Australia

The Girl Friend

Musical comedy in two acts by R.P. Weston & Bert Lee, adapted from Kitty’s Kisses by Philip Bartholomae & Otto Harbach; lyrics and music by Con Conrad, Gus Kahn, Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart. Presented by J.C. Williamson Ltd. (by arrangement with Herbert Clayton and Jack Waller Ltd.) Directed by Frederick Blackman. Dances invented and arranged by Minnie Hooper. Orchestra under the direction of Andrew MacCunn (Sydney) / Cyril Connolly (Melbourne). Scenery by Leslie Board, W. Little, George Dixon and W.R. Coleman. Frocks by J.C. Williamson Ltd. Modes (Melbourne) and Mrs. Grundy (J.C. Williamson Ltd., Sydney). Gentlemen’s wardrobe by W. Chorley & Co. and Farmer & Co. Ltd. Sydney. Shoes by Macnaught Shoe Stores Ltd., and Theo King’s. Wigs by Michau.

Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney, 31 December 1927–30 March 1928

Theatre Royal, Sydney, 31 March–25 April 1928

Theatre Royal, Melbourne, 28 April–13 July 1928

Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, 21 July–20 September 1928

His Majesty’s Theatre, Brisbane, 6–16 October 1928

Theatre Royal, Sydney, 16–25 January 1929

Theatre Royal, Adelaide, 13–26 April 1929

Annie Croft as Kitty Brown (Act 2, Scene 3)

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Reginald Sharland. Photo by Guttenberg, Manchester.

Elisabeth Kumm collection

The Cast

Sheet music cover for ‘I Do Like Being in Love with You’, sung by Annie Croft & Reginald Sharland in The Peep Show, 1921

Sheet Music Warehouse

Annie Croft & Reginald Sharland in My Son John, 1926

British Pathé

The lead roles of Kitty Brown and Robert Mason were played by the husband and wife duo of Annie Croft (1892-1959) and Reginald Sharland (1886-1944). They both heralded from the UK and prior to accepting the engagement with J.C. Williamson Ltd. they had been seen in the revues The Peep Show (1921) and Brighter London (1923) and the musical My Son John (1926). In addition, Annie Croft also appeared in the London production of Poppy (1924) and on tour in Kid Boots (1926).

Reginald Sharland and Annie Croft with producer Frederick Blackman, on their arrival in Sydney, 13 December 1927. Photo by Sam Hood.

State Library of New South Wales, Sydney

With My Son John, Annie Croft’s star was on the rise, and when the offer came for her and her husband to play the leads in the musical Oh, Kay! (taking over from Gertrude Lawrence and Oscar Shaw) on Broadway, they jumped at the opportunity. However on their arrival in New York they learned that the production was delayed, and after waiting for ten weeks, decided to cut their losses and return home. According to an article in the London Evening News (22 October 1927), when Annie Croft arrived back in London, she received offers from numerous producers keen to acquire her services. However, while in New York she had already signed with Sir George Tallis on behalf of J.C. Williamson Ltd., to play the lead in the Australian premieres of The Girl Friend and Hit the Deck.

Contract agreements between them and JCW (in the Australian Performing Arts Collection, Art Centre Melbourne) show that Annie Croft and Reginald Sharland were engaged for an initial period of one year, with the option of renewal for a further twelve months. Annie Croft was on £80 per week and her husband on £50. The couple duly arrived in Australia in December 1927 with their young son David,† ahead of the opening of The Girl Friend at Her Majesty’s Theatre on 31 December. In advertisements announcing the production, Annie Croft was introduced with the line: “When Annie Croft smiles, the world smiles too.”

