Florence Young

Clara Clifton as Emerance in Veronique, 1905. Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne.Following hersuccessful and popular performance as ‘Brightie’ in the George Edwardes Gaiety Company’s production of Kitty Grey, Clara was engaged by J.C. Williamson for the 1904 season of the Royal Comic Opera Company.

Clara’s first appearance with the company was in The Orchid which had enjoyed enormous success at London’s Gaiety Theatre during 1903. Described as a spectacular attraction with brilliant scenery and costumes with gay and attractive music from the pens of Caryll, Monckton and Rubens and lyrics by Ross and Greenback, it played for the first time in Australia at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne on 29 October 1904. The show enjoyed  capacity audiences throughout its three month season which extended over the Christmas and New Year period.

Typical of musical comedies, the plot of The Orchid posed no challenge for the audience.¹ Essentially, it involved the hunt and rivalry between British and French politicians to secure a ‘special’ orchid which had been cultivated by the gardener at a Horticultural College. Marital mix-ups, romantic attraction between the various characters, together with a bevy of young female college students, coloured the storyline. 

A notable feature of the production was the number of comedians in the cast, from old favourites, George Lauri (as Meakin the College gardener) and Claude Bantock (Aubrey Chesterton) to a new company member, W.S. Percy (Comte Raoul de Cassignat) who had been the lead comedian with Pollard’s Opera Company for many years.  Between them, and Clara, they provided numerous comic interludes. The cast also included Florence Young as Josephine Zaccary, a teacher at the College, and Evelyn Scott as Lady Violet Anstruther, the College principal pupil. Clara played the part of Caroline Vokins, and as the buoyant, amorous Vokins she was an unqualified success.

In several scenes Clara appeared alongside George Lauri and the matrimonial manoeuvring and the love scenes between the two were described as rich in comicality.² Clifton and Lauri would go on to regularly perform together in J.C. Williamson’s musical comedies and they formed a successful partnership, often providing much of the humour.

Opening night reviews were full of praise for Clara’s performance. The opinion of the Age critic was typical: ‘Her methods are admirable. Her stage presence commanding, and her artless trick of tempting the audience to laugh with, not at, proved irresistibly infectious. She has two of the most “catchy” songs in the piece, “Advertisements” and “Fancy Dress”, for both of which she received the well-merited compliment of a double encore, and at all points she quickly established herself as a firm favourite.’³

With her jovial personality, sense of humour and infectious habit, if annoying to some, of laughing at the end of her lines, Clara quickly established a rapport with Melbourne theatre lovers, and the enthusiastic reception she received on her first performance with the Royal Comic Opera Comedy company was noted by Playgoer of Punch. As J.C. Williamson once remarked, while Australian audiences were in many ways the best in the world, they were most difficult to please, but ‘when an Australian audience likes you their applause is genuine’.⁴ And they certainly liked Clara!

Miss Clara Clifton as Caroline Vokins: ‘Fancy me in Fancy Dress’. Photo by Talma.

Andrew Barrie collection

Program for The Orchid, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, 1904

Frank Van Straten collection

After a three month season in Melbourne, The Orchid played in Sydney and Perth, where new songs, ‘In My Time’ and ‘Only Fancy Me’ were added to Clara’s repertoire. Two years later, in April 1907, when The Orchid was performed at the Theatre Royal, Adelaide and at Geelong and Ballarat, Clara was described as a clever and versatile actress, a perfect artiste, inimitable in the role of Caroline Vokins. Her two songs, ‘In my Time’ and ‘Fancy Dress’, were smart character sketches and deservedly encored.⁵

On 7 January 1905 an enthusiastic audience was at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne for the revival of the ever popular Florodora. It was a lavish stage spectacular with a new and capable cast, strong chorus and ballet, but it ran for only a short season and while there was a smattering of praise for some individual performances, the critics generally felt that the 1905 production was a disappointment.

Clara was cast in the role of Lady Holyrood, an announcement which was viewed with some misgivings in theatrical circles as she was to play a young widow, fashionable, cold and cynical, attributes thought foreign to a comedienne who was full of humour and a sense of fun. 

Also, when a musical was revived, audiences and critics invariably made comparisons of the performances of the cast and of the production itself with earlier shows. This was true of Florodora, and in particular, Clara’s role as Lady Holyrood, the part which Grace Palotta had been well-praised for in the earlier George Edwardes’ 1900 production. In applauding Palotta’s charm and graceful performance, the Age wrote: ‘… Florodora without a Lady Holyrood—and without a particularly good Lady Holyrood to boot—is unthinkable.’⁶

Against this backdrop how did Clara fare in 1905?

The magazine, Table Talk of 12 January left its readers in no doubt, writing that Clara Clifton was decidedly out of her element as Lady Holyrood and that she lacked the chic necessary for the part, and does not give the expression of the smart society woman. The review concluding that while she looks pretty and wears beautiful clothes, she was a pleasing Lady Holyrood, but not a representative of the ‘smart set’.⁷ Peter Quince writing for Punch was more gracious, noting that her performance, though lacking the grace that marks the ‘Caste of Vere de Vere’, is a decidedly meritorious performance, and her clear enunciation both in dialogue and singing is a treat to listen to.⁸

While there was a diversity of opinion from other critics, the tenor of their comments was generally prejudiced by comparisons to Palotta’s earlier performance, as opposed to judging Clara on her performance. The Critic, for instance, wrote that Miss Clara Clifton as Lady Holyrood:

seemed at the outset alarming, considering the proportions of the comedienne and the class of work in which she has excelled here.  She set about winning the audience in the first place by her frocking. It was sumptuous and sported with an idea of dignity. This is what Miss Clifton strove to maintain in her Lady Holyrood role all through the show. Where her fascinating predecessor shone for grace, this large, pleasant comedienne aimed at dignity … Where this Lady Holyrood fell short was in the spiced and often wicked wit which gives a relish to some of the dialogue. There is no acidity in Miss Clifton’s voice, and no vinegar in her expression. So the malicious worldling’s humour lost its sting. The big, kindly, good-tempered face of the player discounted the malice of the Holyrood remarks.⁹

Moreover, the Critic provides another example of how reviews of the time were happy to comment on Clara’s physical appearance.

Whether these critiques had an effect on Clara is unknown, but she would have taken some comfort from Peter Quince’s opinion that in comparing the two actresses he had no hesitation in saying that Miss Clifton was a better actress—measured upon points—than Miss Palotta.¹⁰

Indeed, when Florodora was performed at Her Majesty’s, Sydney for a six night season beginning on 12 May 1906, Clara was an undeniable success as Lady Holyrood. Reportedly, Sydney theatre patrons found her in fine voice and her saucy and snappy ‘When I Leave Town’ and her songs in the second Act—‘Tact’ and ‘I’ve an Inkling’ and ‘I Want to Marry a Man I Do’ which Clara sang with Tweedlepunch (George Lauri) and Cyrus Gilfain (Fred Leslie) were very popular and encored more than once.

Program for the Melbourne season of Florodora, 7 January 1905

State Library Victoria, Melbourne

Program for the Sydney season of Florodora

Mitchell Library Performance Program Collection, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney

Perhaps the ambivalent Melbourne reviews provided the challenge to Clara to rework the role of Lady Holyrood as her own because the Sydney season prompted excellent reviews, such as that in the The Australian Star (Sydney) of 14 May which wrote: ‘the honours of the evening were carried off by Lady Holyrood who broke away from the “traditions” of the part which had been left by Miss Grace Palotta … Those who had predicted that Miss Clifton would cut a poor figure as Lady Holyrood were very much out in their reckoning.’¹¹

Following the Melbourne season of Florodora the charming musical comedy, The Geisha returned to Her Majesty’s Theatre in mid-January 1905 with Florence Young in the lead role of O Mimosa San the chief Geisha and with George Lauri as Wun-hi the Tea House proprietor. Clara was cast as the statuesque society dame, Lady Constance Wynne, a visitor to Japan, and it was said that her usual jovial humour gave some life to an otherwise colourless part. In particular, her by-play when George Lauri performed ‘Chin Chin Chinaman’ was roundly applauded.¹²

Clara’s growing stage popularity (often touted as the ‘Goddess of the Gods’) was acknowledged when the visiting American impersonator Alice Pierce, well known for her impersonations of leading actresses, included an imitation of Clara in her repertoire when appearing at the Tivoli Theatre in May 1905. According to reviews, Pierce’s mannerisms and voice of Clara (with her irritating drawl) were splendid and her recital of familiar lines from The Orchid, ‘Where’s My Rupert’ and ‘It isn’t the money I want, it’s the man’ were readily recognised by the audience.¹³

In late May of 1905 a Grand Matinee Performance by the Royal Comic Opera Company in aid of their Sick Fund¹⁴ was held at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney with a performance of Florodora and a selection of items from The Orchidand The Cingalee. Several members of the company performed, including Clara who appeared as Lady Holyrood, and together with Claude Bantock and Margaret Thomas she contributed to other items on the program. Clara was also involved in a similar program at a special matinee in early June in aid of the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children.

Clara was not part of the cast which performed The Cingalee during April and October 1905 and some reviews noted this with regret and surprise after her strong showing in The Orchid. Was her absence because of the wealth of female talent available—Margaret Thomas, Ivy Scott, Evelyn Scott, Rose Musgrove and Alexia Bassian—and it was difficult to cast them all? Or perhaps, there was no suitable role for Clara—was she already being type-cast? There was also a suggestion that a planned return to London, which didn’t eventuate, was the reason for her omission.

Clara Clifton as Emerance, in Veronique. Photo by Talma.

Andrew Barrie collection

George Lauri and Clara Clifton in Veronique

From The Theatre (Sydney), 1 February 1906, p.22

Prior to staging Veronique in Melbourne there was a gap in the Opera Company’s programming schedule around late October 1905 and management decided to revive The Orchid for a short run; a choice possibly influenced by the availability of audience favourite, Clifton and her success in the role of Caroline Vokins. The show and Clara’s reappearance was enthusiastically welcomed by theatre patrons.

The Company performed Andre Messager’s  comic opera Veronique for the first time in Australia at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne on 11 November 1905 and in Sydney at Her Majesty’s the following January. Described as a modernised opera bouffe, the plot revolves around Helene de Solanges, a rich heiress, who in the guise of Veronique a flower girl working at the fashionable Parisian florists of Monsieur and Madame Coquenard, sets out to captivate Count Florestan de Valiancourt. Helene is assisted in her escapade by her aunt and chaperone, Emerance, Countess de Champ Azur, the role played by Clara.

George Lauri and Clara Clifton in Veronique. Photo by Talma.

Andrew Barrie collection

Clara Clifton and George Lauri in Veronique. Photo by Talma.

Andrew Barrie collection

Opinions were mixed on Clara’s performance as Emerance. For some, she acquitted herself capably, played the role with great spirit and read the character of a modern, wise, worldly woman with insight. Others thought she was somewhat disappointing, afraid to be too unrestrained, and did not present the lofty type of beauty needed for a Countess, although playing the character with composure.

The review in Table Talk on Clara’s performance in the Melbourne show was particularly pertinent.  It noted there was a sameness about Clara’s acting, and that the Countess was played to a certain extent as a second edition of Caroline Vokins.¹⁵

In early December 1905, The Girl From Kay’s replaced Veronique at Her Majesty’s, Melbourne to excellent reviews with the press generally agreeing that the present cast had out-sung, out-danced and outperformed the George Edwardes Gaiety Company’s production the previous year.

Clara had a small role in this production but presented as an imposing, handsome Mrs. Chalmers. In the Edwardes’ production, Maud Hobson played Mrs. Chalmers and Punch’s Peter Quince wrote that comparisons with previous productions, however odious were inevitable but noted that ‘Miss Clara Clifton, as Mrs. Chalmers, need no fear of comparison that may be instituted’.¹⁶

Advertising postcard for The Girl from Kay’s. State Library Victoria, Melbourne.

The musical moved to Sydney, opening on Boxing Night, 1905, and the following July it was successfully staged at the Theatre Royal Adelaide where one reviewer wrote that Clara could not have been surpassed as the hysterical lachrymose Mrs. Chalmers.¹⁷

After an absence of some ten years, the musical farce The Shop Girl, almost burlesque to some, was again performed in Australian theatres. It opened in Sydney on 3 March 1906, playing for five weeks before moving to Adelaide’s Theatre Royal in July and later to Melbourne for a six-night run at Her Majesty’s Theatre, beginning on 27 October.

In The Shop Girl, Clara returned to one of her familiar roles as Ada Smith, a part in which she was well versed from her time on the English provincial theatre circuit.

As Ada it was said Clara acted with ‘archness and vivacity’ and presented as a youthful Mrs. Malaprop from the workhouse, comely to look upon, with a slow, amiable smile, and an innate sense of humour. Her rendition of the laughing song ‘Class’ was the hit of the show.^{18 19} In ‘Class’, Clara included several topical observations, with one in particular singled out for comment by the Sydney Daily Telegraph— it was a moral lecture about certain society peccadilloes, and even a dig at the man who goes to the theatre to study ‘the psychic effect of the high kick’.²⁰ Perhaps Clara was alluding to the questionable tone of parts of the script.

