Shirley Bassey

HMM and Johnny Ray

Chequersnightclub, owned and operated by importers and restaurateurs Keith and Dennis Wong, was located at 79 Goulburn Street, Sydney (1959). They presented a cavalcade of international cabaret artists. It attracted a colourful and often notorious clientele of the good, the bad, and the ugly! With a staff of 120, and seating 550-patrons, Morris Lansburgh, the Miami and Las Vegas hotel-millionaire, said Chequers was “better than either the Copacabana or the Latin Quarter in New York”. The Wongs paid weekly fees of £7500 to Sarah Vaughan; £6000 to Tony Martin and Shelley Berman; and £5000 to Frances Faye.

Garry Van Egmond

Louis Armstong and HMM

HMM was introduced to Dennis and Keith Wong (1963) by Sol Shapiro, an internationally influential agent with the prestigious Wiliam Morris Agency, New York, and with whom HMM had negotiated earlier concert contracts. Subsequently, in 1963 the Wong brothers and HMM formed Pan-Pacific Promotions. They were a formidable triumvirate. Garry Van Egmond was their Melbourne representative. He worked from an office in the now-demolished Southern Cross Hotel, Bourke and Exhibition Streets. It was ‘THE’ hotel of the day. It was where The Beatles stayed. When the concierge denied actress Joan Brokenshire entry, she removed the offending trousers and was allowed to proceed wearing an obscenely mini coat-dress—showing her superb legs to great advantage!

HMM with Judy Garland and Patti Amphlett

HMM and Shirley Bassey

Pan Pacific brought Sarah Vaughan (a financial disaster, and most patrons paid to see the support act—DON LANE), Johnny Ray, Dizzy Gillespie, Ella Fitzgerald, Chubby Checker, Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Leslie Uggams, The Rolling Stones, Sammy Davis Jr., Eartha Kitt, Judy Garland, Artur Rubenstein, Louis Armstrong & Trini Lopez, The Merseybeat Sound, Starlift '64, Surfside, The Folk Festival, Leslie Uggams, Frances Faye, Tom Jones and Hermans Hermits to Australia.

Miller's partnership with the Wong brothers continued until early 1967 when he bought-out their share of Pan-Pacific Promotions and established Harry M. Miller Attractions Pty. Ltd., principally, as a consequence of the financially disastrous, Fortnight of Furore,tour by, The Who, The Small Faces,and Paul Jones, January 1968; and The Monkees—September-October 1968;  Subsequently, HMM abandoned concert promotion and concentrated on theatrical production in Australia.

 

The Noël Coward Festival—Present Laughter and Private Livesat the Palace Theatre, Sydney (1968) starring British actress Rosemary Martin (Noël Coward’s choice), and Stuart Wagstaff, marked one of his first forays. Sue Becker—known for her television physical jerks programme on ABC television, played Monica in Present Laughter.

HMM promoted only two other rock tours—the controversial Joe Cocker in 1972, and David Cassidy, 1974.

Television director, Ron Way, was an HMM client, and one for whom I was logistically responsible. Ron directed the acclaimed television specials featuring Shirley Bassey—her dress caused people to ask if she was wearing knickers; Louis Armstrong; Sammy Davis Jr., and Matt Monro, who convinced himself my name is Mervyn!

Ron Way

Shirley Bassey in that dress

Ron directed 45-episodes of My Name’s McGooley,What’s Yours?; 22-episodes of Good Morning, Mr Doubleday;Rooted;10-episodes of Seven Little Australians;Shannon’s Mob;the film Frenchman’s Farm;The Mavis Bramston Show;Boney;Spyforce;Woobinda; 182-episodes of This Is Your Life; and countless television commercials, most notably, Graham Kennedy in the famous Bowater Scott paper towel commercial produced by Ross Wood Productions Sydney, and for which Graham was paid an incredible amount of money—and for two-years!

The BP Super Show was a loosely scheduled series of musical specials 1959–70. Ron directed the last of the shows, Hans Christian Andersen—scripted musical film which starred the British actors Patrick Wymark, and John Fraser, in the title role—both of whom were appearing in HMM’s production of Sleuth at the Theatre Royal, Castlereagh Street. The Dick Van Dyke Show, comedy duo, Morey Amsterdam (his 5th visit), and Richard Deacon, were touring Australia and joined a cast including Patti Newton, Bryan Davies, Rosie Strugess, and Stuart Wagstaff—another HMM client. A Nine Network production, it was produced by Stefan Haag, under the musical direction of Geoff Harvey. It was Patrick Wymark’s last television performance. The film of Hans Christian Andersen went to air five-weeks after Patrick’s death at his hotel in Melbourne. He was due to open in Sleuth at the Comedy Theatre.

*Ron Way, 1933–29 June 2019. He was 85.

Hutchinson Scott’s set for The Secretary Bird

In 1969, Patrick Macnee, who played John Steed in the television series, The Avengers, came to Australia to star in a Sydney season of William Douglas Home’s drawing-room comedy, The Secretary Bird; directed by Philip Dudley, with a glorious set designed by the acclaimed Hutchinson Scott. It was an event—a financial bonanza!

There were queues at the stage door wanting Patrick’s autograph. His name made the work of the party-booking ladies so much easier. They were coming to see John Steed—he could have been reading the telephone book. It changed audience’s perception of the theatre. While many English and American film and theatre box-office names had, over the years, accepted invitations to lead productions in Australia—and with great success—Patrick was the first of such television star-names to appear. His television persona resonated with audiences. The Secretary Bird was the first time producers witnessed the seismic power of ‘the box’, and its overwhelming potential to attract a whole new audience. It proved a watershed in Australian theatre. It broke-down the barrier of perceived elitism. For the two-decades following, and as a direct consequence of Patrick’s phenomenal success, producers brought a cavalcade of television stars—some good, some not so good, to the perform in Australia productions. While it did create some understandable consternation in the rank-and-file of local actors, there was no doubting the import’s capacity to draw an audience—that section of the public who did not, as a rule-of-thumb, attend the theatre. Conversely, Nancye Hayes, and not the American import Anne Hilton, should have played the lead in the J.C. Williamson production of Promises, Promises.Equally, the male American import, Orson Bean, was not a box-office name, and he sang quite nicely!

*Orson Bean 1928-2020, aged 91.

Nancye Hayes

Promises, Promises program

In the Sydney Mirror newspaper, critic Frank Harris wrote: “As for the Australians, Nancye Hayes stole the spotlight effortlessly with her gorgeously comic performance as the pick-up girl, outwardly bland and disarming, but as cunning as a wagon-load of vixens with her lead-on talk to the bedroom.”

No expense was spared on Patrick’s costumes which came from John Lane, Double Bay. They cost many hundreds of dollars. At the end of the Sydney season Patrick commandeered the lot—including the silk scarves, Turnbull and Asser shirts, wool and suede cardigan, and knee-length, black, silk socks. The selection of shoes were from Bally—loafers/slip-ons in premium brown suede; black velvet, embroidered loafers; and black, patent leather evening shoes with a grosgrain bow.  

Patrick Macnee

Mary Miller

Patrick’s English co-star, Mary Miller, arrived with an impeccable pedigree. She was a founding member of the London’s National Theatre. She played Melinda to Laurence Olivier’s Captain Brazen in the restoration comedy, The Recruiting Officer, by George Farquhar. Other cast members in the legendary production included Maggie Smith, Robert Stephens, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, Lynn Redgrave, Colin Blakely and Sarah Miles; directed by the celebrated William Gaskill; Mary played Emilia in Laurence Olivier’s Othello, directed by John Dexter, with Frank Finlay as Iago, and Maggie Smith as Desdemona.

Mary was the better actor. Patrick complained constantly about her performance. He said, unkindly, she played the part as if it were Chekov. Like many women’s roles in such drawing-room comedies the wife was a mostly thankless part. Her character was a theatrical device to create the plot—in this instance for the husband to outwit the wife’s proposed divorce and her intended new and younger husband.

