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A burlesque of the popular British comic opera H. M. S. Pinafore, or, The Lass that Loved a Sailor (1878), Kelly and Leon's version was advertised as having been specially adapted, localised, and 'paraphrased from Gilbert and Sullivan' by permission of J. C. Williamson's. Among the local allusions and topicalities targeted were the Exhibition and members of the Victorian parliament.
Notes
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H. M. S. Pin-A-4 may also have been derived in part from an American Pinafore minstrel burlesque that had been staged in Australia earlier.
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Kelly and Leon appear to have staged the production in order to take advantage of public interest in the action brought by Gilbert and Sullivan against actor/manager W. H. Lingard, who had produced the original comic opera at Melbourne's Academy of Music earlier in the year. The decision against Lingard was reached the day before Kelly and Leon debuted their production.
- For further details on the Gilbert and Sullivan v Lingard court action, see 'H.M.S. Pinafore in Court' Argus 2 November 1880, p.7.
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It is not clear if this burlesque is related to another production (also possibly also written by Bent) that was staged at the Opera House, Sydney, in 1882 by Bent and Bachelder's Christy's Anglo-American Minstrels. The later burlesque, titled H.M.S. Pin-A-4 in Black, was advertised as being the 'the first production of an extraordinary, exciting and extravagant extraction of Pinafore' (Sydney Morning Herald 11 April, 1882, p.2).
Production Details
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1880: St George's Hall, Melbourne, 30 October - 19 November.
- Lessee/Manager Dave Hayman; Stage Manager D'Orsay Ogden.
- Troupe Kelly and Leon's Minstrels.
- Cast incl. W. Horace Bent, Vernon Reid, C. S. Frederick, William Ball, Beaumont Read, Frank Rivers, John Howson, Billy Sweatnam, E. J. Kennedy, Francis Leon.
- 18 performances
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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News of the Day
1880
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 1 November 1880; (p. 2)
— Review of H. M. S. Pin-A-4 1880 single work musical theatre
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News of the Day
1880
single work
review
— Appears in: The Age , 1 November 1880; (p. 2)
— Review of H. M. S. Pin-A-4 1880 single work musical theatre