Issue Details: First known date: 1878... 1878 Hey-Diddle-Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle, the Cow Jumped Over the Moon, or, Harlequin Sing a Song of Sixpence, a Pocket-full of Rye, and the Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds Baked in a Pie
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

A pantomime containing operatic airs and popular songs of the day, the 1878 Caxton text declares the work as having been 'localised, plagiarized, treatised, temporized, satirized, not warrantised but advertised' (p.1). A review of the production in the Sydney Morning Herald further notes:

'It is very happily constructed, and has been localised to an agreeable extent by Mr Samuel Lazar from the original by Mr Garnet Walch. It possesses the rather unusual feature in pantomime of being coherent; and the plotting and counterplotting, although attended with unlimited fun, make it as interesting as many dramas produced here lately' (27 December 1878, p.3).

The references to the Sydney scene include issues such as blackbirding and anti-Russian sentiment stemming from the 'Eastern Crisis'. The production also included a genealogical pageant of all history with reference to Darwin and burlesques of both Shakespeare and recent tragic performances.

Notes

  • For a synopsis of Garnet Walch's original storyline, see the 1876 entry. A more detailed account is available in the 25 December issue of the Age (p.3). Although it is unclear how much of the 1876 plot Samuel Lazar used, it is possible that the two are largely similar. One minor difference, for example, is the setting of Gaffer and Gamma's home, which in the Sydney production was on the beach at Manly.

Production Details

  • 1878: Theatre Royal, Sydney, 26 December 1878 - 1 February 1879 (return season 25-27 February; forty-one performances). Producer/Manager/Lessee Samuel Lazar ; Director/Stage Manager B. N. Jones ; Music Director/Arranger Walter Rice ; Scenic Art W. J. Wilson ; Chorus Boleno Coleman ; Costumes Madame Croucher ; Director of Comic Scenes James A. South.

    Cast incl. King Hey Diddle Diddle (C. Brown), Lachlan McGowan (Count Opodeldoc), Maggie Oliver (Bruno), Alice Deorwyn (Blondo), J. H. Deorwyn (Gaffer), H. Vincent (Gammer), Miss H. Melville (Queen Gertrude), Mdlle. De Glorian (Princess Caressa), W. H. Seagrave (Mary), R. Searle (Duke Advalorem, Prime Minister), J. H. Hasker (Von Cripsman, the Court Pastrycook), Miss B. Leslie (Countess Grammaris, governess to the princess), J. H. Hasker (King Christmas), Laura Cassidy (Pluma), Constance Deorwyn (Aura), A. Sefton (Boreas, the North Wind), Blanch Leslie (The New Year), Maggie Innes (Young Australia, a smart youth), Miss E. Tullock (Spring), Vivian Howe (Summer), Ada Howe (Autumn), Hettie Croucher (Winter), L. McEwen (The Longest Day), Master A. Croucher (The Shortest Night), J. A. South (Pagasus, a gentleman of varied experience and imperturbable sangfroid), Maggie Innes (Girl of the period).

    Harlequinade Mdlle. Lake (Columbine), Boleno Coleman (Harlequin), J. H. Hasker (Pantaloon), James South (Clown).

    • The animal characters are billed as having been played by Miss Ker Hauser (The Cat that plays the fiddle), Mr Bovine and Anne Udder (The Cow that jumps the moon), Master K. Nine (The Little Dog that laughs to see the sport), Mr Delph (The Dish that runs off with the spoon) and Mr Pewters (The Spoon).

    • A second edition was staged from 18 January 1879.

  • This entry has been sourced from on-going historical research into Australian-written music theatre being conducted by Dr Clay Djubal.

    Details have also been derived in part from Annotated Calendar of Plays Premiered in Australia: 1870-1890 (q.v.).

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1878

Works about this Work

Theatre Royal 1878 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 27 December 1878; (p. 3)

— Review of Hey-Diddle-Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle, the Cow Jumped Over the Moon, or, Harlequin Sing a Song of Sixpence, a Pocket-full of Rye, and the Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds Baked in a Pie Garnet Walch , Samuel Lazar , 1878 single work musical theatre
A review of the 1878 revival at Sydney's Theatre Royal, beginning 26 December 1878.
Theatre Royal 1878 single work review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 27 December 1878; (p. 3)

— Review of Hey-Diddle-Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle, the Cow Jumped Over the Moon, or, Harlequin Sing a Song of Sixpence, a Pocket-full of Rye, and the Four-and-Twenty Blackbirds Baked in a Pie Garnet Walch , Samuel Lazar , 1878 single work musical theatre
A review of the 1878 revival at Sydney's Theatre Royal, beginning 26 December 1878.
Last amended 1 Apr 2011 09:58:01
X