When The Shop Girlplayed its short season in Melbourne, Clara’s humour was at its best, her innumerable faux pas, often played along with by fellow performers, had the house in fits of laughter.

Clara was back at Her Majesty’s, Sydney in the role of Madame Michu in Andre Messager’s comic opera The Little Michus which held its Australian premiere in early June 1906. It played for seven weeks before moving to Adelaide as the opening production for the season at the Theatre Royal and then to Melbourne. 

As with Veronique, the intent of The Little Michus was to educate theatre patrons away from farcical musical comedy towards opera bouffe. Unlike the usual plotless musicals, The Little Michus had a coherent storyline, introduced fewer features typical of comic musicals and a tighter script which allowed little latitude for the comedians to improvise. This ‘new direction’ drew comment from the Melbourne Argus which thought that the comic skills of Lauri, Bantock, Percy, Leslie and Clifton were sadly missed and that they were all but lost as far as singing and dancing was concerned.²¹

Characters in The Little Michus. Photos by Talma. (left) Andrew Barrie collection, (right) National Library of Australia, Canberra.  

The musical had Clara as Madame Michu with Claude Bantock as Monsieur Michu, the couple had been entrusted with looking after General Des Ifs daughter Blanch Marie in return for a sum of money which they used to open a shop. While bathing his own daughter Marie Blanch, Michu mixes the babies up and is unable to tell them apart. Difficulties arise when the girls grow up—the General wants the return of his long separated daughter, and romantic feelings between the girls, a young army officer and a shop assistant complicate matters, but after much toing and froing the relationships are satisfactorily resolved.

Although her part as Mme Michus was of minor interest Clara played the role in her usual effective style and together with Claude Bantock as the elderly Michus gave the audience many humorous moments. Clara also made a series of hits during the performance and her item, ‘If you happen to stop as you pass our shop’, received tremendous applause.²²

The Little Michusfinished its Melbourne season in early September with Punch noting that the principals in the production, which included Clara, ‘have added to their reputation as sterling artists.’²³

To be continued

Endnotes

1. Plots in musical comedies were somewhat fanciful and existed to provide structure for the songs and to give each of the principals an opportunity to show off their comic and vocal skills. (‘Florodora’, Elisabeth Kumm, Theatre Heritage Australia, 25 June 2015)

2. Argus (Melbourne), 31 October 1904, p.6

3. Age (Melbourne), 31 October 1904, p.6

4. The Stage: What it Demands of the Actor, the Author, and the Manager: An Interview with J.C. Williamson—Part III, The Bookfellow, vol 1, no. 5, 31 January 1907, p.16

5. Ballarat Star, 30 April 1907, p.5

6. Age (Melbourne), 17 December 1900, p.6

7. Table Talk (Melbourne) 12 January 1905, p.17

8. Punch (Melbourne), 12 January 1905, p.26. The expression ‘Vere de Vere’ is found in Tennyson’s poem Lady Clara Vere de Vere. Quince uses the expression to imply that Clifton was lacking the class of an aristocratic person.

9. Critic (Adelaide), 11 January 1905, p.17

10. Punch (Melbourne), 12 January 1905, p.26

11. The Australian Star (Sydney), 14 May 1906, p.3

12. Table Talk (Melbourne), 26 January 1905, p.20

13. Evening News (Sydney), 1 May 1905, p.8 and The Australian Star,1 May 1905, p.2

14. The Fund was established by members of J.C. Williamson’s Comic Opera Company with members contributing 3d per week and when a member was ill a doctor was provided and £1 given to the sufferer. The Fund was supplemented with proceeds from an annual matinee performance by the company. The Fund Committee consisted of Messrs G. Lauri, Hugh J. Ward, F. Leslie, C. Kenningham, Coventry and Carroll.

15. Table Talk(Melbourne),16 November 1905, p.17

16. Punch (Melbourne), 14 December 1905, p.36

17. Register (Adelaide), 27 July 1906, p.7

18. Sydney Morning Herald, 5 March 1906, p.10

19. According to one source Clifton borrowed ‘Class’ from The Silver Slipper. See The Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, Kurt Gänzl, Second Edition Vol 3, p.1851. Schirmer Books 2001. Connie Ediss performed ‘Class’ in the 1901 production of The Silver Slipper.

20. Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 5 March 1906, p.9

21. Argus (Melbourne), 13 August, 1906 p.6

22. Critic (Adelaide), 25 July 1906, p.1

23. Punch (Melbourne), 13 September 1906, p.36

With thanks to

Andrew Barrie, a grandson of Andrew Barrie of Talma fame; Claudia Funder, Research Coordinator, Collections Arts Centre Melbourne; Elisabeth Kumm

The Melbourne racing season was well underway and on Victorian Derby Night, 3 November 1906, The Spring Chicken had its Australian premiere at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, with later performances in Adelaide starting on 6 April and Sydney on 8 June 1907 and a revival in Melbourne for Show Week the following August.

The plot of this musical was simple, although some thought the storyline improper. Gustave Babori (Reginald Roberts) a staid lawyer and dutiful husband in winter is involved in flirtatious exploits and infidelity in the springtime, a practice which his dutiful wife, Dulcie (Olive Morell in her first appearance in Australia) wants to stop. There are endless complications—Babori falls in love with a client, Baroness Papouche (Alma Barber) who is seeking a divorce and he is also infatuated with Rosalie (Florence Young) a ‘playful’ French maid. He is aided in his amorous adventures by his father in-law, Mr. Girdle (George Lauri), who is similarly incline.

Clara played the part of Mrs. Girdle, the mother-in-law of Babori, a character role which suited her burlesque skill perfectly. Her performance was the subject of another cleverly drawn sketch.¹

Mrs Girdle drew upon her experience of men and her female guile in dealing with her own flirtatious husband to benefit the ladies in their endeavours and to finally reconcile the parties. Clara’s rendition of ‘I Don’t Know, But I Can Guess (what I don’t know of Babori, or any other man, I can guess)’, a pointed reference to the philanders, was according to the Argus review one of the most lilting airs of the piece (and) the keynote of the whole production.² And the Leader wrote that the song would have startled the moral purists out of their propriety.³

The Bulletin, however, in a biting comment, thought there was a lack of spice in the performance and that it was ‘not counteracted by the cloying sweetness of mother-in-law Clara Clifton … Charmingly chubby and coyly arch in her appeal to audiences, this ingratiating lady, regarded in the light of a pickle for devilled son-in-law, is sadly deficient in mustard, pepper and vinegar. ’⁴

While Clara’s comic skill was often acknowledged, little was said of her singing, although of her Mrs. Girdle performance in Sydney it was said that she sings very prettily and was also referred to as the ‘silver-voiced’ actress.⁵

W.S. Percy as Girdle’s Son, Clara Clifton as Mrs Girdle and Alma Barber as Girdle’s Niece in the 1907 production of The Spring Chicken. Photo by Talma, Melbourne & Sydney.

National Library of Australia Collection

Advertising postcard for the J.C. Williamson production of The Spring Chicken

National Library of Australia, Canberra

According to the Leader there was a special feminine interest in the musical because the costumes were of the height of fashion—or what would be the fashion next week.⁶ Clara was fastidious with her stage wardrobe, which was splendid; she dressed as a fashionable society woman. Likewise, her off-stage attire was most elegant. The fashions seen on stage were often copied by stylish women and many in the social set attended the theatre merely to see what was in vogue.

Reviews of performances and ‘Ladies Pages’ in daily newspapers often devoted space to an actress’s wardrobe and the quality of her dress. Clara’s wardrobe was regularly singled out for comment including in her role as Mrs. Girdle in The Spring Chicken where it was noted that Clara’s handsome personality was more pronounced by two effective toilettes: ‘the second an exquisite gown of white brocade, the corsage draped with white chiffon and lace, a trail of bright crimson roses just giving the necessary touch of color, a couple of dark roses worn in the becoming grey hair.’⁷ The ensemble can be seen in the Talma postcard above.

Almost twelve months to the day when last in Melbourne, The Girl from Kay’s was again performed at Her Majesty’s, playing for a week in early December 1906. As a finale to the performance on 17 December, a number of popular selections from some of the Company’s previous musicals were performed, including a rendition of ‘Zo Zo’ from Kitty Grey by Clara, the song which first gave her prominence in Australia.

Two days later the company left on the Riverina for a tour of New Zealand with a repertoire of performances scheduled in major cities through to Easter 1907. The season opened at the Wellington Opera House on Boxing Day evening with a performance of The Orchid and Clara ‘easily stepped into the good graces of patrons, and she bids fair to become a warm favourite with New Zealand audiences... If it were possible, the audience would have had her sing “In My Time” all night to them’.⁸

During the tour, the illness of George Lauri gave W.S. Percy the opportunity to play Meakin (the gardener) in performances of The Orchid at Christchurch and the press reported that his scenes with Miss Clifton were full of spontaneity and fun. ⁹

Cast list for The Dairymaids, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, October 1907. Click here to view program.

State Library Victoria, Melbourne

Poster for the Sydney season of The Dairymaids, February 1908. Click on image to enlarge.

State Library of New South Wales, Sydney

After a successful run at the London Apollo Theatre the previous year, The Dairymaids had its Australian premiere at Her Majesty’s Theatre on Saturday, 7 September 1907. The musical had been eagerly anticipated by Melbourne theatre patrons and the show attracted full houses throughout its season.

In this farcical musical, Clara played Lady Brudenell who had established a model dairy for the well-being of young ladies. Two of the dairymaids are her wards, Winifred and Peggy, played by Florence Young and Fanny Dango. It was Dango’s first performance in Australia and she also played the part of the chief Sandow girl.¹⁰ Emma Temple, in her first appearance with the Comic Opera Co., played Miss Penelope Pyechase the severe and pedantic schoolmistress. Besides the frolicsome dairymaids, there are naval officers, Brudenell’s flirtatious nephews and a gymnasium scene involving many young attractive ladies in clinging white gowns, doing various ‘Sandow’ exercises.¹¹

The script, according to Punch, provided few opportunities for Clara to excel in what was described as a chanceless, thankless role. Moreover, as a capable vocalist Clara was not given the opportunity to sing, other than in chorus work, a shortcoming in the production which also applied to other well-known singers in the cast: Reginald Roberts, Alma Barber and Claude Bantock.¹²

The Melbourne Herald, however, considered Clara’s performance a great triumph, writing of ‘her wonderful skill in getting en rapport with her audience’ and that ‘she uses melodramatic phrases with almost perfect melodramatic enunciation and gesture’, concluding that ‘the part suits her to a nicety, and her style has improved since we first had the pleasure of seeing her in Melbourne.’¹³

Some four months later The Dairymaids played in Sydney for the first time on 1 February 1908 for a six-week season. As in the Melbourne production, Clara was said to be handsome and dignified as Lady Brudenell, with reference again being made to her singing—what little vocal work was attributed to the role was rendered with the artiste’s usual care.¹⁴

Clara Clifton as Lady Brudenell, with Alma Barber (Helene) and Arthur Crane (Captain Fred Leverton). Photo by Talma. Courtesy of Andrew Barrie.

Writing on the Sydney show for Punch, ‘The Don’ felt The Dairymaids had suffered in comparison with The Girls of Gottenberg, the previous production at the theatre. It was, he said clumsily constructed, the comedy was fifth rate and the music commonplace and monotonous. On the contrary the reviewer said it was unnecessary to write anything about Clara’s character as ‘whatever the piece or the part, she is always Clara Clifton. “Semper Eadem” [always the same] is her motto, and she never shifts from her moorings’.¹⁵

With her public popularity Clara’s private life often caught the attention of the press and any titbit, sometimes less than flattering, was newsworthy. For instance, the Critic wrote: ‘Miss Clara Clifton goes riding into the country on fine days. Being no light-weight, she has to use great judgement in selecting a trusty steed. She generally finds him.’¹⁶ And the Bulletin also weighed in with an invasive passage: ‘the latest footlighter to turn to the “d.f. villa …” is Miss Cara Clifton. That genial soul, what time she isn’t impersonating ladies of various qualities, is enthusiastically playing housewife in a nest at Albert Park. Nowadays the imported busker frequently shows an amiable leaning towards domesticity, and modestly avoids the unblinking observation of public tables-d’hote.’¹⁷

Clara wrote an indignant denial and demanded the statement contradicted. The Bulletin reluctantly agreed, but not without a final barb— ‘Miss Clifton doesn’t cook her own chop in her own domicile. She hangs out at the Old White Hart, Melbourne.’¹⁸

Sandow girls in the Gymnasium Scene in The Dairymaids at Her Majesty’s, Melbourne. Photo by Talma.

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Margery (Florence Young) and others in The Dairymaids. Photo by Talma.

