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Source: Fryer Library, The University of Queensland
y separately published work icon What Oh Tonight single work   musical theatre   revue/revusical   humour  
Issue Details: First known date: 1916... 1916 What Oh Tonight
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Revusical.

The story is set in a beauty parlour in the inner-city area of Sydney. Stiffy and Mo become the new owners of the parlour and attempt to pass themselves off as medical men.

The principle characters are Stiffy (a rabbit seller), Mo (aka Sol, Stiffy's mate: see note below), Harry Summer (a doctor and owner of the beauty parlour), Helen Summer (his wife), Uncle (Helen's rich uncle), Mary O'Shea (beauty parlour employee), Mrs De'Vere (Helen's housekeeper and 1st Assistant Beautifier), Italian Woman (a patient in version 1), Bill Bender (a patient in version 2).

The songs known to have been incorporated into the revusical, as it was originally conceived, were 'The Opening Chorus', 'Lady's Band', 'Antonio', 'Skylark Love', 'Men, Men, Men', and 'Here's to Love' (also reprised as the finale).

It is possible that What Oh Tonight later became Manicure, Sir? (aka The Beauty Parlour). In addition to Stiffy and Mo, both these revusicals include characters called Helen, Uncle, Mrs De'Vere, and Mary. No production called What Oh Tonight has been identifed after 1916, further suggesting that Phillips changed the title (and possibly some of the storyline).

Notes

  • Although Nat Phillips had been presenting his Stiffy character on stage for some years prior to the staging of What Oh Tonight, this particular one-act musical comedy marked the first occasion on which he and Roy Rene teamed up as a comic duo.

    It is interesting to note, however, that while the on-stage partnership came to be known as Stiffy and Mo, the part of Mo Lazarus was originally written into the revusical as Sol McPherson, an Irish/Hebrew character (see Nat Phillips Collection manuscript). According to popular legend, Mo was decided upon by Roy Rene shortly before the company made its debut at the Princess Theatre in July 1916. The name is said to have been suggested by Bill Sadler, the theatre's well-known stage manager.

    The Sydney theatre critics, writing of this opening production for the Nat Phillips Tabloid Musical Comedy Revue Company season at the Princess Theatre, were overwhelmingly positive. Australian Variety notes that Phillips, in particular, had 'identified himself with an original type in Stiffy, the hero of the revues at the Princess. The character is typically Australian and Nat has it true to life' (23 August 1916, n. pag).

  • An edited version of the original manauscript appears in '"What Oh Tonight": The Methodology Factor and Pre-1930s Australian Variety Theatre - Appendices', Clay Djubal, PhD Thesis, 2005, pp.34-48.

  • Two versions of the 'Patient' scene are provided in the Nat Phillips Collection manuscript (Fryer Library).

Production Details

  • 1916: Princess Theatre, Sydney, 8-14 July (return season: 19-25 August).

    • Director Nat Phillips; Producer/Lessee Harry Sadler and Jack Kearns.
    • Proprietor Fullers' Theatres Ltd.
    • Cast incl. Nat Phillips (Stiffy), Roy Rene (Mo), Daisy Merritt, Peter Brooks, Horace Mann, Caddy Franks, Walter Jackson [aka Walter Whyte], Maisie Pollard, Harry Sadler (return season only).
    • This was the debut production for Stiffy and Mo.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1916
      1916 .
      Link: U3632Full text resource Digital copy of original manuscript. Link: U3633Full text resource Digital copy of edited version by Dr Clay Djubal.
      Extent: 7p.p.
      Description: Typed with handwritten notes.
      (Manuscript) assertion

      Holdings

      Held at: University of Queensland University of Queensland Library Fryer Library
      Local Id: UQFL9
  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Australian Variety Theatre Archive : Popular Culture Entertainment: 1850-1930 Clay Djubal , Z1787295 2011 website

    The Australian Variety Theatre Archive (AVTA) is an independent, not-for-profit research website devoted to the period of theatrical activity in Australia that might be considered the 'golden years' of minstrelsy and vaudeville. The motivation for the site has been the need to rectify the exceedingly poor amount of research directed towards this area of Australian history and thus address the many myths, inaccuracies and gaps that are to be found in the present historical record.

