Keith Petersen

Finale with everyone in their pyjama costumes. From The Pajama Game souvenir.

The Pajama Game

Musical in two acts by George Abbott and Richard Bissell, based on Bissell’s 1953 novel 7½ Cents. Lyrics and music by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross. Opened at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, 2 February 1957. Presented by J.C. Williamson Theatres Ltd., by arrangement with Frederick Brisson, Robert E. Griffith and Harold S. Prince (of USA). Directed by Fred Hebert (of New York). Scenery by J. Alan Kenyon, Cecil Newman and John Kenyon. Dances staged by Betty Pounder. Musical direction by Gabriel Joffe. All the pyjamas seen in the Australian production of “Pajama Game” supplied by “Schrank”, being made from the famous “Schrank” designs for the New York production.

William Newman & Toni Lamond in rehearsals, Melbourne, January 1957. Photo by Branagan.

State Library of New South Wales, Sydney

The lead roles of Babe Williams and Sid Sorokin were entrusted to two relative newcomer, Toni Lamond and William Newman. Keith Manzie of The Argus (1 December 1956) provides the background in the following article:

Publicity shot of Toni Lamond as Babe Williams. Photographer unknown.

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

Cover of JCW souvenir program

Theatre Heritage Australia

Keith Manzie continues the story in The Argus (22 December 1956):

Publicity shot of Tikki Taylor as Gladys. Photo by Ivan Ive.

State Library of New South Wales, Sydney

Tikki Taylor’s caricatures of the Pajama Game cast

From The Pajama Game souvenir

Another young Australian who scored a plum role in The Pajama Game was Tikki Taylor. Molly Maginnis in her “Women in the Theatre” column in The Age (12 January 1957) takes up the story:

Tikki Taylor sketching backstage at the Empire Theatre, June 1957. Photo by Ivan Ive.

State Library of New South Wales, Sydney

On 2 February 1957, Molly Maginnis in her “Women in the Theatre” column in The Age, introduces her readers to Betty Pounder, the show's choreographer:

Sid Sorokin (William Newman) meets Babe Williams (Toni Lamond) and the other machine girls, while Hines (Keith Petersen) looks on. From The Pajama Game souvenir.

The Cast

The Melbourne season ran for five months, closing on the 8 June 1957, when the show toured to the other centres:

Empire Theatre, Sydney, 12 June 1957 - 9 November 1957

Her Majesty's Theatre, Brisbane, 12 November 1957 - December 1957

Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, 26 December 1957 - 27 January 1958

His Majesty's Theatre, Auckland, 10 February 1958

Grand Opera House, Wellington, 12 March 1958

His Majesty's Theatre, Perth, 3 May 1958

Theatre Royal, Adelaide, 18 June 1958

During the fourteen-month tour, the four principal performers (Toni Lamond, William Newman, Keith Petersen and Tikki Taylor) remained consistent.

At the staff picnic, Hines (Keith Petersen) practices his knife-throwing skills on Babe (Toni Lamond). From The Pajama Game souvenir.

The Songs

Babe (Toni Lamond), Prez (Don Richards) and Ensemble in the “7½ Cents” number. From The Pajama Game souvenir.

The Reviews

American Invasion Is In Full Swing

By Geoffrey Hutton

This sort of thing has happened before. James Cassius Williamson founded his Australian empire on an American play about oil-gushers long before any of us were born. But there must be a reason why American musicals have dominated the stage for so long, and American plays are taking so large a share of it.

Can it be that there is more sheer vitality in the New York than the London stage today? I fear so. With reservations, I applaud The Rainmaker because it tried to say something about real people. With fewer reservations I laughed myself hoarse over The Pajama Game because it brought a much-needed touch of realism to a form of theatre which seemed to be on its last legs years ago.

In its way this light-hearted comedy of American big business is the end of the road which was opened by those back-woods musicals like Annie, Oklahoma and Paint Your Wagon. They were a local retort to the thin and overworked musical play which was not a play at all, but a succession of exotic backcloths with carefully arranged moments for the funny men, the romantic leads and the chorus to do their stuff.

Homely Reality

We were bored with the old-style musicals and the journey the Americans made was really necessary. They introduced a touch of homely reality into a form of theatre which had gone too far from its roots. They set a new fashion, for a while, and like all new fashions it is becoming unfashionable.

The Pajama Game completes the journey. We have learned all we want to learn about Oklahoma and New Hampshire. The folk songs and the apple-jack parties have had their day. The journey which began during the war has ended in a textile factory, which comes a lot closer to life as we know it that corn-cobs and barn-dances. From Ruritania we have travelled to the Sleeptite Pajama factory, from the conservatory to the Ladies' Pants Department.

Long before I saw the play I read Richard Bissell's novel, which was a rarity. It dealt with urgent and potentially ugly problems. In a mood of ironic good humor which was difficult to resist. The pyjama workers wanted seven-and-a-half cents an hour more on their piece rates. The boss told them to get back to work, the pyjama game was at the cross roads, and a lot more nonsense.

In the end the union leader looks a bit of a rascal and the boss looks a bit of a scoundrel. Mr. Bissell, delicately avoiding making a serious issue of this dispute; after all he was writing in a period of prosperity when these issues could be adjusted without real hardship to anyone. By making the hero an executive and the heroine a member of the Grievances Committee he was able to fold capital and labor in each other's arms without any hard feelings.

And the whole piece is done with a naughty jocularity which comes near to the spirit of a sophisticated revue. “This play is symbolic” says the funny man when the curtain rises, gently mocking Tennessee Williams. And before it falls he returns and reminds us that it was. Of course, it wasn't.

It may be that Messrs. George Abbott and Richard Bissell, who concocted the book, and Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, who decorated it with its witty lyrics and sharply discordant music, were only out to amuse. So they were, and they succeeded in doing so, and a little more.

Extract from The Age, 9 February 1957, p.19

Act 1, Scene 10, The Promenade of the Embassy, from My Fair Lady, 1960, with David Oxley as Henry Higgins, Patricia Moore as Eliza Doolittle and chorus. National Library of Australia, Canberra.

‘I was lucky... I have a husband who encourages me to do what I love.’