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Due to ill health, Clara could not take her role as Mrs Privett when Alfred Celier’s popular pastoral comic opera, Dorothy opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney on 20 July 1907 and was replaced by Pressy Preston. Clara returned to the role when the comic opera played for a week’s run in Melbourne the following October, Preston stayed on for the Melbourne production in the lesser role of Lady Betty.

Clara’s role of Mrs. Privett, the sister of Squire Bantam, was that of a comely, middle aged widow and reviews of her performance were mixed. The Age, for instance, commented that she ‘went through her appointed task on conventional lines, but never once looked as though she felt them to be either appropriate or convincing.’¹⁹ Whereas Table Talk wrote that she was a superb Mrs. Privett and was the perfect foil to George Lauri’s, Lurcher which enabled him to fully realise the humorous possibilities of the piece.²⁰ This comment was echoed by the Bulletin which wrote: Lauri and Miss Clifton got full allowance of applause and delighted guffaw for their buffoonery as Lurcher and Mrs. Privett. ²¹ And the Gadfly said of her role that she loses more of the Clara than usual and assumes a good deal more of the character.²²

The Royal Comic Opera Co’s next attraction was the military musical comedy The Girls of Gottenbergwhich had its first Australian performance at Her Majesty’s, Melbourne on 26 October 1907, in a season which coincided with the Cup racing carnival. There was a packed house on opening night and most numbers were encored by an enthusiastic audience, many who were no doubt buoyed by a successful day at the races. Following its very successful run in Melbourne the musical moved to Sydney as the Christmas holiday attraction.

Cast list for The Girls of Gottenberg, Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, October 1907. Click here to view program.

State Library Victoria, Melbourne

George Lauri and Clara Clifton in The Girls of Gottenberg

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

The musical was an extravaganza of colour from the military uniforms to the costumes of the chorus girls and the dressing of the principals. A cast of some thirty characters included most of the Company’s principal players, with Clara in the role of Clementine, the Burgonmaster’s daughter. Of particular note was the appearance of the Comic Opera tenor Reginald Roberts after an absence of 18 months in America, as Otto Prince of Saxe-Hildesheim an officer in the Blue Hussars.

The storyline concerned two regiments, the Red and Blue Hussars, both which are languishing in Rottenberg where there is only one girl. Both groups want to be transferred to Gottenberg where there are plenty of beautiful, fun-loving girls at a military college. The Kaiser choses the Red Hussars but then enters Max Moddelkopf (George Lauri) a trickster who impersonates a special envoy, switches the orders to have the Blue troops transferred to Gottenberg. Throw into the mix a prince, the burgomaster and daughter, an innkeeper and daughter and a General and his daughter and plenty of romantic intrigue.

Pressy Preston as Katrina, ‘The only girl in Rottenberg’

National Library of Australia, Canberra

As Clementine, Clara’s was once more a buxom and attractive lady with her humorous persona at its best and her song ‘You Know How Shy I Am’ and her duet with George Lauri, ‘Birds in the Trees’ were redemanded by the audience. In one of Clara’s comic sketches the audience was ‘almost broken up when she bundled Adolf, the Town Clerk (W.S. Percy), almost onto the footlights for daring to interfere between father and daughter’.²³

From about the 1907 season of the Opera Co., or possibly earlier, some theatrical scribes had noted a changing role for Clara and that despite her being a vast favourite with musical comedy audiences, she was being restricted to minor character roles. The reviewer for the Melbourne Leader for instance, in a backhanded compliment, thought that Clara as Clementine had been given more prominence than she has recently been afforded, ²⁴ and the correspondent for the British Era magazine thought that ‘Miss Clara Clifton a veritable idol to both sexes of playgoers, had too little to do as the Burgermeister’s daughter, but it was good vocal and histrionic ballast in a ship freighted with frivolity’.²⁵

The ‘too little to do’ comment was also noted by ‘The Don’ of Punch in his review of The Lady Dandies when he wrote that Clara as Egle (and Evelyn Scott as Liane ) have little or nothing to do, ²⁶ a view echoed elsewhere—Miss Clara Clifton as Egle has nothing to do with the action of the piece (but does brighten the third act with her song).²⁷ And as a throw-away line, Miss Clara Clifton as Egle and Miss Evelyn Scott as Liane, are also in the cast.²⁸

The Lady Dandies, a comic opera of the French Revolutionary days during the infamous Directoire, began its season at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney on 21 March 1908 and was later transferred to the Theatre Royal in early April before its final performance on 9 May. Clara played Egle the flirtatious young wife of her gout ridden old husband, Des Gouttieres (Arthur Hunter), secretary to the Directors.

From Melbourne Punch, 23 April 1908, p.18

Shortly after the season finished Clara was on board the RMS Britannia for a five-month holiday in England, leaving Sydney on 6 June 1908, with the stated intention to return to Australia in time for the Christmas production of The Duchess of Dantzic. When interviewed on her return on board the RMS Orotava in Perth, Clara reiterated her intention: ‘I am now travelling direct to Sydney for the purpose of joining the “Duchess of Dantzic” Co.’²⁹

But her return to the stage did not eventuate. Clara’s role as Egle in The Lady Dandies was her last with the Royal Comic Opera Company.

Clara retired and soon after married George Cartwright on Monday, 15 February 1909 at Christ Church, South Yarra, Melbourne. 

George Cartwright was educated in England and had work experience at the Woolwich Arsenal before he came to Victoria in 1901, aged 21 to work at the Colonial Ammunition Company in Footscray. The following year he was appointed its Manager. The company played a prominent part in Australia’s World War 1 activities.³⁰

The Cartwrights had two sons and a daughter and resided on Beaconsfield Parade, St. Kilda, with a rural property near Officer, Victoria.

Little was heard of Clara following her marriage. On one occasion Table Talk of March 1912 noted that Clara had emerged from retirement for one day to work at a Theatrical Carnival in East Melbourne in aid of the Theatrical Charities Fund³¹ and Punch, the following year, referred to Clara and her husband being among guests attending the opening of the new Auditorium concert hall in Collins Street with appearances by Madame Clara Bolt and Mr. Kennerly Rumford.³²

Clara died on 13 March 1940, she was predeceased by her husband who died on 24 January 1937.

Sterling silver jewellery box presented to Clara Clifton by the Royal Comic Opera Company on her retirement in late 1908. Courtesy of Gavin Mould.

Clara Clifton the English stage actress was full of vivacity, humour and charm. She began her career as a teenager performing in pantomimes, graduating to plays and musical comedies on the English provincial theatre circuit and later in South Africa. In 1904, in a bold and courageous move she travelled, unaccompanied, to Australia, to ply her craft and soon found engagement with J.C. Williamson’s Royal Comic Opera Company. Over the next five years Clara performed in most of the company’s musical comedies: The Orchid (her role as Caroline Vokins arguably her finest), Florodora, Veronique, The Geisha, The Girl From Kay’s, The Shop Girl, The Little Michus, The Spring Chicken, The Dairymaids, Dorothy, The Girls of Gottenberg and The Lady Dandies, often as an outstanding low comedienne, and generally applauded for her clever, comic character sketches. 

At the time Clara was a huge favourite with musical comedy audiences throughout her relatively short career in Australia. But for an actress once cherished with warm affection, little is known about her today and she is worthy of better recognition. She deserves to be remembered.

Endnotes

1. Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 10 June 1907, p.7

2. Argus (Melbourne), 5 November 1906, p.5

3. Leader (Melbourne) 10 November 1906, p.22

4. Bulletin (Melbourne), 6 December 1906, p.11

5. Sunday Sun, 9 and 23 June 1907, pp. 2 and 3

6. Leader (Melbourne), 3 November 1906, p.22

7. Critic (Adelaide), 10 April 1907, p.4

8. Referee (Sydney), 9 January 1907, p.12 & 16 January 1907, p.12 and Manawatu Standard, 22 January 1907, p.4

9. Christchurch Press, 19 February—report in Port Melbourne Standard, 9 March 1907, p.4

10. Fanny Dango was specifically engaged by Williamson to take the part of Peggy and she quickly became a favourite of local audiences.

11. Eugen Sandow promoted physical culture through weight training, attracting many students including young women.

12. Punch (Melbourne), 12 September 12, 1907 p.36

13. Herald (Melbourne), 5 November 1906, p.4

14. Sydney Morning Herald, 3 February, 1908, p. 6

15. Punch (Melbourne), 6 February 1908, p.33

16. Critic (Adelaide), 19 September 1906, p.9

17. Bulletin (Melbourne), 19 September 1907, p.21

18. Bulletin (Melbourne), 3 October, 1907, p.21

19. Age (Melbourne), 21 October 1907, p.9

20. Table Talk (Melbourne), 24 October 1907, p.21

21. Bulletin (Melbourne), 24 October 1907, p.8

22. Gadfly (Adelaide), 23 October 1907, p.8

23. Herald (Melbourne), 28 October 1907, p.3

24. Leader (Melbourne), 3 November 1907, p.33

25. The Era (London), 1 February 1908, p.21—Amusements in Australia

26. Punch (Melbourne), 9 April, 1908, p.39

27. Australian Star (Sydney), 23 March 1908, p.2

28. Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 23 March 1908, p.4

29. Daily News (Perth), 17 December 1908, p.1

30. Punch (Melbourne), 3 August 1916, p.6

31. Table Talk (Melbourne), 28 March, 1912, p.10

32. Punch (Melbourne), 29 May 1913, p.37

Thanks to

Shirley & Stephen Rieger

Gavin Mould

Welcome to the wonderful, exciting, exotic and dazzling world of Djin-Djin! The stage presentation was a massive success in the latter part of the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, throughout Australia and New Zealand and even on tour in South Africa in 1903. The world of Princes, Princesses, the evil Bogie-man, Dames and Damsels and everything in between. Never heard of the show? Fear not, you are not alone. The show that saved J.C. Williamson's from bankruptcy; that was so incredibly successful that every performance had the "HOUSE FULL" sign out the front of the theatre in which it was playing, and as a result turned people away in droves at every performance, is now largely forgotten. Opening in 1895, it seems there were popular revivals of the show for around ten years before it disappeared completely. This was quite possibly largely due to the fire in the Theatre Royal, Durban on 20 October 1903, where it was playing during the South African tour, which took with it all of the costumes and properties. Nothing exists today except the script, an incomplete musical score, some original scenery and costume designs and a few programmes. Gone and forgotten. Until now!

Great success from adversity is certainly a tried and true subject. And that is true of the 1895 production at The Princess' Theatre on Spring Street in Melbourne, Djin-Djin, or to give the show its full title, Djin-Djin, The Japanese Bogie-Man or The Great Shogun Who Lost His Son & The Little Princess Who Found Him.  They didn't do things by halves back then, which included the title for the pantomimes which were presented. The story behind the production of Djin-Djin is almost as incredible as the storyline of the show itself. Welcome to Djin-Djin and the incredible story of its birth, success, disappearance and now its new life, with our exhibition of twenty-four original costume designs by Will R. Barnes along with specially made recreations of three of the costumes just for this exhibition. 

We are indebted to Isla Baring, daughter of JCW Managing Director, Sir Frank Tait and Lady Viola Tait, for her very generous donation of twenty-four original hand-painted watercolour costume designs by Will R. Barnes to Beleura which are the inspiration of our exhibition. 

Depression!

The 1890s brought with it a great depression.  Not only the depression but also a severe drought. Businesses closed, banks closed and with the hard times, theatre house numbers slumped. J. C. Williamson and George Musgrove, the co-directors of the largest theatrical organisation in the world at that time, were in trouble. Big trouble. They needed a show that would bring audiences back into their theatres across Australia and New Zealand. At the time, they were presenting revivals of Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas and other favourites rather than spend money on new productions, but these had all been seen before and people weren't willing to part with their money for yet another revival. 

J. C. Williamson

George Musgrove

Williamson sent his business partner, George Musgrove to London to see if there was something new that would entice audiences back into their theatres, but there was nothing. Nothing new or exciting. The only solution was to create their own unique, all-Australian production. 

And so, with the assistance of one of his managers, Bert Royle, who had already proved himself as a writer of reputation, the men set to work on a new pantomime. But not just another pantomime which would be the same formula as those which had played before, this would be an all-Australian pantomime and one which was aimed at a mature, adult audience. It was a total break away from the nursery rhyme storylines such as Mother Goose or Dick Whittington normally presented in the pantomime format. Williamson also decided to cash in on the massive success of The Mikado and the craze for all things Japanese which was sweeping the world by storm. An Australian story with strong Japanese additions.

It was to be the most expensive and lavish production mounted in Australia at the time but with the country in the middle of a depression and disastrous drought, no bank would loan the money to cover the initial costs. 

It was after an evening performance of the comic opera season which was playing at The Princess' Theatre, which had opened just nine years earlier, when James Cassius Williamson called everyone connected with the show onto the stage. Cast, orchestra members, scenic painters and stagehands, wardrobe dressers and Front of House staff were all assembled on the stage. Williamson stood on a chair in front of everyone and told them, with a tremble in his voice, that they were in desperate trouble; that a new show was in the pipeline which they hoped would bring their audiences back and put the company in the black and save them from bankruptcy. With tears in his eyes and a wavering voice, he asked his loyal staff if they would be willing  to work for six days with five days' pay in order to keep the theatre running, and everyone in full employment, so the rest could be put into this new production. "Three cheers for the Guv'nor", came a cry from a cast member and the company agreed unanimously to the request. It was full steam ahead with preparations for Djin-Djin, The Japanese Bogie-Man. 