The supporting cast were mainly Australian performers drawn from the ranks of JCW’s musical comedy and drama companies. Lorna Helms (1902–1981), returning to Australia after eighteen-months in London, was engaged to play Jennie, the telephone operator. In London she had played a supporting role in Seventh Heaven, a drama in which the American actress Helen Menken made her UK debut. Prior to her departure, Lorna Helms had typically performed maid roles, so her appearance in a lead comedy part was a hugh step up. Following The Girl Friend, she went on to create the role of Susan in the first Australian production of The Desert Song, but at the end of the season, her stage career came to an end when she became Mrs. T.F. Thompson.

Another young Australian in the cast was Rowena Ronald (b.1903). In 1925, her marriage to actor-vocalist Herbert Browne caused ‘a flutter in Sydney’, but the union did not last, and they were divorced in 1935. Prior to her departure for the UK in 1931 she performed with the Vanbrugh-Boucicault company and in Lombardi Limited in support of Leo Carrillo.

Actress Marie Le Varre (1891–1967) first came to Australia in 1919 under engagement to Hugh D. McIntosh to play the lead in My Lady Frayle at the Tivoli. Over the next eighteen years she was a regular on the Australian stage. She returned to England in 1937, but by 1951 she was back in Australia for good. Marie Le Varre played the role of Mrs. Dennison during the opening Sydney season only, with May Beatty assuming the role thereafter. May Beatty (1880-1945) was a New Zealand-born actress who had cut her teeth in musical comedy during the 1890s. She was returning to Australia after some time abroad, performing notably ‘principal boy’ roles in pantomime in England. Another New Zealand actress was Katie Towers (1870–1946). She was a veteran performer, having been on the stage in Australia since the age of four. She specialised in grande dames and servant roles, and as Mary, the chambermaid, in The Girl Friend, one critic observed: “Katie Towers can always be depended upon for a fine character interpretation, and her Mary was a cameo of art.”

Gus Bluett (1902–1936) was born into a theatrical family, and like his father, Fred Bluett, was a skilled comic. During his all-too-short life, he played supporting roles in musical comedy for JCW, beginning with Hello, Everyone in 1918 and ending with Yes, Madame? in 1936. On his death, one commentator noted: “There has scarcely been a musical comedy in Australia that he has not brightened with his happy work.”

In 1928, Sydney-born Frank Leighton (1908–1962) was still a relative new-comer to the stage, having made his stage debut with JCW four years previous. His versatility saw him rise from supporting player to leading man, and when he reached London in 1937, he lost no time establishing himself in lead roles in musical comedies and revues. In 1939 he married Australian actress Nellie Barnes.

British-born Leo Fanklyn (1897–1975), who played the comedy role of Jerry, had arrived in Australia in January 1927, engaged by JCW as a replacement to George Gee (who had created the role of Jerry in London). Franklyn had made his Australian debut in the musical Tell Me More and was JCW’s leading musical comedy comedian for the next decade. Later in the 1950s and 1960s he would be associated with Ray Cooney and the Whitehall comedies.

The show’s director, Frederick Blackman (1879–1951), had been brought to Australia earlier in the year (1927) to direct the first Australian production of Madame Pompadour, having directed the show at Daly’s Theatre in London. Following Pompadour, his next assignment for Williamson’s was The Student Prince, with Castles in the Air and The Girl Friend to follow. Blackman came to Australia with impressive credentials, having spent twenty-four years at Daly’s Theatre, first as an actor, then as a stage manager, and finally for ten years as a director. He would remain in Australia, and over the next twenty-five years would be responsible for staging hundreds of shows for JCW.

† David Croft (née Sharland) (1922–2011) became well-known as the co-creator and writer of such British TV sit-coms as Dad’s Army, Are You Being Served?, It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, ’Allo ’Allo! and Hi-de-Hi!

Act 1, Scene 1: A Railway Siding on the Canadian Pacific Railway

Act 1, Scene 3: Lounge of the Hotel Wendell

Act 2, Scene 1: The Blue Bridal Suite of the Hotel Wendell

Act 2, Scene 3: The Garden of the Hotel Wendell

The Scenes

Act 1, Scene 1—A Railway Siding on the Canadian Pacific Railway

Scene 2—In the Dining Car

Scene 3—Lounge of the Hotel Wendell. (Evening.)