Betty and John Baines. Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne.1949 was a very significant year in Betty Pounder’s life. On 20 June, she and JCW orchestra member, saxophonist and clarinettist, John Ellis Baines, would marry at the family home which was now on Murray Road, East Preston. Betty and John, who was born 4 September 1905 in Adelaide, remained together until the end, both incredibly loving and supportive of everything they did. Pounder would say in an interview in 1988, ‘I have a very good married life because my husband has allowed me free rein to do what I want to do.’ Although they didn't have children of their own, their ‘adopted’ family was considerable. Pounder always regarded her dancers as her children. She also had the great pleasure of being Godmother to life-long friends, Gloria Lynch and Ormonde Douglas’s daughter Christine, who would go on to have a highly successful operatic career herself; to Dawn Spry and Graeme Bent’s daughter Wendy; and to John and Tikki Taylor’s son, Paul Newman. The early part of their married life was spent living in the Pounder family home, which Betty would acquire following the death of her mother. They would later move to a post-war home on Hill Street, Hawthorn.

On the closing night of the musical Camelot in Melbourne in 1964, a farewell party was held in the Penthouse of the 1930s Art Deco apartment building, ‘Stratton Heights’ on Alexandra Avenue, South Yarra. Glamorous actress Bettina Welch, who was playing the role of Morgan Le Fey in the show, was friends with the owner and was staying there during the run. Betty and John were invited to the party and when they saw the apartment with its incredible views across the Yarra River to the city, its wonderful rooftop garden, heated floors AND its secret room which was entered through a door behind the bar in the living room, they fell in love with it. Betty told the owner if she ever wanted to sell, she had to get in touch with them as they would love to buy it. Several years went by and due to the ill health of the husband of the woman who threw the party on that fateful night, she got in touch with Betty to let her know she needed to sell the apartment. The parties held at the apartment are legendary, including get-togethers with Betty’s chorus members in the 60s and 70s where she would get everyone up and say, ‘Tonight we’re going to learn The Totem Dance from Rose Marie,or The Military Tap from The Desert Song’,and she would teach everyone the numbers she had done 20 years earlier. The rest, as they say...

Scene from Kiss Me Kate, 1952. Betty is second from the right in the middle.

Kitty Greenwood Collection

Evie Hayes and chorus in the Washington Square dance scene from Call Me Madam, 1953

National Library of Australia, Canberra

‘I had to work with the dancers as well as discipline them and share a dressing room with them when I was Ballet Mistress and that was difficult. You need to retain your friends but also still do your job.’

In 1951 Betty was offered the position of Ballet Mistress by Australian Musical Productions Pty. Ltd. on the new and successful Australian musical The Highwayman, at the King’s Theatre in Melbourne, one of seven all-Australian musicals that Pounder would be involved in. She was also performing the role of The Riding Mistress in the revival of Annie Get Your Gun at Her Majesty’s Theatre.

Kiss Me Kate with Hayes Gordon and Joy Turpin in 1952 would be the last show in which Pounder would appear as a dancer. Maggie Fitzgibbon, Graeme Bent, Alec Kellaway, Robert Healey were also in the cast along with Betty Gribble, Audrey Davis, Kitty Greenwood, Jeanette Liddell in the chorus and who Pounder would cast in future shows herself. More responsibilities as Ballet Mistress came along and in 1953 she was given the official title of Dance Director on Call Me Madam which starred her friend Evie Hayes in the star role, along with Alec Kellaway, Graeme Bent, Coral Deague, Bobby Mack, Jill Perryman, who had been given the position of Miss Hayes’ understudy as well, Betty Gribble, Billie Fowler, Clive Hearne, Shirley Sunners, Dawn Spry, Kevan Johnston, and Garth Welch who would later go on to a highly successful career as a Principal with the Australian Ballet Company. Betty was also the company Ballet Mistress for Call Me Madam.

Scene from Paint Your Wagon, 1954, for which Betty was Ballet Mistress

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

Scene from Can-Can, 1956, with Betty once again as Ballet Mistress

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

‘Everything was going wrong and no one knew what to do so I yelled out, “Blackout! Blackout!” I got fined for screaming “Blackout” in the middle of a performance.’

In 1954 Betty was asked to choreograph a production of The Chocolate Soldier at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne and back at Her Majesty’s, South Pacific and Paint Your Wagon were presented with Pounder as Ballet Mistress once more. Sadly Betty’s father Joseph died at the age of 76 during the rehearsal period of South Pacific. A revival of Viktoria and Her Hussar would finish off the year.

In 1955 J.C. Williamson launched its second Italian Grand Opera season with Pounder overseeing the ballets once again. 1956 saw Williamson’s ‘New Look’ Gilbert and Sullivan company, again with Pounder in charge of the dances. Can-Can was The Firm’s major musical comedy that year with Betty as Ballet Mistress. Jill Perryman and Kevan Johnston, William Newman, Graeme Bent, Alton Harvey, Robert Healey, John Newman, Ron Folkard, Kevin Foote, Joyce ‘Tikki’ Taylor, all JCW favourites, were featured cast members while Adele Jarrett, Valrene Tweedie, Noel Hardres were among the chorus. Can-Canwould also see young Robina Beard make her professional debut as one of the dancers. William Orr borrowed Pounder from The Firm in 1956 to choreograph his pantomime, Alice In Wonderland for the Phillip Street Theatre in Sydney, with Borovansky ballerina Kathleen Gorham in the title role. It was revived once again in 1958 and yet again in 1961 at the Comedy Theatre in Melbourne. It was such a successful production that it was revived at the Sydney Tivoli Theatre in 1966 and finally at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre the year after.

Scene from the JCW production of The Pajama Game, 1957, featuring Keith Petersen, William Newman and Toni Lamond

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

Ron Shand, Jill Perryman and John Sanger in The Pajama Game, 1957

National Library of Australia, Canberra

‘It’s very hard to keep a colour in your eye, which is something I learned to do.’

