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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
Musical farce.
Advertised as having been previously performed 'to immense success' in Adelaide (date unknown), this 'entirely new and original farce' was written by W. M. Akhurst expressly for the Nelson family. The characters are Mr Chumley, described in the 1853 Argus review as 'faster than a married man ought to be and hot with a tendency to reformation' ; Mrs Chumley, 'his too confiding wife who is worried to death by the servants' ; and Fanny Fossick, a cozening young lady and colonialist (9 October 1853, p8). An 1859 Argus review notes in relation to the Quiet Colonial's storyline: 'The difficulties attendant upon the engagement and management of domestic servants are scarcely less considerable at this day than they were at the period at which the farce was written' (18 February, n. pag).
The songs written for the piece were: 'What's the Matter' (Sara and Alfred Nelson), 'Dear Australy' (a ballad sung by Sara Nelson), 'I Want a Husband Sadly' (Carry Nelson), and the finale 'Kind Friends Your Voices I Entreat.'
Notes
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See Eric Irvin's Australian Melodrama: Eighty years of Popular Theatre (1981) for an illustration of a scene from The Quiet Colonial (p15).
Production Details
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1853 : Mechanics Institute, Melbourne ; 22 September. Music Dir/Arr. Sydney Nelson. - Troupe: Nelson Family. - Cast: Alfred Nelson (Mr Chumley), Sara Nelson (Mrs Chumley), Carry Nelson (Fanny). - Musician: Sydney Nelson (piano).
1854 : Mechanics Institute, Melbourne ; 30 March, 17 July (possibly also 20 March). Cast and production as for previous Melbourne season.
1854 : Queen's Hall, Melbourne ; 21 October. Cast and production as for previous Melbourne season.
1855 : Royal Hotel, Sydney; 17 April. Cast and production as for previous Melbourne season.
1856 : Olympic Theatre, Sydney ; 2-3 May. Cast and production as for previous Melbourne season.
1856 : Our Lyceum, Sydney ; 18 December (benefit). Mngr. Charles Dillon. Cast and production as for previous Melbourne season.
1859 : Princess's Theatre, Melbourne ; 17 February. Cast and production as for previous Melbourne season.
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This entry has been sourced from on-going historical research into Australian-written music theatre being conducted by Dr Clay Djubal.
Details have also been derived in part from the Annotated Calendar of Plays Premiered in Australia: 1850-1869.
