AustLit

'Here comes a wistful little story of an Indian Maiden, beloved by both an English and a French Officer during the wars which ended in the British conquest of Canada, in the year 1763. The period and setting for this entirely original presentation is one of the most colorful in British history, and the theme, two gallant enemies fighting for the favor of a beautiful Cherokee girl, offers a wide scope for melodious and romantic treatment- Humor plays its part in the development of this story. Haunting melodies and rousing choruses, sparkling dialogue and exciting climaxes, combine to form a delightful fifty minutes of new and original entertainment.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 6 April 1934, p.64.

'In this original A.B.C. Revue, the diverting ad ventures of Dad, Dave, Mum, and Sarah, after winning the Lottery, are carried a stage further. In this new musical presentation we find London welcoming the happy travellers with open arms. The delights of the West End, the homely Cockney humor, the good-tempered turmoil of the world’s greatest city, form an entertaining background, against which our Australian friends move through a sequence of mirthful and musical moments. The rich mire of London Life is exploited to its fullest in the development of this revue.'

Source: [Radio Guide], Wireless Weekly, 16 March 1934, p.34.

'Things weren’t too good down on Cowbail Farm! Mum and Sarah were hankering after a trip to the city, while Dad and Dave were in the thick of a big fencing job. Strawberry, the best milker, had gone on strike, the hens weren’t laying, the horses had strayed, and the lucerne crop was a failure! Then came the news that Dad’s ticket had drawn first prize in the lottery! From then onwards humorous situations develop in laughter-provoking sequence. Dad and the family arrive in the city determined to have a good time, see everything, and hang the expense!'

Source: 'Star Turn', Wireless Weekly, 19 January 1934.

'The good ship R. M. S. "Colossal" is homeward bound to London. Our old friends, Dad, Dave, Mum, and Sarah are aboard, determined to "see Naples and live"—and London, Paris, and Berlin, likewise. Having won the lottery, they take a passage on a palatial liner, with the intention of having a good time in Europe. Meanwhile, there is all the fun of shipboard life to be enjoyed, and Dad and Co. enter into the spirit of the thing with zest. Deck games, fancy-dress balls, flirtations, mild and otherwise, serve to beguile the voyage with good-humored hilarity. Being new to shipboard life, Dad and Mum find themselves in many amusing situations, which are exploited to the full.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 16 February 1934, p.40.

'The Editorial Department of a big modern news paper provides the setting for this new and original A.B.C. Musical Burlesque. The author has handled his subject with good-humored satire, and the presentation abounds with amusing situations. The newspaper production, with its ever recurring Problems of making much out of little, is wildly burlesqued and y hope is sufficiently akin to the real thing to bring an appreciative grin from the typical newspaperman. Topical allusions to current events are woven into the revue, and a number of songs, both solo and concerted, have been specially written. "Hot News" is a bright little number, which will set your toes a-tingling, while "Let's Go to Press" is a novelty duet in which sentiment and humor are cunningly combined. All the well-known features of a present-day newspaper are neatly burlesqued, such as "The Society Column," "The Stop Press" box, "Answers to Correspondents", and, of course the inevitable Competition, which in this case is a prize offered to the biggest Nit-Wit.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 11 May 1934, p.52.

'You have all seen on the films or heard over the air, that type of gripping thriller, which, like the Fat Boy in “Pickwick,” attempts to make your blood run cold and you hair stand on end, by piling horror on horror. The scene is invariably set in a lonely haunted house, where grisly groans and sepulchral, shrieks render the night hideous; where grinning skeletons and mysterious phantom figures dance ghastly sarabands, and hideous murder is the least of the terrible things which happen. Such a thriller is the “Phantom Follies,” a now and original production by the A.B.C. Revue Company. It will be the last word in sustained horrific effect. At least, we hope so, but as both author and producer are suspected of each possessing a perverted sense of humor, the thriller might not “thrill” quite according to schedule. However, an entertaining hour is promised', which will open when a quartette of concert artists, stranded for the night on a lonely road, take refuge from a storm in the House on Hangman’s Hill. Mysterious legends of a headless figure, and the wistful spectre of a Woman in White are told of this haunted house, and both these ghastly apparitions appear with an effect slightly different from what a well-bred ghost had been led to expect. A number of your favorite revue artists will appear in this production, for which special songs have been written, both tuneful and humorous, while the atmospheric music, essential to all ghostly undertakings, is cleverly burlesqued.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 6 July 1934, p.56.

