Sinbad the Sailor single work   musical theatre   pantomime   fantasy  
Issue Details: First known date: 1918... 1918 Sinbad the Sailor
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

The plot 'departs from the Arabian Nights tale as freely as the plots of most pantomimes do from their fairy book origins,' records the Argus, and deals instead

'with a voyage made by Sinbad to present a famous diamond to the Sultan of Serindip. A group of conspirators, including Steal, the arch villain and the inevitable Old Man of the Sea, seek to thwart him, and a storm is raised (providing the opportunity for a realistic stage setting), but after several vicissitudes, [Sinbad] triumphs over his foes, and wins the heart of the Sultan's daughter, the Princess Zoe' (23 December 1918, p.8).

Songs written for, or adapted into, the narrative included 'Cats on the Tiles', 'Nautical Captain Brown', 'The Ship of Love', 'Here Come the Anzacs', 'Flossie the Flapper', 'Dame of the Veils', 'Kiss Me', 'Knit, Knit', 'Dame of the Minchinbury', 'I'll Throw a Ring Around You', and two ballets: 'The Shell' and 'Butterfly'. The Argus reports that one un-named ballet, described as a 'Ju-jitsu dance with Apache elements', was 'a rather strained intrusion.' The critic went so far as to suggest that 'worked up, say, as an island dance scene [it] might possible be jammed in to advantage' (23 December 1918, p.8).

Production Details

  • 1918: Bijou Theatre, Melbourne, 21 December 1918 - 18 January 1919.

    • Director Al Johnson; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd.
    • Cast incl. Lola Hunt (Sinbad), Billie Mavis (Princess Zoe), Belle Millnette (Hinbad), Nellie Fallon (Zorilda, Sinbad's sister), Elsie Sloan (Venus), Florrie Horan (The Old Man of the Sea), Harry Farrow (Mrs Tinbad), Harry Burgess (her son), Gus Franks (Cassim), Ernest Lashbrooke (Stealo), Les Warton (Captain Brown/ Sultan of Serindip), Florrie Wilson, Lila Dabscheck.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Works about this Work

Bijou Theatre - 'Sinbad the Sailor' 1918 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 23 December 1918; (p. 6)

— Review of Sinbad the Sailor Ella Airlie , 1918 single work musical theatre
Bijou - 'Sinbad the Sailor' 1918 single work review
— Appears in: The Argus , 23 December no. 22589 1918; (p. 8)

— Review of Sinbad the Sailor Ella Airlie , 1918 single work musical theatre
Bijou - 'Sinbad the Sailor' 1918 single work review
— Appears in: The Argus , 23 December no. 22589 1918; (p. 8)

— Review of Sinbad the Sailor Ella Airlie , 1918 single work musical theatre
Bijou Theatre - 'Sinbad the Sailor' 1918 single work review
— Appears in: The Age , 23 December 1918; (p. 6)

— Review of Sinbad the Sailor Ella Airlie , 1918 single work musical theatre

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 30 Apr 2014 07:15:05
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