The Birthday Show single work   musical theatre   revue/revusical   humour  
Issue Details: First known date: 1959... 1959 The Birthday Show
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Intimate revue.

Devised in order to celebrate the Phillip Street Theatre's fifth birthday, The Birthday Show comprised a smattering of new material along with popular favourites from previous productions, notably Top of the Bill, Hit and Run, Hat Trick, Two to One, Mr and Mrs, Around the Loop, Cross Section, and Bats.

Songs interpolated into the production included 'Oh What a Year it's Been' and 'Trite Fantastic' (McKellar); 'The Oracle' (Rasdall/Goldman); 'The World is My Ashtray', 'Tiger Moth', and 'Noel' (McKellar/Mendoza); 'Katoomba' (McKellar/Mulcahy); 'Soap Opera', 'Breakfast Delight', and 'White Carnations' (McKellar/Donovan); 'Golden Hair', 'You Came from Outer Space', 'Beside Myself', and 'Wow of a Frau' (McKellar/Donovan/Mulcahy); 'Bread Love and Teddy Bears' (McKellar/Frazer); 'Queen's Square' (Nettheim); 'Letter Song' (Taylor/Mulcahy); 'Circulation', 'Cuckoo', and 'Call of the Wild' (Donovan/Mulcahy); 'April in Fairbanks' (Grand); 'Woy Boy' (Cranko/Swan); 'Don't Let Him Know You Too Well' (Cranko/Addison); 'Surly Girls' (Flanders/Swan); 'Bedside Manners' (Frazer); and 'Happy Birthday' (Mendoza).

Notes

  • While the principal contributors to the revue were Phillip Street veterans John McKellar (lyrics), Lance Mulcahy (lyrics/music), and Dot Mendoza (music), a number of other individuals also had material incorporated into the production. These included Gerry Donovan, Ronald Frazer, Dudley Goldman, David Nettheim, John Taylor, Murray Grand, John Cranko, Michael Flanders, Donald Swan, John Addison, and Eric Rasdall.

  • The Sydney Morning Herald critic wrote of the premiere production that 'With William Orr's admirably smooth production to give it pace... and with enough genuinely witty and sophisticated pieces to balance the relatively hackneyed and juvenile ones, the show ran along entertainingly enough. There was nothing in the show, for example, much better than the slickly written and cleverly produced little satire on the social round, or the zany solo in which a wan little spinster sings nostalgically of the time when her transmigrating soul inhabited a cuckoo' (6 May 1959, p.21).

Production Details

  • 1959: Phillip Street Theatre, Sydney, 5 May - 11 July.

    • Producer William Orr; Music Director Dot Mendoza; Chorus Ronnie Hay; Design/Stage Director Joseph Shearer; Costumes Frank Mitchell; Stage Manager Stuart Finch; Lighting Reg Bartram and Arno Leinas.
    • Cast Alton Harvey, John Bluthal, Lyle O'Hara, Jill Perryman, Ronald Frazer.
    • Musicians Dot Mendoza (piano), Robert Farrington (guitar/bass), Carl Mehden (drums).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Birthday for Revue Theatre M. L. , 1959 single work review
— Appears in: Sydney Morning Herald , 6 May 1959; (p. 21)

— Review of The Birthday Show John McKellar , Lance Mulcahy , Phillip Street Theatre , 1959 single work musical theatre
Birthday for Revue Theatre M. L. , 1959 single work review
— Appears in: Sydney Morning Herald , 6 May 1959; (p. 21)

— Review of The Birthday Show John McKellar , Lance Mulcahy , Phillip Street Theatre , 1959 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.
Last amended 18 Sep 2014 13:30:10
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