What's New? single work   musical theatre   revue/revusical   humour  
Issue Details: First known date: 1962... 1962 What's New?
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Intimate revue.

With this production, William Orr experimented with eleven newcomers to the Phillip Theatre, possibly the largest cast seen in a revue production since the company began in 1954. The sketches included a look at advertising professions such as medicine (with Arlene Dorgan as a woman doctor), law (Barry Creyton as a lawyer), and education (Margaret Dence as a headmistress); method acting; revamping Shakespeare; Grace Kelly and the Kennedys; and a burlesque of an ABC television historical series.

Notes

  • Ray Taylor is mentioned in the Sydney Morning Herald as one of the Phillip Theatre script writers for this and other recent productions.
  • Romola Costantino's review in the Sydney Morning Herald proposes that that audience was possibly compensated for the disappointment of an uneven first half and 'flavourless second half' by engaging 'in the game of deciding which of the performers [had] the quality of illumination and which [was] merely talented.' 'It is quite baffling', she further notes, 'that so experienced a producer as William Orr could have let the second half of his latest entertainment amble on its way without cutting it and shaping it to some sort of climax or pattern' (7 July 1962, p.7).

Production Details

  • 1962: Phillip Theatre, Sydney, 6 July - 1 September.

    • Producer/Director William Orr.
    • Cast Janet Brown, Noeline Brown, Earle Cross, Barry Creyton, Margaret Dence, Arlene Dorgan, Colin Gorman, Reg Gorman, Katharine McGarrity, Dalvern Thom, David Yorston.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

'What's New?' at Phillip R. C. , 1962 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 7 July 1962; (p. 7)

— Review of What's New? Phillip Street Theatre , 1962 single work musical theatre
'What's New?' at Phillip R. C. , 1962 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 7 July 1962; (p. 7)

— Review of What's New? Phillip Street Theatre , 1962 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 13:33:58
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