 Act 2, Scene 1—The Blue Bridal Suite of the Hotel Wendell. (Later the same evening.)

Scene 2—A Corridor of the Hotel

Scene 3—The Garden of the Hotel Wendell

Sheet music cover for ‘There Must Be a Silver Lining’, featuring Annie Croft on the cover

State Library Victoria, Melbourne

Sheet music cover for ‘The Song is Ended’, sung by Annie Croft

National Library of Australia, Canberra

The Songs

* Sydney only

** Melbourne only

*** Brisbane only

Of the songs, most of the London numbers were retained, with the exception of ‘We Gotta Have Rain’ and ‘What’s the Use of Talking’. The first named seems to have been replaced by a reprise of ‘The Blue Room’, while the latter was replaced by either ‘I Travel the Road’ or ‘There Must be a Silver Lining’. ‘I Travel the Road’, with words by Donovan Parsons and music by Pat Thayer, was recorded by Peter Dawson in the 1930s. ‘There Must be a Silver Lining’ (not to be confused with ‘Look for the Silver Lining’ by Jerome Kern) was written by Dolly Morse, with music by Walter Donaldson. Another number, by Verdi Kendel and Louis Forbstein, ‘What’s the Use of Crying’, was introduced into Act 2, Scene 1 as an additional song for Annie Croft and Gus Bluett. Another interpolated number sung by Annie Croft was the 1927 Irving Berlin song ‘The Song is Ended (but the Melody Lingers On)’ as evidenced by the sheet music (pictured above) from the National Library of Australia.

The popularity of the show was enhanced by the familiarity that the audience had with the songs. Many had become familiar by means of the gramophone and the player-piano, including ‘The Blue Room’, ‘I Travel the Road’, ‘I’m in Love’, ‘Early in the Morning’, ‘What’s the Use of Crying’ and ‘Mountain Greenery’.

The Reviews

“THE GIRL FRIEND”

GETS A GLAD HAND AT HER MAJESTY’S

Williamson’s New Year gift to Sydney theatregoers last night was a new musical comedy, “The Girl Friend”.

Besides a very winsome little “girl friend” in the person of Annie Croft, it introduced several clever English performers to the Sydney stage. “The Girl Friend” is a musical comedy with an extra big stress on the comedy. The part of little Kitty Brown is well played by Annie Croft. She sings and acts delightfully, and possesses a very charming stage personality. Reginald Sharland, who supports her, is a good musical comedy actor with a pleasing presence.

The success of Leo Franklyn in the comedy role of Jerry is one of the big things of the show. Leo Franklyn we know of before, through his performance in “Tell Me More”, and later in “Castles in the Air”, but it was a new Franklyn that held up the show last night. A man sure of his comedy, which he put over with many an effective little twist. He rollicked through the play like a man who was thoroughly enjoying every moment of it. And as it was a triumph for him, why shouldn't he?

Another excellent performance was that of Lorna Helms as the hotel telephonist Jennie. Her eccentric dance with Franklyn was a fine piece of work.

Gus Bluett was drunk (on the stage, of course) during one part of the night, and humorous right throughout.

But the public held their gladdest hand out to the principal at the finish of the show. Miss Croft, who has already conquered Sydney by her charm and vivacity, was recalled again and again. A typical New Year crowd stood up and cheered, the little star bowing her acknowledgment on the flower-bedecked stage as the curtain was rung down again and again—made a mental Year’s resolution to see the show again.

