y separately published work icon In the Bank single work   musical theatre   revue/revusical   humour  
Alternative title: Bankers; The Bank
Issue Details: First known date: 1920... 1920 In the Bank
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Revusical.

Stiffy and Mo are janitors at a bank. The other characters are Mr Morgan (a banker), Mazie (his daughter), Freddie (her fiancee), Jacques (the manager), Quilpy (a clerk), Miss Fussy (the head typist), Dora (a secretary), and Mrs Mush (the charwoman). An advertisement for the 1925 Bijou Theatre production records, however, that Stiffy and Mo appeared 'as do it yourself bank clerks' (Age 23 Mar. 1925, p.12), while the Brisbane Courier records in 1927 that Stiffy and 'Erb (Nat Phillips and Jack Kellaway) portrayed 'bank clerks of the never-to-be-seen order' with the pair developing 'many highly amusing situations in the world of finance' (7 February 1927, p.15).

Among the songs presented during the 1922 Sydney production (Fullers' Theatre) were 'Come, Be a Sport' (chorus), 'If it comes from Dixieland' (Ivy Davis, Ida Merton and girls), 'Parisian Jazz' (Doc O'Brien and girls), 'Maizie' (Connors and Paul), 'Oh, Laws Laugh' (Merton and O'Brien), 'Jaffalla' (Mike Connors and girls), 'Belgravia' (Nat Phillips and Gladys Shaw), 'All By Myself' (Queenie Paul and girls), 'On My Feet Again' (Keith Connolly and girls), and 'Close the Bank' (company).

Two of the hits from the 1927 Whirligig version were 'Let's Buy the Bank' (a duet sung by Stiffy and 'Erb) and 'Talking to the Moon' (by Dorothy Manning).

Production Details

  • 1920: Bijou Theatre, Melbourne, 12-18 June.

    • Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd.
    • Troupe Stiffy and Mo Company.
    • Cast incl. Nat Phillips (Stiffy), Roy Rene (Mo), Amy Rochelle, Daisy Merritt, Caddy Franks, Horace Mann, Dan M. Dunbar (Mr Morgan, the banker), Will Liddle, Lou Harris.

    1921: Empire Theatre, Brisbane, 24-30 September.

    • Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd.
    • Troupe 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.

    1922: Fullers' Theatre, Sydney, 22-28 April.

    • Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd; Music Director Charles Ryder; Chorus Rosie Bowie; Costumes Ethel Moar; Business Manager George C. Audley; Stage Manager Dan M. Dunbar.
    • Troupe Stiffy and Mo Company.
    • Cast incl. Nat Phillips, Roy Rene, Dan M. Dunbar (Mr Morgan), Queenie Paul (Mazie), Mike Connors (Freddie), Dot Davis [aka Mrs Roy Rene] (Miss Fussy), Ida Merton (Dora), Keith Connelly (Jacques), Gladys Shaw (Mrs Mush), Doc. O'Brien (Quilpy), and the Six RadioGirls (Gwen Brandon, Rosie Bowie, Thelma Duff, Flo Wilson, Marie McLauchin, Phyllis Whisken) as typists and clerks, etc.
    • Details sourced from advertised programme in Fuller News 22 April 1922, p.6.

    1924: Fullers' Theatre, Sydney, 15-21 November.

    • Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd.
    • Troupe Nat Phillips' Stiffy and Mo Company.
    • Cast incl. Nat Phillips, Roy Rene, Mike Connors, Queenie Paul, Peter Brooks, Daisy Merritt, Dan M. Dunbar, Dot Davis [aka Mrs Roy Rene], Gladys Shaw, and the Six Radio Girls.

    1925: Bijou Theatre, Melbourne, 21-27 March.

    • Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd; Chorus Rosie Bowie.
    • Troupe Nat Phillips' Stiffy and Mo Company.
    • Cast incl. Nat Phillips, Roy Rene, Dan M. Dunbar, Queenie Paul, Mike Connors, Dot Davis [aka Mrs Roy Rene], Daisy Merritt, Gladys Shaw, Keith Connolly, Rene Albert, David Lyle, and the Radio Six.

    .

  • 1925: Majestic Theatre, Adelaide; 12-18 September.

    • Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd.
    • Troupe: Nat Phillips' Whirligigs.
    • Cast incl. Nat Phillips (Oscar), Harry Huley (Percy), Joe Mullaney, Dan M. Dunbar, Queenie Paul, Mike Connors, Leonard Rich, June Mills, William Innes, Shannon Raye, Bess Bent, Allan Walsh, Ivy Moore; and the Six Radio Girls.

    1927: Empire Theatre, Brisbane, 5-11 February.

    • Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd; Music Director Frank Wilson.
    • Troupe Nat Phillips' Whirligigs [aka Stiffy and 'Erb].
    • Cast incl. Nat Phillips, Jack Kellaway ('Erb), Daisy Merritt (the char lady), Dan M. Dunbar (the banker), Dan Weldon, Dorothy Manning, Polly Power, and the Radio Six.
    • Musicians Charleston Super Six Symphonists, incl. Frank Wilson (trombone/accordion), 'Tiny' Douglas (violin), Art Dewar (banjo), Frank Morton (cornet), and Les Clements (piano).
    • The second-last Stiffy and 'Erb revusical of the 1926-1927 Brisbane season, In the Bank was advertised as the company's seventeenth production since opening in October 1926.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1920
      .
      Extent: 3p.p.
      Description: Typed with handwritten notes
      (Manuscript) assertion

      Holdings

      Held at: University of Queensland University of Queensland Library Fryer Library
      Local Id: UQFL9
      Note:
      Incomplete: Two character parts - Mrs Mush (2p.) and Keith (1p.). The dialogue includes the end of Stiffy's lines, but no lines of dialogue from Mo.
VIEW PUBLICATION DETAILS FOR ALL VERSIONS ()

Works about this Work

Empire Theatre 1927 single work review
— Appears in: The Brisbane Courier , 7 February 1927; (p. 15)
— Review of In the Bank Nat Phillips , 1920 single work musical theatre
Empire Theatre 1927 single work review
— Appears in: The Brisbane Courier , 7 February 1927; (p. 15)
— Review of In the Bank Nat Phillips , 1920 single work musical theatre
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (1)

PeriodicalNewspaper Details

Note:
This entry has been sourced from research undertaken by Dr Clay Djubal into Australian-written popular music theatre (ca. 1850-1930). See also the Australian Variety Theatre Archive
Last amended 27 Jun 2014 11:03:28
Subjects:
  • Banks, Tuggeranong area, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,
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