After four long years, the war was finally over and soldiers started returning home, and the lucky men who had survived the hostilities were reunited with their families. For many, Christmas 1918 was the first time that they could relax … and slowly, perhaps, things could get back to normal.
At the Palace Theatre, Boxing Day saw a welcome revival of De Luxe Annie, with performances commencing at the matinee. A crowded house greeted Emelie Polini. It was clear that a ‘brief’ revival was out of the question.
Emelie Polini, c.1919
National Library of New Zealand, Wellington
Marie Ney, c.1919. Photo by Mina Moore.
State Library Victoria, Melbourne
Meanwhile, on 23 January 1919 (a week later than originally announced), a matinee performance of John Gabriel Borkman was given by J&N Tait’s Repertory Company, under the direction of Gregan McMahon, with George Bryant in the title role, Marie Ney as Ella Rentheim, Olive Wilton as Mrs Borkman and McMahon as Vilhelm Foldal. This was the first Sydney production; the Ibsen play having received its Australian premiere in June 1911 when McMahon launched his Melbourne Repertory Theatre Company.1
While in the Melbourne the play was well received, in Sydney, critics found it unrelentingly gloomy. The Sydney Morning Herald (24 January 1919) for example reported:
Running over with dreary dialogue and having very little action to give it value from the dramatic standpoint, Ibsen’s ‘John Gabriel Borkman’ was produced yesterday afternoon at the Palace … Dismal from the commencement to the close, the stage story of the sour-tempered, callous, and course-grained Borkman, and the two women whose lives he has ruined, is to a large extent a sneer at selfishness in several forms.
Going on to say of the actors:
Mr George Bryant was lumbering and lugubrious as the ex-bank director whose dreams do not come true … On the principle of compensation Miss Marie Ney was admirable as Ella Rentheim … and Olive Wilton was equal to nearly all the demands which were made upon her as Borkman’s unenviable wife … [while] Mr Gregan McMahon contrived to blend the admirable characteristics of old Adam in ‘As You Like It’ and Jaikes in ‘The Silver King’.
On 27 January 1919, the last two weeks of De Luxe Annie were announced. But how things can change—two days later, all Sydney theatres were ordered to close by the NSW state government.
Notice in The Theatre Magazine (Sydney), 1 February 1919, p.26
Since late 1918, Australian authorities had been aware of the threat faced by pneumonic influenza or Spanish Flu. The disease had already claimed the lives of thousands in Europe, America and elsewhere. With the mass return of people from overseas, it was only a matter of time before the disease reached the Australian mainland. Despite the introduction of quarantine facilities, the first case was confirmed in Melbourne in January 1919. On 28 January, four people were reported to have died from influenza, with 99 new cases added, bringing the total number to 334, with 50 cases regarded as serious. Travel between Victoria and NSW was halted and civilians were being encouraged to wear masks.
In Sydney, newspapers for 29 January, reported that twelve infected people were being treated at Randwick Hospital, and although this number seemed low, authorities were leaving nothing to chance. All public institutions across the city, including libraries, churches, schools and theatres, were ordered to close. But this was just the tip of the iceberg. Between January and September, 290,000 people in NSW would contract the disease, resulting in over 4,000 deaths.
From 27 January to mid-May theatres remained closed, forcing thousands of performers and theatre personnel out of work, and when they did re-open on 17 May, it did not mark the end of the pandemic. According to statistics, the period May to July would see the highest death rate in Sydney.
Nevertheless, the all-clear came on 16 May, and the following day, theatre doors were flung open. As a result of the closures, the shows originally listed at the Palace during early 1919 were disrupted. Firstly, a second matinee of John Gabriel Borkman, scheduled for 30 January, did not take place, and as a result the Repertory Company was sent off on tour, eventually establishing a residency in Melbourne. The proposed Sydney season of Bubbly set to open on 8 February was postponed indefinitely, and Jack and Jill, originally slated to open in early April was delayed by more than a month. It seems the entire company of 100 people had set out for Sydney in early April and underwent four days’ quarantine in Albury, only to return to Melbourne when the ‘axe fell’.2
Barry Lupino as Dame Durden
Marriner Theatre Archive
Gracie Dorran as Jill. Photo by Elizabeth Nash-Boothby.