1957 would be what Pounder herself would describe as ‘the highlight of my professional career up to that point’. Although officially still only in the position of Ballet Mistress, Sir Frank Tait entrusted her to fly to New York to bring back the original Bob Fosse choreography for the new hit musical, The Pajama Game. ‘It was my dream to go to Broadway so you can imagine my excitement when I was asked to go over and bring the show back here.’ She watched the show 12 times from out front, taking careful notes on every aspect of the involved choreography, along with notes on lighting cues, colours and fabrics for the costumes, scenery, and direction notes. She had assumed that she would be welcomed by the Broadway company with open arms and that they would take her backstage where they would teach her the routines. This was not to be the case. They gave no help at all. It was up to her to sit out front, watch the show and make her notes and reproduce it exactly as it was on their stage. She always felt that she owed it to the original choreographer of any show to reproduce their work as closely as she possibly could. She also auditioned many, many people for the lead roles but felt we had performers back home who were equally suited to the roles, and after discussions with Sir Frank, he agreed. An all-Australian cast was engaged, among them lifelong friends Toni Lamond, John Newman, Frank Sheldon, Tikki Taylor, Jill Perryman, Kevan Johnston, Robert Healey, Ralphine Sprague. On Pounder’s recommendation, rising star Jill Perryman was given the featured role of Mabel, a role she was actually too young for, but pulled off brilliantly!

Tikki Taylor would later say, ‘Betty Pounder was always the reliable girl when she was so young, as well as having the best legs of any of us, and had a wonderful memory, and that is why she became assistant ballet mistress. Right from the word go, she was the intelligent one in the group. But also, if anyone was down or had any problems, Pounder was always the one they would go to.’

Scene from Lola Montez, 1958. Betty acted as Assistant Director and Assistant Choreographer to George Carden.

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Scene from Lola Montez, 1958, with Mary Preston, Terry Marr and Kevan Johnston

National Library of Australia, Canberra

‘I would sit there in the dark and make rough notes in a little book and then do the routines in my hotel room and go back the next night and catch what I had missed.’

The Independent Theatre in Sydney borrowed her talents for their 1957 Australian show, Nex’ Town, which was set in a sideshow. J.C. Williamson stalwarts Minnie Love and Victor Hough were in the cast, Vic having been in the chorus of shows like No, No, Nanette, Rose Marie, Follow the Girls and Annie Get Your Gun with Betty when she was also a chorus member.

Pounder would be taking regular trips to New York to select shows as possible JCW productions until they folded in 1976, and as well as notating the dance routines for the shows which The Firm finally settled on, on her recommendations, she would be making detailed notes on the costumes, colours and fabrics, the sets, the lighting designs and cues, publicity etc. As Nancye Hayes pointed out, ‘Not only was Pounder writing all the choreography down, she was reproducing what she saw back at The Maj... the other way around to what she was looking at!!’ John Newman said, ‘She devised her own shorthand of dance. She would pay for her seat and sit up the back somewhere with her little notebook and write the steps down. She noted the lighting plot, the colours and details of the costumes and everything. She knew the whole show. Perhaps not officially, but practically, she produced the show.’

The Australian musical Lola Montezwas premiered by the Union Theatre Repertory Company in association with the Australian Elizabethan Trust at the Union Theatre at Melbourne University, opening on 19 February 1958. Later in the year the Trust presented a reworked, rescored, redesigned, recast and re-choreographed version of Lola Montez at Her Majesty’s in Brisbane (1 October 1958) and at the Elizabethan Theatre in Sydney (25 October 1958). For this new production Pounder was appointed assistant choreographer to George Carden, ‘courtesy of J.C. Williamson Theatres Ltd.’.

‘I'd like to see that show revived. It really didn’t get the chance it deserved the first time around. Unlike Broadway where shows have tryout seasons, everything here opens cold.’ Mary Preston (replacing Justine Rettick who created the role of Lola in Melbourne), Frank Wilson, Jane Martin, who would go on to play Eliza Doolittle in the second company of My Fair Lady,Bruce Barry, Fred Patterson were all in the cast. Sadly the reworked version was never staged in Melbourne.

Damn Yankeesalso had the Betty Pounder stamp with it played in Melbourne and Sydney during 1958.

Betty Pounder backstage at Her Majesty’s, 1950, when she was appointed Ballet Mistress

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

Embassy Ball scene from My Fair Lady, 1959, with Robin Bailey and Bunty Turner

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

‘Fred Astaire and the rest of them couldn’t get over the youth and beauty and energy that we have out here.’ (My Fair Lady)

My Fair Lady hit Australia in 1959 and was the biggest show to come to our shores since Annie Get Your Gun in 1947. The hype was huge and of course, Williamson’s wanted Pounder to reproduce the original Hanya Holm choreography, but the American producers would not have any of that. Pat Drylie, who was Dance Captain on the original 1956 Broadway production and Holm’s assistant, would be sent over to reproduce it here, along with Sam Liff who would reproduce Moss Hart’s direction, Liff having been Stage Director on the Broadway production. Typical of Pounder’s way, she happily stepped aside for the very serious and non-smiling Ms Drylie, but was always on hand to teach any of the dancers steps they were having trouble with. She was there in the background, but her presence was felt by all and the dancers knew they could go to her. Once the American team had gone back home, Pounder put her own stamp on the choreography, making small but improved changes. This would be something she would always do. Small changes but for the better of the overall look of the routines. She was listed in the program as ‘Ballet Mistress’. For the next seasons in Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne’s return season and the New Zealand and South African runs, the program credits read, ‘Original Choreography and Musical Numbers staged by HANYA HOLM. Adapted by PAT DRYLIE. Choreography for the Brisbane Production Staged by BETTY POUNDER.’

Fred Astaire, Betty Pounder and Gregory Peck with cast members of My Fair Lady, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, 1959

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

Scene from Grab Me a Gondola, 1959, featuring Guido Lorraine (with hat), Barbara Robinson and chorus

National Library of Australia, Canberra

A special treat came to Betty and the cast one night in Melbourne when Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Gregory Peck attended a performance and met everyone on the stage of Her Majesty’s at the end of the show during their time in town filming the movie, On The Beach.The original run of My Fair Lady was the biggest show in Australian Box Office history until the first season of The Phantom of The Opera in 1990.

Grab Me a Gondola also had Pounder as choreographer in the same year with favourites, Sheila Bradley, Tikki Taylor, John Newman, Robert Healey, Letty Craydon and Bill French. There was also a production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which was presented by Williamson’s in association with The Royal Shakespeare Company which Betty would work on.

ATN-Channel 7 borrowed Pounder for their televised 75 minute musical comedy presentation, Pardon Miss Westcott,with music, lyric and book team Peter Stannard, Peter Benjamin and Alan Burke, who also wrote the musical Lola Montez. The amount of work done in one year was proving just how incredibly hard working Betty was, not only for J.C. Williamson’s but also for other companies who they loaned her to.

