 single work musical theatre

PeriodicalNewspaper Details

Note:
This entry has been sourced from research undertaken by Dr Clay Djubal into Australian-written popular music theatre (ca. 1850-1930). See also the Australian Variety Theatre Archive
Last amended 4 Apr 2014 10:58:10
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