Marriner Theatre Archive
The Palace re-opened on 17 May with Jack and Jill. This pantomime, produced by Bert Bailey, had played in Melbourne at Christmas 1918/1919, with Virginia Roche and Gracie Dorran in the title roles, along with Barry Lupino as the Dame, Gracie Leigh as Prince Fearnaught, Violet Collinson as Princess Bountiful, Bert Bailey as Ginger, and William Hassan as the Donkey.3
Virgina Roche who played Jack was brought over from America, while Gracie Dorran, the young Australian performer who played Jill, had joined the Bailey company in Adelaide in mid-1918 to play ingenue roles, including Nell in Gran’dad Rudd when it played at the Palace in August 1918. Gracie was a seasoned performer, having been on the stage since the age of 10, notably touring with Philip Lytton’s Dramatic company and performing with one of Edward Branscombe’s Dandies concert parties.
The pantomime at the Palace ‘is a good tonic for influenza’, observed The Bulletin (22 May 1919), while The Triad (10 June 1919) wrote:
There need be no dodging of the fact as to the Tait pantomime at the Palace Theatre. It is the brightest and briskest and generally jolliest little pantomime of the last five years. There is more honest mirth in it than there would be in any three of the others concentrated. Mr Barry Lupino is the most humourist of dames … [and] Miss Gracie Dorran, who plays Jill, is a frank, natural, gentle, and very charming girl on the stage, with a pleasant little voice and a delightful manner.
Jack and Jill played until 26 June.
(left) Harry Lauder travelling from San Francisco to Sydney on the ship S.S. Ventura, 1919. State Library Queensland, Brisbane; (right) Harry Lauder by Bancks, The Bulletin (Sydney), 17 July 1919, p.34
The 12 July saw the highly anticipated return of Harry Lauder. Following the huge success of his 1914 tour, the Taits were keen to coax the Scottish comedian back to Australia. Almost the day after peace was declared Lauder, accompanied by his wife, sister and brother-in-law, set sail for Canada. Keen to earn enough money to retire to his beloved property ‘Laudervale’ in Dunoon on the Clyde coast, he departed on a six-month Farewell Tour, having arranged to also visit America, Australia, New Zealand and India.
Since his first visit to Australia, Lauder had worked tirelessly for the war effort, and when his beloved son, Captain John Lauder, lost his life on the battlefields of France, he was determined to see the world one last time and raise further funds for war charities.4
Lauder arrived in Sydney on 29 April 1919 per mail steamer Ventura. In addition to his family, Lauder was accompanied by two performers, Muriel Window and Eddie Montrose, who would be part of his show. Muriel Window was an American artiste called ‘The Little Peacock of Vaudeville’ who had made a name for herself in the revue The Passing Show in which she wore some amazing costumes; while Montrose, known as ‘The Broadway Clown’, was a skilled acrobat. Amy and Dolly Castles were also on the ship as was singer Harry Dearth.
The ship was inspected by quarantine officers and ‘passed as clean’ allowing Lauder and the other passengers to disembark. Lauder was greeted by a vast crowd, echoing his arrival in Australia five years earlier. He and his party were escorted to the Hotel Australia by a ‘body of Scotch pipers and a number of leading Scottish residents’, where he was met with a cable from England announcing that the King had awarded him a knighthood—Sir Harry Lauder—in recognition of his assiduous efforts during the war, raising money, running recruitment drives and performing for troops on the front lines. Many actors had received the honour, beginning with Henry Irving in 1895, but Lauder was the first vaudeville entertainer to be knighted.
