Phillip Street Theatre

The Phillip Street Theatre (succeeded by the Phillip Theatre) was a popular and influential Australian theatre and theatrical company, located in Phillip Street in Sydney that was active from 1954 and 1971 that became well known for its intimate satirical revue productions.

History

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Founding

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William Orr was a Scottish-born impresario from Glasgow who had a background as a director and theatre administrator in London before coming to Australia. Orr felt that there was a market in Australia for the new British theatre craze, the intimate topical satirical revue, and he pioneered the format in Sydney during 1954.

Actor Gordon Chater praised Orr as a champion of Australian theatrical talent:

"To this day I think Bill Orr should have been honoured by this country for creating the first post-war entirely professional theatre employing all Australians – the dancers, musicians, actors, lyricists and composers were all Australian."[1]

Performers

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Between 1954 and 1971, Orr promoted a series at the Phillip Street Theatre that became known as the 'Phillip Street Revues' which featured many famous Australian performers.[2]

List of performers

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Actor
Ray Barrett
Robina Beard (sister of Chris Bearde)
Wendy Blacklock
Noeline Brown
Gordon Chater
Ruth Cracknell
Barry Creyton
Gloria Dawn
Alastair Duncan
Judi Farr
Barry Humphries
Dawn Lake
Margo Lee
Bobby Limb
Reg Livermore
John Meillon
Kevin Miles
Patricia Pearson
Jill Perryman
June Salter
Bud Tingwell

Productions

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In 1953 Orr premiered a small revue, Metropolitan Merry-Go-Round at the Metropolitan Church Hall in Reiby Place, Sydney. This production marked the first professional credit for writer John McKellar, Jerry Donovan and Lance Mulcahy, the three writer-performers had met at school and developed their writing skills in university revues. The trio worked together on several subsequent Phillip St productions and McKellar became the driving force behind most of the Phillip St revues of the '50s and '60s[3]

Also at this time, British-born actor Gordon Chater was appearing in the Sydney production of Hugh Hastings' play Seagulls Over Sorrento. Chater's character did not appear in that play until the end of Act II, and because it was being sent up in the Metropolitan revue, Orr managed to convince Chater to come over to the Metropolitan to introduce the sketch, which was in the first half of the revue, giving Chater enough time to make it back for his performance in Sorrento.[4]

Orr's next revue at the Metropolitan, Maid in Egypt was again written by McKellar, Donovan and Mulcahy, and starred Leonard Teale and Patty Martin.[3][5]

Phillip Street Theatre

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Year Title Location Actors
1953 Metropolitan Merry-Go-Round Metropolitan Theatre Alastair Duncan, David Nettheim
1953 Seagulls Over Sorrento Metropolitan Theatre Gordon Chater
1953 Maid in Egypt Metropolitan Theatre Leonard Teale & Patty Martin
1954, 1955 Hit and Run Workers' Education Hall Ray Barrett, Lola Brooks, Gordon Chater, John Ewart, June Salter, Bud Tingwell, Bettina Welch
1954, 1955 Top of the Bill Workers' Education Hall Bud Tingwell, Margo Lee, Gordon Chater
1955 Hat Trick Workers' Education Hall Aileen Britton, Max Oldaker, June Salter
1955 Hamlet Workers' Education Hall Allan Trevor, John Meillon, Owen Weingott
1955 The Duenna Workers' Education Hall Gordon Chater, Ruth Cracknell, Geoffrey Chard, Shirley Summers
1955, 1956, 1957 Happy Returns Workers' Education Hall Ray Barrett, Gordon Chater, Norman Coburn, Margo Lee, Terry McDermott, John Meillon, Madge Ryan, June Salter
1955, 1956 Two to One Workers' Education Hall Max Oldaker, Wendy Blacklock, Barry Humphries
Olympic Hostess Workers' Education Hall Barry Humphries
1956, 1957 Around the Loop Workers' Education Hall Max Oldaker, Gordon Chater, Wendy Blacklock, Barry Humphries, June Salter
1956 Mr. and Mrs Workers' Education Hall Barry Humphries
1956, 1958, 1959 Alice in Wonderland Workers' Education Hall Robina Beard, John Bluthal, Peter Kenna, Max Meldrum
1957 Gordon Chater' Workers' Education Hall Gordon Chater, Reg Livermore
1957 The Willow Pattern Plate Workers' Education Hall John Bluthal, Ben Gabriel, Reg Livermore, Leon Thau, Owen Weingott
1957, 1958 Cross Section Workers' Education Hall Reg Livermore, John Meillon, Ruth Cracknell, June Salter
1958, 1959 Bats Workers' Education Hall John Bluthal, Ronald Frazer,
1959 The Birthday Show Workers' Education Hall John Bluthal, Ronald Frazer, Jill Perryman
1959 Meet Joyce Grenfell Workers' Education Hall Joyce Grenfell
1959 Hey Diddle Diddle Workers' Education Hall Robina Beard, Gordon Chater, Judi Farr
1959 A Ride on a Broomstick Workers' Education Hall Robina Beard, Gordon Chater
1960 Phillip Street Revue Workers' Education Hall Wendy Blacklock, Ronald Frazer, Peter Kenna
1960 Mistress Money Workers' Education Hall Robina Beard, Wendy Blacklock, Gordon Chater, Judi Farr