Pictorial Souvenir

The Firm's resident stage director 'Johnny' Wallace

A lavish production indeed it was. Williamson put his trusted A-team to work on the show straight away. The cast consisted of approximately two hundred people.  There were forty principal roles, over sixty ballet dancers, twice as many as normal to cope with the lightning quick costume changes; chorus ladies and gentlemen, a children's chorus, acrobats and jugglers, extra ladies and gentlemen as well as a host of supernumeraries.

Behind the scenes was a large orchestra, an army of costume makers, scenery builders and painters, property men, gasmen and electricians and limelight men, scene shifters, flymen, all of whom numbered over one hundred. 

Added to this were the JCW finest creative powers. Leon Caron was the show's composer and Musical Director with George F. Pack writing additional music. The scenic designers were the best. George Gordon, who had also designed the lavish interiors at The Princess' Theatre nine years earlier, Phil Goatcher, who was one of the highest paid designers in the world, and Walter Spong. The lavish costumes were designed by Will R. Barnes, with the exception of The Golden Ballet finale which was designed and constructed by London based designers Monsieur and Madame Alias and then shipped to Australia. The Dance Arranger was Madame Rosalie Philipinni and the Wardrobe Mistress was Emily Nathan. All the best in the business. John Wallace not only directed the show but also arranged the Marches.

Scenic design for the Fan Ballet - Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

Williamson had the latest theatrical machinery sent over from London for the spectacular effects of an on-stage earthquake, and a flying machine. William Hassan devised machinery which made bare cherry blossom trees in the Winter scenes burst into flower before the audience's eyes for the arrival of Spring as well as lava flowing from the erupting Mount Fuji during the show's climax. 

Djin-Djin had an incredible ten full transformation scenes in it. On 27 December 1895, the day after its opening performance on Boxing Day of that year, The Argus declared:

It is an orgy of splendor from beginning to end: a surfeit of rich colour, of architectural and landscape scenery which has all the charm of novelty and freshness, of sumptuous costumes, gorgeous processions, Oriental pageantry, rapid and dazzling movements, ballets that are all sparkle and glitter, and stage groupings that fascinate the attention  by their rapid and kaleidoscopic changes.

Scenic designer George Gordon would wait in the wings and walk onto the stage to take a bow after setting reveals and transformation scenes during the thunderous applause which erupted throughout the auditorium. Audiences had  never seen anything of this scale before!

The crowded auditorium of the Princess' Theatre, Melbourne (1896)

The Costumes. 

The exhibition at Beleura in Mornington of twenty-four original 1895 watercolour costume designs were the creation of Will R. Barnes.

Born in 1851 in Geelong, Victoria, Will Barnes was a cartoonist, illustrator and watercolour painter. His father, William Barnes senior, was an illustrator for the Melbourne magazine, Punch from 1855-1869. 

Barnes heard that J.C. Williamson was looking for a costume designer for an upcoming, lavish production and decided to give costume designing a shot so he took some of his work to the JCW offices and was given the job of creating hundreds of costume designs on the spot, with no theatre design experience. His costumes received rave reviews from critics and audience members alike. 

His talents would be used by Williamson's again in the 1896 equally extravagant pantomime Matsa, Queen of Fire and Tapu in 1897.

In 1898, Barnes went to New York to try his luck where he worked until 1924, designing thousands of costumes for over fifty productions including those at the 5,500 seat Hippodrome Theatre. He would also design lavish costumes for Barnum and Bailey. At one point there were twelve productions playing on Broadway at the one time featuring his costume designs. Will R. Barnes died in America in 1939 aged eighty-eight. The watercolour designs in our exhibition show his versatility and imagination, particularly seeing this was the first stage production he worked on.  

Will Barnes

Emily Nathan

Special mention must go to Emily Nathan who worked in the wardrobe department for Williamson's for fifty-five years.

She would have worked very closely alongside Will Barnes, who had no costume designing or dress-making experience at the time of Djin-Djin, guiding him in the right direction and making adjustments to his designs to make them work for the stage.

Miss Nathan was born in Hobart on December 14, 1858 and began working for Williamson-Garner-Musgrove in 1881. Her first job as a costume maker was in 1882. She was quickly promoted to Wardrobe Mistress and worked on costumes for two generations of leading ladies. Dame Nellie Melba had many costumes made by Emily and the legendary Nellie Stewart referred to her as "The Mistress of the Robes". So trusted was she by Williamson management that she would often spend hundreds of pounds on fabrics at a time, sometimes buying several hundreds of yards in one shopping trip. She had a team of fifteen to thirty workers under her supervision but always preferred to do her leading lady's costumes herself, doing all of the intricate beading and sequinning and sewing of thousands of tiny pearls by hand, working from 7am until 3am the next day so she could see the costumes in both daylight and at night under stage lighting. 

She would also reproduce designs by the famous costume designers Monsieur and Madame Alias of London for productions which came to Australia. She also made costumes for the first Australian productions of Florodora,The Bing Boys Are Here, the lavish spectacle Australis, Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas and Havana in 1909, one newspaper writing how she cut one hundred and sixty Spanish style dresses as well as all of the principal's costumes.

Emily Nathan died aged eighty-nine in 1948 in Bondi where she shared a house with three of her unmarried sisters, the house full of Victoriana. Her contribution to the costumes for Djin-Djin would have been enormous. 

The Creatives.  

The Musical Score. 

The score for Djin-Djin was in the capable hands of Frenchman Leon Caron. Born in France on January 13, 1859, he was one of three candidates for the prestigious Grand Prix de Rome prize in 1870. After working successfully as a Musical Director in London and America, he made his way to Australia where he got a job as violinist at the Melbourne Opera House and then became Musical Director for the William Lyster Grand Italian Opera Company. After a short time there he worked for George Coppin's company, composing the music for the production Babes In The Woods.

He became Musical Director for the Williamson-Garner-Musgove organization in 1887 and wrote the music for Djin-Djin in 1895 and followed it with the score to Matsa, Queen of Fire the following year. In 1900 he would conduct the production which opened the newly renovated Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne, H.M.S. Pinafore. His last production under the Williamson banner was in 1903 with The Country Girl.

During his lifetime hw would compose ballets, music for stage Tableaux, which were very popular at the time, and special songs which were interpolated into existing shows.

Special mention must be given to the production Australis; Or The City of Zero : A Spectacle of a Hundred Years, which opened on December 26, 1900 at Her Majesty's Theatre in Sydney. It was a fantasy set in the year 2000 after the war of the worlds which left Australia as the only country which remained, run badly by an ex-Trade Union leader!

Caron was also commissioned to write a special Cantata titled, Victoria, Victoria for the grand opening of the newly built Exhibition Building in Melbourne in 1880, the orchestra and choir numbering over 1,000.  

Caron, who was highly regarded as a conductor, arranger and composer of orchestral and choral works, died on May 29, 1905 following a series of heart attacks, aged fifty-five.

Rising young musician George F. Pack contributed to the score with some of the lighter songs. 

Leon Caron and George Pack

Bert Royale

The lyrics for the songs in Djin-Djin were written by Bert Royle, who also co-wrote the script with J. C. Williamson. Arriving from England in 1888, he got work with the Williamson-Garner-Musgrove organisation the following year as an actor and singer, appearing in a number of Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas and other musical presentations. A gifted writer he was soon collaborating with Leon Caron on pantomimes such as Ali Baba,Red Riding Hood and The House that Jack Built. 

He began working as JCW's literary secretary in 1895 and moved to New Zealand in 1898 where he acted as Williamson's and Musgrove's representative.  He managed the JCW business in New Zealand from 1901 until his death in 1929.

The Scenic Designers.

Three of the top scenic designers in Australia set to work on Djin-Djin creating a total of ten transformation scenes and scenic effects, such as the earthquake where "the great dragon topples over bodily, and then pile upon pile the massive pillars fall from their foundation. The manner in which the ruins pile up is extraordinary. There, in the foreground, lie the broken columns, and back of all is the open country lit up with the red light from the volcano in the distance with its flowing lava." Other scenes were described, "Never before have the eyes of theatre-goers been privileged to gaze on such a feast of color. The variations are infinite. Now it is a landscape scene in tender graduations of peacock blues and subdued reds; now we have a carnival, all Chinese lanterns and soft moonlight."

Djin-Djin discovered within "The Ruined Temple of Gompachi" (scenery by George Gordon)

George Gordon was the main designer of Djin-Djin with each setting reveal receiving rapturous applause. So much so that he would come onto the stage to take a bow following many scenes.  He was also responsible for the newly built Princess' Theatre and painted the first drop curtains in 1886. He worked on productions such as The Pirates of Penzance, Iolanthe, Patience, The Mikado, The Sorcerer and The Geisha. 

George Gordon

Phil Goatcher

Walter Spong

Phil Goatcher was the highest paid scenic designer and painter in the world when Williamson brought him to Australia in 1892. Principal painter for the D'Oyly Carte Company and Covent Garden and The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, his reputation was world-wide. A master at perspective and illusion, he also designed and painted the interiors of theatres, The Block Arcade in Melbourne, as well as productions such as Trilby, Aladdin,The Chocolate Soldier and The Gondoliers.

He was commissioned to paint the front curtain at the Boulder Town Hall in Western Australia in 1908. Found discarded and damaged by vandals, water and dust, $250,000 was spent to fully restore it in 1991 over six months.  Because of its historic importance, it is now considered to be priceless and is thought to be the last surviving curtain of its kind in the world. His scenery for "The Hall of a Thousand Storks" in Djin-Djin was considered to be a masterpiece in perspective. The last production he designed and painted for Williamson's was The Merry Widow in 1917.  Goatcher died in Perth in 1931.

"The Hall of a Thousand Storks" (scenery by Phil Goatcher)

Walter Spong was responsible for "The Golden Ballet Finale". One critic wrote of this setting, "Here Mr. Spong has given us a setting of unrivaled magnificence, and here too, the management have provided that wonderful electric curtain which just gives the gorgeous spectacle its necessary background of glowing fire. Everything is suffused with a deep golden glow."

"Palace Gardens of the Daimio Hojo No Kami" (scenery by George Gordon)

"... Mr. George Gordon never before painted such a magnificent landscape in his life as the palace gardens of the Daimio", enthused the critic for Table Talk in the edition for Friday, 3 January 1896.

"... the temple and the Damio's palace present the most characteristic styles of Japanese architecture." - On and Off the Stage, Table Talk, Friday, 27 December 1895

"Courtyard of Daimio's Palace" (scenery by George Gordon)

George Gordon and staff at work at the paint-frames in the Princess' Theatre

Tap here to view a detailed Synopsis of Scenery and Events for Djin-Djin.

Dance Arrangements.

Madame Rosalie Phillipini was responsible for the dance arrangements and tableaux for the production. Brought to Australia by J. C. Williamson in 1893, she was appointed Directress of the Royal Ballerinas, a troupe of permanent dancers with the Williamson company. She created the dances for both Djin-Djin in 1895 and for Matsa, Queen of Fire the following year. She also created new full-length ballets, the most notable being Turquoisette: A Study in Blue. Madame Phillipini ran a dancing school at The Princess' Theatre, two of her star pupils being Jennie Brenan, who herself would go on to be one of JCW's choreographers, and Mary Weir, the featured dancer who would become the second Mrs. J.C. Williamson and the mother of his two daughters. 

 Madame Rosalie Phillipini

The juvenile performers of the Fan ballet  The Princes of All NationsMillie Young as 'Prince Polenta' on the far right, with his attendant 'Diminuendo'

Tap here to view the credits for the Production personnel for Djin-Djin.

The Cast of Djin Djin. 

Many notable performers were employed by the Williamson-Musgrove company for their 1895 extravaganza. Some of the better known names of today were:

Florence Young, sister-in-law to Sir George Tallis, owner of Beleura, and principal soprano of Williamson and Musgrove's Royal Comic Opera Company, played the role of Prince Eucalyptus.

Millie Young, Florence's sister and wife of Sir George Tallis. Millie played Prince Polenta. 

Edward Farley played the title role of the Djin-Djin, complete with a somewhat startling costume!! 

Englishman, William Elton, who had been principal comedian in the Royal Comic Opera Company between 1887- 1891 (with which he had created the roles of King Gama in Princess Ida, Jack Point in The Yeomen of the Guard and the Duke of Plaza-Toro in The Gondoliers in the Australian premiere productions, amongst many others), played the comic role of Tom Wallaby.

Flora Graupner, another stalwart of the Royal Comic Opera Company, played the role of Princess Iris. 

English comedian and dancer, John Coleman played the 'Dame' role of Okiama, the Daimio's elderly maiden sister.  (Coleman had been playing in variety under engagement to Harry Rickards, who released him to play the role in the pantomime for Williamson and Musgrove). 