The casting of Mary is a puzzlement. She was unknown to Australia audiences, and the role could have been played by a number of actresses. British-born, Carol Raye, would have been perfect. Mary bought her costumes with her from London, including the ugliest pair of butter-cup-yellow patent leather, stumpy-heeled shoes which served only to draw attention to her thick ankles. HMM saw them for the first time at a dress rehearsal and they never made onto the stage again! Their fate remains a mystery. At HMM’s insistence, a pair of dark-brown crepe, ill-fitting, bell-bottom, slacks were replaced. He hated the colour!

Fredric Abbott was an Australian actor based in London. He, too, was brought home for The Secretary Bird. He was an agreeable man, if slightly dull, and his casting was equally unexpected. Fred was not conventionally good-looking, and he attracted minimal media interest. Actor Frederick Parslow might have been a better choice.

Other cast members were Jan Kingsbury and Betty Dyson.

Bill Dowd (later a designer), Terence O’Connell (later a director), and Sonia Humphrey (a former Australian Ballet company member who suffered a career-ending injury, and later an ABC presenter/newsreader), were stage management and props. Each performance they were required to cook-up a full English breakfast—including scrambled eggs—to be consumed onstage.

Frederick Parslow

Fredric Abbott

*Philip Dudley died 1981 aged 45. In a short but illustrious career, he directed Margaret Leighton and Noël Coward in a television version (1969) of Coward’s play, The Vortex; Nigel Havers in the acclaimed television series (1978) of R.F. Delderfield’s novel, A Horseman Riding By;The Corn is Green starring Dame Wendy Hiller;numerous episodes of Z Cars, Softly, Softly: Task Force,with Stratford Johns, and Tales of the Unexpected,starring, Frank Finlay, Siobhán McKenna, and Amanda Redman.

*Patrick Macnee died 2015, aged 93.

*Janet Kingsbury died 2024, aged 85. She and director, Philip Dudley, enjoyed a closeness during his time in Australia.

*Mary Miller died 2020, Denville Hall, London, aged 90. Mary was, for a time, married to the Scottish actor Bill Simpson who played the title role in the long-running television series, Dr. Finlay’s Casebook.

*Frederic Abbott died July 1996, aged 67.

*Frederick Parslow died 2017, aged 84.

*James Fishburn—stage director, died 1989, aged 57.

*Sonia Humprhey died 2011, aged 63.

Patrick, Mary Miller and Philip Dudley on their way to rehearsal

The Secretary Bird was the final production at the Palace Theatre, Castlereagh Street, before its demolition, 1970. Built in 1896, it was a glorious Victorian theatre, although the underground dressing-rooms were a labyrinth. Also, the theatre shared a common wall with the adjoining hotel’s kitchen. As a result, you could smell, throughout the whole theatre, whatever it was they were cooking for dinner!

The Avengers, 1961–69, with his co-stars Honor Blackman, then Diana Rigg, and latterly, Linda Thorson, was internationally successful. It changed the course of Patrick’s life. He went from a successful, jobbing-actor to a leading man. Paradoxically, Patrick’s fame came by default. The original leading man, Ian Hendry, filmed one season of The Avengers then elected to leave to make films. Patrick, who played his side-kick, was handed the role on a platter! Ian Hendry was in the mould of James Bond. Patrick was dapper and podgy. He wore an elasticised girdle!

*Ian Hendry 1931-1984: aged 53.

William Douglas Home watching a rehearsal in Australia

Patrick was a capable, reliable actor who delivered a perfectly acceptable performance. There was a predictable speech cadence to his every character, regardless. While the reviews were not fantastic, The Telegraph newspaper was particularly caustic. It read: “four-hours on a pendulum is a long time!” HMM was incandescent with rage and complained to the editor—berating the critic. In full-flight he was something to behold! He threatened to sue, arguing the review would affect the box-office. People would be scared-off because of the inaccurate running-time.  Consequently, they apologised, and accorded the production much positive publicity. The Secretary Bird did sell-out business. HMM was unaware, and I confess for the first time, I, together with several other of his employees, left at the interval. I thought it dull! I was required to be in the theatre for 5– of the eight-weekly performances, and to report back to Freddie Gibson. 

The Secretary Bird schedule was demanding: Monday-Thursday 8.15pm. Friday and Saturday 5.30pm and 8.30pm. There was no Wednesday matinee.

Patrick, who was between his second and third wives, was a most agreeable man. He was tall—6’1”, with a florid complexion, and a full-head of dark, thick, curly hair. He was given to anxiety, and carried a string of Greek worry beads with which he fiddled, constantly. While he appeared socially confident he was, for the most part, a nervous Ned! Patrick was an overweight vegetarian—by 14-pounds, he claimed,

He came from good-stock and identified as a Scot. His parents separated after his mother announced she was a lesbian and moved-in with her partner, Evelyn Spottiswoode, whose fortune came from Dewar’s whisky business.  Patrick dubbed her “Uncle Evelyn”. She helped pay for his schooling at Summer Fields School (Harold Macmillan was a pupil), and Eton, in the shadow of Windsor Castle, and from where he was expelled for selling pornography and acting as a bookmaker. Without notice, his father took-off and went to live in India!

Ironically, Patrick enjoyed being feted by the great-and-the-good! He was treated like a movie star and he relished being a big fish in a small pond. There were several dalliances, including a production assistant who thought he might help to advance her career. The fan mail was phenomenal. I answered every letter, and they were signed by Patrick. He was ensconced in the renowned Sebel Town House for 16-weeks. Also, Mary Miller was there for the rehearsal period. After a very late opening Friday night, and a matinee on the Saturday, she stayed one extra night before moving to a house in Paddington. HMM docked her salary for the cost of the additional night’s accommodation. According to Mary, soon after she arrived from London HMM invited her to dinner. To her surprise she found it necessary to specify in the clearest-of-terms the inviolable parameters of their professional association. The type of welcome she was being offered was most unexpected and of the kind she did not want! Perhaps it goes some way to explaining HMM’s accommodation stinginess—which was most unusual on his part.

Patrick with Mary Miller

Googie Withers and Alfred Sandor in Plaza Suite

In 1969, Australian audiences were in awe of imported stars. At the same time as The Secretary Bird, Googie Withers and Alfred Sandor were two-blocks down Castlereagh Street at the Theatre Royal doing Neil Simon’s, Plaza Suite.

*Googie Withers—Karachi, 1917, died Sydney 2011. Aged 94.

*Alfred Sandor—Budapest, 1918, died Sydney 1983. Aged 64.

The 1970 Melbourne season opened at the Princess Theatre. Patrick was having none of Mary Miller and Anne Charleston took-over the role; Noel Trevarthen replaced Fredric Abbott; and Barbara Stephens was the secretary bird, replacing Janet Kingsbury, whom Patrick considered “too old” for the role. Esme Melville played the housekeeper. James Fishburn directed, and Norma Tullo did the décor and costumes. Anne Charleston was a single mother and touring with her infant son, Nicholas Ravenswood. Patrick was horrified when he saw the standard of her Brisbane accommodation. He complained, bitterly, to HMM: “It’s like Tobacco Road!” he bellowed. “She can’t stay there!” Anne, and infant Nicholas, were moved, immediately, into same hotel accommodation as Patrick, and at no cost to her! 

HMM horseriding

In the April of 1970, HMM’s horse threw him and he broke his leg. It proved a trying-time for everyone; however, it did not stop him from working, and only served to exacerbate his  irascibility. He went, on crutches, to Canberra for the opening night of The Secretary Bird. He borrowed from me a magnificent walking stick which had been gifted by a friend. He never did return it, and I was too embarrassed to remind him.

Predictably, The Bulletin magazine critic, Rex Cramphorn, wrote contemptuously: “Husband (to errant wife), ‘My poor old darling, you have got it bad’. WIFE: ‘You make it sound like measles’! The quotation alone is a complete review.” The production of The Secretary Birdplayed to capacity houses across the country—and in New Zealand, something none of Mr. Cramphorn’s productions managed to achieve—ever! While the play was not Shakespeare, it was what the audience wanted, and it was not without social merit.

