Australia—Revivals

Chorus in Act 2, Scene 1 of The Girl Friend performing ‘Mountain Greenery’, 1942. National Library of Australia, Canberra.

The Girl Friend—1930 Revival

From April to July 1930, the JCW Musical Comedy Company toured Tasmania (Hobart and Launceston), New South Wales (Newcastle and Wagga Wagga) and Queensland (Toowomba, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, Cairns and Bowen) with a repertoire that comprised Sally, The Girl Friend and Hold Everthing. The star of the tour was Josie Melville. In addition to playing Kitty Brown in The Girl Friend, she played the title role in Sally (the role that made her name in 1923) and was Sue Bourke in Hold Everything. The musicals were directed by Victor Tatnall.

In early 1930, Sydney-born Josie Melville (1903–1963) returned to Australia after four years in the UK. Over the following years she would be seen in the Australian premiere of The Love Race, in the pantomime Cinderella, and in a revival of the comedy Baby Mine, but in 1934 she married and retired from the stage. Don Nicol, who played the comedy role of Jerry in The Girl Friend, would go on to become a leading comic in JCW musicals. He would play Richard Dennison in the 1942 revival of The Girl Friend.

The cast for The Girl Friend included:

The Girl Friend—1934 Revival

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. Directed by Frederick Blackman. Dances, ballets and groupings by Edward Royce Jr. Musical direction by William Quintrell (Melbourne) / Leo Packer (Perth). Scenery by George Upward and Assistants. All modern frocks by Pierre Fornari Pty. Ltd. Other frocks by Mrs. Jerrams (J.C. Williamson Ltd.) Hosiery worn by principals by Holeproof Hosiery Co. The wines used in all J.C. Williamson Ltd. productions by Seppelts. Wigs by L. Barnett, Melbourne. E.P. Ware used in this production supplied by Robur Tea Company.

King’s Theatre, Melbourne, 17 February–27 March 1934

Theatre Royal, Adelaide, 14–20 April 1934

His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth, 5–11 May 1934

Program for the Perth season of The Girl Friend, 1934. National Library of Australia, Canberra.

In December 1933, the JCW Musical Comedy Company presented the first Australian production of Gay Divorce. The leading players included Billy Milton, Mona Potts (substituting for an indisposed Iris Kirkwhite), Madge Aubrey, Leo Franklyn and Frank Leighton. The musical had opened at the King’s Theatre in Melbourne on 23 December and played until 16 February 1934. It was to have been followed by a new musical Night-Night Mitzi by Australian songwriter Jack O’Hagan, adapted from the 1919 play Nightie Night by Martha M. Stanley and Adelaide Matthews. O’Hagan had previously contribued both music and lyrics to two JCW pantomimes (including famously ‘The Road to Gundagai’ for The Forty Thieves in 1922) and the Ernest C. Rolls’ revues Tout Paris and Honi Soit. In addition, he also composed songs for a musical version of the play Turned Up, staged by JCW Ltd. at the Melbourne Theatre Royal in 1929. The new musical went into rehearsals in January, with Charles A. Wenman as director. However, it seems there were problems with the casting and it was not going to be ready for a 17 February opening. Given that Gus Bluett, Leo Franklyn, Frank Leighton and Katie Towers had appeared in the original 1928 production of The Girl Friend, it was decided that the Weston and Lee musical be revived. Rehearsals began on 2 February.

For the lead role of Kitty Brown there were two contenders: Wyn Morrison and Isobel Mahon (variously Isabel or Isabelle). Both actresses were still very young. Wyn Morrison had come to prominance the previous year when she performed the champagne dance with Cyril Ritchard in The Quaker Girl, while Isobel Mahon had been picked out of the chorus to replace Dulcie Davenport as Barbara in Gay Divorce, when the more experienced actress was recalled to London. In advertisements, Isobel was refered to as ‘Australia’s Mary Pickford’, but, as one columnist noted, ‘she has more vivacity in her and less sentiment’.