Carrie Moore made her professional stage debut at the age of 13 as Prince Omi (who first appeared in Act II in the guise of a baboon, as the result of an enchanted spell).  She and Ivy Scott (as Princess Cheekee), popularised the interpolated duet "I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard" by H.W. Petrie and Philip Wingate.

The role of Dede, a dancing role, was originally played by Marietta Nash in Melbourne but for the Sydney season, the role was played by Mary Weir. Miss Weir would go on to become the second Mrs. J. C. Williamson and was the mother of his two daughters. 

Two popular family troupes were employed for the production, the Flying Banvards and The Ridgeway Family, both families of parents, teenaged and young children. Professor Smith's Wonderful Bicycle Act was also a feature! 

Tap here to view the principal cast list of Djin-Djin.

Florence Young as 'Prince Eucalyptus' 

The Flying Banvards

The Ridgeways

John Coleman in the 'Dame' role

Okiama (John Coleman) sings the comical song "Airy Fairy" accompanied by the courtiers strumming their Shamisens

Prince Eucalyptus (Florence Young) kneels before the enthroned Princess Iris (Flora Graupner) to pledge his love (at left), while the other foreign Princes and courtiers look on.

Tap here to read Bert Royale and J.C. Williamson's script for Djin-Djin (transcribed as a Word-Document).

Lady Viola Tait's Dream and the Exhibition at Beleura House and Garden in Mornington. 

At the conclusion of the mighty J. C. Williamson Theatre empire in 1976, the subsequent selling off of its theatres, workshops and archives was divided or discarded. Scenery and costumes were either sold off in sales or put into hire through various hiring companies; notes, receipts, photographs, and other memorabilia were tossed out by the ton. A lot was acquired by various State institutions such as the newly formed Performing Arts Museum at the Victorian Arts Centre, The State Library of Victoria, State Library of New South Wales and other Government bodies. A lot, however, was simply discarded. Word got out and theatre lovers swamped Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne during the throw out and a lot of treasures were saved. Lady Viola Tait, widow of the late Sir Frank Tait who was one of the J. C. Williamson General Managers and the fifth brother of the mighty theatrical Tait brothers, was one of the many people who hastily went to The Maj to rescue as much as she could. Among the many, many items, thousands of items in fact, which became The Tait Collection, were the twenty-four costume designs from the 1895 Pantomime, Djin-Djin which Beleura House and Garden is pleased to present as their first exhibition for 2026.

Will Barnes' design for Prince Eucalyptus's dress costume

Design for The Shogun 

It was Lady Tait's dream to mount an exhibition of these original watercolour costume designs, by Australian artist Will R. Barnes, as part of the 1996 Spoleto Melbourne Festival of Arts. She gathered a small team of notable people to assist with the project, including the Victorian Premier at the time, The Honourable Jeff Kennett, the Artistic Director of the Melbourne International Festival, Leo Schofield, the Artistic Director of The Adelaide Festival, Barrie Kosky, Mrs. Cecily Storey, wife of the Victorian Minister for the Arts, and the Consul General of Japan. 

Letters were sent out to all of the heads of businesses with Japanese connections, Japanese cars and other high profile products, in the hope that the Australian-Japanese theme of the production and exhibition would encourage them to donate towards the costs. Sadly the exhibition, which included plans for four foot cut out copies of the original costume designs to go alongside the watercolours, and an audio-visual presentation aimed at children on the history of Pantomime, never came to fruition.

Work had commenced with contributions from well known Melbourne scenic designer Paul Kathner and film-maker Paul Cox. David Marriner of Marriner Theatres had agreed to give one of the function rooms at the newly re-opened, and lavishly restored, Regent Theatre for the exhibition and its launch. But without proper funding, the project was abandoned, much to Lady Tait's heartache. 

Design for the "Golden Gate" Chrysanthemum Ballet costume

Design for Tom Wallaby's dress costume 

Jump forward twenty-nine years!  Over lunch with Lady Tait and Sir Frank Tait's daughters Isla and Sally, Isla happened to mention she had twenty-four original costume designs from the pantomime, Djin-Djin, and wanted to donate them to someone worthwhile but didn't know who. Beleura instantly came to my mind and within seconds my brain went into overdrive at the thought of bringing Lady Tait's dream to fruition. Perhaps a song written by the show's composer Leon Caron would be possible at the launch! A recreation of one of the costumes as a show-piece! And, of course, a photo of Lady Tait with text explaining her dream for her own exhibition back in 1996. A discussion with Martin Green, General Manager at Beleura, was highly successful and plans were underway for the exhibition. 

A meeting with Isla and Sally and Tait Memorial Trust member Diana Murray at Beleura was very successful and we all became hopelessly excited about plans for what would be an exhibition of the one hundred and thirty year old designs exactly thirty years after Lady Tait's vision! 

Lady Viola Tait

The Costume Reconstructions. 

Initially I thought one costume would be a good addition to the exhibition so guests to Beleura could get an idea of how the design might have ended up. After starting the first one I thought, perhaps a female costume to accompany the male one would be a nice touch. Two would look much better than one, after all. Having almost finished the first reconstruction I visualised the exhibition space one day and realised... THREE would actually work even better! Three seems to be better than two!! 

Now, I am NOT a sewer by any means. I've done a lot of restoration work on historic JCW costumes in my collection of twenty-four from the productions of My Fair Lady,No No Nanette,Irene,Camelot and Gypsy, but I've never made one from scratch! How hard could it be though? Start at the beginning and work up.  The interesting part about working directly from the watercolours of Mr. Barnes was, he was not a costume designer or tailor at the time. At that point he had no knowledge of how to constuct costumes and what was possible and what was not possible. He was given the job and he certainly produced incredible designs, but there were problems. Problems which would have been solved with some design alterations, by the JCW Head Wardrobe Mistress, Emily Nathan. 

Will Barnes' design for Djin-Djin 

Edward Farley poses in the finished costume

Sadly, I've only been able to find three of the Barnes’ costume designs in our exhibition in photographic form, as worn in the original production: that of the eponymous bogie-man, together with one of the Princess Iris costumes worn by Flora Graupner, and one of the Chrysanthemum Ballet designs. The design for the latter we have has "Golden Gate" written on the back, specifying it as the yellow variety of the flower. The photo of the assembled ballet dancers in the Chrysanthemum costumes shows there were sixteen dancers in this number and there seem to be five or six variations on the design as well as five or six different colours depending on the variety of the chrysanthemum. It's interesting to note that while most of Barnes' design ideas in the watercolour painting remain, some details have been slightly altered to make the sewing work better on the dancer's bodies OR to simply make them more practical to construct. One of the problems I was faced with was, what was the back of the costume like? How did the left-hand side of the costume connect to the right-hand side at the back?

Design for Princess Iris 

Flora Graupner as 'Princess Iris'

Other problems for me were finding the right fabrics, sometimes having to paint fabric in order to make it match a colour from the original watercolour; working from a design and getting my recreation as close to the watercolour design as I could. There was also every possibility that Emily Nathan had changed something that I was having difficulty with, from Barnes' design, that wasn't practical to make OR was historically incorrect, such as parts of the Shogun's Japanese collar.

Also my inability to machine sew was a problem. I did a lot by hand but for some of the construction I needed help. Thanks to my friend, Cheryl Martin AND her trusty sewing-machine for coming to the rescue with the construction of the main body of The Chrysanthemum Ballet dress and the blue jacket for the Tom Wallaby costume. Once I'd cut the pattern and Cheryl worked her magic from that, by referring to the original design, things were underway. There were also countless discussions about how the costumes might have been originally constructed and what alterations Emily Nathan would have made for practicality and appearance on the stage.

The Chrysanthemum Ballet dress under construction

The dress with Chrysanthemums added

The Chrysanthemum Ballet troupe

My aim was to really honour the original watercolour designs of Will R. Barnes and to bring his work to life with the three recreations, but to also honour the work done by JCW Wardrobe Mistress, Emily Nathan and to add some of the subtle changes she made to his designs, such as dropping the back of the skirt section on the Chrysanthemen Ballet costume, without taking away from Barnes' designs. I like to feel both artists would be pleased with what I've done and would be absolutely thrilled to know their work is being displayed again for the public at Beleura House and Garden. 

My sincerest thanks to Isla Baring for trusting my decisions regarding the twenty-four designs and for the chance to bring her mother, Lady Viola Tait's, dream to reality. To Martin Green, Managing Director at Beleura, Lyn Johnson, temporary Archivist, for her initial help putting the exhibition together, and Beleura's new Archivist, Giselle Banks, for her enthusiasm and patience with my notes, emails and ideas, along with all of the staff at Beleura, for their absolute excitement and faith in the exhibition. What a great honour and adventure this has been, from the first casual discussion with Isla about what to do with the designs, to putting the scissors through the first piece of fabric for the recreations and now, bringing it all to guests at Beleura. 

I hope they enjoy Djin-Djin, The Japanese Bogie-man and its extraordinary story, from its conception to its production and now, to its 2026 presentation. Hopefully I'll see you there as well.

Kevin Coxhead. 

"My thanks to Rob Morrison for his additional information and assistance with the photograph and image resolution." 

For information about the exhibition at Beleura House and Garden in Mornington, phone 5975 2027 Tuesday - Friday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. 

 Beleura House & Garden, Mornington

Picture Sources

J.C. Williamson portrait, programme cover, cast, ballet and scenic photos from Souvenir of Djin-Djin digitised by the National Library of Australia, Canberra

Djin-Djin souvenir booklet - cover artwork by Will R. Barnes, also including Synopsis of Scenery and Events, Production personnel, cast list and script - State Library Victoria, Melbourne

The Princess' Theatre in 1893, two years prior to the production of Djin-Djin - State Library Victoria, Melbourne

George Musgrove, Co-Producer - Tait Collection

John Wallace portrait - Photograph album of Australian actors and actresses, ca. 1870 - ca. 1900, compiled by Gordon Ireland - State Library Victoria, Melbourne

Will Barnes at work - Melbourne Punch, 25 January 1900, p.4 

Emily Nathan - Rob Morrison collection

Leon Caron with George Pack, Associate Composer - Tait Collection

Bert Royle, Co-Writer and Lyricist - Tait Collection

George Gordon - The Australasian (Melbourne), 17 June 1899

Phil Goatcher - Falk Studios, 1896, State Library of New South Wales, Sydney

Walter Spong - Tait Collection

Courtyard of Daimio's Palace (scenery by George Gordon) - JCW Scene Book 3 - Theatre Heritage Australia

George Gordon and assistants at work in the old Princess' Theatre scenic paint-frame - photo by LUK - The Leader (Melbourne), 2 January 1897, p.7 

Madame Rosalie Phillipini, Dance Arranger - Rob Morrison collection

Scenic photos taken on stage during the Sydney season of Djin-Djin at the Lyceum Theatre by A.J. Perier (c.March 1896) - State Library of New South Wales, Sydney

Will R. Barnes' watercolour costume designs - Tait Collection

Lady Viola Tait - photo by Angus Forbes

All other photos and illustrations from the author's collection

(left) W.D. & H.O. Wills ‘Actresses’—Miss Fanny Dango. (right) W.D. & H.O. Wills ‘Stage and Musical Hall Celebrities’—Fanny Dango. Author’s collection.

Very popularthemes for collectors of cigarette cards are actresses and stage performers. A number of choice sets on this theme were issued in Australia in the early 1900s, including ‘Actresses (Talma)’ by the Melbourne company Sniders and Abrahams; Actors and Actresses ‘WALP’, an anonymous set issued by several companies; and two series of ‘Stage and Music Hall Celebrities’ (portraits in oval and portraits framed), issued by W.D. & H.O. Wills between 1900–05. Fanny Dango is card number 35 in the framed set of 50 cards. Wills also issued a set of ‘Actresses’, 100 unnumbered cards between 1903–10 which feature a Who’s Who of stage actresses of the period, including Fanny Dango.¹

Fanny Dango was born Fanny Rudge on 20 October 1878 in Birmingham, England. She was one of the five Rudge sisters who all appeared on the stage under assumed names—Letty Lind (Letitia Rudge),² Lydia Flopp (Lydia Rudge), Millie Hylton (Sarah Rudge), Adelaide Astor (Elizabeth Rudge) and the youngest sister, Fanny. In a 1909 interview with Melbourne’s Table Talk magazine, Fanny said, ‘In our family we all followed my sister Letty on to the stage; that is the girls not the boys. We all appeared under different names. I think our idea was to make our own way on merits, without any help from Letty and it was not until we began to get on a bit that it leaked out we were sisters.’³

Fanny Dango was a nascent actress and an exceptional dancer with appearances in several pantomimes on the London and Provincial theatre stage. Her catalogue of pantomime performances is impressive from her debut at the Prince of Wales Theatre in her home city of Birmingham in December 1894 (shortly after her 16th birthday) with a small part as ‘Chinese Dolly’ in Dick Whittington. From 1901 to 1905, she appeared in five successive Christmas pantomimes: Gulliver’s Travels at the Avenue Theatre, London, 1901–1902 (as Glumdalclitch); Dick Whittington at the London Hippodrome, 1902–1903 (as Alice, opposite the Dick of Ruth Lytton), Santa Claus Junior at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle, 1903–1904 (as See Mee); in Dick Whittington, Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool, 1904–1905 (as Alice, opposite the Dick of Hetty King); and Aladdin, Theatre Royal, Birmingham, 1905–1906 (as Princess So Shi, opposite the Aladdin of Ada Reeve).⁴

Ruth Lytton and Miss Fanny Dango in Dick Whittington, London Hippodrome, 1902–1903

From The Tatler, 11 February 1903, p.30

Fanny Dango as Millicent Ward in The Silver Slipper, 1901. Photo by Ellis & Walery.