The Union Theatre Repertory Company engaged Pounder to choreograph their review, Look Who’s Here in 1960. Anne Fraser did the sets and costumes, George Ogilvy directed while Wendy Pomroy was Musical Director. Fred Parslow, Joan Harris, Mary Hardy, Bob Hornery and Marion Edward were all in the cast.

To be continued

Keith Petersen as Oscar in The Odd Couple, 1966. National Library of Australia, Canberra.In Michael Powell’s 1966 film of They’re A Weird Mob there is a scene of an abusive drunk on the Manly Ferry who ends up in the harbour. It is quite a funny scene.

The actor was Keith Petersen and I hope he can be remembered for much more than this cameo in the iconic Australian film.

Born in 1919 in Port Macquarie the young Keith was clearly one of those people born to perform. He was only ten when he made his first appearance at the Princess Theatre while studying tap dancing with the legendary May Downs. He appeared in several juvenile roles and pantos. Keith had outstanding physical skills so it is not surprising that in his early years he joined a comic acrobatic group. This group played all over Australia.

Like many performers of his generation Keith loved vaudeville with a passion. I have spoken to many performers over the years and noticed how their eyes would always light up when I asked about the Tivoli or a variety show. Keith loved performing in the 1953/54 Harry Wren production of Thanks For the Memory with legends such as George Wallace Sr, Jim Gerald and Queenie Paul.

Keith appeared in several pantomimes. Strange that very few younger Australian audiences would know what a pantomime or ‘Panto’ is, yet years ago mums would take their young kids off to the Tivoli during holiday time to yell ‘he’s behind you!’ Pantos were a very quirky form of entertainment. The Principal Boy or lead was mostly played by a woman! The most famous in Australia was Jenny Howard.

There was quite a lot of audience participation in Panto with many popular phrases such ON NO I DIDN’T to which the audience would yell OH YES YOU DID! Lollies would be thrown out to the audience by the cast, to be eagerly caught by the kids. Panto was full of slapstick, campy humour and variety acts thrown in. Lots of jokes for the kids but the adults were not left out. There were many risqué jokes for the mums and dads. The kids were often laughing at very different things to their parents.

The most important role was a man dressed as a woman: the Pantomime Dame. These Dames were played by famous comedians of the day. Jim Gerald, George Wallace and numerous great stars of vaudeville played the Dame! The young Keith would watch the Dame, wishing he could talk to him and meet him. Keith vowed that one day he would play the Dame and go and meet the kids. The dream came true when he formed his own company and in full drag would greet the kids after the show. For over three years he played the Dame throughout Victoria and South Australia, touring with his wife and fifteen-month-old baby.

He played Dame Trot in a production of Jack and the  Beanstalk. His wife Joy played Second Boy. At that time fashion was changing because as frocks were becoming short and skimpy there was nothing to burlesque. Keith studied the makeup of the day very carefully. He often said that he would look at the very good and then do the opposite! ‘You then,’ he said ‘HAD A DAME!’

He experimented especially with hats and wore a different one in each performance. He LOVED feathers!

It could be argued that in some ways Panto was ‘gender bending’ way before it became a social and equality issue. In Pantos they often used a children’s dance school to build up the size of the cast. Keith did this a child as we know. Pantos were musical with lovely sets and costumes.

It is hard to understand why pantomimes disappeared from theatre. I loved my days going off to see pantos. I still remember seeing Robinson Crusoe On Ice starring the popular comedian, Jackie Clancy.

Yet even though we do not see much Panto today in Australia it is alive and well in the UK. At Christmas holiday time people flock to theatres all over the UK to celebrate this great theatrical tradition.

Programme cover for Ice Parade, Princess Theatre, Melbourne, 1953

Theatre Heritage Australia

Programme cover for Cinderella On Ice, Empire Theatre, Sydney, 1958

Theatre Heritage Australia

Often the cast members of an evening vaudeville show would also perform two matinee performances of a Panto and then the nightly show. Three performances a day! This happened in the case of Ice Parade which Keith played in Sydney Adelaide and Melbourne. These kinds of shows were popular. They were performed on ice and on stage. In Ice Parade Keith played alongside the Kermond Brothers, Enzo Toppano and Peggy Mortimer. It was a colourful expensive show! Keith even learned ice skating!

Then during the day Keith performed in Cinderella On Ice. This was a lavish spectacular Panto performed at the Princess Theatre with the Carroll Management. Cinderella was played beautifully by Peggy Mortimer. Keith often formed friendships with fellow cast members and kids loved him. Peta Toppano recalls ‘Uncle Keith’ taking her skating.

Keith played the role of Buttons in Cinderella. It is a tricky part because although it’s comedy there is an element of pathos needed to play a good Buttons. He is Cinderella’s best friend but he also loves her. Cinderella however does not love Buttons and Cinders always lives happily ever after with the handsome Prince. Keith was a perfect Buttons.

Some may be surprised about an artist doing more than one show a night but this was not unusual in vaudeville. Keith performed in all areas of entertainment. His career in musical comedy was extraordinary.

Musicals in Australia were often cast with an overseas import. There are several theories why JCW and Carrolls did this. Often the stars were not stars at all but understudies or even minor cast members of a few shows. Still what many of the critics of this policy forget is that these performers often stayed in Australia and contributed much to Australia theatre. Australia would be the poorer without Hayes Gordon, Sheila Bradley, Johnny Ladd, Jeff Warren and so many others.

Still many wondered why we could not have an all Australian cast. We certainly had the talent. It was the great choreographer, Betty Pounder, who often ‘pushed’ for this. There was a strike once which made it impossible for imported artists to come here. The Aussies seized the day!

Programme cover for The Pajama Game, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, 1957

Theatre Heritage Australia

Toni Lamond as Babe Williams in The Pajama Game, 1957

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

In 1957 it finally happened. JCW took a gamble and they presented The Pajama Game with an ALL AUSTRALIAN CAST. It starred Toni Lamond, Bill Newman (then called William) and Keith Petersen in the role of Mr Hines.

Hines is a great part. It is the third lead and for Keith it was a triumph. It gave him the chance to sing dance and really strut his stuff.

There is a lovely number in the show when Mr Hines, who suffers from pangs of jealousy, gets advice from Mabel in a song which became a show stopper ‘I’ll never be jealous again’. Keith sang this with a relatively unknown actress who was playing a much older character than she really was. Her name? Jill Perryman!