Eighteen-year-old Isobel Mahon (1916–1993) became the new Kitty Brown. She was perfect for the role and with her ‘youthful enthusiasm’, she proved a great success. For her efforts, she received just £4 a week! This led to a small part in the Beaumont Smith film Splendid Fellows, alongside two of the stars of The Girl Friend, Leo Franklyn and Frank Leighton. However, rather than remain with JCW, Isobel moved across to the Tivoli circuit. There she met American vaudevillian Ward Gray, and in 1936 the two married and headed off to the United States.

Wyn Morrison was cast in the very minor role of A Country Girl.

From chorus girl to leading lady: Eighteen-year old Isobel Mahon, who was selected to play Kitty Brown in The Girl Friend. Photo by Andre.

National Library of Australia, Canberra

The Cast

Billy Milton, who played Robert Mason in the 1934 revival of The Girl Friend. National Library of Australia, Canberra.

As already noted, the leading players in The Girl Friend had all performed in the Melbourne premiere of Gay Divorce, and this musical continued to be part of the company’s repertoire, along with Our Miss Gibbs, when they performed seasons in Adelaide and Perth.

The romantic leading man, Billy Milton (1905–1989), who made his Australian debut as Guy in Gay Divorce, was well-known to audiences as a film actor. He had been on stage in London and New York since the mid-1920s, performing in musicals and revues. Prior to his arrival in Australia he had performed opposite Mistinguett at the Casino de Paris in Paris qui-Brille (1931), in Bow Bells (1932) at the London Hippodrome, and played Florimond in A Kiss of Spring (1932) at the Alhambra. Milton signed a six-month contact with JCW and was being paid £70 per week. When he returned to England in June 1934, Cyril Ritchard and Madge Elliott assumed the lead roles with the company.

Two other performers worth noting are Madge Aubrey (1902–1970) and Dorothy Rankin (1916–2005). The former was a British-born actress who made three trips to Australia. She intially came during 1929–1930 for the JCW production of This Year of Grace. Along with Dinka Starace, Edward Coventry, Frank Fox and Maisie Gay, she had been in the Noël Coward revue in London. She stayed on for revivals of the musicals A Night Out (as Victorine) and Rose Marie (as Lady Jane), and the first Australian productions of Show Boat (as Effie), Turned Up (as Lola) and Follow Through (as Ruth Van Horn). She returned to Australia in 1933 for the present season that included Gay Divorce (as Hortense), The Girl Friend (Mrs. Dennison) and Our Miss Gibbs (as Madame Jeanne). She would make a third trip down under in 1941–1945 to play supporting roles in Claudia, Kiss and Tell, My Sister Eileen and The Amazing Dr Clitterhouse.

Dorothy Rankin—or Dot Rankin—as she became known, was just sixteen when she succeeded Agnes Doyle in the comedy role of Jennie in The Girl Friend. Over the next decade she would play principal roles in pantomimes, musicals (including the title role in the 1941 revival of Sally) and revues for the JCW and on the Tivoli circuit.

Frederick Blackman, who had directed the musical in 1928, was once again at the helm.

From Table Talk (Melbourne), 8 March 1934, p.13

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

New scenery was painted by George Upward and assistants.

The Songs

The songlist largely followed the same pattern as the original 1928 production. However, the interpolated songs ‘I Travel the Road’ and ‘There Must Be a Silver Lining’ were absent, as was ‘What’s the Use of Crying’ (by Verdi Kendel and Louis Forbstein), which had been replaced by Rodgers and Hart’s ‘What’s the Use of Talking’ (used in the original USA and UK productions of The Girl Friend). One new song was added for Billy Milton as Robert Mason—‘That’s What She Means to Me’—the author of which is currently unknown.