From Sunday Times (Sydney), 2 January 1928, p.2

“THE GIRL FRIEND”

MISS ANNIE CROFT’S SUCCESS

Miss Annie Croft, the new English artist, won a personal triumph in her first appearance in Australia at Her Majesty’s on Saturday night, when she not only endowed an ordinary role in an average musical comedy with life and vitality, but actually lifted it into the realm of imaginative beauty. Her impersonation of Kitty Brown, the heroine of “The Girl Friend”, was notable for its emotional value no less than for its refinement and charm, the actress denoting every change of feeling and mood with genuine subtlely. Miss Croft gained prompt recognition from the crowded house; and at the final fall of the curtain there was demonstrative cheering for the new leading lady, who, in her speech of acknowledement, included in the honours of the night “this wonderful company”, “I think,” she added, amid fresh cheering, “that I have never seen such a splendid lot of chorus girls. And they all seem to be so apt. When they are asked at rehearsal to say this line or that they are ready to do it, instead of creeping like other girls, into a corner in confusion.”

While Miss Croft is mainly responsible for the success of “The Girl Friend”, a further reason why it is likely to establish itself firmly in popular favour is found in the spirited and effective comedy of Mr. Gus Bluett as Richard Dennison, Miss Lorna Helms as a hotel telephone girl, and Mr. Leo Franklyn, as one of the hotel clerks. Another new artist, Mr. Reginald Sharland, also made an excellent impression in the role of Robert Mason, Kitty Brown’s lover. The new piece in which the supervision of Mr. Frederick Blackman as producer has secured admirable results in the six scenes which make up the two acts, moved brightly and briskly on Saturday night, in spite of such incidents as the divorce trial rehearsal, with its rather laboured humour. The story of “The Girl Friend” is familiar in farcical comedy. Richard Dennison having discovered, to his dismay, that a lady not his wife, Kitty Brown, has occupied one of the rooms of his hotel suite on the preceding night, is consequently involved In the task of furnishing explanation, with more or less futility, to his angry wife, his relatives, and Kitty’s lover. Various authors and composers have shared in the duty of constructing the piece in its present form, and a score of agreeable melodious character, without any pretence at depth or complexity, has been furnished.

This score was animatedly interpreted under Mr. Andrew MacCunn’s direction. Miss Croft, graceful in presence at Kitty Brown, and a vivacious and resourceful actress and clever dancer, is also well favoured in vocal attainent. It was a delight to hear the King’s English spoken with inflection so clear as in the case of this artist. Moreover, she sang with pronounced charm, though the full measure of her vocal quality, perhaps from a not unnatural nervousness, was not evident in her first music, the “Blue Room” duet with Mr. Sharland. This “Blue Room” theme, originally sung by the lovers as they dream of the home they are to build, becomes a leading motif of the piece, an attractive melody gracefully supported by the harp and reeds. “I Travel the Road”, a gipsy subject, revealed Miss Croft’s vocal quality in full degree. Her tones proved to be equalised and of attractive timbre, and the high notes at the end of the refrain were admirably delivered. This solo is one of the most interesting of the score in its treatment, strings and woodwind being artistically employed to embellish the melody, and a great effect was secured in the resumption of the theme after the clevely-acted scene for Miss Croft and Miss Lorna Helms, who, as the girl friend, Jennie, rushed in to announce to Kitty that she has succeeded in finding her a spare room in the hotel.

Miss Helms made a great hit as the diminuative Jennie, the telephone girl, a pert atom of humanity, who snubbed the lodgers at the other end of the wire, gave Jerry (Mr. Leo Franklyn) prompt exchange in repartee is their vaudeville patter, and danced with ludicrously amusing comedy. Miss Helms sang in a thin little voice a smart duet, “The Girl Friend", with Mr. Franklyn, who, though his vocal quality was limited, took his share cleverly in all this by-play, and proved, Iike his partner, an alert dancer. At the climax of this duet Miss Helms excited great cheering when she casually picked up Mr. Franklyn under her arm, and, as if the feat were the simplest thing in the world, carried him across and threw him over the hotel counter.