William Douglas Home wrote some 50 plays, most of them comedies in an upper-class setting, including The Reluctant Debutante;The Kingfisher (which I did with Googie Withers, John McCallum, and Frank Thring, directed by George Ogilvie—John Frost was the stage manager), Lloyd George Knew My Father—Sir Ralph Richardson and his wife Merriel Forbes played it in Australia;The Chiltern Hundreds;and,Now Barabbas—the film version of which was written by Douglas Home and Anatole de Grunwald, and starred Richard Greene, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Kathleen Harrison, Kenneth More, and Richard Burton.

The Secretary Bird played for a total of 10-months:

Palace Theatre, Sydney 18 September–10 December 1969

Princess Theatre, Melbourne— 31 March 1970

Hunter Theatre, Newcastle— April 1970

Canberra Theatre, Canberra—14-21 May 1970

SGIO Theatre Brisbane—June 1970

Comedy Theatre Melbourne—July 1970 (return season)

New Zealand (1970) Auckland, Wellington, Palmerston North, Christchurch, Invercargill.

Ken Delo and Jonathan Daly

Anthony Marriott

No Sex Please, We’re British ran in London’s West End from June 1971 until September 1987, for a total of 6,761 performances, and in three different theatres. It was directed for 16-years by Australian, Allan Davis. Written by Alistair Foot, who died a few weeks before opening night in London, and Anthony Marriott, who readily acknowledged the serendipity of his good fortune, saying about the play: “Let’s face it, the thing’s a freak! I thought it would run for about six-weeks.”

HMM contracted Jonathan Daley to star as Brian Runnicles. His previous television fame in Australia—the comedy duo of Delo and Daley—suggested a likely success. No Sex Please,is a perfect British farce—a barrage of double entendre, mistaken identities, physical high-jinks—real people in unreal situations! The show opened to predictable reviews—not that it mattered. The audience adored it. They shrieked with laughter. Jonathan Daly was a triumph. The director, Tony Marriott, provided exactly what the public expected—and wanted! 

The Australian cast were Malcolm Steed, Marion Heathfield, Alan Kingsford-Smith, Ken Fraser, Tony Hawkins, Frank Garfield, Norman Kaye, Robyn Moase, and Liddy Clark. HMM asked for me to be out-front for a dress rehearsal of No Sex and to report back. Sitting in the stalls with the director, Tony, and about 20-minutes into the play, I whispered to him an observation, not a criticism, regarding an actor’s performance. To my horror, Tony shouted, stopped the action of the performance, and called to the actor: “Roland wants to know why you’re playing it like an old queen!” I was horrified. The actor never spoke with me again! Still, I am embarrassed, and he has been dead since 2003!

Bob Grant

Bob Grant and Kim Benwell

The show opened and was playing to capacity business. The box-office was humming. There was the “sweet-smell-of-success” at the Metro. HMM was thrilled. Then, overnight, it all went very wrong. The whole thing went pear-shaped!

On Sunday morning, 23 September, three-weeks into the run, Jonathan Daly packed his bags and departed the country—without so much as a by-your-leave. On his way to Tullamarine airport, headed for California, he called into the home of the stage manager, Lloyd Casey, and left one of two letters of explanation: “Too many injuries, doctors, pressures, anxieties, and the fear of being wiped-out financially in the courts here.” The latter being a direct reference to an impending, problematic, and HMM suspected, acrimonious divorce from his Australian wife, model, Marlene Saunders, who later married actor Terence Donovan. When HMM was told the news, all hell broke loose. He was ropeable. To keep the curtain-up, the understudy, Allan Kingsford-Smith, stepped into the breach. Bob Grant from the British television series, On The Buses, came to Australia as Jonathan’s replacement. I am not sure HMM ever forgave Jonathan Daly. Sadly, the show had lost its momentum. Despite his television fame Bob Grant did not have quite the same audience appeal. Overnight it went from a howling success to a break-even proposition. The show transferred to the Metro, Kings Cross. It played for a month and enjoyed some success. What should have been a box-office bonanza proved a moderate financial investment.

Bob Grant was married to Kim Benwell, an ex-Raymond Revue girl. Located in Soho, the Raymond Revue Bar was for many years the only London venue which offered on-stage, full-frontal nudity. She and Bob Grant were newly married. He was a gentle soul. Mrs. Grant proved more demanding! She was one of the few about whom executive producer Garry Van Egmond spoke unkindly! Bob Grant trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and had done excellent work before he landed the lead role in On The Buses. The fame was double-edged. Paradoxically, the vulgar character of Jack Harper ruined his career. He became typecast as a comedic “nudge-nudge, wink-wink” actor. He was capable of more …

*Bob Grant died 2003: suicide, carbon monoxide poisoning. He was 71.

Jonathan Daly and Malcolm Steed

Jonathan Daly said: “No Sex Please, We’re British was a very physical show. Harry M. Miller flew me to London to meet Michael Crawford who was doing the West End production. He said to me: ‘You’d better be in good shape, you’re going to get killed in this’. And I did! I got my arm broken—twice. The first time the St Kilda VFL team was in the audience. After the show they came backstage to meet me. The coach (Allan Jeans) asked: ‘What happened?’ I explained, when door came down I broke my elbow. He told to come the next morning to the Football Club and their trainers would be put at my disposal and they’d have me back on the stage that night. So, every single morning I would go to the St Kilda Football Club to meet the trainers. They got me through the play.

“When I broke my arm the second time the stagehands were on strike. The stage management were doing their jobs. They were supposed to put a mattress in place for when I dived through a window. The mattress wasn’t there. I landed on the stage and broke my arm. The next day I left Australia. Harry Miller was livid; he said he was going to kill me! I cost Anthony Marriott, who wrote and directed the play, a lot of money. Some years later I was living in London when I ran into Anthony in Piccadilly. I thought he was going to hit me! We became best friends, and together we wrote plays!”

*Anthony Marriott died April 17, 2014. Northwood, Hillingdon. He was 83.

On 21 February 1979 No Sex Please, became the longest running comedy in the history of world theatre.

Gordon Chater

Diana Perryman

You Know I Can’t Hear You When The Water’s Runningstarred Gordon Chater and Diana Perryman, together with Chris Johnston, Maggie Kirpatrick, Kerry Maguire, and Peter Reynolds; directed by Stefan Haag; designed by Robert Lloyd; and written by Robert Anderson—who wrote Tea and Sympathy, opened at the Playbox Theatre, Phillip Street, 15 March 1969, at approximately the same time I joined Harry M Miller Attractions. It was an HMM/Kenn Brodziak production. Originally the 2GB auditorium, and refurbished by HMM, The Playbox opened with An Evening with Maggie and Frank, 17 May 1968, written by South Africans, Frank Lazarus and Maggie Soboil. The production transferred to the Russell Street Theatre July 1968. The show was designed by Desmond Digby, a New Zealand-born, Australian stage designer, painter, and illustrator of children's books. Having seen them in South Australia, HMM put Maggie and Frank under a long-term contract. It was not the most successful of arrangements.

*Frank Lazarus settled in London. Maggie Soboil and her husband, jazz musician Eddie Reyes, relocated and live in LA.

*Desmond Digby—1933–2015.  

Maggie and Frank

Frank and Maggie

The thing I remember most about You Know I Can’t Hear You When The Water’s Running was the urgency of having Gordon Chater’s weekly cheque to his agent—either Vaude Vision or Telecast—in readiness for Mr. Chater’s arrival at 11am, precisely. It was delivered by courier from 647 George Street, and God forbid it should be late. Gordon stacked on a such-a-turn! “He was not going on that night!”; “Everyone was a f***** amateur”. It was, as they say in the north of England: “Better than a Saturday night turn at Empire!”  Years later, especially when I was living in London, and Gordon was doing The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin, we became great chums. Sunday lunch in his Bloomsbury flat was a regular occurrence. We remained good friends and met and talked regularly. Whenever he was in Melbourne he phoned—every morning—8 o’clock precisely, and we talked for about half-an-hour. He would say: “I’m bored, now. I’m going. Goodbye” and he would hang-up. I still have a collection of his letters he wrote me. He used a broad-nibbed, Mont Blanc fountain pen. He gave me the same pen as a gift.