Pajama Game toured Australia and New Zealand for two and a half years. Keith, like other JCW performers, not only did the show, he became involved in the show’s promotion. He appeared at Hordens Department store promoting blankets. He was on radio, TV and many public appearances promoting the show. It was a tough schedule.

Programme cover for Once Upon a Mattress, Princess Theatre, Melbourne, 1959

Theatre Heritage Australia

Patsy Hemingway as Lady Larken, John Hunter as the Jester and Keith Petersen as the King in Once Upon a Mattress. 1959. Photograph by Zeus Merfield.

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

In 1962 Carrolls presented Once Upon A Mattress and Keith had great fun playing the King. This role was mimed because the King cannot speak and Keith was both poignant and funny. The show starred Gloria Dawn. Keith and Gloria were great friends and later worked on a show called Peaches and Screams. Mattress later starred Sheila Bradley. Keith’s performance in Once Upon A Mattress eared him much acclaim including the Sydney Press annual awards for which he won ‘comedy performance of the year’.

For a few years Keith returned to vaudeville and toured with the Tivoli in Many Happy Returns and Yellzapoppin. He performed with great stars like Gladys Moncrieff, Jenny Howard and others.

Jim Gerald, Keith Petersen and George Wallace Jr in a sketch in Many Happy Returns, c.1960

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Programme cover for Wildcat, Princess Theatre, Melbourne, 1963

Theatre Heritage Australia

In 1963 came Wildcat. This was a vehicle on Broadway for Lucille Ball, giving the ‘Queen of Television’ her first show on Broadway. Wildcat on Broadway had nothing but problems. It is a lovely show and terribly underrated. On Broadway there was more emphasis on Ball than on the show itself. When Ball became ill the show floundered.

Carrolls took a huge risk on Wildcat. They did see that it was actually a good show and also it would be relevant to Australia because of our growth of oil refineries and mining. This is the setting for Wildcat and it is about Wildy and when she struck oil.

The starring role went to one of Australia’s great stars, Toni Lamond, and her co-star was by Gordon Boyd. The comedy role of Sookie went to Keith. The showstopper was Keith and Toni singing ‘What takes my fancy’. Some sources claim that the Australian production reinstated the duet for Sookie (Keith) and Wildy (Toni) ‘Ain’t it sad, ain’t it mean’ which was cut  from the Broadway production yet I cannot find it listed on my programme.

Wildcat has a wonderful score and a pleasant enough book. When one listens to the score you wonder why it was not a more successful show. Toni Lamond was at her peak and from all accounts was excellent. Wildcat is one of those shows that deserved more success than it got.

When the American director Fred Hebert directed Keith in The Pajama Game he was so impressed with him that he invited him to play Oscar in Neil Simon’s smash hit comedy The Odd Couple. The cigar smoking Keith relished the role and delivered one of his best performances. He was teamed with Fred Parslow as the whimpering and obsessive Felix. There was a superb chemistry between Keith and Fred and it is a pity they did not get to work together more often. I have seen many productions of The Odd Couple and no one has been as good as Keith and Fred.

John Newman and Keith Petersen in the Duelling Scene from Can-Can, 1958

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Judy Nunn, Keith Petersen, Yvonne Matthew and Fred Parslow in The Odd Couple, 1966. Photo by Rembrandt Enterprises, Sydney.

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Other productions in which he appeared included Simple Spymen, TheRoaring Twenties, a stint in Can-Can and even the light opera Die Fledermaus.

Throughout the sixties he was resident comedian at the Bankstown Sundowner Hotel where he frequently worked with his good friends Gloria Dawn and Frank Cleary. Keith was a regular act at the clubs around NSW donning his trademark baggy suit and cracking gags. His famous cigar and hat routines were pure vaudeville.

He often finished his routines with a tap dance and even thrilling his audiences by doing the splits!

He worked with many headline acts on the Club circuit. One of Keith’s most unusual ventures was an attempt in his later years to bring vaudeville back to the suburbs. Keith argued that audiences had not changed all that much and many longed for a return to vaudeville.

Business card for Keith Petersen’s West Side Theatre Restaurant. Courtesy of Vanessa Berry, Mirror Sydney, https://mirrorsydney.wordpress.com/tag/keith-petersen/

The business card (above) is for the West Side Theatre Restaurant in Marrickville. Keith argued that the working class people wanted a return to variety as much as anyone else. In 1967 he opened what he regarded the most lavish theatre restaurant in Australia. From all accounts it was beautiful.

Keith was the manager and of course a performer and Edwin Duff, various guest artists and thirteen dancers were in the cast. There was also a dance floor.

As a kind of hobby, Keith had a pig farm near Campbelltown. He often joked that he was so busy he had no time for his pigs any more and pigs were his ‘relaxation’.

In 1970 Keith mounted the pantomime Dick Whittington.It starred his wife Lynette and a newcomer called John Farnham. It was a brave noble venture, but it was not  a complete success.

Keith died in 1971 near Campbelltown.

While writing this it has struck me as sad we do not have many video records of Keith at his best. It would be great to see some of his live performances. As a teacher I often ask my students why they want to be actors. Most often (but thankfully not always) they respond saying that they want to be famous or get into Neighbours! Artists like Keith Petersen simply had to perform. He loved a connection with a live audience. He was hardly ever out of work, living by the old show biz slogan... no job too big or too small.

As I spoke to performers they smile when they talk of Keith … they say, ‘He was a trouper’ I can think of no greater epitaph!

The ‘On the Rue de la Paris’ scene in Many Happy Returns, c.1960, with Keith Petersen (costumed as a gentleman’s pissoir!), George Wallace Jr (checked shirt) and Jim Gerald (as the blind man). National Library of Australia, Canberra.

Very special thanks to Frank Van Straten for his assistance with the preparation of this article.

Celebrated French entertainer, Maurice Chevalier, interrupting a revival of his American film career, starred in a one man show for a month from 24 February 1960. The Phillip Street Revue, from Sydney’s Phillip Street Theatre, ran just over a month from 21 May, preceding Cyril Ritchard and Cornelia Otis Skinner in The Pleasure of His Company, a comedy by Samuel Taylor and Ms Skinner, which began its nine-week run on 2 July. The year ended with two serious plays: an AETT production of Brendan Behan’s The Hostage and Clifford Odets’ Winter Journey, which starred Googie Withers and ran two months to 25 January 1961. Then came Somerset Maugham’s The Constant Wife, also with Withers, until 29 March.