Phillip Theatre

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Year Title Location Actors
1961 Out on a Limb Australian Hall Bettina Welch, Bobby Limb, Dawn Lake
1961 Stop Press Australian Hall
1961 Yes Please!
1961-62 Alice in Wonderland
1962 What's New?
1962 Beyond the Fringe
1962 A Wish is a Dream
1962 At It Again Australian Hall
1963 Flaming Youth Australian Hall
1063 Do You Mind!
1963 The Private Ear Gordon Chater, John Bell, Max Osbiston
1963 The Public Eye Gordon Chater, John Bell, Max Osbiston
1964 The Importance of Being Oscar Australian Hall Micheál Mac Liammóir
1964 I Must Be Talking to My Friends Micheál Mac Liammóir
1964 Rattle of a Simple Man John Meillon, June Salter
1964 Breakfast with Julia
1964 Is Australia Really Necessary?
1964 Santa's Christmas Party
1964 Beyond the Fringe Australian Hall Alastair Duncan, John Ewart
1965 The Knack Reg Livermore, Tom Oliver, Peter Whitford
1965 A Severed Head
1965 The Tintookies
1965-66 A Cup Of Tea, A Bex and A Good Lie Down Australian Hall
1966 The Fantasticks Ron Shand, Willie Fennell, Frank Lloyd
1966 Private Yuk Objects
1966 Luv Alastair Duncan
1966 Alice in Wonderland
1967 The Sound of Morley
1967 Hail Gloria Fitzpatrick
1967 There Will Be an Interval of 15 Minutes
1967 All By Myself (Anna Russell)
1967 But I Wouldn't Want to Live There
1968 Relatively Speaking
1968 The Boy Friend
1969 Your Own Thing
1969 Lie Back and Enjoy It
1969 Candy Stripe Balloon
1969 Not Now, Darling
1970 The Bandwagon
1970 Emlyn Williams as Charles Dickens
1970 When We Are Married
1970 Alice in Wonderland
1971 The Legend of King O'Malley
1971 Come Live With Me
1971 Who Killed Santa Claus?