From The Tatler, 29 July 1903, p.23

Fanny Dango as Yvette in The Spring Chicken, Gaiety Theatre, London, 1905. Photo by Bassano Ltd.

National Portrait Gallery, London

Fanny Dango as Princess So Shi in Aladdin, Theatre Royal, Birmingham, 1905-06

eBay

Fanny was also actively involved on the musical stage. As well as performing in touring productions such as The Geisha (1896, as Tommy Stanley), Three Little Maids (1903, as Hilda Branscombe), San Toy (1904, in the title role), and A Girl on the Stage (1906, as Lady Isabel), she also created several roles in new London productions or took over roles. Original roles included Juanita in Florodora (Lyric, 1899, and Angela Gilfain on tour), Millicent Ward in The Silver Slipper (Lyric, 1901, and on tour), Antoinette in The Medal and the Maid (Lyric, 1903), and Yvette in The Spring Chicken (Gaiety, 1905). In London, she was also seen in A Runaway Girl (Gaiety, 1898), replacing Marie Fawcett as one of the two Miss Hakes; in Little Miss Nobody (Lyric, 1899), replacing Lydia West as Tiny Triplet; and in The Love Birds (Savoy, 1904), replacing Louise Raymond as Lillie de Jones.

Fanny Dango was vivacious and a charismatic young actress and danced exquisitely. J.C. Williamson saw the early promise of her becoming a favourite of Australian theatre patrons and he engaged her in England to play the part of Peggy Sabine in the Royal Comic Opera’s production of The Dairymaids.⁵ This was some achievement for Fanny to play the part which had previously been performed by Australian-born Carrie Moore with outstanding success in the 1906 Apollo Theatre production.

Fanny sailed to Australia on the P & O RMS Mongolia which left Marseilles on 19 July 1907 and arrived in Melbourne on 26 August, leaving the same day for Sydney to commence rehearsals. She made her Australian debut in The Dairymaids as Peggy Sabine and the chief Sandow girl at Her Majesty’s Theatre Melbourne, on 7 September 1907 and later in Sydney, opening at Her Majesty’s some four months later, on 1 February 1908.

Fanny Dango in 1906. Photo by Richard Brown.

National Portrait Gallery, London

Fanny’s contract with J.C. Williamson, 1907

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

Brief details of her engagement with the Royal Comic Opera Co. are recorded in a hand-written note, dated the day of her debut performance: 52 weeks on a salary of £20 per week and £25 during pantomime performances. An added note renewed her engagement for 52 weeks from 5 September 1908. Possibly a more formal contractual letter exists (somewhere).

The Dairymaids came to Australia with a glowing reputation following a successful run at London’s Apollo Theatre and while it played for several weeks in Melbourne and Sydney it failed to get the same accolades. Punch, for example, noted that the show ‘is one of those tuneful and pleasing productions … without any great claim to special merit’⁶ and The Bulletin said ‘the piece on closer inspection will never look as clever as it looked in the London notices’.⁷

Central to the storyline, Peggy and Winifred (Florence Young) two of the dairymaids are wards of Lady Brudenell (Clara Clifton) who has established a model dairy for the well-being of young ladies. The first Act takes place at the dairy but with the arrival of Brudenell’s nephews (Sam—Fred Leslie and Frank—Reginald Roberts) who fancy the wards, and some naval officers, she sends the maids off to Miss Penelope Pyechase’s (Emma Temple) academy and gymnasium which becomes the setting for Act 2.

Fanny Dango (Peggy) and Fred Leslie (Sam) in The Dairymaids. National Library of Australia, Canberra.

The critics generally agreed that what success the play enjoyed was largely due to the performance of Fanny whose singing and dancing duets with Fred Leslie in ‘The Other One’ and ‘They All Lived Happily Afterwards’ were praised as excellent, as were ‘The Language of Love’ and ‘Mary and Jane’: ‘she came through with éclat’, wrote one,⁸ and another more moderate but still complimentary, reported that: ‘Miss Fanny Dango, the newcomer, has plenty to do and does it satisfactorily, with a small singing voice and a fair amount of “go”.’⁹

In what was to become a consistent theme from the theatre reviews, Fanny’s voice was said to be pleasing but not robust, but adequate for musical comedy—her merit ‘lies nearer her toes than her tongue’.¹⁰ Any vocal defects in her performance were covered up with some artful stage management in her song and dance routines, especially ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor, Apothecary, Ploughman, Thief’ where the characters of the song, appropriately dressed, gave her support as did the chorus girls, dressed in white cashmere gowns, lifting dumbbells in the gymnasium scene as Fanny sang of the merits of physical exercise in her rendition of the ‘Sandow Girl’. Both songs were chiefly remembered for the ‘ornamental frills that flap about them’.¹¹

Fanny Dango (centre) and a group of Sandow Girls in The Dairymaids. National Library of Australia, Canberra.

As in Melbourne, the Sydney production was carried by Fanny and Leslie. The introduction of a novel marionette act into the gymnasium scene where the movements of the figures were realistically simulated was well received by Sydney audiences.

On her debut performances in both Melbourne and Sydney, Fanny was variously described by the fawning press as a ‘bright little creature’; ‘piquant’, ‘graceful and clever’; ‘vivacious’; ‘dainty, petite and sprightly’, and [one who] ‘acts and sings so coquettishly’. Together with her blazing red gold tresses, Fanny’s favouritism with local audiences was assured.

Fanny Dango and George Lauri singing ‘Two Little Sausages’ in The Girls of Gottenberg

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

Fanny and George performing ‘Berlin on the Spree’ in The Girls of Gottenberg

Australian Performing Arts Collection, Arts Centre Melbourne

Fanny’s next appearance with the company was The Girls of Gottenberg in which she played Mitzi the Innkeeper’s daughter. The musical opened at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne on 1 September 1907 and after a long and successful run was performed as the Christmas attraction in Sydney at Her Majesty’s Theatre.

In an improbable storyline, two regiments the Red and Blue Hussars are languishing in Rottenberg where there is only one girl. Both regiments want to be transferred to Gottenberg which has a girls’ military college, and the Reds are selected. In a storyline twist, Max Moddelkopf (George Lauri), valet to Prince Otto of Saxe-Hildesheim (Reginald Roberts), a lieutenant in the Blue Hussars, switches the orders to have the Blue Hussars transferred to Gottenberg. And, of course there is romance. Otto is betrothed to his cousin Elsa (Florence Young in Melbourne/Olive Godwin in Sydney) but they have not seen each other since their childhood. Elsa is a student at the college, and she persuades Mitzi to change places and as the maid at the inn Elsa flirts with her unknown betrothed and finally wins him over. The situation was explained with lots of song and dance.

According to the Melbourne Herald, it is in these scenes that Fanny enhanced her reputation as a talented performer; her acting and particularly her dancing was again seen as her strengths. Fanny’s songs, ‘Titsy, Bitsy Girl’, ‘Berlin on the Spree’, and ‘Two Little Sausages’ (a duet with George Lauri), were hits of the show as was ‘Sprechen Sie Deutsch’ which she sang with Reginald Roberts and George Lauri. While her voice was, again, light she overcame this with distinct articulation. However, the Herald doubted whether Fanny’s singing voice could successfully sustain the arduous singing role of an operatic heroine.¹²

(left) Fanny Dango with Reginald Roberts, and (right) Florence Young in The Lady Dandies. From Town and Country Journal (Sydney), 15 April 1908, p.41.

The comic opera The Lady Dandies had its Australian premiere at Her Majesty’s Sydney on 21 March 1908 and was later transferred to the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, on 16 April. Fanny played the part of Illyrine the married, divorced and remarried heroine of the piece. The setting for this light opera is Paris after the Revolution and the Reign of Terror with ‘Les Merveilleuses’ (Lady Dandies) celebrating with joyful dancing, music and revelry. The play centres on Illyrine who believing her husband Dorlis (Reginald Roberts) is dead, re-marries. But Dorlis has been away at war and returns to renew the relationship. Despite numerous complications the couple are re-united.

Cast list for the first Australian production of The Lady Dandies, 1908

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Cast list for the first Melbourne production of The Prince of Pilsen, 1908

National Library of Australia, Canberra

This was Fanny’s first part in light opera, and her role as Illyrine required more singing ability than her previous soubrette parts had demanded. While she received praise for her singing of ‘I’m Sorry’ and her duet with Roberts, ‘It Might Have Been’, generally reviews of her performance were disappointing—especially her rendition of the ‘Cuckoo Song’ with critics of the view that her voice was not strong enough for such an important number. ‘The Don’, for example, in Punch wrote that Fanny ‘was again seen rather than heard’,¹³ and a similar view was expressed by the Daily Telegraph: ‘Illyrine is an engaging figure but her limitations of voice handicap her in such an important number as the ‘Cuckoo’ song... with its difficult intervals and its choral refrain it requires a fully equipped voice … the effect was generally disappointing’.¹⁴

The Bulletin was more generous, noting that the song was a little beyond her range and ‘hardened critic, as this paper is, it refuses to rebuke her for attempting that little which is too much’.¹⁵

Poster for an American production of The Prince of Pilsen, c.1901

Library of Congress, Washington DC

‘Flags of the free’ by T. Hilhouse Taylor, with music by George H. Hall

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Fanny’s next role was a chic French maid, Sidonie in the American musical, The Prince of Pilsen produced by J.C. Williamson’s newly formed Musical Comedy Company which opened at the Theatre Royal, Sydney on 30 May 1908, running for 6 weeks, and later played in Adelaide and then in Melbourne.

The plot centres around mistaken identity. Hans Wagner, a Cincinnati Brewer (Charles Loder) arrives with his daughter, Nellie (Amy Murphy) at a Nice hotel and is taken to be the Prince of Pilsen (George Whitehead); the brewer plays along enjoying the attention. The real Prince, travelling incognito, arrives and accepts the situation in good humour. Among other arrivals is Mrs. Crocker (Olive Goodwin) with her maid Sidonie, a widow from New York in pursuit of a title. The many mix-ups that arise are readily solved with plenty of mirth, songs and dance, helped by the Prince being smitten with Nellie at first sight.

The show had been an outstanding success in America and Williamson had specially engaged George Whitehead and Charles Loder from the American production to be principals in the local show. Due to illness Fanny did not appear until late-June, but on her return, she was warmly welcomed and her introduction of a new song ‘Mr. Schneider’ and dance into the program was generously applauded.

Cast list for the first Australian production of The Red Mill at the Sydney Theatre Royal, 1908

National Library of Australia, Canberra

Cast list for the first Melbourne production of The Red Mill at the Princess Theatre, 1908

State Library Victoria, Melbourne

When The Prince of Pilsen finished in Sydney on Friday 10 July, The Red Mill, a Dutch musical by Henry Blossom and Victor Herbert opened the following Saturday. Said to have more to do with mirth than music the piece concerns Con Kidder (John Ford) and Kid Conner (Fred Leslie) two American tourists ‘doing’ Europe who run into trouble when unable to pay their bill for board and lodging at the Red Mill inn in a small Dutch town.

Ford had come from America with a reputation as a comedian and outstanding dancer to play Con Kidder, Fred Leslie, in his first appearance with the Musical Comedy Company, played the travelling companion, Kid Conner, Charles Loder was Willem, Keeper of the Red Mill and Fanny played the part of Tina, the innkeeper’s daughter, a dainty, pretty barmaid.

While the principal attraction of this farcical piece is the low comedy carried by Ford and Leslie with their absurd disguises and eccentric dancing there were other fine performances. Fanny was praised for her rendition of ‘Mignonette’ and for her contribution to ‘Whistle It’ with Leslie and Ford.

Charles Loder and Fred Leslie in The Prince of Pilsen, as seen by one of the Bulletin cartoonists. The cartoon is unsigned, but it is in the style of Harry Julius.