Program cover for Irma La Douce, 1961

Theatre Heritage Australia

Flyer for The Sentimental Bloke, 1961

National Library of Australia, Canberra

17 June 1961 brought that uncommon Comedy attraction—a musical—Irma La Douce, which had flopped in Sydney but ran here for over four months. This was followed by an even rarer bird—a successful Australian musical: The Sentimental Bloke, with book and score based on C.J. Dennis’s poems by Albert Arlen and his wife, Nancy Brown with Lloyd Thomas, which also ran for over four months from 4 November.

Program cover for The Miracle Worker, 1962

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Woman in a Dressing Gown, 1962

Theatre Heritage Australia

Highlights of 1962 included an AETT production of The Miracle Worker, British actor Robert Speaight in A Man for All Seasons and—much lighter and more successful—Under the Yum Yum Tree, a comedy which played for over two months from 8 August. 9 November brought back Googie Withers in Ted Willis’s Woman in a Dressing Gown, which ran until 19 December. This was revived for a few weeks from 30 April 1963, following famed French mime, Marcel Marceau, who had been appearing for most of that month.

Program cover for Goodnight Mrs. Puffin, starring Irene Handl, 1963

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Mary, Mary, starring Derek Farr and Muriel Pavlow, 1963

Theatre Heritage Australia

Who’ll Come A-Waltzing, a local comedy by Peggy Caine, ran six weeks from 22 May 1963, followed by another six weeks for British comic actress Irene Handl in Goodnight Mrs. Puffin, which was also revived late in November. Another fondly remembered English comedienne was Joyce Grenfell who brought her own show here for a few weeks from 29 August, followed by Muriel Pavlow, Derek Farr and Dermot Walsh in the comedy Mary, Maryfor eight weeks from 18 September.

Program cover for John Gielgud in Ages of Man, 1963

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for The First Four Hundred Years, 1963

Theatre Heritage Australia

1963’s most distinguished visitor was Sir John Gielgud, who performed his Shakespearian compendium, Ages of Man, between 9 and 28 December. A completely different but equally celebrated performer was American comedian Jack Benny, who played the Comedy between 16 and 26 March 1964. That year was also the quatro-centenary of Shakespeare’s birth, celebrated here by The First 400 Years—excerpts from the most famous plays starring Googie Withers and Keith Michell for three weeks from 23 April.

Program cover for Flanders and Swann in At the Drop of a Hat, 1964

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Go Tell It On the Mountain, 1964

Theatre Heritage Australia

A couple of comedies—Never Too Late and Rattle of a Simple Man—the latter with local husband and wife John Meillon and June Salter—then preceded Britain’s Michael Flanders and Donald Swann in their famous revue, At the Drop of a Hat, for a month from 29 August. Go Tell It On the Mountain, an all negro folk-song entertainment, saw out the year and made way for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre from 16 February 1965.

Program cover for Difference of Opinion, starring Robert Flemyng, 1965

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Barry Humphries’ Excuse I: Another Nice Night’s Entertainment, 1965

Theatre Heritage Australia

British actor Robert Flemyng starred in Difference of Opinion for two months from 25 March 1965, then came Googie Withers and Richard Wordsworth in Beekman Place, followed by the bare breasted Guinean dancers of Les Ballets Africains, and then another Britisher, Robin Bailey, in another drama, A Severed Head. That most original of all Australian entertainers, Barry Humphries, was given his first hometown season at a major theatre in Excuse I, which began a three-week run on 20 September and proved popular enough for a three week revival from 5 February 1966.

Googie Withers in Desire of the Moth, 1966

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

Terry McDermott & Darlene Johnson in Cactus Flower, 1966

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Other familiar faces in 1966 included Googie Withers, now partnered by Ed Devereaux, in a new local play, Desire of the Moth, from 5 March, and Irene Handl in a comedy-thriller, Busybody, from 16 April. The Melbourne premiere of the musical The Boys from Syracuse began on 8 June, followed by returns of Les Ballets Africains on 3 August and Joyce Grenfell on 31 August. Fresh attractions included the Phillip Street revue, A Cup of Tea, a Bex and a Good Lie Down, doing seven weeks from 20 September and Cactus Flower, an American comedy with a local cast, which closed just over a month after its 19 November opening.

Keith Petersen as Oscar in The Odd Couple, 1966

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Suzanne Steele as Aldonza in Man of La Mancha, 1967

National Library of Australia, Canberra

More successful was Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, with Keith Petersen and Frederick Parslow, beginning a two-month run on New Year’s Eve. 11 March 1967 brought a much bigger hit with the British musical, Half a Sixpence, starring Scottish actor Mark McManus. This ran four months and was followed by a British comedy, There’s a Girl in My Soup, with expatriate Ron Randell (ten weeks from 14 July) and another musical, Man of La Mancha, with Charles West and Suzanne Steele, whose first four-month run here was later topped in the show’s numerous revivals.

Program cover for Black Comedy, 1968

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Oh, What a Lovely War, 1968

Theatre Heritage Australia

British comic actor Alfred Marks starred in his London success, Spring and Port Wine, for two months from 10 February 1968. Black Comedy and White Liars, two Peter Shaffer one-acters, made an unexpectedly modernist Comedy attraction for three weeks from 23 May, and from 15 July Barry Humphries was back for a month in Just a Show. Also of note that year was a South African musical, Wait a Minim, which ran seven weeks from 26 September and the British musical satire, Oh, What a Lovely War, in a St Martin’s production that ran 25 nights from 23 November.

Program cover for The Boy Friend, 1969

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Plaza Suite, 1970

Theatre Heritage Australia

Musicals again predominated in 1969: a revival of The Boy Friend, directed by its author, Sandy Wilson, ran for three months from 15 February, but Your Own Thing, a ‘mod’ musicalisation of Twelfth Night, flopped badly after four weeks from 7 June. More successful was the bawdy British Canterbury Tales, which did ten weeks from 16 August and was revived for a couple of months from 31 December. Prior to this Googie Withers and Alfred Sandor co-starred in Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite, which did seven weeks from 5 November and was also revived for a month from 9 May 1970. Another month-long revival from 1 July 1970 was The Secretary Bird, a comedy with Patrick McNee, which had originally played at the Princess.