Madge Aubrey

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Dot Rankin with Don Nicol in Sally, 1941

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Art Centre Melbourne

The Reviews

Melbourne’s New Girl Friend

Isobel Mahon’s Success

WHEN Miss lsobel Mahon was a member of the energetic ballets of “Gay Divorce” and other of the firm’s shows, she had a vital, youthful enthusiasm, an apparent enjoyment of her job, that carried itself over the footlights and gave enjoyment to all but those members of her audience who were too cynically experienced in the ways of the theatre to believe that any ballet girl could really enjoy herself as much as that.

She carried that very valuable talent into the re-making of “The Girl Friend”, her first leading part at the King’s Theatre, on Saturday night. In spite of nervousness, which had its reaction in tears at the end of the performance, Miss Mahon danced lightly and happily through the revival of a musical comedy, the original performance of which is still fresh enough in the minds of theatre-goers to make comparison inevitable.

A number of factors combined to make her task harder than it might have been. Apart from herself and Billy Milton, most of the principals were in the original production, so that critical eyes taking the Gus Bluett-Leo Franklyn part of the show for granted could concentrate on the lsobel Mahon-Billy Milton section. And even the kindest-hearted theatre patron will watch an announced new star a little more closely than one who has been proved and accepted.

HAPPY YOUTHFULNESS

But neither sharp eyes nor comparisons should disturb Miss lsobel Mahon. She has not the experience of an Annie Croft; but she had a happy, friendly youthfulness; and she can dance. The necessary experience will come, for Miss Mahon showed on Saturday night that the managerial eye which picked her from the chorus was a shrewd one.

Billy Milton’s main strength is his dancing—and his opportunities in this direction are all too few. The slow-motion dance with Gus Bluett and Frank Leighton suggests that other weaknesses could be balanced by more of the same sort of thing.

Vocally, “The Girl Friend” is not strong. That is a pity, for there are several numbers, notably “The Girl Friend”, “Blue Room”, and “Mountain Greenery”, which deserve good voices.

Both Billy Milton nnd lsobel Mahon dance better than they sing. This is a point to which Miss Mahon will need to devote attention if her scope is not to be very considerably restricted. But—the comparison will creep in—the present production of “The Girl Friend” is happier than the original.

“The Girl Friend” scores more good laughs than any of the more recent theatrical offerings. The highlight is probably Gus Bluett’s delightful pantomime conversation with the non-existent mother of Kitty. Leo Franklyn, too, in his old part of Jerry, the day-clerk and house detective at the Hotel Wendell, does his part in the brightness of the show.

LORNA HELMS TRADITION

The Lorna Helms tradition is a little unfortunate for Agnes Doyle. Probably she is less at fault than the producer, who sets out to revive the telephone girl created so successfully by Lorna Helms. But that was a part for Lorna Helms alone. The present Jennie is a ghost of the original. Had Miss Doyle been permitted more freedom to create her own character, she would have done better; she has shown her ability before.

Neither Madge Aubrey nor Frank Leighton have parts of any importance. Both handle them with the case which might be expected. Katie Towers, as Mary, is another of the “originals”.

From The Herald (Melbourne), 19 February 1934, p.20

Scene from Act 2, Scene 2: The Garden of the Hotel Wendell. National Library of Australia, Canberra.

The Girl Friend—1942 Revival

Musical comedy in two acts by R.P. Weston & Bert Lee, adapted from Kitty’s Kisses by P. Bartholomae & Otto Harbach; lyrics and music by Con Conrad, Gus Kahn, Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart. Presented by J.C. Williamson Ltd. Directed by Alan Chapman. Musical direction by Claude Solomon. Dances, ballets and groupings by Hazel Meldrum. Scenery by George Upward and Assistants. Costumes designed by “Henry” (JCW Modes) and Mrs. Adelaide Scully. The wines used by Seppelts. Whisky by Johnnie Walker Whisky. Ales are from Tooheys. Cigarettes supplied by Ardath Specials. Lamps used are from Condor. The piano supplied by Elvy’s Ltd., George Street, Sydney.

