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OVERVIEW
One of the most popular and influential revusical companies in
Australian entertainment history, Nat Phillips's Stiffy and Mo Revue
Company was led by Nat Phillips who also starred alongside Roy Rene in the
iconic larrikin partnership, Stiffy and Mo. Indeed, the troupe dominated
the revusical era in Australia (ca. 1915-1930) which also boasted such
high profile companies as Bert Le
Blanc's Travesty Stars (q.v.), the Jim
Gerald Revue Company (q.v.) and the George
Wallace Revue Company (q.v.). The company came together in late June
1916 and after its initial first season together retained much the same
line-up for its first five years together. Among the company's principal
ensemble performers between 1917 and 1925 were Phillips's and Rene's
wives, respectively Daisy Merritt (q.v.) and Dot Davis, two already
established partnerships Mann and Franks (Horace Mann and Caddie Franks)
and Pollard and Jackson (Walter Jackson, aka Walter Whyte and Belle
Pollard). Two other key members of the troupe were juvenile lead actor,
Peter Brooks, and dancer Rosie Bowie, who had been previously a member of
the Albert
Bletsoe Musical Comedy Revue Company (q.v.) with Roy Rene.
Individual members of the Stiffy and Mo ensemble received a great deal
of coverage during their time with the company, and indeed were considered
by critics and the public alike to have made significant contributions to
the success of the company. Several of the members also contributed
material to the revusicals - notably Walter Whyte and Vince Courtney (as
songwriters) and Rosie Bowie as the troupe's choreographer. Later members
included high profile variety industry performers such as Mike Connors and
Queenie Paul, Amy Rochelle, Alec and Jack Kellaway, Harry Ross, Dan Weldon
and Charles Zoli.
DETAILED BIOGRAPHY
1916-1919 : Nat Phillips's Stiffy and Mo Revue Company came
together in late 1916 when Albert Bletsoe's Musical Comedy Revue Company
was dissolved after it concluded its Brisbane season. When the troupe
returned to Sydney Nat Phillips took over its leadership, having been
recalled from Adelaide by Sir Benjamin and John Fuller Jnr (Fullers'
Theatres Ltd, q.v.) to take on the position. Phillips had only
recently returned from a seven month engagement in the East, and had
arrived in Adelaide after first playing a season in Perth. When he arrived
in Sydney Phillips essentially put together a new troupe, retaining
several members of the Bletsoe company, notably Roy Rene and Rosie Bowie,
while also engaging a number of highly experienced variety performers from
the Fullers' available stable of artists. The troupe was put through a
very quick rehearsal period utilising a number of farce scripts Phillips
had been developing around his character Stiffy, and into which were
inserted songs and 'improvised' business. Billed initially as Nat
Phillips's Tabloid Musical Comedy Company, the troupe made its debut on 16
July 1916 with What O
Tonight (q.v.). The initial response to the company's debut season
was above all expectations, with critical attention shared largely around
the ensemble, although Nat Phillips as writer, director and co-star was
generally given the greatest space. What Oh Tonight was followed by
six more original revusicals, the extent of their repertoire at the time.
Such was the success garnered by the troupe that the theatre's lessees,
Harry Sadler and Jack Kearns extended the season until late October.
Between 1916 and 1924 Nat Phillips's Stiffy and Mo Company toured the
country alternating seasons in Melbourne and Sydney over the
Christmas/summer holiday periods with engagements in other capital cities,
often playing seasons of more than six months. The company also spent some
eighteen months touring New Zealand between 1923 and 1924. Phillips
continued to write most of the material during this period (including many
of the original musical numbers), with some of the more popular
productions being : What Oh Tonight (also known as The Beauty
Parlour), A Sporting Chance, Bullfighters,
Jockeys, In the Army, Police, Plumbers, In
the Sanatorium, Wharfies, Waiters and Bankers. For most
of this time Phillips was also given the responsibility for writing and/or
producing one of the Fullers' annual pantomimes. The first of these, and
also his most successful, was The
Bunyip (q.v.) staged in Sydney by the Fullers over December 1916
and January 1917. Based on an original story by a young Victorian variety
performer, Ella
Airlie (q.v.), the production was toured by the Stiffy and Mo company
for several years and revived frequently around Australia by the Fullers
up until at least 1924. Of Phillips's later pantomimes, those which
involved the troupe were : Babes
in the Woods (1918, q.v.), Cinderella
(1919, q.v.), Dick
Whittington (1921, q.v.) and Mother
Goose (1922, q.v.).