Mr. Reginald Sharland gave due emotional significance to the role of Robert Mason. While his singing voice is not of any distinctive quality, he uses it effectively, and he proved a talented actor, taking a full share of the success of the scene in which Mason calls upon Kitty for an explanation of the hotel eplsode. Here also there was a capital manifestation of dramatic quality in the acting of Miss Croft. Mr. Gus Bluett, cheerfully alert and amusing as Richard Dennison, was another popular member of the cast. When Dennison’s wife (a part played with adequate assumption of severely autocratic demeanour by Miss Marie le Varre) allows him out of her sight, he promptly becomes half-fuddled. Mr. Bluett acted this scene well, and he and Messrs. Sharland and Frank Leighton took part in one of the highest concerted numbers of the score, “We Must Discover that Girl”, exciting great amusement as they danced about to the lilting melody, and then, with mock seriousness, paraded the room in a series of slow, automation-like gestures as they continued their absurd quest. Mr. Bluett’s amazement as he sent a hotel porter (a role adroitly played by Mr. Savage) half-sprawling with a back-hander, and then perceived him balancing himself wonderfully as he reeled backward, and finally recovered himself without falling, was one of the features of the comedy of the night.

A pleasant duet for Kitty and Dennison, “Early In the Morning”, was another effective number, each singing a stanza over the breakfast which has been ordered, and each still unaware of the other’s presence in the suite. A briskly-sung chorus for girls in pyjama suits, a number of friends who have rushed in to congratulate Kitty as Mrs. Dennison, opens this scene. Miss Rowena Ronald was an animated soloist at this point as Miss Wendell. Mr. Henry Wotton and Miss Rosie le Varde were aptly in character as Dennison’s uncle and aunt, and Miss Katie Towers effectively sketched the character of Mary, the maid of the suite. The settings of “The Girl Friend” are elaborate. The first of these, a railway siding on the Canadian Pacific Railway, where the travellers alight in a rugged mountain pass, and the gay hotel scenes, expecially the view of the imposing lounge, with its decorative background, are all attractive. A graceful dance by Miss Croft and Mr. Sharland excited enthusiasm, and there was loud applause also for a dance by Miss Josephine Head and Mr. Albert Hugo.

From The Sydney Morning Herald, 2 January 1928, p.2

SUNDRY SHOWS

The Hotel Wendel, an unconventional establishment where fair women wander the corridors in pyjamas, is the main venue of the action of “The Girl Friend,” staged at Her Majesty’s, Sydney, on Saturday. The play introduced Annie Croft, and revealed a rich vein of farcical comedy with unusual trimmings. Kitty Brown, who has met a love-at-first-sight adventure in a train which becomes mislaid for an hour in the wilderness, just as if it belonged to the Queensland railway service, arrives at her destination without either purse or luggage or the fascinated and fascinating young man who might have cavaliered her —he has been left behind while trying to retrieve her purse, which has been lost in the woods. When the distressed damsel has been duly refused accommodation a cheeky but kindhearted hotel telephone girl suggests how she can spend the night comfortably in the Blue Suite by posing to the night-clerk as Mrs. Richard Dennison; it transpires that the Dennisons, welcomed as an almost-honeymoon pair, have quarrelled, and while the lady has returned home the gentleman has gone to one of the road houses, features of Prohibitionist America, where it is reasonable to suppose that he will be kept drunk and occupied until morning. But, of course, Richard, turns up at the rooms, which have meanwhile been invaded by pyjama’d females anxious to see the happy bride, and so, just as things are going nicely, does his wife. The cavalier who missed a train to retrieve a purse also turns up, to be pounced upon by the real Mrs. Dennison as her advocate in the pending divorce. Happiness, of course, is eventually sorted out of the mix-up; and, if the flattering reception of a musically-deficient play is any criterion, will continue to be sorted out for many weeks.

