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Revusical.
Sometimes staged under the titles The Beauty Parlour and The Manicure Parlour, this one-act musical comedy revue sees Stiffy and Mo in the roles of buyers visiting a beauty parlour owned by Helen Summer and her husband Harry. Other characters include Major Pinetree (Helen's uncle), George (a customer), Mrs De Vere (a widow), Dr Burgess, Mary (a maid), Florence (a friend of Helen's), and a group of friends and visitors.
The same beauty parlour setting and several of the characters in Manicure, Sir? also appear in Phillips' first-ever Stiffy and Mo revusical, What Oh Tonight (1916). The characters appearing in both productions are Stiffy, Mo, Helen, Uncle, Mrs De Vere, and Mary. It is possible, therefore, that the latter production is based on the earlier work, with new songs and some new comic business. One of the characters in Manicure, Sir?, Major Pinetree, also shares a similar name to a character introduced in another revusical, Yes We Don't (which included a Colonel Pinetree).
According to the Argus's review of the 1917 Bijou Theatre (Melbourne) debut:
The extraordinary diversions of a suburban rabbit-hawker and a Hebrew investor in a "beauty parlour" were at times cleverly conceived, and on several occasions contained all the elements of a really humorous situation. The success of this piece was due to the energy and originality of two experienced comedians, who carried the burden of a somewhat top-heavy construction of ballet, chorus and incidental humour. Much of the low-grade comedy which offends every canon of good taste, and at times goes well beyond the limit of tolerance, emanates from 'Mo' though unfortunately he is only too well seconded by his ally (8 October 1917, p.9).
The 'musical treatments' in the 1922 production were 'Beauty' (sung by the girls and customers), 'Tennessee' (Connors and Paul), 'Maggie Dooley' (Phillips, Rene, and Shaw), 'Got to Get Busy' (Connelly and girls), 'Cute Way of Their Own' (Merton and girls), 'Uncle Joe' (Connors and company), 'Excelsior' (Connelly and Shaw), 'Wonder' (Paul and girls), 'Make Believe' (Connors), 'Marie' (Phillips and Davis), 'Wonderful Girl' (O'Brien and girls), and the finale, 'Sold' (company).
Production Details
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1917: Bijou Theatre, Melbourne, 6-12 October (as In a Beauty Parlour).
- Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd.
- Troupe Nat Phillips' Stiffy and Mo Company.
- Cast incl. Nat Phillips (Stiffy), Roy Rene (Mo), Daisy Merritt, Caddy Franks, Horace Mann, Dan M. Dunbar, Peter Brooks, Belle Pollard, Walter Jackson [aka Walter Whyte], Cliff O'Keefe, Vince Courtney, with the Panama Six (including Rosie Bowie, Phyllis Whisken, Dot O'Dea, Gwen Brandon).
1918: Empire Theatre, Brisbane, 23-29 March.
- Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd.
- Troupe Nat Phillips' Stiffy and Mo Company.
- Cast incl. Nat Phillips, Roy Rene, Daisy Merritt, Caddy Franks, Horace Mann, Dan M. Dunbar, Peter Brooks, Belle Pollard, Walter Jackson [aka Walter Whyte], Vince Courtney, Cliff O'Keefe.
1919: Fullers' Theatre, Sydney, 19-25 July (as The Beauty Parlour).
- Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd; Music Director W. Hamilton Webber; Stage Manager Dan M. Dunbar.
- Troupe Nat Phillips' Stiffy and Mo Company.
- Cast incl. Nat Phillips, Roy Rene, Amy Rochelle, Daisy Merritt, Caddy Franks, Horace Mann, Dan M. Dunbar, Peter Brooks, Chester Harris.
1920: Bijou Theatre, Melbourne, 15-21 May (as The Beauty Parlour).
- Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd.
- Troupe Nat Phillips' Stiffy and Mo Company.
- Cast incl. Nat Phillips, Roy Rene, Amy Rochelle, Daisy Merritt, Caddy Franks, Horace Mann, Dan Dunbar, Will Liddle, Lou Harris.
1921: Empire Theatre, Brisbane, 3-9 September (as In a Manicure Parlour).
- Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd.
- Troupe Nat Phillips' Stiffy and Mo Company.
- Cast incl. Nat Phillips, Roy Rene, Daisy Merritt, Dan M. Dunbar, Lola Hunt, Belle Pollard, Gerald Cashman, Walter Jackson [aka Walter Whyte], Dot O'Dea.
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1922: Fullers' Theatre, Sydney, 29 April - 5 May.
- Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd; Music Director Charles Ryder; Chorus Rosie Bowie; Business Manager George C. Audley; Costumes Ethel Moar; Stage Manager Dan M. Dunbar.
- Troupe Nat Phillips' Stiffy and Mo Company.
- Cast incl. Nat Phillips, Roy Rene, Mike Connors (Harry Summer), Queenie Paul (Helen Summer, his wife), Dan M. Dunbar (Major Pinetree, her uncle), Gladys Shaw (Mary, the maid), Keith Connelly (Dr Burgess), Dot Davis [aka Mrs Roy Rene] (Florence, Helen's friend), Ida Merton (Mrs De Vere, a widow), and Doc O'Brien (George, a customer), with Gwen Brandon, Rosie Bowie, Thelma Duff, Flo Wilson, Marie McLaughlin, and Phyllis Whisken (friends and visitors).
- Details sourced from advertised programme in Fuller News 29 April 1922, p.12.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Related Works
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y
What Oh Tonight
Nat Phillips' Stiffy and Mo Revue Company
,
Sadler and Kearns
,
Fullers' Theatres
,
1916
1916
(Manuscript version)x401514
Z1248897
1916
single work
musical theatre
revue/revusical
humour
Revusical.
The story is set in a beauty parlour in the inner-city area of Sydney. Stiffy and Mo become the new owners of the parlour and attempt to pass themselves off as medical men.
The principle characters are Stiffy (a rabbit seller), Mo (aka Sol, Stiffy's mate: see note below), Harry Summer (a doctor and owner of the beauty parlour), Helen Summer (his wife), Uncle (Helen's rich uncle), Mary O'Shea (beauty parlour employee), Mrs De'Vere (Helen's housekeeper and 1st Assistant Beautifier), Italian Woman (a patient in version 1), Bill Bender (a patient in version 2).
The songs known to have been incorporated into the revusical, as it was originally conceived, were 'The Opening Chorus', 'Lady's Band', 'Antonio', 'Skylark Love', 'Men, Men, Men', and 'Here's to Love' (also reprised as the finale).
It is possible that What Oh Tonight later became Manicure, Sir? (aka The Beauty Parlour). In addition to Stiffy and Mo, both these revusicals include characters called Helen, Uncle, Mrs De'Vere, and Mary. No production called What Oh Tonight has been identifed after 1916, further suggesting that Phillips changed the title (and possibly some of the storyline).