During the war years few new musicals were staged in Australia. As a result JCW drew on their reserve of old musicals, updated them with new or refreshed scenery and costumes, and in some instances updated the libretto with new gags and songs.

Theatre Royal, Sydney, 4 July–11 September 1942

His Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, 21 August–19 November 1943

Program for the 1942 Sydney season of The Girl Friend. National Library of Australia, Canberra.

The Cast

Marie Ryan and Allen Christie as Kitty and Robert

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Marie La Varre and Don Nicol as the Dennisons

National Library of Australia, Canberra

The stars of the 1942 revival were Allen Christie and Marie Ryan. Of these two performers Allen (Alan) Christie is largely forgotten, but he seems to have been in several JCW musical productions during the early 1940s, including Funny Side Up (Melbourne, 1941) and Thumbs Up (Brisbane, 1942). In later years his name appears as conductor or musical director for productions associated with the Canberra Philharmonic Society Inc. Marie Ryan (1916–1971) studied singing at the Sydney Conservatorium and was given a role in Rio Rita in 1941 after a JCW ‘talent scout’ heard her sing. She remained with Williamson’s until 1946 performing roles in Sally (revival, 1941), Kissing Time (revival, 1941), Thumbs Up (1941–1942), Babes in the Wood (1941–1942), The Girl Friend (1942–1943), Let’s Face It (1942-1043), White Horse Inn (1942–1943), Aladdin (1943–1944), Katinka (1944), Viktoria and Her Hussar (1944), The Desert Song (1945–1946), and also in G&S (1944). In 1947 she was to have revived her role of Kitty in The Girl Friend, but an accident at rehearsals prevented her from appearing and her place was taken by Pat Keating. She seems to have been absent from the stage until 1953 when she made her reappearance in a revival of White Horse Inn in Sydney. In 1954 she was with The Florence Desmond Fun and Dance Show.

Chorus in Act 2, performing ‘Step on the Blues’. National Library of Australia, Canberra.

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

George Upward’s 1934 scenery was reused.

Joy Youlden and Fred Murray. National Library of Australia, Canberra.

The Songs

* Melbourne only

When the show was produced in Sydney in 1942, the song list was cut back to the bare minimum with no new interpolations. A year later, when it reached Melbourne, two new songs appeared—‘The Echo of My Song’ and ‘The Canteen Bounce’—the first sung by Marie Ryan as Kitty and the second by Fred Murray as Jerry. ‘The Echo of My Song’ featured words and music by Hal Swain and Peter Akister, while ‘The Canteen Bounce’ had lyrics by Max Spickol and music by Johnny Fortis. This last-named song achieved some popularity in the USA during 1943 as a ‘service-inspired dance tune’.

Chorus in Act 2, Scene 1, the Blue Bridal Suite. Photo by S.J. Hood. National Library of Australia, Canberra.

The Reviews

MUSICAL COMEDY REVIVAL

To a generation accustomed to “swing” music, the melodies of “The Girl Friend”, produced at the Theatre Royal on Saturday night, seemed a trifle elderly, but to the generation which began to “hum the tune” as soon as the orchestra played the first bars, the performance had a pleasant nostalgic quality.

The revival of this musical comedy, first seen in Sydney more than ten years ago, rests, as did the original show, on one or two tunes, particularly “Blue Room”, “Just Imagine It”, and “Mountain Greenery”. Marie La Varre is the only member of the original cast appearing in the revival.

Saturday night’s performance got away to a bad, slow start, and although interest increased in the third scene, the uneven quality persisted throughout the performance. The noise of scenery being moved marred at least two songs.

The leading roles were played by Marie Ryan and Allen Christie. Miss Ryan has a light, pleasant voice, well suited to her romantic songs. Mr. Christie’s voice is also light, adequate for a role which does not demand very much from him. Don Nicol gave the outstanding comedy performance, while Joy Youlden, as a “tough”, gum-chewing hotel telephonist, and Fred Murray as Jerry, the day clerk who is also the house detective, enlivened the play with songs and dances.