'DAD, MUM, DAVE, SARAH, AND THE NEWCHUM all come down from Dubbo to visit the Sydney Show and see the Sights of the City.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 31 March 1933, p.49.

'Based on Kipling’s famous verses and Amy Woodforde Finden’s “PAGODA OF FLOWERS,” written by EDMUND BARCLAY. “For the Temple Bells are calling, and it’s there that I would be, by the old Moulmein Pagoda, looking Eastward to the Sea,” sings the Soldier, in this original A.B.C. musical phantasy. The slow, slumbrous atmosphere of the Teak Forests, the brooding jungle, the chanting of the Buddhist monks, the tinkling of the temple bells, the sonorous choruses of the priests of Shwe Dagon, and all the romantic mystery of the East is recaptured and brought to you in song and story.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 30 June 1933, p.63.

'Based upon the traditional Cornish Floral Dances, and including Lane Wilson's song-cycle, “Flora’s Holiday.” A charming love story of old England is interwoven with threads of rustic melody , against the background of unspoiled countryside.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 28 April 1933, p.31.

'It is Percy Potts-Point’s Birthday. His friends visit him, bring him presents, etc. Amongst the gifts is a mysterious Eastern carpet—a Magic Carpet. Its properties are accidentally discovered, and the party decides to visit the Capital Cities of the World.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 24 March 1933, p.71.

'This revue is a generous measure of fun and frolic, lilting melodies and tuneful choruses, and tells the story of the visit of city folk to an outback farm. Percy Potts-Point, his fiancee Rose Bay, and her sister Elizabeth Bay, visit Dad, Dave, Mum, and Sarah, and are plunged into a series of amusing misadventures. A touch of whimsical philosophy is supplied by “Never Tire Ted,” the swagman, and “Meddlesome Mattie,” who has much to say about her neighbors. Dave proposes to Elizabeth in characteristic fashion, after learning from the New Chum how it should be done. The melody and merriment never slacken from the time the train is heard to reach Dubbo until the revue reaches its peak and finale at the local weekly dance and social, where Dad is the unconventional but entertaining master of ceremonies. Bright music, smart voices, catchy ensembles on local topics, including “The Humpy I Built for You.” “Rabbits,” “Back to the Land,” “By the Old Camp Fire,” “And the Kookaburra Laughs,” and “The Bush Cinderella” are some of the songs to be heard.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 12 May 1933, p.35.

'A Musical Romance of Elizabethan England, based on Herrick’s verse, and G. H. Clutsam’s “HESPERIDES”'.

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 28 July 1933, p.49.

'Dad goes to London as a member of the Dairy Marketing Board; but immediately plunges into a round of sight-seeing, and visits the grim old Tower of London with a party of tourists. By some mischance Dad gets left behind, and is locked up for the night in the dungeons. He sleeps, and into his dream ghosts out of the storied past come crowding. “Dreams go by contrary,” and history is therefore presented in a ghostly, amusing, and surprising manner.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 28 April 1933, p.55.

'In this original Musical Burlesque the A.B.C. Revue Company turns back the pages of the years gone by until the clamorous school-bell calls them back once again to desk and cane. They take the modem spirit back with them, how ever, with somewhat amusing results, the old-fashioned, simple school songs and the syncopation of to-day being combined with laughable effect. Harmonised choruses, bright songs, schoolboy jokes and jests combine to build a show of highly diverting entertainment. The strictures of the schoolmaster are listened to with scant respect, and ‘‘howler" after “howler” reduces this harassed pedagogue to exasperation. Many new songs have been specially written for this show, and an interesting note of topicality introduced.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 15 September 1933, p.30.