Second encore

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Year Title Location Actors
1980 Hal: Aspects of Henry IV Pt.1 Workers' Education Hall
1980 Puss in Boots Workers' Education Hall
1980 Under Milk Wood Workers' Education Hall
1980 Little Red Riding Hood Workers' Education Hall
1980 Festival of Sydney Playwrights
1980 Glad Bags Workers' Education Hall
1981 When in Rome
1981 Hammer
1981 Five Minutes, Mr Klein
1981 The Centenarian
1981 You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
1981 Two for a Theatre Workers' Education Hall
1981 Smoking is a Health Hazard Workers' Education Hall Max Gillies
1981 Scanlan Workers' Education Hall Max Gillies
1981 Dick Whittington and His Cat Workers' Education Hall
1981 The Stripper's Progress Workers' Education Hall
1981 Blood of the Lamb Workers' Education Hall
1981 Flexitime Workers' Education Hall
1981, 1984 Goldilocks and the Three Bears Workers' Education Hall
1982 Indian Summer Workers' Education Hall
1982 Conundra Workers' Education Hall
1982 I've Come about the Suicide Workers' Education Hall
1982 The Right Man Workers' Education Hall
1982 The Anniversary Workers' Education Hall
1982 Sleeping Beauty Workers' Education Hall
1982 God's Favorite Workers' Education Hall
1982, 1984 Jack and the Beanstalk Workers' Education Hall
1982 Cowardy Custard Workers' Education Hall
1982 Cinderella Workers' Education Hall
1983 Children of a Lesser God Workers' Education Hall
1983 The First Night of Pygmalion Workers' Education Hall
1983 Mother Goose Workers' Education Hall
1983 Macbeth Workers' Education Hall
1983 Babes in Toyland Workers' Education Hall
1983 Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You Workers' Education Hall
1983 The Actor's Nightmare Workers' Education Hall
1983, 1986 Aladdin and His Magic Lamp Workers' Education Hall
1984, 1985 The Removalists Workers' Education Hall
1984 Us or Them Workers' Education Hall
1984. 1987 Little Red Riding Hood Workers' Education Hall
1984 The Cake Man Workers' Education Hall
1984, 1985, 1988 The Shifting Heart Workers' Education Hall
1984, 1985, 1987 The Diary of Anne Frank Workers' Education Hall
1985 An Evening with Queen Victoria Workers' Education Hall
1985, 1987 The Glass Menagerie Workers' Education Hall
1985, 1986, 1987 The Club Workers' Education Hall Mark Butler, Tom Considine, Kevin Healy, Peter Phelps, Kit Taylor
1986, 1987 Hamlet Workers' Education Hall
1986, 1988 Pygmalion Workers' Education Hall
1986 Three Little Pigs Workers' Education Hall
1987-88 Whose Life is it Anyway? Workers' Education Hall
1987 The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe Workers' Education Hall
1988, 1989 Educating Rita Workers' Education Hall Terence Donovan, Amanda Muggleton
1988 Puss in Boots Workers' Education Hall
1988 Cinderella Workers' Education Hall

[6][7][8]

Creation of the Phillip Street Theatre

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In 1954 Orr and his partner Eric Duckworth were given the use of the Workers' Education Hall in Phillip Street, Sydney, as a theatre, and they renamed it the Phillip Street Theatre. It was here that Orr staged his next revue, Top of the Bill (1954), written by McKellar, Donovan and Mulcahy and featuring Charles "Bud" Tingwell, Margo Lee and an (unknown) American actor, with Chater making a guest appearance in each half of the show. During rehearsals the American actor repeatedly turned up drunk, so he was sacked a week before the premiere and Chater was asked to step into the role. The revue included a sketches about the Petrov Affair, with Chater and Tingwell as David Jones floorwalkers and Chater in a solo turn as Australian dress designer "Pierre of Balmain" (a play on words that conflated the French fashion house Pierre Balmain and the Sydney suburb of Balmain, which was at that time a run-down working-class enclave). Orr planned to stage three shows a week, but the new revue proved a great success—within days they were playing six shows a week plus Friday and Saturday matinees, and in his memoir Chater recounted that "there were queues around the corner of Phillip Street down to Castlereagh,[9] and the production ran for two months."[3]

Orr established a board of directors for the Phillip Street Theatre that included author Morris West, journalist Betty Best, charity fundraiser Nola Dekyvere and (later) lawyer John Kerr. Despite the success of Top of the Bill and its follow-up Hat Trick (1955) the board decided that the next show would be a straight production of Hamlet, which flopped. This was followed by a production of Sheridan's comedy The Duenna, set to music by Julian Slade and directed by British director Lionel Harris, who had been brought to Australia to direct a local production that featured visiting British actors Lewis Casson, Sybil Thorndike, Ralph Richardson and (his wife) Meriel Forbes. Harris asked Chater to play the role of Mendoza and also cast the young Ruth Cracknell. The production was well-received but it was terminated in the middle of its run by the hall's owners, the Workers' Educational Association (WEA), who took legal action against the theatre company to regain use of the hall.[10]