You Know I Can’t Hear You, was four, one-act plays with a split set, and a lot of costume changes. Gordon wore one of the worst wigs—ever! It was a dubious piece with pretentions to 1960s anthropological relevance. Each play dealt with a specific topic: 1. male genitalia: 2. Sexual boredom, menopause, and infidelity; 3. masturbation and contraception; 4 sex and marriage recollected in senility.

Peter Reynolds

Stefan Haag

Rex Cramphorn wrote in The Bulletin magazine: “It is the worst, nastiest, play I’ve seen.” … “grindingly obscene little plays whose similar prurience is now disguised as the ‘frankness’ of the ’sixties.”

Mr. Cramphorn continued: “The cast, not surprisingly, look woeful, and Stefan Haag, the director, compromises his artistic integrity by undertaking the project without even achieving a superficial gloss. The set, to which my eye constantly wandered in an effort to avoid the actors, is an equally dispirited utility.”

Mr. Cramphorn was not yet done: “If you find a ticket in the street, don’t tear it up, send it to Mr. Willis (NSW Chief Secretary and censor). If we are going to have censorship, we might as well be spared a horror like this.”

So dubious was the content, the ticket carried a management disclaimer of responsibility-for-offence, on the basis the purchaser knew what they were paying to see. The run was short, and unsuccessful. It was not a play which, to the best of my knowledge, HMM ever applied his mind, again!

*Gordon Chater AM, 1922–1999 aged 77.

*Diana Perryman died 1979 aged 54.

*Peter Reynolds moved to Australia from the UK, 1969. His brother lived in Sydney. Tragically, Peter Reynolds, and his dog, died in a fire in his flat in Oxford Street, Paddington, Sydney, 22 April 1975. The fire was caused by a cigarette from Reynolds smoking in bed. He was 53. In the UK appeared with Viven Leigh in The Skin of our Teeth, directed by Laurence Olivier; and The Hat Trickstarring Dame Gladys Cooper.

*Stefan Haag—1925–25 December 1986. He was aged 61.

Born in Vienna, he sang with the Vienna Boys’ Choir. They were touring Australia (Perth) when war broke-out (1939) and were stranded for the duration. The boys were re-settled at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Melbourne. Stefan decided to stay and enjoyed a successful career.

*Rex Cramphorn died Sydney, 1991, AIDS related, aged 50. 

Patrick Wymark

Sheraton Hotel, Spring Street

There were three productions of Sleuth. The first, with Patrick Wymark (Patrick Carl Cheeseman) and John Fraser, opened at the old Theatre Royal, Castlereagh Street. The reviews were brilliant, and it did excellent business. Patrick, who brought a certain gravitas to the show, came from the successful television series, The Power Game. He was a real actor—respected by all. He died in the Melbourne Sheraton Hotel, Spring Street, from a heart attack three-days before he was due to open at the Comedy Theatre. On the night of day he died, Patrick was to make an appearance on In Melbourne Tonight, hosted by Stuart Wagstaff. When he failed to arrive, they made jokes about his absence. Later in the show, Stuart announced Patrick had died. HMM and the Wymark family arranged for Patrick’s body to be repatriated. His daughter, Jane, played Joyce Barnaby—the wife of Inspector Barnaby, in Midsomer Murders.

*Patrick died October 20, 1970. He was 44.

John Fraser—photo by Angus McBean

Richard Todd

Patrick’s co-star, John Fraser, was the stage and screen actor known for, The Trials of Oscar Wilde, playing Lord Aldred Douglas, with Peter Finch as Wilde; The Dam Busters with Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd. As of the 1970s, it is now considered a breach of the Geneva Convention to attack a dam if it will release dangerous forces and consequent severe losses among the civilian population; and Tunes of Glory with Alec Guinness. John was extremely handsome—for a time he was described as “the most beautiful man in England”. He did not have a bad angle, and the camera loved him. John was a fine actor, and excellent in the part of Milo Tindle; however, the production was not without its vicissitudes. In his 2004 book, Close Up,John devotes a chapter to Sleuth. He recalls, correctly, Wymark's drinking made it difficult to rehearse: “by noon he was slurring his words and forgetting his lines”. Patrick was an alcoholic.

When Wymark mishandled the prop revolver used on stage—the barrel of which had been packed with wadding and rendered safe—John gave him an ultimatum, threatening to call-in the understudy if he thought he was drunk, again. Whether it was the ultimatum, or the shock at the thought of nearly killing his co-star (most improbable), Wymark would visit Fraser every evening, "ostensibly a social visit, but in truth to let me see that he was sober”.

Sadly, John was starting to lose his hair, and was having what was called in those days, “thatching”—a tedious hair-by-hair replacement process. Like Patrick, John brought a certain gravitas to the stage. They were an excellent coupling in the play. John was extremely charming, and it was hard to believe he had come from worst Glasgow’s slums!  Curiously, John believed his sexuality thwarted his career. Frustrated at its progress he retired and devoted his creative talents to other areas.

Sir John and James (Jimmy) Woolf founded the British production companies Romulus Films and Remus Films which were active during the 1950s and 60s. The first Romulus release was Pandora and the Flying Dutchman with James Mason and Ava Gardner, whom I visited when she lived in Ennismore Gardens and I was in Sloane Ave, Chelsea. They produced many fine films including Moulin Rouge (1952); Oliver!; The Day of the Jackal; and The Odessa File.

While the official records do not support the story, John Fraser claims the British film producer, Jimmy Woolf, had “taken a fancy”—showering him with gifts while considering which actor for title role in the epic, Lawrence of Arabia, directed by David Lean, and produced by Sam Spiegel. According to John he resisted Jimmy’s advances and the coveted role went to Peter O’Toole.

*John Fraser died, London, 2024, aged 89. He lived for many years in Tuscany with his partner of 42-years, the artist Rodney Pienaar.

*The director, Harold Lang, who was quite brilliant, and clever, died a month following Patrick, of a heart attack in a Cairo hospital, 16 November 1970. He was travelling home from Australia to the UK, via Egypt.

Stratford Johns

Gary Waldhorn

In the second production, Patrick was replaced by (Alan) Stratford Johns, whose cannon of work was substantial, including the film of Cromwell. A formidable and demanding actor, he appeared in 126-episodes of Z-Cars, and 91-episodes of Softly, Softly. He was extremely popular with audiences, and a great box-office attraction. The Comedy season proved a great success. He was married to the actress Nannette Ryder(died 2006).

*Stratford Johns, 1925–2002. He was 76.

Gary Waldhorn replaced John Fraser. Later, Gary starred as the Lord of the Manor in The Vicar Dibley. British born, Raymond Westwell directed. Curiously, Mr. Westwell was resident artistic director at The Perth Playhouse in the years I was attending productions with my boarding school. Having directed the HMM production in Melbourne, he later appeared with Gary Waldhorn in a London production at the Fortune Theatre, directed by Clifford Williams. Westwell clocked-up 2359-performances as Andrew Wyke.

Following on the success of Patrick Wymark and Stratford Johns, HMM was confident in mounting the third production starring Richard Todd and, again, Gary Waldhorn. It opened in New Zealand, 1972, at His Majesty’s Theatre, Auckland, to mostly indifferent reviews. There was a negative media campaign, orchestrated by New Zealand actors, objecting to a production which did not employ any local talent. It affected the box-office, and, I suspect, the reviews. Sleuth is a two-hander, patently its success in London had not filtered through to New Zealand. The objectors were fooled by the publicity poster which, like all good thrillers, erroneously listed a number of fictional actors—red herrings! The name Gilbert Frederick was a play on Freddie Gibson, executive producer; Irving Scott was Syd Irving, General Manager, JCW, Sydney; and Jon Fine on John Finlay, director of marketing. The ruse was necessary to protect the plot and playwright Anthony Shaffer’s inspired dénouement! In their blissful ignorance, their ridiculous militancy helped to kill-off the show. Interestingly, the failure of Sleuth was a portent. It marked the beginning of the demise of Australian productions touring New Zealand and the break-up of the J.C. Williamson theatre circuit. Four-years later, 1976, marked the ending of the world’s largest theatrical firm.