* * * * * *

Annie Croft, who has been proclaimed the most fascinating blonde on the English stage, made her first appearance as Kitty Brown. It is well for the lady that she hasn’t to depend for success on her voice, for this failed, especially on the high notes, in music that was easy enough. But Annie Croft is certainly fascinating and artistically capable. Reginald Sharland, whose search for the missing purse led complications, hasn’t much of a voice, but is a gentleman whom one can easily call “Reg.” Rowena Roland drops softly into a minor role as the daughter of the hotel proprietress; her job is to look nice in pyjamas and incidentally to supply some minor love interest along with Philip Dennison (Frank Leighton), who, with few opportunities, provides some effective singing. Gus Bluett puts in excellent work as the misfit husband, Richard Dennison, and Marie Le Varre is shrill and quarrelsome as his wife. Lorna Helms sings thinly but comically, and dances in a fashion that is quite in keeping with her part as the pert ’phone girl, while she shows phenomenal strength when she catches the heavyweight Leo Franklyn under one of her thin arms and heaves him over a counter. Leo Franklyn is the hotel-clerk, and there is some help from Harry Wotton as the usual pottering old idiot who wants to give away money to a deserving young relative, and from Rosie le Varde as his. wife, Mrs. Burke. Katie Towers deserves a word of approval as Mary, the hotel servant.

From The Bulletin (Sydney), 5 January 1928, p.32

The Girl Friend “On the Air”

The Wireless Weekly for Friday, 20 January 1928 included in the list of items headed Programme Features at 2FC (on p.15):

“THE GIRL FRIEND”: The 2nd Act of Rodger’s sparkling comedy will be broadcast by 2FC, by courtesy of J. C. Williamson, Ltd., on Friday night, 20th January. Prior to the production. Miss Goodie Reeve will interview the principal, Miss Annie Croft. Regular theatre-goers fail to realise what a boon radio is to the many hundreds who never see a show from one year's end to another. The microphone, acutely sensitive as it is to impression, is capable of conveying not only sound but atmosphere. It constructs a vivid picture for the mind’s eye, which the spoken word completes, and but little imaginative effort on the part of listeners is required to visualise a scene as it is enacted.”

The Australian Broadcasting Company’s Sydney-based radio station relayed the broadcast from Her Majesty’s Theatre from 9.10 to 10.15 p.m.

A further broadcast of the 2nd Act was transmitted from the theatre by 2FC on Friday, 10 February between 9.23 to 10.56 p.m. and on the 24 February the station broadcast the musical’s first Act between 8.00 to 9.08 p.m.

During the musical’s subsequent Melbourne season the Wireless Weekly reported: “MANY MELBOURNE theatre-goers have already made the acquaintance of “The Girl Friend,” the catchy new musical comedy at the Theatre Royal. All Australians can do so by listening in to 3LO on Monday night, May 14th, when the whole of the first act will be broadcast from the theatre. As the singing is one of the biggest hits of the show, listeners should find the introduction a very happy one.” (Friday, 11 May 1928, p.9.)

The ABC’s Melbourne-based station relayed the first Act from the theatre between 8.00 to 9.15 p.m. This was followed by a broadcast of the second Act on 22 May, of which the Wireless Weekly (for Friday, 18 May, p.11) noted: “3LO LISTENERS who enjoyed the first act of the popular musical comedy, “The Girl Friend,” broadcast on Monday night, May 14, will be glad to know that the second act will be put on the air by the station at 9.20 p.m. on Tuesday night, May 22. The catchy music and tuneful singing are features of the show, and listeners should be sure to tune in at 9.20 p.m. on Tuesday night for the second act.”

A repeat broadcast by 3LO of Act 2 followed on Wednesday, 20 June and Act 1 on Tuesday, 10 July. Of the latter Wireless Weekly (for Friday, 6 July 1928, p.13) noted: “The lilting music and catchy singing have won success for this production, and listeners will be glad for an opportunity to hear their favorites on the air again,”