Orr's next production was another satirical revue, Two to One (1955), starring veteran Australian musical star Max Oldaker, with Wendy Blacklock and a rising young actor-comedian from Melbourne, Barry Humphries. A couple of years earlier, while touring country Victoria with a theatre company headed by playwright Ray Lawler, Humphries had amused his fellow actors with a parody of a middle-class Australian housewife; for the company's end-of-year revue he named her Edna Everage and played her in a sketch he wrote for the show, called "Olympic Hostess". Although he had originally assumed that his 'turn' as Edna was a one-off, he decided to revive "Olympic Hostess" for the Phillip Street revue and its success helped to launch what became a fifty-year career for the self-proclaimed "Housewife Megastar".[11]

Orr's next successful revue was Around the Loop (1956) which again teamed Oldaker, Chater, Blacklock and Humphries, plus newcomer June Salter. Humphries revived the Edna character (for what he said would be the last time) and the revue proved to be a major hit, playing eight shows a week for 14 months. During this period Humphries was living near Bondi and while out walking one day he had a chance meeting with an elderly man who had a high, scratchy voice and a pedantic manner of speech; this encounter inspired the creation of another of Humphries' best-known and most enduring characters, pensioner Sandy Stone.[12]

Move to the Phillip Theatre

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When the Phillip Street hall was demolished in 1961 (at the time of the Bobby Limb and Dawn Lake production Out on a Limb) Orr moved his company to the Australian Hall at 150 Elizabeth St, renaming it the Phillip Theatre. There he presented a string of successful revue productions, the best known of which was John McKellar's A Cup Of Tea, A Bex and A Good Lie Down (1965), the title of which immediately passed into the Australian vernacular. Other known productions included a local version of the landmark British satirical sketch show Beyond the Fringe (1962), Stop Press (1961) The Importance of Being Oscar (1964), Flaming Youth (1963) and At It Again.[13]

The Mavis Bramston show

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The topical satire featured in the Phillip St revues exerted a considerable influence on Australia's first satirical television comedy series, The Mavis Bramston Show (1964–68), and the Bramston show featured numerous cast and crew who had worked in these live revues, including Gordon Chater, Barry Creyton, June Salter, Wendy Blacklock, writer John McKellar and writer-producer James Fishburn.

Conversion to cinema venue

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The Phillip Street revues ended in 1971 when the Phillip Theatre changed hands and became the Richbrooke then the Rivoli (when leased briefly by Hoyts), then the Mandarin Cinema, Mandolin and finally Dave's Encore. The building has now returned to its original form of the Australian Hall.[13]

Second encore

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Note that the Phillip Street Theatre, separately to Orr's Phillip Theatre, recommenced operations in 1963 following the completion of a 300-seat theatre within the office block which replaced the 1961 demolition. This new Phillip Street Theatre continued until 1989 with children's drama classes and productions such as Peter and Ellen Williams'[14][15] 1988 production of their pantomime Cinderella,[16] with Derek Williams as musical director.

References

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  1. ^ Rob Johnson & David Smiedt, Boom-Boom: A Century of Australian Comedy (Hodder & Stoughton, Sydney, 1999), p.131
  2. ^ Mavis Bramston Reloaded – History – "From Stage to TV and Back Again: A brief overview of intimate revue in Australia" Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ a b c Malcolm Brown, "Writer made us laugh at ourselves." Sydney Morning Herald, 16 September 2010
  4. ^ Johnson & Smiedt, 1999, p.130–131
  5. ^ John Singer, quoted in Charles "Bud" Tingwell's official website
  6. ^ "AusStage".
  7. ^ "AusStage".
  8. ^ "Phillip Street Theatre | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories".
  9. ^ Johnson & Smiedt, 1999, p.131
  10. ^ Johnson & Smiedt, 1999, p.141-142
  11. ^ Johnson & Smiedt, 1999, p.142
  12. ^ Johnson & Smiedt, 1999, p.143
  13. ^ a b Powerhouse Museum, Sydney – Collection – Phillip St Theatre posters
  14. ^ Peter and Ellen Williams Productions Pty Ltd. AusStage. (Sydney, Australia).
  15. ^ Williams, Peter Leslie, 1947–. entrepreneur, theatre director and actor Peter Williams. National Library of Australia
  16. ^ (22 November – 24 December 1988). Cinderella. Phillip Street Theatre. AusStage. (Sydney, Australia).