The slight story concerns a married couple (Don Nicol and Marie La Varre), who must satisfy an uncle and aunt (Bobby Mack and Lily Moore) that they are happily married before receiving valuable bonds. Mild complications ensure with “the girl friend” (Marie Ryan).

From The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 July 1942, p.7

“Girl Friend” still good show

J.C.W.’s revival of “The Girl Friend” at the Theatre Royal last night proved that good tunes never die.

“Blue Room”, “Mountain Greenery”, and the title-song are as whistleable as on the day they were written. “The Girl Friend” herself is getting along in years. George Gee wouldn’t recognise her.

Don Nicol, Marie Ryan, Marie La Varre, Joy Youlden, Fred Murray, and Bobby Mack had to work indefatigably for their laughs.

Best piece of business in the show is Nicol’s meeting with his phantom mother-in-law.

Production is in that bouncing old tradition, with a high-kicking ballet to round off every scene.

Judging by the doting guffaws from last night’s audience, a lot of people enjoy tradition.

From The Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 5 July 1942, p.6

The Girl Friend—1947 Revival

Musical comedy in two acts by R.P. Weston & Bert Lee, adapted from Kitty’s Kisses by P. Bartholomae & Otto Harbach; lyrics and music by Con Conrad, Gus Kahn, Richard Rodgers & Lorenz Hart. Presented by J.C. Williamson Ltd. Directed by Alan Chapman (Adelaide) / Carl Randall (Perth). Musical direction by Claude Solomon (Adelaide) / Ernest J. Roberts (Perth). Dances arranged by Hazel Meldrum. Scenery by George Upward and Assistants. Wardrobe by “Henry” (JCW Modes). Gentleman’s costumes by Jock Miller. Toe shoes by Imbesi. Hosiery by Beau Monde. Shoes by Coon’s and “Jaunties” by Paddle. Wigs by Louis Barnett & Sons.

This revival was ostensibly a continuation of the 1942–1943 tour, but with a new cast. The other musical in the current repertoire was No, No, Nanette. When asked by the Courier Mail (27 August 1947) why he had decided to mount two revivals, director Alan Chapman said: “The public was inclined to fight shy of new productions. This has been our experience in the South in recent months ... Staging of ‘Gay Rosalinda’, ‘Follow the Girls’ and ‘The Dancing Years’—all new plays—found the public apathetic. On the other hand ‘No, No, Nanette’ and ‘The Girl Friend’ intended merely as fill-ins while preparing for ‘Annie Get Your Gun’, found splendid public response.”

Theatre Royal, Adelaide, 9 August–23 August 1947

His Majesty’s Theatre, Brisbane, 18 September–1 October 1947

His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth, 3 May–5 April 1948

Between the Brisbane and Perth seasons, the company took No, No, Nanette and The Girl Friend to New Zealand.

Pat Keating—seen here with Rodney Smith in No, No, Nanette, 1947

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Pat Keating photographed by Ivan Ive in 1948 for Pix magazine

Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy ACP Magazines Ltd.

The Cast

Marie Ryan was to have revived her role as Kitty, but an accident during rehearsals meant she could not go on. At short notice her place was taken by Pat Keating. At twenty-one, Pat Keating was already something of a veteran. She had performed in JCW pantomimes as a child, been a member of the ballet and a specialty dancer. By 1945–1946 she was playing the principal supporting roles in Viktoria and Her Hussar (Riquette) and Follow the Girls (Peggy Baker). When Follow the Girls closed early, No, No, Nanette was put on as a fill-in and she was offered her first starring role. The musical proved an unexpected hit with audiences. However, during the Perth season, Pat Keating made the surprise announcement that she was leaving the stage to get married. Her fiance was an American cosmetics manufacturer, Glenn Wieble, whom she had met on 4 July 1946 at American Independence celebrations in Sydney.

Ballet in Act 1, Scene 1. Theatre Heritage Australia.

