Revusical.
In this one-act musical comedy, Jim Gerald utilised his expertise as a pantomime dame, playing Mrs Muggins, a widow with five children. The Brisbane Courier records in 1927 that Gerald 'provided a veritable feats for laughter lovers, and had the crowd in such a state of exhaustion from continually laughing that they were glad of the respite afforded by the musical numbers' (28 March 1927, n. pag.). When Oh Mum was given a return season some five months later, the Courier's theatre critic wrote:
In his dame part of Mrs Muggins, he had the audience in a state of hysterical mirth every moment he was on the boards. As a widow with a penchant for gin who is not given to gossip about her neighbours, but "knows what she knows," he was the garrulous washerwoman to the life, and his washtub soliloquy was a glittering gem of mirth. There was of course a tribe of children ("bless their hearts") over whose naughtiness Mrs Muggins dripped large tears into the soapsuds; there was the flinty-hearted landlord who was prepared to overlook the rent provided he could become Mrs Muggins' third husband; and there was the usual neighbour with a strongly developed borrowing habit (22 August 1927, p.20).
In the 1927 production, Mrs Muggins' obstreperous children were played by Essie Jennings, Betty Lambert, May Geary, Lance Vane, and Harry Burgess. The scenes are said to have 'shifted in kaleidoscope fashion from Mrs Muggins' front garden to the kitchen, then on board an Atlantic liner, and finally to a beautiful Scottish landscape' (Brisbane Courier 22 Aug. 1927, p.20).
One of the songs known to have been incorporated in the 1922 Fullers' Theatre production was 'The Pipes of Pan' (sung by Shannon Raye). The 1926 Melbourne and Sydney and 1927 Brisbane seasons included 'The Butterfly Dance' as one of the specialties. Two numbers performed during the 1926 Bijou Theatre season were 'Gallagher and Shean' (Jim Gerald and Reg Hawthorne) and the trio 'Tippy Canoe' (Geary, Crawford, and Hall). Songs incorporated into the 1927 Brisbane season included 'Always' (May Geary) and 'My Little Suzannne' (Dan Weldon, in place of Ernest Crawford).
1922: Fullers' Theatre, Sydney, 23-29 September.
1922: Empire Theatre, Brisbane, 25 November - 1 December.
1924: Fullers' Theatre, Sydney, 19-25 April.
1926: Fullers' Theatre, Sydney, 27 February - 5 March (return season: 29 May - 4 June).
1926: New Bijou Theatre, Melbourne, 21-27 August (return season: 20-26 November).
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1927: Empire Theatre, Brisbane, 26 March - 1 April (return season: 20-26 August).
1930: Tivoli Theatre, Melbourne, 24-30 May.
1934: Tivoli Theatre, Melbourne, 2-8 June.