From The Bulletin (Sydney), 19 November 1908, p.9

Fanny Dango as Tina, the innkeeper’s daughter in The Red Mill

From The Mirror, 9 April 1909, p.13

Following its success in Sydney The Red Mill opened at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre on 29 August 1908 which happened to coincide with the arrival of the American fleet of sixteen warships into Hobson’s Bay, viewed by many thousands of Melburnians as the vessels docked at Port Melbourne. The spirit of the occasion had buoyed the opening night audience and they were treated to a unique celebration. At the finale of the first act the orchestra played a selection of American tunes, including ‘Marching into Georgia’, ‘Old Folks at Home’, ‘Way Down on the Swannee River’ and ‘The Star-spangled Banner’. Then at the last curtain call the whole company joined cast member George Whitehead on stage as he sang ‘The Star-spangled Banner’ to the rapturous applause of the standing audience. This was followed by Olive Godwin singing the National Anthem with the audience joining in.

As to the Melbourne performance, it was admired by the critics particularly the parts played by Ford, Leslie and Fanny. And, contrary to repeated criticism that Fanny’s voice lacked strength, on this occasion it was thought that her voice had strengthened and sweetened since earlier performances.¹⁶

The hectic schedule for the members of the Musical Comedy Company continued and from Melbourne, The Red Mill played for two nights in Geelong at Her Majesty’s Theatre, followed by a performance at the Crystal Theatre, Broken Hill and then enjoyed a successful short run at Adelaide’s Theatre Royal in mid-October.

At the Theatre Royal Fanny was again the audience favourite, she ‘was dainty and debonair … and as frolicsome as a kitten, while she danced leisurely and with grace’ wrote the Advertiser. Her renditions of ‘Mignonette’ and ‘If You Love But Me’ were well received and she held her own in the quartet ‘Go While the Going is Good’ with Olive Godwin, Ford and Leslie.¹⁷ The song ‘Whistle It’ had to be lengthened by three or four verses due to the calls for several encores.

The Prince of Pilsen played for a brief, one week run in Adelaide before heading to Melbourne as the principal attraction during the Melbourne Cup racing carnival. The musical received another enthusiastic reception and as audiences had come to expect, Fanny’s dancing was excellent and her songs were well received, particularly ‘Bedtime in the Zoo’ with the background of roaring wild animals was encored. Her duets ‘Keep it Dark’ with Jimmy the Bellboy (John Ford) and ‘Back to the Boulevards’ with the French waiter (Fred Leslie) added to the production.

In keeping with past practice of staging a musical during the Melbourne racing carnival, The Prince of Pilsen made its long-anticipated appearance on 29 October, with the opening night at the Princess Theatre before a packed house. But, for seasoned theatregoers, the ‘Pilsen’ has no special attraction, wrote the Bulletin. Although, fortunately, the review continued, ‘the majority of the players are quite interesting. Fanny and Leslie were singled out in this regard … there is soubrette Fanny Dango with her dainty dancing, and her feet play marvellously into the hands of clever Fred Leslie. Fanny Dango puts brains into her feet, so to speak, and dances with her head, in a manner of speaking’.¹⁸

While Fanny’s performance was applauded by the critics, one review noted the similarity between the different impersonations she had played.¹⁹ This seemed an odd comment as the characters Fanny played and the way she played them had established her reputation and favouritism with Australian audiences.

Poster for a American production of The Belle of New York, c.1901. Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Williamson’s Musical Comedy Company closed its season at Melbourne’s Princess Theatre with a six-night revival of The Belle of New York, which opened on 5 December 1908. Fanny was well placed in the part of Fifi Fricot a little Parisienne and she made a startling first appearance as the ornament on a huge wedding cake, ‘an entrance which cannot make the production any gayer’.²⁰ Commenting on the same scene the Argus said the audience was in entire sympathy with Henry Bronson (Edmund Sherras) ‘who wanted to take off a piece of “the dear little peppermint ear”.’²¹

In this bright piece there were several memorable musical numbers including ‘La Belle Parisienne’ by Fanny.

To be continued

Endnotes

1.One of the companies that issued the ‘Walp’ set was the British American Tobacco Co. Fanny also appears on several British card sets, including Gallaher Ltd., ‘Latest Actresses’ and ‘Actors and Actresses’ by Lambert & Butler.

2. Letty Lind was well known in Australia having performed in Melbourne and Sydney with Nellie Farren and Fred Leslie and the London Gaiety Burlesque Company in 1888.

3. Table Talk (Melbourne), 21 October 1909, p. 13

4. In the 1905 Christmas pantomime Dick Whittington, Fanny as the principal girl sang, ‘Geisha and the Coon’ (a song that also featured in the 1903–04 pantomime Santa Claus Junior), ‘Ma coal black coon’ and the popular ‘My Irish Molly O’, all were well received by the audience.

5. Being Letty Lind’s sister no doubt added to her appeal. This was something Fanny had to contend with during her early career.

6. Punch (Melbourne), 12 September 1907, p.36

7. The Bulletin (Sydney), 12 September 1907, p.8

8. The Herald (Melbourne), 9 September 1907, p.6

9. The Bulletin (Sydney), 2 September 1907, p.8

10. The Bulletin (Sydney), 26 December 1907, p.8

11 The Bulletin (Sydney), 6 February 1908, p.8

12. The Herald (Melbourne), 28 October 1907, p.5

13. Punch (Melbourne), 9 April 1908, p.39

14. Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 23 March 1908, p.4

15. The Bulletin (Sydney), 26 March 1908, p.2

16. The Argus (Melbourne), 31 August 1908, p.5

17. Advertiser (Adelaide), 19 October 1908, p.9

18. The Bulletin (Sydney), 5 November 1908, p.9

19. The Age (Melbourne), 2 November 1908, p.11

20. The Herald (Melbourne), 7 December 1908, p.4

21. The Argus (Melbourne), 7 December 1908, p.9

J.C. williamson took over the lease of the Palace Theatre in December 1902, but due to the success of his Royal Comic Opera Company in Melbourne he decided not to open in Sydney until Boxing Day night.

In the meantime, on the afternoon of Monday, 22 December 1902, Williamson made the Palace available to Dolly Castles, a young Melbourne singer who was making her professional debut in Sydney ‘before a few professional musicians and connoisseurs’. Sixteen-year-old Dolly was a younger sister of the celebrated soprano Amy Castles. The previous week, on 16 December, the two sisters had participated in the Grand Festival of Sacred Music at St Mary’s Cathedral. In addition to singing principal roles in Graun’s Te Deum, Dolly also sang ‘Viae Sion lugent’ from Gounod’s Gallia. For her recital at the Palace Theatre, she chose the ‘Jerusalem’ aria from Galliaand Tosti’s ‘Good-bye’. Described as having ‘a resonant soprano of firm, pure quality’, Williamson championed the young singer and arranged for her to appear in Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane prior to her departure for Paris to study under M. Bouhy.¹

Miss Dolly Castles. Photo by Talma & Co., Melbourne and Sydney.

Author’s collection

Florence Young as Paul Jones, 1903. Photo by Talma, Sydney & Melbourne.

From The Australasian Stage Annual, 1905, p.27

On Friday, 26 December, the Royal Comic Opera Company opened at the Palace in a revival of Dorothy, first seen in Australia in 1887 with Leonora Braham in the title role. With this revival Florence Young was playing Dorothy for the first time in Sydney, with Celia Ghiloni as Lydia, and Maud Chetwynd as Phyllis. Two new leading men, Reginald Roberts and Harold Thorley, were Geoffrey Wilder and Harry Sherwood respectively, with George Lauri reprising his old role of Lurcher. The conductor was Leon Caron, with scenery by George Gordon. Dorothywas performed until 9 January 1903.

The following evening Planquette’s comic opera Paul Jones was revived with Florence Young in the title role, supported by Reginald Roberts as Rufino de Martinez, Hugh Ward as Don Trocadero, George Lauri as Bouillabaisse, Maud Chetwynd as Chopinette, Celia Ghiloni as Malaguena, and Carrie Moore as Yvonne. As the Sydney Morning Heraldreminded audiences, ‘Paul Jones is probably one of the most successful of comic operas ever produced in this country, and the revival will bring pleasant memories to playgoers of 10 or 12 years ago’ when Marian Burton created the ‘trouser’ role of Paul Jones in Australia.²

Overflowing audiences greeted the Royal Comic Opera Company at every performance during their all-too-short season. Paul Jones was withdrawn after only fourteen performances to make way for farewell productions of The Mikado (24–30 January), Robin Hood (2–6 February), and The Geisha(7–20 February).

George Willoughby, 1904. Photo by The Poulsen Studio, Brisbane.

State Library of New South Wales, Sydney

Roxy Barton, 1903. Photo by Talma.

From The Australasian Stage Annual, 1904, p.43

On 21 February 1903 the Palace Theatre erupted with laughter when George Broadhurst’s The Wrong Mr. Wrightwas produced in Sydney for the first time. It was presented by George Willoughby and Edwin Geach, who had just concluded a successful ten month tour of Australia and New Zealand. According to newspaper reports, Willioughby and Geach had taken over Charles Arnold’s company and had been so successful that their ‘receipts even exceeded those of Mr. Charles Arnold’s phenomenal tour with What Happened to Jones, a record that would make many managers envious’.³

Like Broadhurst’s other farcical comedies, The Wrong Mr. Wright, as the title suggests revolves around mistaken identity, whereby a stingy businessman, after being frauded of $5000 by a trusted employee, engages detectives to capture the thief. He offers a reward, but when he hears that the culprit is at Old Point Comfort, he decides to go to the resort in disguise and capture the criminal himself, thereby saving the reward. He assumes the name of Mr. Wright, which also happens to be the alias of the thief. At the resort, completely out of character, he falls head over heels for a young lady, and starts spending money recklessly in an attempt to impress her. It so happens that the lady is a detective eager to earn the reward, and she assumes that he is the thief.

Scene from Act 3 of The Wrong Mr. Wright, 1902

The Wrong Mr. Wrighthad first been performed in Boston in 1896, with Roland Reed and Isadore Rush in the leading roles. They played a month at the Bijou Theatre in New York from 6 September 1897, prior to taking it on tour throughout the USA along with other Broadhurst comedies. When it was first performed at the Strand Theatre in London in 1897 with Thomas A. Wise and Constance Collier in the leads, it ran for almost a year.

At the Palace Theatre, The Wrong Mr. Wright played for a month. The lead roles were performed by George Willoughby as Singleton Sites, with Roxy Barton as Henrietta Oliver, closing on 20 March 1903.

The following evening, On and Offwas performed for the first time in Sydney. This was a French farce adapted by an unnamed hand (possibly Catherine Riley) from Le contrôleur des wagon-lits by Alexandre Bisson. The story defies summary but it concerns an unhappy husband, George Godfray, who attempts to escape the clutches of his overbearing parents-in-law by pretending to be an inspector of railway sleeping cars.

The play was considered a comedy hit in New York, running for three months at the Madison Square Theatre during 1898/1899, with E.M. Holland as Godfray, Amelia Bingham as Madeline (his wife), Maggie Holloway Fisher as Mme Brumaire (the mother-in-law), and Katharine Florence as Rose Martel (the other woman). The play was even more successful in London at the Vaudeville Theatre where it played for seven months from December 1898, with George Giddens, Elliott Page, Elsie Chester and Lucie Milner in the leads.

In Sydney, it was performed three weeks, from 21 March to 9 April 1903, with George Willoughby as the down trodden husband, supported by Roxy Barton, Roland Watts-Phillips and Ethel Appleton.

On Saturday, 28 March 1903, Willoughby and Geach hosted a Grand Combination Charity Matinee in aid of the Lord Mayor’s Drought Fund which saw The Players supported by Nellie Stewart and members of the Willoughby and Geach Company in The Ironmaster and The Grey Parrot.

With the final performance of On and Offon 9 April 1903, the Willoughby and Geach season came to a close.

George Giddens, c.1906. Photo by Biograph. Published by Rotary Photo Co Ltd, London.

Author’s collection.

Playbill for Are You a Mason?, which was performed for the first time in Australia on 11 April 1903

Author’s collection

Following the presentation of a Sacred Concert on 10 April for Easter, J.C. Williamson was once again lessee, opening a season of comedies with Are You a Mason?—for the first time in Australia. This comedy was adapted by Leo Ditrichstein from the German play Logen Bruderby Carl Laufs and Kurt Krantz.

Williamson’s New Comedy Company was a top notch one, with West End comedian George Gidden as Amos Bloodgood, the role he created when the play was first performed in England.

The fun begins when Frank Perry (played by Cecil Ward) promises his new wife (Ethel Knight Mollison) that while she is away on a visit he will become a Mason. However, during her absence, he goes out on the town and fails to fulfil his promise. On her return, rather than tell her the truth, he pretends that he has done what she has asked. When his in-laws arrive, he discovers that his father-in-law (Amos Bloodgood, played by George Giddens) is in exactly the same predicament. So when his wife’s unmarried sister starts courting a real Mason, the two pretend Masons are at risk of being exposed.

Are You a Mason?was first performed in New York at Wallack’s Theatre on 1 April 1901, with Thomas A. Wise as Amos Bloodgood, May Robson as Caroline Bloodgood, John C. Rice as Frank Perry, Esther Tittell as Eva Perry, and Leo Ditrichstein as George Fisher. This production ran for 32 performances. It was subsequently revived at the Garrick Theatre in August 1901 with a similar cast, where it ran for an additional month.