The Scenes

Act 1, Scene 1—A railway siding on the Canadian Pacific Railways

Scene 2—In the Dining Car

Scene 3—Lounge of the Hotel Wendell (Evening)

Act 2, Scene 1—The Blue Bridal Suite at the Hotel Wendell (later the same evening)

Scene 2—The Corridor of the Hotel

Scene 3—The Garden of the Hotel Wendell

Once again George Upward’s scenery was employed.

The Songs

The song selection was the same as the 1942 revival, plus the addition of the song ‘Linda’ (words and music by Jack Lawrence) in Act 1, Scene 3, which had been published in 1946 and made popular later that year in a recording by U.S. vocalist Buddy Clark accompanied by Ray Noble’s orchestra.

Cover of program for 1947 Wellington season

Theatre Heritage Australia

Principals in The Girl Friend—from  1947 Wellington program

Theatre Heritage Australia

The Reviews

“The Girl Friend” Revived

If the latest J.C. Williamson revival, ‘The Girl Friend’, creaked a bit at today’s opening in the Theatre Royal, it was no fault of principals Pat Keating, Fred Murray and Charles Norman.

They worked like beavers to give it new bloom, and producer Alan Chapman achieved a thoroughly workmanlike performance at the opening matinee—too often regarded as an extra full-dress rehearsal at the expense of the paying customers.

Pretty Pat Keating, who was a babe in arms when imported actress Annie Croft created the title role here 19 years ago, was thoroughly delightful. Fred Murray excelled himself in an unaccompanied tap dance, and in his numbers with lively comedienne Betty Sparks.

Albert Chappelle was a personable juvenile lead, and Letty Craydon, Lily Moore, and Miriam Lester made the most of their comedy bits.

Hazel Meldrum’s dance routines were markedly above average. The decor had few bright spots—some of it looked like salvage from the original production.

But it’s still the best musical comedy revival seen in years.

Mary Armitage.

From The Mail (Adelaide), 9 August 1947, p.5

SMART MUSICAL COMEDY

“The Girl Friend”

Well Produced

The J.C. Williamson revival of “The Girl Friend” came as a pleasant surprise to the large audience at the Theatre Royal on Saturday night. This smart musical comedy with its snappy and tuneful score was last seen here in 1928 and is likely to prove more popular than “No, No, Nanette”.

Set at a fast tempo from beginning to end, it seemed a happy medium for the youthful company which rose to the rich opportunities for comedy and dancing with exhilarating zest. The chief fun makers, Charles Norman and Fred Murray, were at their best throughout, and the ballet kept on its toes through a series of quick changes and entertaining routines.

Pat Keating made a delightful Kitty, her charm of manner and appearance making one forget the limitations of her voice in the enchanting “Blue Room” and “I’m In Love” songs, she was pleasantly helped by Albert Chappelle’s singing which was a great improvement on that of her partner in the previous show.

Betty Sparks was an irrepressible Jennie, the hotel office girl and put over her numbers “The Girl Friend” and “Step on the Blues” with great vim. She combined well with Fred Murray, the hotel clerk, and the ballet in several sparkling ensembles. Fred’s specialty dance was also a hit, and his contortions as the house detective had the audience in fits of laughter.

Charles Norman was at his best in the bridal suite scene when he had to face his wile (Miriam Lester) after she had discovered Kitty in the other bedroom. He kept his jokes topical and up to date without deflecting from the story.

Letty Craydon was most amusing as the maid in the bridal suite and Lily Moore and Phil Jay earned their share of applause as the rich aunt and uncle. Also in the cast were Hickey Taylor (porter), Betty Pounder (country girl) and specially dancers Wilma Harrison (Miss Wendall), Rodney Smith and James Ryan.

The frocking was smart and colorful throughout and the dances arranged by Hazel Meldrum were excellent. Claude Solomon got the most out of the orchestra, and the whole production rehearsed under great difficulty, reflected on Alan Chapman.

From The Advertiser (Adelaide), 11 August 1947, p.10