Raymond Westwell

Sleuth program

Following Auckland, Sleuth played the Opera House, Wellington, and the Palmerston North Opera House, to disappointing houses. When it opened in Melbourne at the start of an Australian tour the reviews were, again, lukewarm. The production was directed by Nick Renton—with whom I had a frosty relationship. While we have never met again, Mr. Renton has gone-on to enjoy a successful UK television career—the list of credits is mightily impressive; however, he was an inexperienced theatre director, and his production was tediously pedestrian. He was too inexperienced to service such a difficult genre—and thrillers are one of the most difficult. You have to convince the audience to suspend their disbelief. Not an easy task! He failed. In his defence, Richad Todd was not in the same calibre as Stratford Johns and Patrick Mymark.

Richard Todd and Gary Waldhorn rehearsed in London, which resulted in a temporary creative disconnect between us and them. Consequently, I, as stage director, but more importantly, John Frost, who was stage manager, did not know the show as well as was needed. In the week preceding Mr. Renton’s arrival in New Zealand, I spent days lighting the show, based on the original lighting plots from London and Australia. The set, designed by Carl Toms, was a glorious Tudor Manor house in the Wiltshire countryside. I was somewhat astonished when Mr. Renton decided he wanted to relight the show. I had learned at the lighting desk of some of the best designers, including John Sumner at the Melbourne Theatre Company, and Len Fisher, based at the Canberra Theatre. It was my opinion Mr. Renton was flexing his artistic muscle simply “because he could”. Having appraised the situation, I said: “Do what you like. I am going home!” John Frost and I left the theatre. The next morning Freddie Gibson telephoned expressing some concern at the ferocity of Mr. Renton’s complaint about me. I listened but chose to ignore. I had been spoiled for directors and I had scant regard for his limited ability. I found no reason to talk with him again and he departed on the days after the opening night, leaving me to take care of what I judged was a heavy-handed, mediocre production. Judging by the box-office, so, too, did the audience.

Richard Todd, who had been a 1940s and ’50s British heart-throb, film star—A Man Called Peter,The Dam Busters,and Reach for the Sky, was a dullish stage actor. He had serious projection problems in the large theatres. On the opening night in Auckland, HMM rushed backstage during the first act, and was stage whispering to Richard from behind the set: “Speak-up! They can’t hear you!” It did not help …

Bizarrely, Richard carried around a review of his performance in a West End production of An Ideal Husband, in which he played Lord Goring. He thought it most amusing. The review read: “Richard Todd, as Lord Goring, delivered Oscar Wilde’s epigrams like a fishwife throwing dead mackerel on a marble slab!” I knew exactly what the reviewer meant. It was exactly what he did in Sleuth!

Richard Todd was not especially tall. Having worked on several Walt Disney films, he was once referred to as “Walt Disney’s eighth-dwarf”; nor did he use a deodorant. He washed his armpits with a flannel in the interval. On unpacking Richard’s shoes, John Frost—without consulting me—thought they needed attention and took them to the local Auckland cobbler. Having never seen such shoes, he instructed the cobbler to remove the fitted lifts which added inches to Richard’s required height on stage. Handmade by Rayne Shoes, London, they costs many hundreds of pounds. Richard, naturally, was furious. John’s explanation was so amusing, all I could do was laugh. The tales of that tour are too many, and too funny, to tell!

*Richard Todd died: 2009 aged 90. For all his success, it was a life tinged with great sadness.

Garry Waldhorn was a talented and experienced stage actor, including a stint at the Royal Shakespeare Company. His Sergeant Doppler was masterful, and no-one guessed. When he made an entrance in Act 11, having discarded the padding, wig, glasses, and false nose of Doppler, and wearing only a pair of snug-fitting, burgundy, stretch jocks, there was an audible sigh from the audience. Tall and muscular, and stripped to almost naked, he was something of an Adonis.

*Gary Waldhorn: died London, 2022, aged 78. In the end, he rather locked-out the world.

RR with Maurice McCarty—Sleuth, New Zealand

The JCW mechanist on the tour of Sleuth was New Zealand born, Maurice McCarty. For a time, Maruice and I lived as distant-neighbours in Carlton. He bought a magnificent two-manual, American reed organ, even though he could not play a note. It was a glorious instrument. Many-a-time he invited me to his house to play for him, and his friends. They sat enthralled while I worked my way through the Anglican hymn book, Ancient and Modern, Revised, and Allan’s Organ Voluntaries!  

Twenty-years later, 7 April 1991, Maurice was murdered in a Sydney gay-hate crime.

On 24 November 1993, a NSW Supreme Court jury acquitted Christopher Paul McKinnon, a 22-year-old Artarmon man, of assaulting and ramming Maurice’s head against the wall of his Newtown home. McKinnon, 19, and unemployed at the time of the murder, claimed: “McCarty had made sexual advances to him and he was defending himself”. Despite hearing evidence the assailant had told friends he “rolled a fag”, the jury, which was directed in relation to both self-defence and provocation, believed McKinnon.

Those who knew Maurice did not believe the assailants claims of alcohol and the selling of cannabis. There was a suggestion a second person was involved and the murder was planned. Cunningly, McKinnon made a dock statement—an unsworn statement which cannot be subjected to cross-examination. While McKinnon had an extensive criminal history, including robbery, he had not previously committed offences of violence against homosexual men. He stole objects belonging to Maurice, including his car.

Despite emergency treatment at nearby Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, McCarty died early the next day. A postmortem examination revealed Maurice’s cause of death was blood loss and hypoxia (deprivation of oxygen), caused by significant head injuries. Maurice, who was working as head mechanist with the Australian Ballet, had been in Sydney for a month. He was 46.

*McKinnon died 2014. He was about 43.

RR with John Frost in NZ—Sleuth

The propsman on Sleuth in Auckland was a most agreeable Māori. One matinee he came in drunk, and, as a joke, he painted all the ‘soon-to-be-smashed-on-stage’ Dresden shepherdesses and Toby Jugs as Māori warriors—tongues pocking-out, and all that! I confess, I was, in those days, more earnest, and failed to see the humour. Only Maurice’s pleading allowed him to keep his job. Today, I would laugh—possibly encourage—his joking handywork.

*When it came time for me and John Frost to fly to Auckland in preparation for the New Zealand tour of Sleuth, I packed the revolver in my hand-luggage and took it with me into the cabin. It never occurred I might be breaking International Aviation Law—indeed, so egregiously, I could, if found guilty, have been sentenced to a term-of-imprisonment. I cannot recall, but I guess I brought it back to Australia in exactly the same fashion!

Patrick Macnee with Joanna Lumley and Gareth Hunt

Six Degrees of Separation!

The New Avengers, 1976–77, was a joint UK-ITV/French/Canadian production which cost £125,000–per episode to produce at Pinewood Studios. It was seen in 120 countries. Patrick revived his role as John Steed, and he was joined by Joanna Lumley (Purdy), and Gareth Hunt (Mike Gambit).

Joanna Lumley is a cousin of the one-time Australian theatre producer, Wilton Morley, whose father is the late actor, Robert Morley; his grandmother was the actress, Dame Gladys Cooper. His late brother, Sheridan Morley, was the renowned London theatre critic and best-selling author. His sister, Annabelle, is married to the Australian actor, Charles Little, one of original cast of The Boys in the Band.

It would seem Joanna Lumley spent some time in Western Australia, apparently on the coast, south of Broome, around the 80– or 90–mile beach area. I assume, through Wilton, she arrived, ultimately, in Sydney and met with HMM. While my memory lacks clarity, certainly I remember her being in his company for a short period. He told me, later in life, he was rather “taken” with her, and was delighted with her success in Absolutely Fabulous. We had a discussion about offering her a play which would be his final production. I suggested, The Kingfisher, by William Douglas Home. 

Sadly, it did not come to pass. A stylish drawing-room comedy would have been a fitting exeunt!

