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John McKellar John McKellar i(A95607 works by)
Born: Established: 13 Aug 1930 Orange, Orange area, Bathurst - Orange area, Central West NSW, New South Wales, ; Died: Ceased: 6 Sep 2010 Sydney, New South Wales,
Gender: Male
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Works By

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1 Some of My Best Friends Aren't Peter Pinne , Don Battye , Ted Agar , John McKellar , David Sale , Peter Duncan , Ted Agar , Stuart Carmichael , James Wallett , Brian Henderson , Dave Fennell , 1973 single work musical theatre revue/revusical

Revue.
1 1 A Cup of Tea, a Bex and a Good Lie Down John McKellar , Sybil Graham (composer), James Wallett (composer), Phillip Street Theatre , 1965 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Intimate revue.

One of the Phillip Theatre company's most successful revues, A Cup of Tea, a Bex and a Good Lie Down even found its title becoming an Australian popular culture expression. The production comprised thirty odd sketches located in two sets: one a cold, chintz-hung London bedsit and the other a bronze-decor, low-slung, international hotel room. The first act looked at Australians abroad, while the second half examined them at home.

The skits included Reg Livermore as a juvenile pop singer and a curly-headed folknik; Kevan Johnston as an abnormally normal teenager and as secret agent James Bond; Gloria Dawn as a theatre party organiser; and Ruth Cracknell as a duffle-coated jet traveller, an English duchess, a long-suffering mum, and a star-struck housewife. The finale to the evening's entertainment was a satire on the 'Mad Scene' from Lucia di Lammermoor.
1 2 Is Australia Really Necessary? John McKellar , James Wallett (composer), Phillip Street Theatre , 1964 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Intimate revue.

Comprising ten performers, a cast larger than was typical of the Phillip Theatre revues, Is Australia Really Necessary? concentrates its satirical energy on exploring the country's culture, politics, and personalities (notably footballers, female swimmers, politicians, and the television industry). The sketches included Miriam Karlin's opening routine 'Bonzer' (a testimonial to the Australian way of life) and her impersonation of Princess Anne at the opening of the Melbourne Cultural Centre in 1988. Red Moore played a returned traveller complacently preferring Yagoona to the rest of the world and a manic professor giving a cookery demonstration on TV. One sketch exposed Melbourne as the 'city of sin where you wait all night for the sin to begin', while Alton Harvey played out a scene in which he downed pint after pint while praising the life in Nunnawading.
1 1 Stop Press John McKellar , Dot Mendoza (composer), Phillip Street Theatre , 1961 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Intimate revue.

Written mainly by John McKellar, Stop Press is described by William Orr in the production program as dealing 'with the local scene, and [thus] it can truly be called "Sydney's own Revue"'. Among the topics and subject matter under fire were advertising jingles and slogans, Fidel Castro, Robert Menzies, Sydney's North Shore and South Shore, Australian television crime shows, and nuns and monks.

The order of sketches and songs (including performers) was:


Act One:

  • 1. 'Grab It While it's Hot' (Company)
  • 2. 'Monitor' (Dennis/ Hopgood/ Farr)
  • 3. 'What the People Want' (Ginn/Dennis/Hardy/Mather)
  • 4. 'Three Little Words' (Lenihan/ Mather/Farr/Hardy/Dennis)
  • 5. 'Yes and No' (Wyndon)
  • 6. 'High School for Scandal' (Hopgood/Lenihan/Farr/Hardy/Wyndon)
  • 7. 'Control': (i) Zillion Dollars (Dennis) and (ii) 'No Strings' (Hopgood)
  • 8. 'North Shore-South Shore' (Ginn/Lenihan/Wyndon/Mather)
  • 9. 'Cook's Tour' (Farr)
  • 10. 'Surfside Sick' (Dennis/Ginn/Hardy/Wyndon/Hopgood)
  • 11. 'Yearnings' (Lenihan/Farr)
  • 12 'I'm the Boy' (Mather/Wyndon)
  • 13. 'Happily Ever After' (Dennis/Farr/Hopgood/Lenihan)
  • 14. 'Calorie Count Down' (Hardy)
  • 15. 'Time to Forget' (Company).