Program cover for Sleuth, 1971

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Jesus Christ Revolution, 1972

Theatre Heritage Australia

22 October 1970 was the advertised opening for Anthony Shaffer’s comic thriller Sleuth, starring Patrick Wymark, a formidable presence in several British TV series. Just 48 hours before this, however, the 44-year-old Wymark died suddenly in his Melbourne hotel suite and the season was cancelled. Entrepreneur Harry M. Miller rushed in a revival of The Boys in the Band to salvage the booking, but it was not until 30 June 1971 that Sleuth had its Melbourne premiere with Stratford Johns, also from British TV, now the star.

Sleuth ran for two months and was followed by another Miller attraction, a British Army drama called Conduct Unbecoming, with English pop singer Mark Wynter, which closed exactly a month after its 9 September opening. Another flop which opened on 8 January 1972 was The Jesus Christ Revolution, a locally-penned religious rock opera. Backed by erratic Sydney entrepreneur Harry Wren, this closed after three weeks, leaving its cast stranded and unpaid.

Program cover for Last of the Red Hot Lovers, starring Harry H. Corbett, 1972

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for The Mating Season, starring Sidney James, 1972

Theatre Heritage Australia

In September 1971 J.C. Williamson had amalgamated with Perth entrepreneur Michael Edgley to form a subsidiary company, Williamson–Edgley Theatres. Their first show at the Comedy was the farce Move Over Mrs Markham, with British stars Honor Blackman and Michael Craig, from 3 March 1972. Harry H. Corbett, another popular British TV, performer, followed them on 6 May in Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers, which also played two months. Googie Withers returned on 12 July in an MTC company with Dennis Olsen, Dinah Shearing and Frank Thring in The Cherry Orchard and An Ideal Husband. But the most popular performer that year was British film and TV comic Sidney James, who had a ten-week run in the farce The Mating Season from 30 September. The new management also installed bars and additional toilets in the theatre during the year.

Program cover for How the Other Half Loves, starring Robert Morley, 1973

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Suddenly at Home, starring Michael Craig, 1973

Theatre Heritage Australia

Robert Morley, back for just 28 days in Alan Ayckbourn’s How the Other Half Loves, from 15 January, reopened the Comedy in 1973. Other highlights included Sir Michael Redgrave in John Mortimer’s A Voyage Round My Father (six weeks from 14 March) and another ten-week MTC season from 12 September, beginning with Alex Buzo’s Batman’s  Beach Head and ending with Lewis Esson’s 1912 comedy The Time Is Not Yet Ripe. In between came more familiar Comedy fare: The Love Game, a British farce with Bernard Cribbins, and Suddenly At Home, a thriller with Michael Craig.

Program cover for the English National Theatre production of The Front Page, 1974

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover As It’s Played Today, 1974

Theatre Heritage Australia

26 February 1974 brought more of the same with Eric Sykes and Jimmy Edwards in Big, Bad Mouse but an Old Tote Theatre Company production of David Williamson’s What If You Died Tomorrow?was followed by an immaculate English National Theatre production of Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur’s 1928 comedy The Front Page on 14 May. Leslie Phillips in The Man Most Likely To... and a fortnight by Marcel Marceau preceded Barry Humphries in At Least You Can Say You’ve Seen It. This did well during its eight weeks from 21 August and was followed by As It’s Played Today, a contemporary satire written and acted by John McCallum, which did not.

Program cover for The Male of the Species, starring Edward Woodward, 1975

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Why Not Stay for Breakfast?, starring Derek Nimmo, 1975

Theatre Heritage Australia

Patrick Cargill in the self-explanatory Two and Two Make Sex played eight weeks from 14 February 1975 and on 23 April came Edward Woodward and Michele Dotrice in Alan Owen’s The Male of the Species. Scapino, a farce adapted from Moliere, with Barry Crocker, arrived on 19 June then, after a month’s darkness, came Derek Nimmo on 5 September in Why Not Stay for Breakfast?, another farce which stayed for ten weeks.

Very funny British drag duo Patrick Fyffe and George Logan as Hinge and Bracket became the first night-time attraction of 1976 from 28 April. Hard on their high heels came a fortnight by Luisillo and his Spanish Dancers—their first season here since the early 1960s and their last ever at the Comedy. Eric Dare presented Lindsay Kemp and friends in Flowers, their striking paean to Jean Genet for a month from 18 June. Neil Simon’s Same Time Next Year brought back more conservative audiences for six weeks from 30 July; ditto Susannah York and Barrie Ingham in Private Lives for a month from 15 October. This was to be the last of the old style in-house productions by J.C. Williamson’s at the Comedy, for The Firm, which had been plagued by continual losses throughout the 1970s, now faced drastic reorganisation and reductions.

Program cover for The Two of Us, starring John Thaw and Sheila Hancock, 1977

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for The Pleasure of His Company, starring Douglas Fairbanks Jnr, 1977

Theatre Heritage Australia

Apart from a daytime panto in January, the theatre was left dark until 16 March 1977 when English husband and wife, John Thaw and Sheila Hancock, starred in four Michael Frayn two-handers under the title The Two of Us. ‘J.C. Williamson’s may be dead but the malady that afflicted it apparently lingers on,’ The Age commented, although it was a little kinder to the equally conventional The Pleasure of His Company, whose starry cast included Douglas Fairbanks Jnr, David Langton, Stanley Holloway and Carol Raye. Originally scheduled for two weeks from 25 April, it was extended an extra week when the cast was stranded by an air traffic controllers’ strike, and also returned for a couple of weeks late in November.

Program cover for Side By Side Sondheim, 1977

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for the Chichester Festival Theatre’s productions of Othello / The Apple Cart, 1978

Theatre Heritage Australia

The next attraction, a stage spin-off from British TV, was Doctor in Love, which ran six weeks from 14 June and was most notable as marking English entrepreneur and future owner of the theatre, Paul Dainty’s first association with the Comedy. Mike Stott’s comedy, Funny Peculiar, followed this for seven weeks then, on 1 October, came an Old Tote production of Patrick White’s Big Toys for five weeks. Year’s end brought the musical compilation Side By Side Sondheim, which ran eight weeks from 24 November.

