Revusical.
Possibly influenced by the Charlie Chaplin film The Shopwalker, which was being screened in Australia in early 1918, this one-act musical comedy sees Stiffy and Mo as a pair of shopwalkers who raise all matter of strife and hilarity. Other characters are Mr Bracks (the boss), Mr Snub (head shopwalker), Willie (an assistant), Mr Scoggs (the union rep), Miss Smiff (a buyer), Miss Serang (a shopper), Miss Schute (a soft-drink fiend), and a chorus of shopgirls.
A review of the 1927 Whirligig company version indicates that that production involved 'a walking delegate and the theft of a diamond bangle' as incidents that interrupted the otherwise dull routine of the department store. The real thrill, according to the Brisbane Courier theatre critic, was when a 'lady customer, who had dominated her husband all her life, was supplied with some mild refreshment, with a "bite" in it that induced a whirl of soft but embarrassing memories' (24 January 1927, p.16).
The 1922 production's 'musical remnants' were 'Fair, Fair, Fair' (shopmen and girls), 'Syncopated Walk' (Connors and company), 'You Can't Fool Around' (Connolly and girls), 'Tucky Home' (Connors and Paul), 'Smiles at Me' (Davis and girls), 'Norway' (Paul and girls), 'A Smile is a Tear' (Connors), 'Sure Sign' (Shaw and girls), and the finale, 'Remnants' (company).
The 1927 Stiffy and 'Erb (Whirligig) version included the song 'Marie', performed by Dorothy Manning and Nat Phillips.
1917: Bijou Theatre, Melbourne, 20-26 October.
1918: Empire Theatre, Brisbane, 13-19 April.
1919: Fullers' Theatre, Sydney, 2-8 August.
1920: Bijou Theatre, Melbourne, 5-11 June.
1921: Empire Theatre, Brisbane, 27 August - 2 September.
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1922: Fullers' Theatre, Sydney, 1-7 July.
1924: Fullers' Theatre, Sydney, 11-17 October.
1925: Bijou Theatre, Melbourne, 28 March - 3 April.
1927: Empire Theatre, Brisbane, 22-28 January.