1920-1925 : Although the troupe's original membership had
remained remarkably stable during its first four to five years, with only
minor and infrequent changes to the principal ensemble, by the early 1920s
a few new faces began to appear in the line-up. Notable, for example, were
Mike Connors and Queenie Paul, Keith Connolly, Ida Merton and Gladys Shaw,
who all joined the troupe in 1922.
When Phillips and Rene disbanded the troupe in Adelaide in mid-1925,
several of the troupe members joined Phillips new company, The Whirligigs,
these being Connors and Paul and Dan M. Dunbar.
1927-1928 : The Stiffy and Mo Revue Company renion began in
Brisbane in late February 1927 during the last few weeks of Phillips's
Whirligig season at the Empire Theatre. With Jack Kellaway still a
principal member of the troupe the initial shows were advertised as
Stiffy, Mo and 'Erb. When the company opened in Sydney on 19 March,
however, the billing was not unsurprisingly just Stiffy and Mo. In
reviewing the second week of the Sydney season Just It records that
the return of Stiffy and Mo 'almost overshadowed the Royal visit,' such
was the public's interest (31 March 1927, p28). By August the same
magazine reported that in the 21 weeks Stiffy and Mo had been playing in
Sydney 'there has never been the slightest let-up in the attendance-
afternoon [or] evening' (11 August 1927, p28). In mid-September the
company played its 300th consecutive performance, a house record (Just
It 15 September 1927, p28).
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1. HISTORICAL NOTES AND CORRECTIONS:
It appears that changes to the traditional Stiffy and Mo programme -
first-part vaudeville/second-part revusical - were put in place by Nat
Phillips around mid-to-late 1927. While advertising and reviews from the
troupe's final years provides much less information than was the case
prior to 1925, several brief reports published in the Age during
late 1927 indicate that shows comprised four to five revue-style
sketches interspersed with vaudeville acts, and a feature revusical. The
opening programme at the Bijou Theatre (Melbourne) in 1927, for example,
included the sketches 'A Dream,' 'Nobody,' 'Becky,' 'Cairo' and 'Make
Him Grow,' along with the 'short comedy revuette, The Lords'
(Age 31 October 1927, p12) ; while the week of 5-11 November
comprised The Bell Boys (aka At the Grand) and the
sketches A Kiss, Stage Door and The Peace Makers (7
November 1927, p14).
- It is possible that a number of these sketches were created by
writers other than Nat Phillips, notably Vic
Roberts (q.v.).
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2. MANUSCRIPTS AND ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS :
2.1. Nat
Phillips Collection (q.v.) Fryer Library, The University of
Queensland. A Finding Aid to the collection is available online.
2.2. The Fryer Library also provides an online display devoted to Nat
Phillips : '"What Oh
Tonight'": Stiffy and Mo and the Nat Phillips Collection'
(q.v.).
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3. STIFFY AND MO REVUE COMPANY PERSONNEL:
All dates shown below are established years only. In some instances
people may have been associated with the troupe prior to or after the
dates shown but these years have not yet been identified.
3.1. The significant role the ensemble cast played in helping make
the Stiffy and Mo revusicals so successful has long been overlooked by
historians, as has Nat Phillips's contribution, in deference to the
promotion of Roy Rene as the dominant factor. A closer examination of
the company and its critical and public reception indicates, however,
that while both Rene and Phillips were certainly the feature
attractions, the troupe's success was down to a combination of other
factors, not the least being the ability of the supporting actors,
including the chorus/ballet, to respond to the requirements placed on
them. Indeed, newspaper and magazine reviews rarely failed to mention
the ensemble, and often highlighted several members of the troupe,
giving them as much space as Phillips and Rene. A 1927 review published
in the Age exemplifies this type of coverage : 'Much of the
credit for the success of the present revue must be given to dainty
Sadie Gale and that popular artist, Amy Rochelle, whose singing is so
largely appreciated' (12 December 1927, 14).