To be continued

Note on images

All images courtesy of the author

Kevin  was full steam ahead with the ABC Melbourne Showband in 1981 when the orchestra played at the Palais Theatre, St. Kilda with a star of celebrities for an Australia Day Concert. The show was recorded at the time by the ABC and has now returned back in their collection thanks to Kevin Hocking’s forward thinking of saving the show’s video tapes.

Kevin created the music for the James Pegler Show at this time. The maestro also included his own Kevin Hocking Singers in the TV production and James Pegler’s guests in the six episode series were Pattie Newton, Jan Adele, Simon Gallaher, Kamahl, Louetta Farrer and Moira. The Kevin Hocking Singers were created, arranged and chosen by Kevin. His own arrangements were excellent and elegant for the usually eight to twelve voice combination. Here’s a collective personnel of the voices, firstly with the women singers. Judy Pummeroy, Wendy and Margaret Cooke, Lena Verne, Linda George, Cheryl Webb, Neva Phillips, Sandy Weekes, Helen Cornish and Julie McKenna. These were all trained sight readers, and some were popular soloists as well. The boys were Kevin Kidney, David Belcher, Ian Mason, Mike Grabowsky, David Langton, Leon Heale and Peter Watsford. At the conclusion of the Saturday Show series in 1981, ABC funding was cut and all personnel sacked. Kevin had worked on for the term of his contract until 1982, so ending his tenure at the national broadcaster.

One other significant achievement that Kevin Hocking made as the co-leader to Brian May were the ABC-FM radio broadcasts, and that superlative orchestra of stars who made studio recordings for their regular radio broadcasts. Plus, the many personal appearances for the fans and the general public. These ABC recordings were made at the old Waverley Theatre in Malvern featured more non-commercial content and truly great, new performances for the orchestra as most times, Kevin was the conductor. Imagine star players such as Peter de Visser, Peter Martin, Bob Venier, John Buckley and Garry Hyde, plus the tour de force strings and concert master, the great Bert Pettifer, cellists Alex Sutherland and wife Betty. This was pure talent unleashed in a catalogue of new and old material. Classical, jazz and popular. Fortunately, these broadcasts were privately recorded on reel-to-reel magnetic tapes requested by John Buckley of the audio engineers. John was bass trombonist, arranger, and one of the ABC staff composers in the band. These tapes survived and have been now returned back in the ABC archives in digital format.

Kevin in “cool” mode, leading his orchestra at the Showgrounds, with Keith Johnstone, alto saxophone, seen in the background left, and trumpeter Arthur Smith, trumpet to the right

A lovely, smiling KH in a photograph much loved by Wendy Hocking

This period of Kevin’s creative working life was drawing to a close by 1982. His marriage to Lena had also come to an end, and she moved to Queensland with three of the children, leaving Jimi with his father. Later, Keely and Tom moved back to Melbourne. Tom Hocking would excel in the physical and sporting worlds, after opening a gym in Perth as well as holding a position with the Australian Army, based in that capital city and Townsville plus other locations. Tom would continue his career later in life instructing the Ukrainian Army during the Russian invasion of the 2020s.

Three personal family photographs from the Wendy Hocking folio are an early time when she was a favourite model for art and magazine covers of the 1950s and 1960s before she took up teaching and yoga disciplines, Kevin’s beloved son, Tom as an Australian Army soldier in the Middle East, and Jimi Hocking, the famed rhythm and blues musician par excellence.

From the time spent at the ABC, Kevin’s friendship with Agnes Wall, who was a violinist in the ABC Showband, was asked by Kevin if she knew anything about Indonesian music, as he had been commissioned to write music for an overseas broadcast. Agnes Wall said she knew of someone who could help. A meeting was arranged and Kevin met Wendy Lynne who was a school teacher, yoga instructor, plus a former artists’ and photographic model. They both clicked and a new revitalised man was into a serious relationship. But a little more later, as the achievements in the Kevin Hocking story need to be mentioned further.

So, Kevin’s role at the ABC didn’t just include the glittering television and radio presentations. He added to his skills, as he was asked to write the music scores to several television series. Firstly, Patchwork Hero filmed in 1981, screened during 1982, had the ABC Melbourne Showband with Kevin conducting and composing the score, was of a nine episode series. Kevin wrote music for the Alan Marshall life story, I Can Jump Puddles (1981) which Kevin met the great Alan Marshall in person to get the feel of the man’s stature and characteristics. This was a nine episode ABC-TV series which was highly acclaimed by renowned critics. Kevin also wrote many other film scores and themes for the ABC, plus other commissioned works. For example, The Oracle (1979); Come Midnight Monday (1982) with Stephen Comey as the star and the Puffing Billy steam train featured. Rod Quontock’s Australia, You’re Standing In It (1983-1984); and the ABC forerunner to Dancing With The Stars hosted by the gifted Paul McDermott, which was That’s Dancing (1989-1990); plus the Seven network’s Talk To The Animals (1992). the ABC series the James Pegler Show (1981), Shoobie Doo (1982), The Santa Caper (1981), and a film score for the Nature Of Australia (1988) series which was a winner of Australian film awards in several categories. Kevin was prolific with his music scores for several animated, colour television specials, such as The Black Planet (1982), plus The Phantom Treehouse (1984) and the very delightful Steam-Driven Adventures Of Riverboat Bill (1986).

The closure of the ABC contract by 1982 meant Kevin was able to create his own Kevin Hocking Showband and hire former ABC musicians to be part of the entourage. With his popularity, he was able to accompany singers, write arrangements, compose music and freely give of his time and experience to assist others in the music world. In a surprise in 1983, Kevin was asked to bring his orchestra to the Annual Footlighter Awards Night, so he was shocked when he was awarded the annual trophy on the night. The trophy being a table cigarette lighter designed from the foot of daughter Haydie Newman, whose parents were John Newman and Tikki Taylor. All sorts of different and new assignments were begging for Kevin Hocking and his coterie of connections were now asking for his time and creative abilities. Some were merely ‘love jobs’ paying it’s usual zero fee. Others paid money. Handsomely.

An annual event of the Footlighter’s Award Night with the host, John Newman really celebrating his great pal, “Kevan” Hocking. Note the new spelling. One of many gags that the comedian theatre owner revelled in. The award trophy was a table cigarette lighter modelled from his own daughter Haydie’s foot. Two gags for the one megastar. Kevin...

Early examples of work for Kevin’s friend was for the actor and writer Alan Hopgood which were the musical presentation of Italian-American tenor, Mario Lanza. Alan narrated the story and had tenor Ron Lees play the part of Mario Lanza with various sopranos over many performances. Kevin played the appropriate piano accompaniments that was the icing on the cake. Alan also wrote a script for a play about a country boy with freakish athleticism, who became a sporting hero in the Australian Rules Football arena. The successful play was named And The Big Men Fly, and it became a television series and a book. The book written by Alan Hopgood actually came first and the ideas grew from there. Around the year 2003, Alan suggested to Kevin that it could become a real musical version. They played around with it for a number of years and despite the good idea, their work schedules never got it off the ground. However, sound recordings were made which starred Kevin’s son Jimi in a leading role, and the entire score privately recorded for posterity.

Two associations for Kevin Hocking with Alan Hopgood are with the Mario Lanza Show and tenor, Ron Lees. And at right, a still from the 1974 television production of And The Big Men Fly. In this photo, Alan Hopgood shakes hands with the new footballing star, Achilles Jones, played by John Hargreaves, and fellow thespian clasping the dual handshake by actor Reg Evans. The six-part television series was reworked into a full musical by creator and buddy, Kevin Hocking in c.1998-2002. Kevin’s son Jimi Hocking also assisted in the finishing of the the project to make it a full demonstration audio disc for potential investors. However, time ran out and these official one-only sound recordings are all that is extant of the entire theatrical experiment.