With Sydney theatres still closed, Lauder’s planned opening at the Palace Theatre was postponed, and arrangements were made for him to open at the King’s Theatre in Melbourne from 10 May to 12 June, with a six-night season at the Adelaide Tivoli from 21 June.5 Of the current situation in Sydney, Sir Harry was somewhat dismissive, saying he took no notice of the influenza, ‘It never once interfered with me. Right through America I played to capacity houses. I never heard of such a thing as theatrical restrictions there.’ 6
Sheet music cover for ‘Australia is the Land for Me’
National Library of Australia, Canberra
Sheet music cover for ‘Don’t Let Us Sing Any More About War, Just Let Us Sing of Love’
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney
As a result of his recent illness and the delay of the Adelaide season, Lauder’s Sydney opening, originally announced for 28 June, was postponed until 12 July, which meant the theatre remained ‘dark’ for the two weeks following the departure of the Jack and Jill company. Lauder had played the Palace in mid-1914, when he transferred there from the larger Royal for a few nights at the conclusion of his last visit. His return Sydney season got off to a great start. Audiences and critics were unanimous in their enthusiasm for the little Scottish comic.
Harry Lauder, the homely, the humorous, the home-loving, faced a Sydney audience at the Palace Theatre on Saturday night. There he stood convulsed with silent laughter and reminiscent glee, the same kilts, the same gnarled and twisted cudgel, the same inimitable Scottish comedian we all learned to love when he first came here five years ago. Joyous enthusiasm followed all his efforts, and the happiest of evenings resulted.7
A mixture of old songs and new, combined with his characteristic dry humour comments, a twinkle in his eye and smile on his lips, he was a sensation, but as on the previous tour, audiences had to wait until the second half of the program for him to appear. In addition to Lauder’s two principal associate artists, Muriel Window (presenting a series of quick changes into costumes from different periods—1871, 1919 and 1931!—to the accompaniment of bird-song) and Eddie Montrose (with his dazzling ‘falling’ stunt and side-somersaults on one hand), there was Highland dancer Heather Belle, baritone Colin Crane with a series of ballads, and other sundry musicians and jugglers. (See THA Digital Library for copy of program for week commencing 9 August 1919)
Cartoon by Mick Paul
The Lone Hand (Sydney), August 1919, p.35
Cartoon by Mick Paul
The Lone Hand (Sydney), August 1919, p.35
Over the following ten weeks, Lauder played to packed houses, with many people reportedly attending more than once. He presented a changing repertoire of songs, including the peace song, ‘Don’t Let Us Sing Any More About War, Just Let Us Sing of Love’, and a patriotic Australia-themed ballad, ‘Australia is the Land for Me’. Due to the huge demand for seats, Lauder’s Palace season was extended until Wednesday 3 September 1919. His final night was so popular that many people had to be accommodated on the stage. It was said to be an attendance record for the Palace.8
With his departure from Australia set for 8 October, Lauder concluded the Australian leg of his world tour by visiting Brisbane and the Northen Rivers, concluding with a return visit to Melbourne. Owing to ‘shipping difficulties’ the planned New Zealand tour was cancelled.
Palace Theatre attractions. The Sun (Sydney), 3 September 1919, p.10
With the smell of heather still lingering in the air, Emelie Polini began a brief return season on Thursday 4 September with Eyes of Youth. Arthur E. Greenaway, who had previously played the role of Peter, was now cast as the Yogi, with Hamon Lee as Paolo Salbo and Maurice Dudley as Picquand, along with John De Lacey, John Fernside, Monica Scully and Georgia Harvey.
Once again audiences crammed the theatre and it was reported that with this third return season of Eyes of Youth, it had ‘eclipsed the business done when it was first produced at the Palace’.9 The season ended on 26 September, when Emelie Polini and the company left for a tour of New Zealand.