Act Two:

  • 1. 'Peak Hour' (Company)
  • 2. 'Paper' (Farr)
  • 3. 'Holiday Estate' (Ginn/Lenihan/Mather/Dennis)
  • 4. 'Encorpse' (Hopgood)
  • 5. 'Girls' Night Out' (Lenihan/Hardy/Wyndon/Farr/Dennis)
  • 6. 'Twilight Zone' (Mather)
  • 7. 'Blue' (Hardy)
  • 8. 'Monastery' (Ginn/Wyndon/Farr/Hopgood/Dennis)
  • 9. 'Old-Fashion Passion' (Lenihan)
  • 10. 'Guidance' (Mather/Hardy/Ginn)
  • 11. 'Art Strip' (Wyndon)
  • 12. 'Of Ming I Sing' (Ginn/Hopgood/Dennis/Mather)
  • 13. 'Where Do We Go From Here?' (Company).
1 1 y separately published work icon Mistress Money Eleanor Witcombe , John McKellar , Dot Mendoza (composer), Phillip Street Theatre , 1960 (Manuscript version)x401225 Z869024 1960 single work musical theatre

Musical.

Essentially a chamber musical, Mistress Money was designed to be a 'musical' extension of the popular Phillip Street Theatre revues, using Moliere's The Miser as the foundation for its narrative.
1 1 The Birthday Show John McKellar , Lance Mulcahy , Phillip Street Theatre , Dot Mendoza (composer), 1959 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Intimate revue.

Devised in order to celebrate the Phillip Street Theatre's fifth birthday, The Birthday Show comprised a smattering of new material along with popular favourites from previous productions, notably Top of the Bill, Hit and Run, Hat Trick, Two to One, Mr and Mrs, Around the Loop, Cross Section, and Bats.

Songs interpolated into the production included 'Oh What a Year it's Been' and 'Trite Fantastic' (McKellar); 'The Oracle' (Rasdall/Goldman); 'The World is My Ashtray', 'Tiger Moth', and 'Noel' (McKellar/Mendoza); 'Katoomba' (McKellar/Mulcahy); 'Soap Opera', 'Breakfast Delight', and 'White Carnations' (McKellar/Donovan); 'Golden Hair', 'You Came from Outer Space', 'Beside Myself', and 'Wow of a Frau' (McKellar/Donovan/Mulcahy); 'Bread Love and Teddy Bears' (McKellar/Frazer); 'Queen's Square' (Nettheim); 'Letter Song' (Taylor/Mulcahy); 'Circulation', 'Cuckoo', and 'Call of the Wild' (Donovan/Mulcahy); 'April in Fairbanks' (Grand); 'Woy Boy' (Cranko/Swan); 'Don't Let Him Know You Too Well' (Cranko/Addison); 'Surly Girls' (Flanders/Swan); 'Bedside Manners' (Frazer); and 'Happy Birthday' (Mendoza).
1 1 y separately published work icon Ride on a Broomstick Eleanor Witcombe , John McKellar , Phillip Street Theatre , Dot Mendoza (composer), 1959 (Manuscript version)x401224 Z869022 1959 single work musical theatre children's

Children's musical.

The story concerns two stylish and witty witches; a bleating, self-pitying dragon; a Rapunzel with six yards of rope for hair; a Shakespearian-spouting prince; a half-cat-half-fish (who always moans about its top half wanting to eat its bottom half); and numerous mixed-up spells.
1 2 Cross Section John McKellar , Eric Rasdall , Phillip Street Theatre , Dot Mendoza (composer), Peter Sculthorpe (composer), 1957 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Musical revue.

Loosely set in Sydney's King's Cross, but occasionally going further afield (including Scotland and southern USA), Cross Section followed on from the very successful Phillip Street Theatre revue Around The Loop, which ran for over a year. The King's Cross flavour, which one critic viewed as being far 'from strong', involved scenes of Crucians exchanging hauteur and abuse from assorted apartment windows; a sentimental ballad about some hospitable old lady of Palmer Street (performed by Noel Brophy); a skit on the espresso craze ('You Can't Keep a Good Cup Down'); and a bit of hoyden autobiography from a Rushcutter's Bay conductress (Sydney Morning Herald 12 September 1957, p.14). Other sketches included 'Truth in Advertising' (performed by Peter Batey), Dolore Whiteman's 'Frankie and Johnnie', Rhonny Gabriel's 'Not Negotiable', and a dance number, 'Caribbean Bazaar', performed by Yolanda and Antonio Rodrigues.

The musical aspects of the revue are said to have included an 'Auld Lang Syne' finale and a song about a girl-ruined Bank of New South Wales teller. The original musical numbers were composed by the Phillip Street house composer Dot Mendoza and moonlighting classical composer Peter Sculthorpe. The latter's contributions (set to words by John McKellar) were 'Truth in Advertising', 'Manic Espresso' (scored as a send-up samba rhythm and included in the 'coffee bar cult' sketch), 'Redleaf Revelations', 'Shooting a Lion', 'I Knew a Fella', and 'Something You Can't Pin Down'.
1 1 The Willow Pattern Plate Jill Lyons , John McKellar , Phillip Street Theatre , Dot Mendoza (composer), 1957 single work musical theatre children's

Children's musical.