3.2. It is clear that in forming his Tabloid Musical Comedy Company
Nat Phillips drew on his experience as a writer and director of farces,
and in this respect he constructed his early shows as ensemble pieces.
Many of the revusicals written between 1916 and 1918 were also revived
frequently over the troupe's 11 or so years together, with the
fundamental format retained. That these were seen as ensemble
productions is also reflected in the responses of the critics. The
Theatre Magazine's August 1916 review of A
Sporting Chance (q.v.), for example, sees Roy Rene receive only
five lines (which although positive in terms of his 'posturing'
nevertheless suggests that singing wasn't his forte). Several other
members of the troupe receive considerably more attention from the
critic, however, with much of it favourable -Peter Brooks (10 lines),
Daisy Merritt (5 lines), Ivy Davis (9 very flattering lines), the chorus
girls (9 lines), Mann and Franks (11 lines) and Nat Phillips with 20
lines of glowing tribute to his efforts as both producer and performer
(52-3). Thus while contemporary logic proposes that Stiffy and Mo must
have captivated the public and critical attention right from the start,
this does not appear to have entirely be the case.
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3.3. Reviews from this era indicate, too, that Daisy Merritt's role
in the proceeding was vital to their overall success - particularly in
the repartee between herself and Phillips. The intuitive timing between
the pair (the result of more than a decade working together overseas and
in Australia) provided Merritt with an ideal vehicle through which she
could establish her credentials as one of the most accomplished, and
certainly one of the funniest variety artists of the era. Typically, as
the Theatre records of one particular scene in A Sporting
Chance, Merritt's characters scored just as much laughter as her
husband's (August 1916, p53). Another key member of the initial company
was Maisie Pollard, whose career stretched back to early childhood. Her
experience provided the troupe with a high level of professionalism,
while her 'principal girl' looks and demeanour provided an appealing
female love interest for Peter Brooks' juvenile characters.
3.4. Sometimes the company brought guest performers to fill
out roles, and in these situations Phillips could draw on any performers
available from the first part vaudeville programme. This occurred for
example with A Sporting Chance, when popular sketch artists,
Courtney Ford and Ivy Davis, were brought in to play additional roles.
Nellie Kolle made a guest appearance with the company during its 1917
Melbourne season, while seasoned character comedian Charles Zoli briefly
joined the troupe in 1928.
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3.5. The core membership of the first Stiffy and Mo line-up was
particularly strong, comprising well-established and experienced variety
performers. In this respect Phillips was aware of the same need to
surround himself with quality performers that Bert
Le Blanc (q.v.) admits made his career so successful ('A
Chat with Bert Le Blanc, q.v.). With the nucleus of the original
troupe remaining remarkably stable during the first two years the
company quickly built a reputation for adapting quickly to
improvisation, an aspect of performance which both Rene and Phillips
excelled in. Young actor/singer Peter Brooks, described by the
Theatre Magazine as having a 'particularly good stage appearance'
(August 1916, pp52-53), provided the cast with a suitably heroic
character; while ex-J. C. Williamson singer/actor, Walter Whyte, and
Horace Mann were cast as fathers/older husbands, and invariably the
targets of Rene and Phillips' larrikinism.
3.6. Key troupe members were : Peter Brooks (1916-24, 1928 ),
Keith Connelly (1922-1925), Mike
Connors (q.v., 1922-1925), Eva Courtney (1917), Vince
Courtney (q.v., 1917-1918), Alec Davidson (1927),
Doris (Dot) Davis [aka Mrs Roy Rene 1] (1917-1925), Dan M.