The London production, which opened at the Shaftesbury Theatre on 12 September 1901 (transferring to the Royalty Theatre on 31 March 1902), ran for a side-splitting seven months.

Hotel scene from the London production of A Night Out, 1896, performed in Australia as Oh! What a Night! George Giddens as Joseph Pinglet is sixth from the right. Photo by Dover Street Studios, London. From The Tatler, 28 August 1907, p.185.

The Comedy Company’s next offering was Oh! What a Night!on 23 May 1903. Adapted from the French farce of Georges Feydeau and Maurice Desvallieres, it was described in the advertising as ‘one of the funniest, wittiest, cleverist, brightest, sauciest, quaintest comedies ever written’.⁴

Originally performed as L’Hôtel du Libre échange in Paris in 1894, the play had many outings on the English speaking stage. It was seen in New York as The Gay Parisians(1895) and in London as A Night Out (1896), the same title given to the 1920’s musical comedy version adapted by George Grossmith and Arthur Miller, with music by Willie Redstone. More recently it formed the basis of Peter Glenville’s comedy Hotel Paradiso (1956) and John Mortimer’s A Little Hotel On the Side(1984).

It is probable that Oh! What a Night!was actually A Night Out under a new title, with George Giddens reprising his original character of Joseph Pinglet. It played until the end of the Williamson comedy season on 5 June 1903.

Maggie Moore as Lizzie Stofel in Struck Oil, 1903. This photo was taken during the NZ leg of her current tour by Hemus Sarony (NZ) Photo.

From The Australasian Stage Annual, 1904, p.35

Playbill for Struck Oil, which opened at the Palace on 6 April 1903

Author’s collection

The following evening, Saturday, 6 June 1903, saw the reappearance of Maggie Moore, Williamson’s former acting partner and ex-wife. Her opening piece was Struck Oil, the well-known comedy vehicle that she and Williamson performed when they made their Australian debuts in 1874. Maggie revived her ‘original, inimitable, and altogether remarkable impersonation’ of Lizzie Stofel, while Williamson’s old role of John Stofel, the Dutch shoemaker, was now played by John F. Ford.⁵

Struck Oil played for a fortnight. On Saturday, 20 June 1903, Maggie introduced a brand-new character to Sydney audiences: The Widow From Japan, a farcical comedy by Charles J. Campbell and Ralph M. Skinner. Audiences were promised:

Those who desire to be convulsed with hearty laughter and to be charmed with interesting episodes should not miss seeing this great Comedy Drama, which is one of those productions wherein Miss MOORE’s versatile powers find their fullest scope. In the title role she has a character that could not be more original had it been created for her.⁶

With these Australian performances, it seems that this play was being performed for the first time. Maggie had purchased the Australian rights for this and other new pieces while visiting America in 1902.

The Widow From Japan played for one week. It was followed by Way Down South; or, A Negro Slave’s Devotion (27 June–3 July 1903) and Killarney(4–10 July 1903). In Way Down South, Maggie ‘blacked up’ to play a faithful servant, Aunt Miranda, ‘her Great Negro Impersonation’. Described as a domestic comedy drama in five acts by P.B. Carter, this piece was being performed in Sydney for the first time. ‘New songs’ were performed as well as ‘dances, glees, and Negro Specialties’, including the ‘cake walk’.⁷

Maggie’s final offering was Killarney, a ‘romantic, and picturesque Irish drama in four acts’ by an unnamed author, in which she played the Irish colleen Kathleen O’Donnell, affording her the opportunity to sing several appropriate songs including ‘Ireland, I Love You’ and ‘Killarney’.⁸

Daniel Frawley, possibly as Lieutenant Denton in Arizona. Unknown photographer.

J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, University of Washington Libraries

Mary Van Buren, c.1903. Photo by Talma & Co., Melbourne and Sydney

Author’s collection

With the departure of Maggie Moore, J.C. Williamson once again took over the direction of the theatre, introducing Daniel Frawley and his company of American players. Frawley’s troupe comprised some 20 artists, including the ‘brilliant young actress’ Mary Van Buren. The company had been founded in 1899 and had been touring the USA, Asia, India and New Zealand, prior to making their Australia debut at Her Majesty’s Theatre in Melbourne on 30 May 1903. They brought with them a vast repertoire of plays, having acquired the touring rights to high profile Broadway and West End successes including Arizona(1899) by Augustus Thomas, Madame Sans Gene(1895) by Victorien Sardou, and Secret Service (1893) by William Gillette.

Daniel Frawley and company commenced their six-week Sydney season on Saturday, 11 July 1903. Their opening gambit was the much anticipated Arizona, a play by Augustus Thomas. From its first performance in America, this play captured the popular imagination; a story teaming with ‘ranchmen, cowboys, Mexicans, Chinamen and other figures of life in the territory’.⁹ The hero of the play is the handsome Lieutenant Denton of the 11th Cavalry who woos one of the daughters of Henry Canby, the sun-weathered ranch-owner, and saves the reputation of the other. Theodore Roberts created the role of Henry Canby when the play premiered at the Grand Opera House in Chicago in June 1899. After an unprecedented season of three months, the play toured around America for a year. When it eventually reached New York in September 1900, it notched up a further 140 performances at the Herald Square Theatre. In February 1902, Roberts appeared in the first London production at the Adelphi Theatre (transferring to the Princess’s in April 1902), where it ran for 119 performances.

This piece had received its Australian premiere at the Princess’s Theatre in Melbourne the previous month, with Daniel Frawley as Lieutenant Denton, Jeffrey Williams as Henry Canby, Mary Van Buren as Estrella, and Eva Dennison as Bonita.

Augustus Cook, who created the role of Napoleon in the American production of Madame Sans Gene in 1896

Macauley’s Theatre Collection, University of Louisville

Daniel Frawley as Napoleon in Madame Sans Gene.

From The Australasian Stage Annual, 1904, p.35

Due to the limited number of nights scheduled for the Sydney season, a weekly change program was introduced beginning with Madame Sans Gene (1–7 August 1903). Victorien Sardou’s play, first performed in Paris in 1894 with Madame Rejane in the title role, focuses on Napoleon’s relationship with a former laundress, Catherine Hubscher, aka Madame Sans Gene. This play first appeared on the English stage in a translation by J. Comyn’s Carr in 1895 with Ellen Terry and Henry Irving. The same year, in America, Henry Charles Meltzer adapted the play for Kathryn Kidder and Augustus Cook. In 1899 Frawley secured the Pacific Coast rights to the Meltzer version and on 3 September 1899 played Napoleon for the first time in at the Burbank Theatre, Los Angeles, supported by Mary Van Buren.

The company’s next offering was In Paradise (8–14 August 1903), adapted by B.B. Valentine from Les Paradis, a farcical comedy by Messrs Billhaud, Henequin and Carré. On its first Australian presentation in Sydney, it featured Daniel Frawley as Raphael Delacroix, an artist, with Mary Van Buren as Claire Taupin, a Modiste, and Harrington Reynolds as Pico, a lion tamer. Enough said.

The following week saw a return to form with the Australian premiere of Brother Officers(15–21 August 1903), a military comedy-drama by Leo Trevor. Charting the trials and tribulations of a successful army man from a low class family, this piece enjoyed considerable success at the Garrick Theatre in London in 1899 with Arthur Bourchier as Lieutenant John Hinds VC and Violet Vanbrugh as The Baroness Roydell. When the play was given its American premiere in San Francisco (7 August 1899) and New York (16 January 1900), the leads were played by Henry Miller (William Faversham in New York) and Margaret Anglin, the roles now played by Daniel Frawley and Mary Van Buren.

Another Australian premiere followed with the 1893 drama The Girl I Left Behind Me(22–28 Aug 1903) by Franklin Fyles and David Belasco. Set on a small army base in Montana, against a backdrop of tension between the army and the local Indian tribe, the play focussed on the love story between Lieutenant Edgar Hawkesmore and Kate Kennion, the general’s daughter. Running for over 200 performances at the Empire Theatre, New York, in 1893, with Frank Mordaunt and Sidney Armstrong as the lovers, the play went on to achieve a similar success at London’s Adelphi Theatre in 1895 with William Terriss and Jessie Millward. For the Sydney production Daniel Frawley and Mary Van Buren played Edgar and Kate.

Daniel Frawley as Lewis Dumont (alias Captain Thorne) in Secret Service, 1901. Photo by Louis Thors, San Francisco.

J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, University of Washington, Washington, DC

Playbill for In Mizzouri which was performed during the final week of the Frawley season

Author’s collection

The penultimate offering was a revival of the Civil War spy drama Secret Service (29 August–4 September 1903), with Daniel Frawley as Lewis Dumont (alias Captain Thorne), a Union spy who infiltrates the ranks of the Confederate army and falls in love with Edith Varney (Mary Van Buren), the  daughter of a Confederate general. This play created a sensation on its first production, making an instant celebrity of actor-playwright William Gillette, who created the role of Dumont when the play was first performed in New York in October 1896. The drama enjoyed huge success throughout the USA and England. The first Australia production in August 1899 had featured Thomas Kingston and Henrietta Watson in the principal roles.

The final week of the Frawley season saw a revival of Augustus Thomas’ romantic American drama In Missoura (or In Missouri as it was titled here) (5–10 September 1903). This play had first been performed in Australia by Nat C. Goodwin and his company in 1896. Goodwin created the character of Jim Radburn, an unsophisticated but tender hearted Sherriff, when the play was first performed in America in 1893. As Radburn, Daniel Frawley played the role ‘with a quiet, convincing force that left little to be desired’, with Mary Van Buren as Kate Vernon, the object of his affections.¹¹

The season terminated on Friday, 11 September 1903 with a revival of Arizona, also by Augustus Thomas.

To be continued

Endnotes

1. Freeman’s Journal(Sydney), 27 December 1902, p.28;  Daily Telegraph(Sydney), 10 January 1903, p.6

2. TheSydney Morning Herald, 10 January 1903, p.7

3. The Australian Star(Sydney), 30 January 1903, p.8

4. Advertisement, TheSydney Morning Herald, 23 May 1903, p.2

5. Advertisement, TheSydney Morning Herald, 6 June 1903, p.2

6. Advertisement, TheSydney Morning Herald, 20 June 1903, p.2

7. Advertisement, TheSydney Morning Herald, 27 June 1903, p.2

8. Advertisement, TheSydney Morning Herald, 4 July 1903, p.2

9. The New York Clipper, 17 June 1899, p.304

10. Amy Arbogast, p.30

11. TheSydney Morning Herald, 7 September 1903, p.3

References

Amy Arbogast, ‘Rural life with urban strife’, Performing the Progressive Era: immigration, urban life, and nationalism on stage, edited by Max Shulman & J. Chris Westgate, University of Iowa Press, 2019, pp.17-34

Gerald Bordman, American Theatre: A chronicle of comedy and drama, 1869–1914, Oxford University Press, 1994

William W. Crawley (ed.). Australasian Stage Annual: an annual devoted to the interests of the theatrical and musical professions, J.J. Miller, Melbourne, 1902-1905

J.P. Wearing, The London Stage: A Calendar of productions, performers, and personnel, 1890–1899, 2nd edn, Rowman & Littlefield, 2014

J.P. Wearing, The London Stage: A Calendar of productions, performers, and personnel, 1900-1909, 2nd edn, Rowman & Littlefield, 2014

Newspapers

The Australian Star (Sydney), Daily Telegraph (Sydney), Freeman’s Journal (Sydney), The New York Clipper, The New York Times, The New Zealand Mail, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Tatler (London)

Papers Past, https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/

Trove, https://trove.nla.gov.au/

Pictures

J. Willis Sayre Collection of Theatrical Photographs, University of Washington Libraries, https://content.lib.washington.edu/sayreweb/index.html

With thanks to

John S. Clark, Judy Leech, Les Tod

English actor & vocalist (tenor). Né Robert Reginald Halford. Born 1874, London, England. Son of Robert Halford (Hal Forde) and Emily Packer. Married (1) Madge -- , 1895, London, England, (2) Florence Young (de facto), (3) Emily -- , 1950. Died 24 April 1965, Melbourne, VIC, Australia, aged 91.

On stage in England and America from 1889. Australia from 1902 as leading man in musical comedies with Florence Young.

Riley/Hailes Scrapbook, page 222.

Australian actress & vocalist. Née Florence Maude Young. Born 2 October 1870, Melbourne, VIC, Australia. Daughter of Henry Henrard Young (jeweller) and Elizabeth Tonkin. Sister of Millie Young (actress), Gladys Young (actress), Harry Young (actor), Fred Young (stage manager). Married Robert Campbell Rivington, 8 February 1897, Melbourne, VIC, Australia (div. 1912), (2) Reginald Roberts (de facto). Died 11 November 1920, Melbourne, VIC, Australia.

On stage from 1890, performing in musical comedy and pantomime, having studied singing with Madame Lucy Chambers.

Riley/Hailes Scrapbook, page 188.