Kevin had another long life association with the pianist, singer and heart throb, Simon Gallaher. This was from Simon’s early days as a teenager. An early CD success was with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, which was conducted by Tommy Tycho and produced for the ABC Record Shop, called Unforgettable, which was a good seller. The CD release oddly coincided with the American Natalie Cole album release dedicated to her father, Nat ‘King’ Cole. Both men were to work again professionally in a series of updated versions of Gilbert & Sullivan operas.

The earliest years in the professional careers of Simon Gallaher and Kevin Hocking when the young singer/pianist was a regular guest on the Midday Show prior to working with Kevin Hocking. The magic created in music in the theatre was absolutely meant to be and it produced years of fun and joy for everyone involved at Essgee Productions created by the astute businessman, Simon Gallaher.

Kevin was responsible for the successful Summer Music Programmes at the Melbourne Concert Hall, now Hamer Hall starting back in 1988. Its existence over many seasons were so popular they became huge sell-out concerts. The last of these concerts was a salute to the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers legacy created for the senior ballet dancers and teachers at the Australian Ballet School. Again, Kevin drew on his reliable mates from the ABC Orchestra days to provide the accompaniments. It was just superb! Kevin was also Musical Director for the successful and original season of Nunsense which audiences and Kevin himself, loved.

On the 14 March 1992, Kevin and Wendy quietly married, and a week later Kevin embarked on a tour across Australia with star singer Shirley Bassey. Wendy had realised from an early stage what Kevin’s life on the Australian stage was all about as a senior musician’s wife. After all, the two had moved in together in the old family home in Bentleigh and had enjoyed many years in a steady relationship. However, to Shirley and her Australian 1992 tour. Kevin was one who was pivotal in the star backing band alongside old friend, alto saxophone player, Keith Johnstone from GTV9 television orchestra days. All were seasoned and responsible band musicians. And, Shirley loved every moment, but was mildly amused with Wendy’s cute comment, that her newly-wed husband had run off with yet another woman. Both Kevin Hocking and wife Wendy Hocking, became very much part of Australia’s musical world and the arts of entertainment and the musical theatre. It was indeed a marriage made in heaven.

The famed 1992 visit by Shirley Bassey, one of the many she made coming to Australia. The musicians all ABC personnel at one time or other, gave the great Shirley Bassey the best of band accompaniments. Kevin Hocking is far right, with his buddy from GTV9 days, Keith Johnstone, next to him. Keith was a virtuoso saxophone player since the young age of 11 years. The location photograph is in Perth, Western Australia.

At this time, Kevin worked at a regular piano engagement at Tikki and John’s Theatre Restaurant in the city of Melbourne for many years. Then the Newman family created another success, with a move to the Gold Coast, Queensland and “Dracula’s Restaurant”. About this time, Kevin decided he would create new orchestrations for a proposed Gilbert & Sullivan season working with friend and associate, Simon Gallaher. And, the Newman family’s new venture would be organised by John’s sons who would capably run their new business. In fact, that strong friendship of a lifetime of the Hocking and Newman families had early tributes to their successful Tikki and John Theatre Restaurant business going back to the 1960s. So, in 1982 the ABC decided to re-create a musical special of the famous couple’s dining and showtime restaurant with Kevin Hocking as Musical Director. This was recorded at the ABC’s Ripponlea Studios, now demolished in Gordon Street during 2024. Of course, Kevin saved a video copy, now on DVD for his library, and a copy returned back to the ABC Archives at Southbank in 2018.

ABC studios at Ripponlea had re-created for the television special Tikki & John’s Theatre Restaurant and the talented people that featured at that popular venue. Kevin is far left, and seen in the picture are Maurie Fields and wife, Val Jellay with Tikki Taylor and John Newman, plus other cast members from the original theatre restaurant days.

For years at the Carols By Candlelight concerts originally created by Norman Banks back in the 1940s, Kevin joined the orchestra as the group’s percussionist. Kevin wrote arrangements for the orchestra. He also played piano accompaniments for artists such as Danny La Rue, Kamahl, Jill Perryman, Marina Prior, Barry Crocker, Toni Lamond, Chelsea Brown, Judith Durham, Rhonda Burchmore, the Four Kingsmen, Julie Anthony and many more. And in that time, Santa Claus was played by actor/singer, Terry Gill. This musical activity had to be let go eventually due to Kevin’s new commitment to collaboration with Simon Gallaher’s new productions.

A video still from a 1990s television coverage of the annual Carols By Candlelight which was hosted back then by Ray Martin

Actor/singer, Terry Gill played Santa Claus, yes he did “ho, ho, ho!”

It was during the 1990s, this collaboration began with Simon Gallaher who had decided on a Gilbert and Sullivan musical in a new, revitalised production of Pirates of Penzance. This was a big winner and opened in Brisbane in 1994. It was a new and lively version of the classic Savoy opera. Kevin was asked to write new music, plus re-orchestrate and re-arrange it as well as conduct. And, Kevin suggested a fun finale with the band continuing to play, plus adding a pre-recorded segment of music overlaying the background. In reality, the audience spontaneously decided to surround the orchestra pit in a sing-a-long and stamping romp that took the theatre ushers by surprise. This was enjoyment for everyone and having such fun with the whole company. It was a rage at the time and that success enabled more to come in following performances.

Some of the cover designs for the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas that were recorded by the ABC for customer purchase by the Essgee Productions. All highly successful shows that were commercial successes at the time. Great productions and highly acclaimed versions.

This success commenced of an almost eight year run with the Gilbert and Sullivan Savoy operettas. They toured across Australia and New Zealand with enormous popularity. A travelling season could be two weeks to two months, depending on the city or town the show played in. Those in the cast who were not local were accommodated in apartments, and Kevin who was accompanied by his wife Wendy, for her supporting role. Boy, did they have a workload! Of the band going with the tour were first keyboard and bass players, and a drummmer. The rest were of local musicians picked up at the time in the new locations. Kevin had only two to three days with the local musicians to teach them the score for each show. It was some challenge, but that’s the super “wow” factor of the Kevin Hocking brilliance.

Sometimes, Kevin and Wendy needed to fly on to the next city where the company would play. There would be a noisy, bumping and banging commotion happening straight after the last performance of the show. It was the packing up of the pantechnicons with sets, costumes, props, office necessities and the musical instruments, which could last right through till morning. Kevin’s responsibilities would be to set up the musicians for the rehearsals in the next theatre and prepare them for the next series of shows. And behind the scenes, Wendy was busy at organising things like the hairdressers, the supermarkets, cafes and dry cleaners. That was so pivotal to maintaining the calm for Mr. Hocking in his rest times. This was essential for sanity, to be on an even keel, far away from the pirates!

Talking of pirates, young Jon English, a favourite pop stud on records and television shows in the 1970s and 1980s created a sensation whenever he appeared. As the Pirate King, he was a real drawcard. He was quite fearless and insisted on doing his own stunts which by today’s standards of safety (OHAS) would be not permitted. He would insist on doing his own stage pratfalls and swinging out on a rope over the audience, and doing some sword fighting as a duel with Kevin. Kevin had his conductor’s baton and Jon the sword, which brought tumultuous response, applause and laughter from a captivated audience. Kevin won the duel each time with his conductor’s baton. And, the stage show toured Australia and New Zealand for over a year. What an absolute success!

Not long afterwards, it was followed by another Gilbert & Sullivan Savoy opera production, which was The Mikado. This starred the beautiful Helen Donaldson as the heroine, and Nanki Poo, which was played by Simon Gallaher, and Pooh Bah by Jon English. It was another enormous success with the devotees and converts screaming for more please.

On a final night in Perth, Tim Tyler who played the Sergeant in Pirates of Penzance accidently broke his foot as he left the stage after Act 1. He was hurriedly replaced by his understudy who was a lot shorter in height than Timothy. This left the audience a bit puzzled as the second Act unfolded. The Company flew to Melbourne the next day, while the huge pantechnicon drove across Australia to get everything ready for the next opening. Happily, the American Director, Craig Schaefer, who was the conductor of a season of Pirates of Penzance in America not long before, was able to secure their Sergeant cast member for the part.