Dunbar (1917-1925, 1927-1928), Caddie Franks (1916-1920),
Sadie
Gale [q.v., aka Mrs Roy Rene 2] (1927-1928), Chester
Harris (1919-1920), Walter Jackson [aka Walter Whyte]
(1916-1918, 1921 ), Alec
Kellaway (q.v., 1927), Jack
Kellaway (q.v., 1927-1928), Al Mack (1928), Horace
Mann (1916-1920), Daisy
Merritt [q.v., aka Mrs Nat Phillips] (1916-1925, 1927-28),
Ida Merton (1922), Marie Nyman (1927), Doc O'Brien
(1922), Cliff O'Keefe (1917-1918), Queenie
Paul (q.v., 1922-1925), Belle Pollard (1917-18, 1921),
Maisie Pollard (1916-1917), Amy
Rochelle (q.v., 1919-20, 1927-1928), Harry
Ross (q.v., 1927), Gladys Shaw (1922-1925), Dan
Weldon (1927-1928), Charles Zoli (1928).
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3.7. Short term performers and/or guest artists included: Gerald
Cashman (1921), Tom Collins (1928), Hal Cooper (1927),
Ivy Davis (1916), Jack Dennis (1919), Courtney Ford
(1916), Lou Harris (1920), Lola Hunt (1921), Nellie
Kolle (q.v., 1917), Will Liddle (1920), David Lyle
(1925), Dorothy Manning (1927), Polly Power (1927),
Harry Sadler (1916), Cec. Scott (1928), Hilda
Statler (1928), Statler Sisters (1927), Catherine (Kitty)
Stewart (1928),
3.8. Chorus members associated with the troupe included: Rene
Albert (1925), Bess Blackwell (1916), Rosie Bowie
(choreographer - 1916-22), Gwen Brandon (1917, 1919-22), Linea
Burns (1916), Thelma Duff (1922), Beatty Glow (1916),
Freda Helston (1922), Iris Foye (1916), Sylvia
Gardiner (1928), Linda Klume (1917), Marie McLaughlin
(1922), Little June Mills (1928), Dot O'Dea (1916-17,
1921), Olga Pietriche (1917), Rene Redfern (1917),
Terry Sisters (1928), Olive Thompson (1917), Phyllis
Whisken (1917), Flo Wilson (1922).
3.9. The musicians and ensembles known to have supported the Stiffy
and Mo ensemble were:
- W. Hamilton Webber (1919) Music Director.
- Charles Ryder (1922) Music Director.
- The Charleston Symphonists [aka Charleston Super Six
Symphonists] (1927-28) - Incl. Frank Wilson, 'Tiny' Douglas, Art
Dewar, Frank Morton, Les Clements (Music Director).
- Meredith's Jazz Band (1928).
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3.10. Additional notes and/or historical clarification :
- Dot Davis is believed to have started with the troupe in
1917 as a chorus member.
- Horace Mann and Caddie Franks were already regarded
as one of Australia's premiere comedy sketch artists when they joined
the troupe in 1916.
- David Lyle's surname is sometimes spelled 'Lylle.'
- Doc O'Brien : It is unclear he is Lorne O'Brien
(also associated with the Mademoiselle Mimi Diggers) or W. O'Brien, or
someone else entirely.
- Radio Six : The ballet/chorus was originally known as The
Panama Six (ca. 1916) but soon afterwards became The Radio Six (aka
The Six Radio Girls, The Radio Girls and The Radio Ballet). A
reference to The Dandy Six in 1925 is believed to have been a
newspaper error.
- Walter Whyte appeared on the vaudeville stage under the
name Walter Jackson, and in this regard was associated for a number of
years with Maisie Pollard (as Pollard and Jackson).
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3.11. The following performers/musicians are known to have been
associated with other variety companies :
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4. TOUR CHRONOLOGY: (* beside a date indicates that it
is either approximate or has not yet been established).
1916 : 8 July -
19 October*: Princess Theatre, Sydney (Stiffy and Mo season) /
22-31 December : Grand Opera House, Sydney (Bunyip pantomime).
