Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Comprising familiar Phillip Theatre performers, with the addition of Jill Perryman's sister Diana, Do You Mind? pokes fun at social, political, and cultural topics and contemporary personalities.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald review of the premiere, the highlights were Gordon Chater's cross-dressing portrayal ('in a gutturally seductive contralto') of the only member of European royalty not invited to Princess Alexandra's wedding; Judi Farr's performance as a smoulderingly sophisticated executive of a promotion firm called 'Windsor Enterprises'; Robina Beard as an absent-minded ballet dancer; Bob Hornery, Kevin Miles, and Gordon Chater as co-members of an ecclesiastical trio calling themselves Walker, Gilroy, and Gough; a parody of an Australian musical (complete with Aboriginal dancers) titled 'Coo-ee Girl'; and the comic bushfire dance spoofing the recent production of Showboat.
Notes
-
The writing team for this production was John McKellar, Eric Rasdell, Gordon Chater, Melvyn Morrow, Ronald Fraser, Dudley Goldman, Bernard Lynch, Clint Smith, Ray Biehler, Robert Walker, William Ridley, John Milson, John Colquohon, Jon Finlayson, Anthony Cameron, Tom Miller, Patrick O'Reilly, Michael Smith, Stuart Carmichael (aka Michael Carr), and James Fishburn. Writers from the UK were Peter Myers and Alan Melville.
-
Reverting to the more familiar Phillip Theatre revue format, following Beyond the Fringe (1962) and the musicals A Wish is a Dream (1962) and Flaming Youth (1963), William Orr handed the directing role for Do You Mind! to James Fishburn. Romola Costantino, the Sydney Morning Herald's theatre critic, suggests that the change of direction had 'restored the true tang of quality to Phillip Theatre revue'. Costantino goes on to add:
'It's not that the material of the sketches and songs shows any startling advance in scope or quality... what sets the new revue apart from many of its predecessors is the firmness with which the whole program and its performance have been shaped... here at last is something of the shining identity that this theatre has been seeking with increasing desperation since its forced removal from its uncomfortable but loveable premises in Phillip Street' (11 May 1963, p.11).
Production Details
-
1963: Phillip Theatre, Sydney, 10 May - 2 November.
- Director James Fishburn; Producer William Orr; Music Director Dot Mendoza; Chorus Robina Beard.
- Cast incl. Gordon Chater, Jill Perryman, Judi Farr, Robina Beard, Diana Perryman, Bob Hornery, Kevin Miles.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Phillip Revue
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 11 May 1963; (p. 7)
— Review of Do You Mind! 1963 single work musical theatre
-
Phillip Revue
1963
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 11 May 1963; (p. 7)
— Review of Do You Mind! 1963 single work musical theatre
PeriodicalNewspaper Details
This entry has been sourced from research undertaken by Dr Clay Djubal into Australian-written popular music theatre.
Details have also been derived in part from Peter Pinne's 2005 article 'It Didn't Always Have to Close on Saturday Night' (Part 3).