Adapted from the traditional English story set in ancient China, the narrative concerns the love of a mandarin's daughter for the son of her father's gardener. Although kept away from the world in order that she marry the person of her father's choice, she falls dangerously in love with the gardener's son, and they are subsequently forced to flee the parental wrath.

Songs included 'Fried Rice' (a tango), 'The Land of Let's Pretend', 'Yangtse King', and 'I Am'.
1 2 Happy Returns John McKellar , Gerry Donovan , Lance Mulcahy (composer), Phillip Street Theatre , 1955 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Intimate review.

For this revue celebrating Phillip Street Theatre's first birthday, most of the sketches and songs were sourced from the three previous productions. The Sydney Morning Herald critic, A. A., writes that as

'an attempt to re-present the wittier items from past shows... it does not quite succeed. Why? Is this critic just a churlish pedant likely to be bored by humour below the standard of Aristophenes and Moliere? Or has some of the material gone stale with repetition? Or are there no fresh personalities coming along to interpret it with the necessary lean and high spirits?' (14 May 1955, p.18).

According the Herald's review, the highlight was John Meillon 'jerking and throbbing with tremulous frenzy, [providing] an extraordinarily clever comment on Johnnie Ray's brand of exhibitionism; it was more than mere mimicry; it was true and telling caricature'. Special mention is also made of Lyle O'Hara, 'bizarre and grotesque', wailing about the mysteries of Baghdad; Gordon Chater in bib and golden curls, analysing an infant's psychology; and Ray Barrett going into a soft shoe routine on the theme of the Elizabethan Theatre being situated in Newtown.
1 1 Hat Trick John McKellar , Gerry Donovan , Lance Mulcahy (composer), Phillip Street Theatre , 1955 single work musical theatre revue/revusical

Intimate revue.

Compèred by Max Oldaker, this third and final installment of the Phillip Street Theatre revues by McKellar, Donovan, and Mulcahy (prior to their departure for England) was favourably reviewed in the Sydney Morning Herald. 'Last night was hearty fun from start to finish', writes the paper's theatre critic, L. B., 'and quite excelled all its predecessors in matters of pace, variety, well-placed surprise, and consistent sparkle of wit' (20 January 1995, p.4).

The sketches included 'Twelve Shopping Days to Christmas', 'Cinderfella on Ice', and two skits by Lyle O'Hara: one in which she, as a daisy-munching centaur, urged all the underpaid animals of Hollywood to unite behind her leadership and one in which she was married to herself before a congregation of herselves ('all piercingly clever, and the house was in uproar!' writes L. B.).
1 1 Hit and Run John McKellar , Gerry Donovan , Lance Mulcahy (composer), Phillip Street Theatre , 1954 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Intimate revue.

Described as 'Parodies and burlesques against a background of neatly turned melodies', Hit and Run combined imported sketches 'from the Globe and Lyric revues, London' (Sydney Morning Herald 28 August 1954, p.18) and original material from the in-house creative team of McKellar, Donovan, and Mulcahy.
1 1 Top of the Bill John McKellar , Gerry Donovan , Lance Mulcahy (composer), Phillip Street Theatre , 1954 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Intimate revue

The Phillip Street Theatre revue company's debut production, Top of the Bill comprised a varied collection of sketches, songs, and dance, including spoofs and takes on Shakespeare, a family at breakfast time, Kinsey's report on sex, and some well-known musicals.

The Sydney Morning Herald theatre critic's review notes:

'Mr Chater, in Shakepearean mood, hotted up Othello for the jitterbug public and swung Hamlet around to the Roberta Cowell theme: "To be he, or not to be he...". The audience had its most boisterous response for the more elaborate group skits, most of all for the pinafored members of the High Falutin' Girls' Choir, who religiously stuck to the idea that any singer touching the right pitch would be defiled therewith... The sketch in which a family of breakfasters acted their way through the stilted detail of a movie advertisement brought the house down... Lola Brooks acted with saucy vivacity in various numbers, and John Fleming with sauce - but clever as they were, their "Kidsey Report" on sexual behaviour in children was distasteful... One sketch was a stew of The Consul, South Pacific and Call Me Madam, but it could have been funnier with keener writing, and so could the "Seven Deadly Scenes". Too often in shows like this, ideas are left in their first slapdash form' (8 May 1954, p.6).
1 1 y separately published work icon Maid in Egypt Gerry Donovan , Lance Mulcahy , John McKellar , 1953 8101170 1953 single work musical theatre

A musical comedy set in Egypt.
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