1917 : 1 January - 2 March : Grand Opera
House, Sydney (Bunyip pantomime) / 7 April - 26 May : Princess
Theatre, Melbourne (Bunyip pantomime) / 28 July* - 3 August* :
Majestic Theatre, Sydney (Stiffy and Mo season) / 8 September - 21
December : Bijou Theatre, Melbourne (Stiffy and Mo season) / 22-31
December : Bijou Theatre, Melbourne (Bunyip pantomime).
1918 : 1-28 January : Bijou Theatre, Melbourne (Bunyip
pantomime) / 2 February - 29 March : Empire Theatre, Brisbane (Stiffy
and Mo season) / 30 March - 12 April : Empire Theatre, Brisbane (Bunyip
pantomime) / 13 April - 11 August : Empire Theatre, Brisbane (Stiffy and
Mo season) / 12-23 August : Empire Theatre, Brisbane (Bunyip
pantomime - return season) / 24-30 August : Empire Theatre, Brisbane
(Stiffy and Mo season finale) / 7 September - December* :
Victoria Theatre, Newcastle (Stiffy and Mo season and Bunyip
pantomime) / 21-31 December : Grand Opera House, Sydney (Babes in the
Woods pantomime).
1919 : 1 January - 2 April : Grand Opera House, Sydney
(Babes in the Woods pantomime) / 17 May - 3 October:
Fullers Theatre, Sydney (Stiffy and Mo season) / 4 October -
December* : Victoria Theatre, Newcastle (Stiffy and Mo season) /
26-31 December : Grand Opera House, Sydney (Cinderella
pantomime).
- Theatres around Australia were closed for various period during
1919 due to the Spanish Flu epidemic. The NSW government, for example,
forced venues to close from 2 April until mid-May (or until adequate
ventilation had been installed).
1920 : 1 January - 5 March : Grand Opera House, Sydney
(Cinderella pantomime) / 19 March - 21 August : Bijou Theatre,
Melbourne (Stiffy and Mo season) / September* - November* : Prince of
Wales Theatre, Adelaide (Stiffy and Mo season) / 18-31 December :
Princess Theatre, Melbourne (Cinderella pantomime).
1921 : 1 January - 19 March : Princess Theatre, Melbourne
(Cinderella pantomime) / 26 March - 8 April : Prince of Wales
Theatre, Adelaide (Cinderella pantomime) / 18 June - 15 October :
Empire Theatre, Brisbane (Stiffy and Mo season) / 26-31 December : Grand
Opera House, Sydney (Dick Whittington pantomime).
1922 : 1 January - 11 March : Grand Opera House, Sydney
(Dick Whittington pantomime) / 26 March - April* : Victoria
Theatre, Newcastle (Stiffy and Mo season and Dick Whittington
pantomime) / 22 April - 4 August : Fullers' Theatre, Sydney (Stiffy and
Mo season) / 23-31 December : Fullers' Hippodrome, Sydney (Mother
Goose pantomime).
1923 : 1 January - 24 February : Fullers' Hippodrome, Sydney
(Mother Goose pantomime) / March* - December : Fullers' Dominion
circuit, New Zealand.
1924 : 1 January - July : Fullers' Dominion circuit,
New Zealand / 30 August - 5 December : Fullers' Theatre, Sydney (Stiffy
and Mo season).
1925 : 7 February - 5 June : Bijou Theatre, Melbourne (Stiffy
and Mo season).
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NB: Phillips and Rene parted company for some 18-20 months
(June 1925* - February 1927). See individual agent entries for further
details.
1927 : 19 February - 11 March : Empire Theatre, Brisbane
(Stiffy, Mo and 'Erb season) / 19 March - 7 October : Fullers' Theatre,
Sydney / 29 October - 31 December : Bijou Theatre, Melbourne.
1928 : 1 January - 11 May : Bijou Theatre, Melbourne / 1-14
December* : Fullers' Theatre, Sydney.
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5. PHOTOGRAPHS: The following list comprises
bibliographic details of published and unpublished photographs of
members of the Nat Phillips Stiffy and Mo Revue Company. Wherever
possible only photographs of individual troupe members taken during or
within a few years of the Stiffy and Mo years (1916-1928) are included.