From program for Daddies. State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
With the next attraction, Daddies, a play by John Lessing Hobble, the Taits announced something of a departure—there would be no star! ‘The play is to be the thing’. 10 In America, under David Belasco’s management, it had premiered in Washington on 10 June 1918, prior to commencing a highly propitious New York season on 5 September at the Belasco Theatre. When it was given its first Australian outing at the King’s Theatre in Melbourne on 19 July 1919, it had just ended on Broadway. Having transferred to the Lyceum Theatre in November, it closed on 4 June 1919 after 340 performances, with Jeanne Eagles (Ruth Atkins), Winifred Fraser (Mrs Audrey), Edith King (Bobette), Bruce McRae (Robert Audrey), Edwards Davis (Nicholas Waters) and George Abbott (Henry Allen).
Despite its obvious success, the play divided the critics, with some calling it ‘powerful’ and ‘artistic’ and others decrying its ‘sugar and sentimentality’.11
It is the story of a group of college buddies who shun marriage and set up an anti-matrimonial club that meets once a year. Out of a sense of duty, however, they decide to each sponsor a war orphan, but Robert Audrey’s orphan turns out not to be a baby but a ‘beautiful seventeen-year-old girl’—and of course—he falls in love with her!
In Melbourne, Daddies had played for eight weeks, with Margaret Nybloc (Ruth Atkins), Beatrice Esmond (Mrs Audrey), Greta Brunelle (Bobette), Jerome Patrick (Robert Audrey), Reginald Wykeham (Nicholas Waters), Gerald Kay Souper (Henry Allen), Tal Ordell (William Rivers), James Crocket (George Bryant), and Roland Rushton (Parker). The play was jointly directed by Jerome Patrick and Roland Rushton. Of the cast, Jerome Patrick, Roland Rushton and Greta Brunelle hailed from New York, though it seems Brunelle was the only actual American, as Patrick was a New Zealander and Rushton came from Adelaide.
Daddies arrived in Sydney on 27 September with the promise of a long run. The cast was the same as in Melbourne with a few key exceptions. The role of Ruth was now played by Gracie Dorran, who had replaced Margaret Nybloc during the Melbourne run, with Cyril Mackay as Nicholas Walters and Wilfred Hilary as William Rivers.12
Sydney critics were mixed in their reception, with Sunday Times calling it ‘a tender, laughing comedy’ while The Sun called it ‘a pretty play … not a great one’. The Referee declared it ‘a delightful comedy with any amount of human interest’.13 Although it proved popular and played to good houses, it was withdrawn after just four weeks.
Advertisement for Old Lady 31, The Sun (Sydney), 1 October 1919, p.8
Saturday 1 November 1919 saw the welcome return of Sara Allgood. Since her last appearance at the Palace in February 1918, she had been through an incredibly tough time. While experiencing immense success with Peg o’ My Heart and appearing in her first ‘photoplay’, Just Peggy (a sort of Peg spin-off),14 Allgood’s personal life was in turmoil. In September 1916 she had married her leading man, Gerald Henson, and on 18 January 1918, just a month prior to her third reappearance at the Palace, she gave birth to a baby, Mary, who died within an hour. Previously, in May1917, she learned that her brother had died from wounds in France, and a month later that a good friend, Major H.K. Redmond, had also been killed in the firing line. In mid-1918, she embarked on a six-month tour of New Zealand, her second visit, commencing in Dunedin on 26 July. By November, however, influenza had reached New Zealand, and that month, while in Wellington, several members of the Peg o’ My Heart company contracted the disease, including Sara and her husband. While Sara recovered, Gerald sadly died on 24 November 1918. Due to shipping issues, she remained stranded in New Zealand until she could secure passage back to Australia on 14 January 1919, but due to quarantine requirements, a trip that usually takes four days, turned into a four-week ordeal, including twenty days in the Federal enclosure at North Head.
Postcard of Sara Allgood with a personal note, c. 1919. Author’s collection.
After eight months absence from the stage, the Tait management announced that they had secured Sara Allgood for a new play, Old Lady 31. This new play by Rachel Crothers, based on a novel by the late Louise Forsslund, represented quite a departure from Peg o’ My Heart and Just Peggy. In many ways it was a return to the types of characters she had been playing at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin: old ladies! Subtitled ‘the sunshine comedy with 306 laughs’, it is set in 1860s New England where, through penury, Angie is separated from her seafaring husband Abe and sent to an Old Ladies’ Home, but the twenty-nine inhabitants of the home are so impressed by the couple’s devotion that they arrange to accommodate him also. Thus, Angie becomes Old Lady 30 and Abe becomes Old Lady 31!