An early highlight of 1978 was the 28 February opening of a company from England’s Chichester Festival Theatre. Headed by Keith Michell and including Roy Dotrice, Nyree Dawn Porter, Nigel Stock and June Jago, they appeared in Othello and The Apple Cart. But the most important event for the Comedy itself was its auction by J.C. Williamson’s on 2 May. An Age report of 22 April noted that the theatre now seated 1008, was valued for rating purposes at over $1 million and that ‘Land tax on the site for a single owner would be about $30 000 a year, but it might be possible for an owner to make $100 000 a year in rent from it if it could be booked almost continually.’ The Comedy was passed in for $800 000 and sold for this sum in June to the Paul Dainty Corporation while Love Thy Neighbour, another Dainty attraction from British TV, was playing.

Program cover for Barry Humphries’ Isn’t He Pathetic At His Age, 1978

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for The Kingfisher, 1978

Theatre Heritage Australia

Barry Humphries’ Isn’t It Pathetic At His Age? proved his most popular yet here with a nine week extended run from 24 July 1978, and from 1 to 25 November Norwegian film actress Liv Ulmann starred in Chekhov’s The Bear and Cocteau’s The Human Voice. Googie Withers and John McCallum returned as a duo for the first time in nearly twenty years in William Douglas Home’s The Kingfisher on 29 November. They enjoyed a run extended to 3 February 1979 but the series of other recent overseas successes with local casts that followed—Dracula, Bedroom Farce, Deathtrap, P.S. Your Cat Is Dead—all failed to equal this.

Program cover for The Day After the Fair starring Deborah Kerr, 1979

Theatre Heritage Australia

Terry McDermott and Sydney Conabere in Flexitime, 1979

Raymond Stanley collection, State Library Victoria, Melbourne

The acclaimed Philippe Genty puppet company from France stayed for three weeks from 7 August 1979, then came Deborah Kerr in The Day After the Fair for six weeks from 11 September, and three weeks of Roger Hall’s Flexitime from 30 November—a few months after its first success at the Alexander Theatre at Monash University.

Program cover for The Old Country starring Robert Morley, 1980

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Shut Your Eyes and Think of England starring Derek Nimmo, 1980

Theatre Heritage Australia

Robert Morley, making his final Comedy appearance, failed to draw in Alan Bennett’s cerebral drama The Old Country, in February 1980, and the rest of that year showed something of the same patchiness that had afflicted the theatre in its last years under Williamson’s control. There was variety aplenty however: Spike Milligan was here late in April, and Derek Nimmo in the farce Shut Your Eyes and Think of England ran for seven weeks from 10 May. Vincent Price impersonated Oscar Wilde in the compilation Diversions and Delights for a fortnight from 28 July; Robyn Archer revived A Star is Torn for three weeks from 13 August; Jeannie Lewis starred in Pam Gems’ Piaf for seven weeks from 20 September and 10 November brought An Evening with Dave Allen.

Program cover for They’re Playing Our Song starring John Waters and Jacki Weaver, 1981

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Chicago, 1981

Theatre Heritage Australia

Neil Simon’s musical two-hander They’re Playing Our Song, with John Waters and Jacki Weaver, opened on 9 January 1981 and played until 9 May, giving the Comedy its longest run in years. After this came Robert Coleby in the comedy of quadriplegia. Whose Life Is It Anyway? for six weeks from 13 May, then Warren Mitchell and Gordon Chater in The Dresser for five weeks from 8 July. A Sydney Theatre Company production of the musical Chicago, with Nancye Hayes and Geraldine Turner, scored the second longest run of the year with ten weeks from 5 September, and 23 November brought three weeks of Danny La Rue in Revue.

Program cover for Candide, 1982

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Steaming, 1982

Theatre Heritage Australia

The Rocky Horror Show, with Daniel Abineri as Rocky and Stuart Wagstaff as Narrator, returned for fifteen weeks from 7 January 1982 and became one of the Comedy’s staple revival attractions over the next few years. Two flops followed, however—One Mo’ Time (‘the great New Orleans musical’) and a musicalised version of Candide. From 9 September the Comedy was screening films for the first time in over forty years, beginning with a revival double bill of The Life of Brian and The Elephant Man. Live theatre returned on 22 November when Nell Dunn’s Steaming was first produced here; although it initially ran only a month it enjoyed three revivals over the next eight years.

Program cover for The Circle, 1983

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Born Yesterday, starring Jacki Weaver, 1983

Theatre Heritage Australia

Googie Withers and John McCallum in Maugham’s The Circle got 1983 off to a good start with an eight-week run from 18 January but the rest of the year provided very few highlights: Michael Frayn’s comedy Noises Off with Carol Raye, Stuart Wagstaff and Barry Creyton in the cast, began a five-week run on 20 April—and a revival of Born Yesterday with Jacki Weaver also did five weeks from 12 October.

Program cover for The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin, starring Gordon Chater, 1984

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Children of a Lesser God, starring Elizabeth Quinn and John Waters, 1984

Theatre Heritage Australia

New Year’s Eve brought the Rice–Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which drew until 10 March 1984. Gordon Chater’s brilliant solo performance of The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin was revived for a month from 16 March and two new plays—Mark Medoff’s drama of deafness, Children of a Lesser God, and Donald McDonald’s local comedy, Caravan, were both AETT subsidised attractions in the second half of the year.

Program cover for Stardust, starring Googie Wither and John McCallum, 1985

Theatre Heritage Australia

Program cover for Stepping Out, 1985

Theatre Heritage Australia

A Withers–McCallum vehicle which did less well than usual, although it was specially written for them, was Ted Willis’s Stardust, which managed only five weeks from 3 January 1985. A ‘monster musical’, The Little Shop of Horrors, followed for six weeks from 26 February and on 10 August came another musical, Stepping Out, with Rowena Wallace, Carol Raye, Collette Mann and Nancye Hayes, which did business for eight weeks. British TV comics Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones arrived for a week in Alas the World on 15 November and last up for the year was a short series of concerts by Renee Geyer—another attempt to fill the increasing gaps between more orthodox attractions.

Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs was the first show of 1986, doing six weeks from 1 February. Later came Alan Bleasdale’s vasectomy comedy, Having a Ball…!, also for six weeks from 11 June, and A Coupla White Chicks, with Rowena Wallace and Collette Mann, which ran a month from 13 August.

To be continued