He was flown out from America, which was a coup, because the man had just married and was on his honeymoon. Each of the G&S productions ran for more than a year and the cast were happy together and worked as a team in what could be described as a family affair. These were happy times and each show would often play a revival where the entire company crossed Australia and into New Zealand many times.

In 1995, Kevin received the Green Room Award that year for his Musical Direction of The Mikado, as well as other members of the cast for their roles. At the time, Kevin was in New Zealand with the show on tour, so it was Wendy Hocking who accepted the award on her husband’s behalf.

Except, there was one award for Kevin’s work, and four more for the production company. It was Wendy who accepted the other awards and she felt embarrassment walking back and forth across the stage, but those in the audience loved every second. There was much merriment.

Two Simon Gallaher goodies, firstly at left with the lovely Helen Donaldson and at right with the talented drawcard, actor/singer/stunt man/composer, Jon English. Both men were equally at home in theatre, comedy and musical performance.

HMS Pinafore was the next G&S production and the talented star of ATV0 television soapie Prisoner, Amanda Muggleton played the very cheeky role as Buttercup. And, Jon English played the part of villainous Dick Deadeye. It was a triumph and the show was on the road again.

The cast included Simon Gallaher and Helen Donaldson who played the usual roles as lovers. It toured and as is often the case, over a long run across Australia and New Zealand there would be some cast personnel changes. The big names luckily, were bullet proof and lasted the entire production runs. Kevin, of course did all the arrangements and conducted the orchestra, right through till the end of the century.

Then, a revived version of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum which was produced by Simon Gallaher, and included all the big names who had been in the G&S productions previously. Kevin did his usual music duties and many of the cast members from the previous years of G&S musicals were also involved. Star attraction was Jon English. Who else?

Two more successful Essgee Productions with Marina Prior as The Merry Widow in its second run, and the hilarious A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum with Jon English.

Then, Simon followed up with The Merry Widow which again was a super production with a stellar cast. Playing Brisbane, Adelaide and then Melbourne. The Widow’s lead was played by Helen Donaldson who had been in all the Gilbert & Sullivan productions as well as A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum. In the Adelaide and Melbourne perfomances the role was played by Marina Prior. Again, both Kevin and Simon worked as a team in perfect harmony. They were wonderful times.

Kevin had for years wanted to own a grand piano, but had managed on the family upright piano given to him when he was a youngster by his parents. As it got to be really old and difficult to keep in tune, Kevin lashed out and purchased a Kawai mid sized grand piano. And he loved it. After his death is was given to Jimi Hocking for the purpose of his own use and an instrument for his two children to learn from.

In this time of life’s reflections, Kevin and Wendy enjoyed some holidays on overseas trips. One such ocean cruise they went on was across to the coast of Norway, where they enjoyed the company of former ABC band percussionist Garry Hyde and his wife Charmaine. It was a wonderful time because Garry has developed a penchant for travelling the world every year and visiting different countries with Charmaine.

Jon English, who had starred in so many of Simon’s productions, had in the 1970’s written a musical work called Paris (a Rock Opera) based on the lives of Helen of Troy and Paris. It was recorded for album release at that time and Festival Records had issued it in this country around 1977. Its accompaniment was with the London Symphony Orchestra, but was never staged. Now the chance came to perform it. Two semi-professional companies of renown wanted to present the premiere of the production. However, the original music score sheets had been lost. So, what to do?

Jon asked Kevin if he could give some assistance and the brilliant Kevin Hocking listened to the vinyl discs and transcribed the entire score and the orchestrations over a period. Of course, since then more productions have been performed of Paris due to Kevin’s own diligence in helping others.

Kevin had a gift like many superlative musicians, such as the great Bob Gibson of watching and listening to a television drama and be able to hear when a musician in the score may have played a wrong note. He could listen to a sporting game coverage on radio or TV and also write a score of music simultaneously. Few can do that.

In 2004, Kevin was commissioned by the Western Australia Ballet to write and re-arrange the music of Giacomo Puccini’s opera La Boheme for a staged ballet of the story. Choreographer, Simon Dow had a vision of a scene in which he wished to emphasise the story. He asked Kevin to write the music for the scene with respect to the style of Puccini’s opera and of course, Kevin provided stunning results that paid hommage to the man who was an opera master in his lifetime. Some months later after the first season of the ballet, the ABC asked Kevin whether they could use a music selection from the sound recording for a Christmas CD earmarked for the end of the year. He approved and discovered the piece chosen was not written by Puccini, but by himself, the maestro Hocking.

The exquisite music score written by opera composer Giacomo Puccini and newly arranged and given adaptations and new “Puccini-esque” melodies for the Simon Dow choreography. Dobbs Franks conducted the Western Australian Symphony Orchestra for the successful seasons of the ballet.

In 2006, Kevin was awarded an OAM medal for “services as composer, arranger, conductor and pianist”. Wendy had known it was coming, and for Kevin when the medal was offered he was absolutely thrilled. The Governor of Victoria, David de Kretser presented it.

About this time, Julie Anthony and Simon Gallaher asked Kevin to be the accompanist for them at a concert booked for Norfolk Island. The plan was to leave Brisbane by plane and reach the location in advance of the concert. However, bad weather precluded the trio flying to Norfolk Island after three attempts and only at the last minute were they able to fly to the engagement with a little time left before the nighly performance.

They had to dress and prepare for the concert in only a short time. The concert was a success, and the next morning when they were arriving at the airport to depart, they found the audience living on the island who had attended the previous night, were out in full to says thanks and to farewell the celebrities.

Morning Melodies still from the DVD of Kevin Hocking, piano Simon Gallaher and Julie Anthony, Twin Towns Services Club, 2005

This style of show was a winner and Simon decided to do the series of Morning Melodies using the trio as centrepiece. It was Julie’s husband Eddie who became the driver for the shows which then toured Australia to small towns, capital cities from Coolangatta, to Perth. Occasionally, Wendy would go with them and help sell the CDs of the group, which had been recorded in a studio setting. Sadly, Julie had to stop singing as she suffered from a chest ailment which had no cure. Simon and Kevin continued with the Morning Melodies Show which still was successful until at age 82 Kevin decided to retire, which similarly, Simon had stated he would retire when Kevin did. And that was that.

It became apparent after this that, Kevin had developed dementia and although he never complained and was cheerful as ever, the decline did continue. His long term memory suffered as well as his present time of recollections. Kevin and Wendy decided to fly over to Perth to visit his son Tom and his wife Anna, and a decision was made to return by train and then evaluate the situation on the journey, as what to do back at Bentleigh. Kevin had realised change was necessary and suggested to Wendy the best thing to do was to move to an assisted living residence. They looked at the recently built “Classic Apartments” in Brewer Road, West Bentleigh, now known as East Brighton. The land had not been built on, as originally the clay base of the terrain had been an Army Camp Training Centre during World War Two for infantry soldiers learning of trench warfare. This location was near where I attended my first school as a primary student and later across Point Nepean Road at the secondary college, Brighton High School in Marriage Road. This is very close to where their opera buddy, Greg Dempsey, still lives. Kevin liked this new location and agreed the grand piano could easily stand comfortably in the front room of the floor plan. That was in the time frame of about 2012. The downsizing to a new home was an enormous job, but it had to be done. Sadly, Kevin Hocking died on the 4 October, 2019, at home in the early hours of the morning. His last wish was respected.

Special “thank yous”

I must acknowledge the following people for their contributions to this biography...

Mrs. Wendy Hocking, Garry Hyde, Patti Lewis, Johnny Fordham, Pete Smith, OAM, Ian Hellings, Hilary Henshaw, Monty Maizels, Judy Kidney, Marianne Young, Pat Parker, Heather Horwood, Ted Hamilton, Elisabeth Kumm, Tom Hocking and Jimi Hocking, and many others.

Also, the late and greats: Terry Gill, Doug Owen, Philip Brady, Denis Farrington OAM, and most of all, Kevin Hocking OAM. Added material and some photographs via the internet.

Most photographs from the Hocking Estate and stills from video/DVD loaned from the Kevin & Wendy Hocking Collection, John Buckley estate and Pete Smith and John Lander (ex-GTV9).