After a short try-out season, Crother’s ‘gentle, homely, rainbow comedy’ was given its first Broadway performance at the 39th Street Theatre on 30 October 1916.15 With Emma Dunn as Angie and Reginald Barlow as Abe, it proved an unexpected ‘hit’, playing for 160 performances. In 1920, it was made into a film by Metro Pictures, with Dunn reprising her role of Angie.16
From program for Old Lady 31. State Library of New South Wales, Sydney.
As in Melbourne, many of the ‘old lady’ roles were played noted stage veterans including Maggie Moore, Katie Towers and Madge Herrick.
Old Lady 31 played until 12 December, and the following night Peg o’ My Heart was relaunched for Sara Allgood’s ‘farewell’ season.
To be continued
Endnotes
1. The initial season of the McMahon’s Melbourne Repertory Theatre Company took play at the Turn Verein Hall and comprised three plays: the double bill of The Two Mr Wetherbys and Act 2 of The Critic (26 June & 3 July 1911) and John Gabriel Borkman (29 June & 6 July 1911). Amateurs F. Kingsley Norris and J. Beresford Fowler were both praised for their acting in the Ibsen play. See also https://theatreheritage.org.au/on-stage-magazine/profiles/item/688-jack-beresford-fowler-a-life-well-spent-part-1
2. Sydney Morning Herald, 5 April 1919, p.17
3. In Melbourne, Virginia Roche missed the premiere due to quarantined requirements, and her original role of Prince Fearnaught was played by Dorothy Leigh with Ida Newton as Jack; but on her arrival, Roche declared she wanted to play Jack, and Dorothy took on the role of the Prince.
4. Lauder published a book, A Minstrel in France, about his wartime experiences. It was published in 1918 and was promoted in Australia during his 1919 tour.
5. Lauder was to have played eight-nights in Adelaide from 14 June, but contracted laryngitis and ordered not to travel by doctor.
6. Advertiser (Adelaide), 30 April 1919, p.10
7. Sydney Morning Herald, 14 July 1919, p.7
8. Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 4 September 1919, p.5
9. Referee (Sydney), 24 September 1919, p.9
10. Table Talk (Melbourne), 10 July 1919, p.12
11. Bordman, p.86
12. The Ballarat Star, 16 August 1919, noted, ‘Miss Nybloc was essentially a character actress, and not at all well cast in Daddies’.
13. Sunday Times, 28 September 1919, p.2; The Sun, 28 September 1919, p.2; Referee, 1 October 1919, p.9
14. For more detail see Pike and Cooper, p.106-107
15. New York Times, 31 October 1916, p.11
16. See IMDB, Old Lady 31 (1920) - IMDb
It was remade in 1940 as The Captain is a Lady, with Charles Coburn and Beulah Bondi. See IMDB, The Captain Is a Lady (1940) - IMDb
References
Gerald Bordman, American Theatre: A Chronicle of Comedy and Drama, 1914-1930, Oxford University Press, 1995
Harry Lauder, A Minstrel in France, Andrew Melrose Ltd, London, 1918
Andrew Pike & Ross Cooper, Australian Film, 1900-1977, Oxford University Press in association with The Australian Film Institute, Melbourne, 1980
Viola Tait, A Family of Brothers: The Taits and J.C. Williamson; a theatre history, Heinemann, Melbourne, 1971
Newspapers
New York Times with Index (1851-2022), via State Library Victoria
Trove, trove.nla.gov.au
Pictures
Marriner Theatre Archive, Melbourne
National Library of Australia, Canberra
National Library of New Zealand, Wellington
State Library of New South Wales, Sydney
State Library Queensland, Brisbane
State Library Victoria, Melbourne
With thanks to
Rob Morrison