'Danny Daredo, accompanied by Misery Mike, sets out to establish new records. Carried thousands of miles out of their way by a terrific hurricane, they make a forced landing in the fabled realm of Arcady—a wondrous country of strange manners and customs. The two aviators being ignorant of the country’s rigorous customs, their stay in Arcady is one long chapter of entertaining whimsicality.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 19 May 1933, p.39.

'The colorful field of legendary romance in the land of the Moguls is artistically exploited in this original Musical Romance, in which Story, Song, and Legend are cleverly blended. Harmonious choruses and melodious solos show Liza Lehman at her musical best, and dramatic intensity is presented in a quickly-moving tale of elemental love and hate. “The Shalimar” presents clear-cut cameos of life in “Mother India,” and depicts some of that fascination possessed by her which acts like a magnet upon the Occidental mind, and which has at tracted the foreign adventurer since the days of Alexander the Great.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 25 August 1933, p.57.

'’Tis a story of a lover and his lass, who, against the rustic background of smiling English meadows and murmuring streams, enact the age-old but ever new story of a wooing that went astray. Sterndale Bennett's music comes as a breath of fresh air, redolent of the days when Love and Adventure strolled hand-in-hand across the smiling English Countryside. An enthralling story, pointed with whimsical phantasy, is the string upon which are threaded pearls of song, both solo and choral, interpreted and sung by a sympathetic cast. For one hour this musical romance will transport you by air to the happy, laughter-loving days when England was “Merrie England" in very sooth.'

Source: [Radio guide], Wireless Weekly, 22 September 1933, p.51.

Although described in radio previews as either a 'revue' or a 'light extravaganza,' Princess Yo-Yo was likely produced in the style of a radio revusical. The broadcast lasted one hour.

Based on the traditional and popular pantomime story, this Alf J. Lawrance adaptation similarly inserts popular characters from the Robin Hood legend into the tale of the two 'babes' kidnapped by ruffians on the orders of their wicked uncle.

Of the thirty songs and dances in the show, at least nine were written by Lawrance: 'Follow Me Boys' and 'It's the Allies' (originally sung by Dorothy Harris); 'Boys of the Expedition' (Lola Hunt); the topical trio 'Mum's The Word', 'Dance of the Robins' (ballet), and 'I Can't Do that Sum' (Marjory Daw's schoolroom number, originally sung by Ettie Waldron); and 'I Don't Care', 'Anyone Could See She was a Lady' and 'Pull for the Shore' (all performed by Daisy Jerome).

Two of the non-Lawrance songs incorporated into the pantomime were 'Give Me a Piggyback' (sung by the Babes) and 'Always Take a Girl Named Daisy' (Daisy Jerome).

The Argus theatre critic wrote of the revised 1915 Melbourne season at the Princess's Theatre that 'The ballets and choruses were bright and attractive, and the mingling of popular ragtime airs with the usual musical numbers was a novelty that appealed to the audience' (23 August 1915, p.13). It is unclear as to how many, if any, song changes were made for the short Bijou engagement that followed the Princess's season, and thus the following (mentioned in the Bijou reviews) may or may not have been included in the earlier production: 'I Do Believe I'm in Love' and 'I Followed Her Here' (Carrie Moore) and 'Rose of Italy' (Ray de Vere).

Staged in two acts, the pantomime involved the following scenes:

Act 1: Scene 1 The Babes Nursery;

Scene 2: Village Of Sherwood;

Scene 3 Baron Hardup's Baronial Hall;

Scene 4 On the Sands at Coogee;

Scene 5 Floating in the Briny;

Scene 6 Woodland Glade Finale;

Scene 7 The Escapade.

Act 2: Scene 1 Dame Durden's School-Room;

Scene 2 Dingle Dell;

Scene 3 Jeromeland;

Scene 4 The Baron's Banqueting Hall;

Scene 5 On the Banks of the Missouri;

Scene 6 The Throne Room in the King's Palace.

The specialties staged were as follows: Bathing Girls; The Dream Boat; The Leaf Ballet; Tipperary March; The Ghost of the Violin; The Expeditionary Force; Allies March; Flag Tableaux; The Great International Military Scenes ('The Rock - 1815' and 'The Rock 1915'); The Grand Concluding Spectacle ('1916 - Peace, Prosperity and Plenty').