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Revusical.
In reviewing the 1919 Coliseum production, Australian Variety records:
The house full sign was registered long before the curtain went up.... It is really a bright little offering, and with the cast well allotted went briskly during its tenure of the stage... The whole show is scintillating with animation, colour and humour, and offerings of its kind should do much towards keeping the standard of Clay bravely in the fore-front of North Sydney patrons. With such productions brought to their door, suburbanites are going to have no trouble in seeing a metropolitan show for the present class of entertainment is well up to the equal of a majority of the city shows (n. pag.).
No other information regarding the revusical's storyline has been located to date.
Notes
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It is believed that Harry Clay's long association with the Coliseum Theatre at North Sydney began on 2 September 1916, with the staging of On Deck. It was also possibly one of the first productions staged by Clay's newly formed No 1 Musical Comedy Company, one of four rotating revusical troupes operating along his suburban Sydney and south-west NSW circuits.
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It is not clear if there is any connection between Morley's revusical and two similarly titled minstrel entertainments previously staged in Australia.
The earliest of these, described as a 'beautiful nautical first part', was presented in 1900 by Kate Howarde's Vaudeville Company (Theatre Royal, Brisbane, 19 May) under the title On Deck, or, Our Captain's Birthday. One possible connection between the two productions is Arthur Morley's presence in Brisbane around the same time that Howarde staged her show (see Morley's AustLit record for details).
A decade later, James Brennan staged a first part called On Deck at the National Amphitheatre in Sydney (beginning 8 January 1910). Among the troupe of performers engaged by Brennan in early 1910 was Ted Stanley (who was also among the cast for Harry Clay's 1916 production of On Deck).
Production Details
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1916: Coliseum Theatre, North Sydney, 2-8 September.
- Director Arthur Morley; Producer Clay's Bridge Theatre Ltd.
- Troupe Harry Clay's No 1 Musical Comedy Company.
- Cast incl. Ern Delavale, Will Gilbert, Arthur Morley, Elsie Bates, Ted Stanley, Maurice Chenoweth, Eileen and Bessie Phillips, Lettie Craydon, Black and White Duo, Ellen Graham.
1916: Harry Clay's Sydney suburban and south-west NSW circuit, ca. Sept.
- Cast and production mostly as for previous Coliseum production
- Clay's Sydney suburban circuit incl. Mosman Town Hall (14 September) and Bridge Theatre, Newtown (16-22 September)
1918: Coliseum Theatre, North Sydney, 31 August - 6 September.
- Director Arthur Morley; Producer Clay's Bridge Theatre Ltd.
- Cast incl. Ted Stanley (Mrs Watchit), Will Gilbert, Arthur Morley, Ern Delavale, Maurice Chenoweth, Phillips Sisters, Lettie Craydon, Black and White Duo.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Coliseum Theatre
1918
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Variety and Show World , 6 September 1918; (p. n. pag.)
— Review of On Deck 1916 single work musical theatre -
Clay's Budget
1916
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Variety and Show World , 20 September 1916; (p. n. pag.)
— Review of On Deck 1916 single work musical theatre
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Clay's Budget
1916
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Variety and Show World , 20 September 1916; (p. n. pag.)
— Review of On Deck 1916 single work musical theatre -
Coliseum Theatre
1918
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Variety and Show World , 6 September 1918; (p. n. pag.)
— Review of On Deck 1916 single work musical theatre