    The AVTA's primary objectives are two-fold: To celebrate and advance our knowledge of the Australian variety theatre industry which operated between the mid-1800s and the late-1920s/early-1930s; and to provide an on-going information archive which will serve as the basis for further research by both academics and historians, as well as by the general public.

    Variety entertainment during the period covered by the AVTA crossed many theatrical genres and media forms (including film and radio). The archive is primarily interested, however, in the following genres: burlesque minstrelsy (including minstrels farces) vaudeville revue revusical (one act musical comedies) pantomime. The archive is also looking to provide biographical details on the people involved in variety the performers (individuals and acts), entrepreneurs and managers, troupes, scenic artists, stage managers, front-of-house managers, costume and property-makers, choreographers, writers, composers, songwriters, lyricists directors, music directors, producers and associated industry practitioners (journalists/critics, advance representatives etc).

    The AVTA also publishes Mixed Bag, a monograph series devoted to variety theatre and popular culture entertainment.

    Source: http://ozvta.com/ (Sighted 23/06/2011)

         Section: Texts: Unpublished
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Related Works

The Beauty Parlour What Oh Tonight; The Manicure Parlour Nat Phillips , Nat Phillips' Stiffy and Mo Revue Company , Fullers' Theatres , 1917 single work musical theatre revue/revusical humour

Revusical.

Sometimes staged under the titles The Beauty Parlour and The Manicure Parlour, this one-act musical comedy revue sees Stiffy and Mo in the roles of buyers visiting a beauty parlour owned by Helen Summer and her husband Harry. Other characters include Major Pinetree (Helen's uncle), George (a customer), Mrs De Vere (a widow), Dr Burgess, Mary (a maid), Florence (a friend of Helen's), and a group of friends and visitors.

The same beauty parlour setting and several of the characters in Manicure, Sir? also appear in Phillips' first-ever Stiffy and Mo revusical, What Oh Tonight (1916). The characters appearing in both productions are Stiffy, Mo, Helen, Uncle, Mrs De Vere, and Mary. It is possible, therefore, that the latter production is based on the earlier work, with new songs and some new comic business. One of the characters in Manicure, Sir?, Major Pinetree, also shares a similar name to a character introduced in another revusical, Yes We Don't (which included a Colonel Pinetree).

According to the Argus's review of the 1917 Bijou Theatre (Melbourne) debut:

The extraordinary diversions of a suburban rabbit-hawker and a Hebrew investor in a "beauty parlour" were at times cleverly conceived, and on several occasions contained all the elements of a really humorous situation. The success of this piece was due to the energy and originality of two experienced comedians, who carried the burden of a somewhat top-heavy construction of ballet, chorus and incidental humour. Much of the low-grade comedy which offends every canon of good taste, and at times goes well beyond the limit of tolerance, emanates from 'Mo' though unfortunately he is only too well seconded by his ally (8 October 1917, p.9).

The 'musical treatments' in the 1922 production were 'Beauty' (sung by the girls and customers), 'Tennessee' (Connors and Paul), 'Maggie Dooley' (Phillips, Rene, and Shaw), 'Got to Get Busy' (Connelly and girls), 'Cute Way of Their Own' (Merton and girls), 'Uncle Joe' (Connors and company), 'Excelsior' (Connelly and Shaw), 'Wonder' (Paul and girls), 'Make Believe' (Connors), 'Marie' (Phillips and Davis), 'Wonderful Girl' (O'Brien and girls), and the finale, 'Sold' (company).
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Note:
This entry has been sourced from research undertaken by Dr Clay Djubal into Australian-written popular music theatre (ca. 1850-1930). See also the Australian Variety Theatre Archive
Last amended 23 May 2014 11:40:14
Subjects:
Settings:
  • Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,
  • Redfern, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,
  • Surry Hills, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,
  • ca. 1916-1925
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