Entries accompanied by an asterisk (*) have been included if no other
image is available. See also AustLit entries for Nat Phillips (for
photographs of Phillips and Daisy Merritt) / Stiffy and Mo (for
photographs of Phillips and Rene) / Roy Rene (for photographs of Rene
and Sadie Gale)
- Australian
Variety (q.v.) : 23 December 1914, front cover [Mann
and Franks] ; 29 December 1915, n. pag. [Vince Courtney -
caricature] ; 9 February 1916, n. pag. [Vince Courtney] ; 15
March 1916, n. pag. [Vince Courtney] ; 30 August 1916, pp1, n.
pag. [company ; Peter Brooks and Horace Mann] ; 6
September 1916, n. pag. [company] ; 17 January 1917, 36, n.
pag. [Rosie Bowie and Dot O'Dea ; Peter
Brooks] ; 10 September 1920, n. pag. [Peter Brooks] ; 17
September 1920, front cover [Peter Brooks].
- Brisbane
Courier (q.v.) : 23 November 1925, p2 [Clifford
O'Keefe with the Big Four Male Quartette]
- Fuller
News (q.v.) : December/January 1921/1922, pp 4, 5, 6, 14,
19, 20 [Belle Pollard ; Amy Rochelle ; Dan M.
Dunbar in Dick Whittington ; Ida Merton as
'Cinderella' ; Rosie Bowie in Cinderella ; W. Hamilton
Webber] ; 14 January 1922, pp 4, 12, 16 [Amy Rochelle - in
Dick Whittington ; Queenie Paul ; Phillips and
Rene] ; 28 January 1922, front cover [Nellie Kolle - in
Bluebeard] ; 11 February 1922, front cover, p3 [Ida Merton
- as 'Cinderella' ; Amy Rochelle and Nellie Kolle] ;
18 February 1922, p13 [Nellie Kolle] ; 25 February 1922, p16
[Belle Pollard] ; 11 March 1922, p16 [Belle Pollard] ;
18 March 1922, p13 [Queenie Paul] ; 25 March 1922, front cover,
p10 [Queenie Paul ; Ida Merton] ; 15 April 1922, p14
[Rosie Bowie] ; 29 April 1922, p7 [Keith Connelly] ; 6
May 1922, p12 [Gladys Shaw] ; 13 May 1922, front cover
[Radio Six] ; 10 June 1922, p2 [Radio Six] ; 24 June
1922, p13 [Nellie Kolle] ; 1 July 1922, p1 [Queenie
Paul] ; 8 July 1922, p14 [Queenie Paul] ; 15 July 1922, pp
1, 7, 11 [Gladys Shaw ; Radio Six ; Rosie Bowie].
- Green
Room (q.v.) : May 1922, p36 [Gladys Shaw] ; June
1922, p9 [Radio Six].
- Just
It (q.v.) : 5 May 1927, p28 [unidentified chorus
girl] ; 8 September 1927, p28 [Sadie Gale].
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- National Library of Australia : See sheet music collection
- also available online [Peter Brooks - 'Corroboree Rag' (by
Vince Courtney); 'For You (by Marsh Little); 'Swinging Along to Henty'
(by Henry T Hayes) / Vince Courtney - various original
compositions / Caddy Franks - 'Joan' (by Marsh Little) /
Maisie Pollard - 'The Bunyip' (by Herbert de Pinna)]
- Nat Phillips Collection : Fryer Library, University of Qld.
UQFL9; Box 11 - Folder 1.
- Parsons, Fred : A
Man Called Mo (q.v.), p25 [company in The
Waiters]
- Theatre
Magazine (q.v.) : September 1918, p29 [ Nat
Phillips, Roy Rene, Walter Whyte (aka Jackson),
Peter Brooks and Horace Mann) ; January 1921, n. pag.
[Vince Courtney as Bill Jellico in Bluebeard] ; March 1921, p14
[Dan M. Dunbar - Cinderella].
- West, John : Theatre
in Australia (q.v.), p125 [Connors and Paul].
- Entries connected
with this record have been sourced from on-going historical research
into Australian-written music theatre and film being conducted by Dr Clay
Djubal.
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