The Bunyip (musical)

The Bunyip, also known by the longer title The Enchantment of Fairy Princess Wattle Blossom, was written by Ella Palzier Campbell (aka Ella Airlie). The pantomime was a highly successful musical comedy that toured Australia for a decade within Fuller Brothers theatre circuit.[1] The show was produced by Sydney entrepreneur Nat Philips. The premiere of the show ran for at least 97 performances[2] and was revived several times over the following decade.

The Bunyip
The enchantment of fairy princess Wattle Blossom
Queenie Paul dressed as principal boy 'Jack'
MusicHerbert De Pinna
Vince Courtney
Fred Monument
Marsh Little
James Kendis
LyricsHerbert De Pinna
Vince Courtney
Fred Monument
Marsh Little
James Kendis
BasisOriginal Australiana by Ella Airlie
Productions1916 Adelaide
1917 Sydney
1917 Melbourne
1918 Brisbane
1920 Perth
1922 Adelaide
1924 Melbourne
1924 Sydney

Production history

Music was supplied by a number of Australian stage personalities including Vince Courtney, Herbert De Pinna and James Kendis. A Melbourne National Gallery student P. Cohen was enlisted to paint the sets with Australian flowers,[3] namely wattle and waratah, on costumes also.[4]

Venues

Synopsis

The story opens with a bushfire in which all the bush creatures are bought out into the open. Then it deals with the wanderings of princess Wattle Blossom, who falls into the hands of the Bush Gnomes, a proud race with a terrible way of doing things. The Lord High Gnome decrees that the Princess shall be turned into a bunyip, and this transformation takes place on the stage.[10] The fairy princess is then rescued by the principal boy from the race of bush gnomes. A well-received stage effect was a shadow play of girls apparently disrobing behind a backlit screen, over which the (apparently) removed clothing was thrown.[11][12]

The play relied heavily on comic stereotypes of the time, including a Chinese cook, bumbling Jewish clowns, fierce Aboriginal warriors, and a drunken Australian lout – all contending with Wattle Blossom, the fairy princess in the original story.

Musical numbers
  • Bunyip / words & music by Herbert de Pinna[13]
  • Wattle blossom time in Australia / words and music by Fred Monument ; arranged by Geo. Hurdle [14]
  • For you / words & music by Marsh Little [15]
  • Nulla nulla / words & music by Marsh Little
  • I love you / words & music by Herbert de Pinna [16]
  • Mean old moon / Ella Airlie
  • Back to Kosciusko / words and music by Ella Airlie
  • Joan / words & music by Marsh Little
  • Bills' enlisted / words by R. Boyer and H. de Pinna ; music by Herbert de Pinna [17]
  • If Captain Cook could come to life to-day / words by Con Moreni ; music by Nellie Kolle & Con Moreni
  • Sonny mine / words & music by Herbert de Pinna [18]
  • Down in Australia / words & music by Marsh Little
  • Nathan : sung by Roy Rene / by James Kendis
  • My Chinee girl : the favourite one-step song / words and music by Vince Courtney [19]
  • Grey hair grey eyes / words by Nat Phillips ; music by Bert Reid
  • Safety first / words and music by Henry T. Hayes – Dancers drilled by a child actor[20]
  • Mother waratah / words & music by Marsh Little
  • Bunyip waltzes / arr. by Albert Evelyn
  • Pierrot and Pierrette / lyric by Jean Lenox and Ray Sterling ; music by Leo Edwards
  • Swinging along to Henty / words & music by Henry B. Hayes ; ukulele arr. by P. P. McGrath using Bishaw's method
  • All I want is a cottage, some roses, and you / by Chas. K. Harris

Characters
  • Wattle Blossom – a fairy princess
  • Wattle Blossom's attendant
  • Chief Gnome
  • Joan – principal 'girl'
  • Jack – principal 'boy'
  • Squatter Hadfield
  • Mrs Wiggins
  • Ah Fat (Chinese cook) played by Vince Courtney[9]
  • Swaggie swagman
  • Extras – An Aboriginal corroboree and bush sprite dancers[3][21]
  • Arthur – a halfwit
  • Tower – a lofty fellow
  • Comedy duo 'Stiffy and Mo'

Cast

The cast changed across several venues. For example, in Adelaide the crowd was treated to a boomerang thrower safely tossing weapons above their heads[22]

  • Nat Philips (producer) and Roy Rene played Stiffy and Mo.[22]
  • Peter Brooks originally played the Swaggie,[9][23] but was replaced by drag Swagman impersonator Nellie Kolle.[6][24]
  • Villiers Arnold played the Gnome in the Sydney production at the grand opera house[3]
  • Pearl Ladd played the bunyip at the Sydney performance[5]
  • Ella Airlie (the writer) played Jack the principal boy opposite Queenie Pearl as Joan the principal female lead.[6] Dan Dunbar and Zoe Wencke joined the team later.[21]
  • Roy Rene continued the comic character 'Mo' he had developed in vaudeville[25]
  • Caddie Franks played the transformation into a Bunyip[26]

Critical reception

The play was embraced with patriotic fervour.[27] From 1917, the show drew crowded houses.[28] The theme song was adopted by schools in New South Wales and sales of the sheet music were phenomenal.[29]

The press was unaffected by a typical Australian workers dispute between management and two stage hands who objected to the behaviour of a backstage colleague.[30]

References
  1. "State Library Victoria - Viewer".
  2. "In the Theatres". The Sun. No. 775. New South Wales, Australia. 3 February 1918. p. 16. Retrieved 16 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Bush Fire and Bunyip". The Sun. No. 716. New South Wales, Australia. 17 December 1916. p. 18. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Filmland, Vaudeville, and The Stage". The Journal. Vol. LII, no. 14329. Adelaide. 26 May 1917. p. 4. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Bush Fire and Bunyip". The Graphic of Australia. No. 63. Melbourne. 30 March 1917. p. 9. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "Fuller's Pantomime "The Bunyip"". The Journal. Vol. LII, no. 14335. Adelaide. 2 June 1917. p. 5. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Majestic Theatre". The Advertiser. Vol. LIX, no. 18, 295. Adelaide. 2 June 1917. p. 11. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "The Bunyip". The Telegraph. No. 14, 256. Brisbane. 3 August 1918. p. 8. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "Nights Off N." Country Life Stock and Station Journal. Vol. XXXVI, no. 74. New South Wales, Australia. 31 December 1924. p. 10. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "Musical and Dramatic Notes". The West Australian. Vol. XXXII, no. 4, 519. Western Australia. 25 September 1916. p. 5. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "The Theatreland". The Referee. No. 1972. New South Wales, Australia. 24 December 1924. p. 15. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "Good-Bye to "The Bunyip"". Evening News. No. 17971. New South Wales, Australia. 24 January 1925. p. 5. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia. Includes illustration attributed to "Emil Mercier", possibly Emile Mercier's first published work.
  13. De Pinna, Herbert; Benjamin J. Fuller (Firm) (1914), Bunyip [music] / words & music by Herbert de Pinna, W.H. Paling & Co
  14. Monument, Fred; Hurdle, Geo; Benjamin J. Fuller (Firm) (1914), Wattle blossom time in Australia [music] / words and music by Fred Monument ; arranged by Geo. Hurdle, W.H. Paling
  15. Little, Marsh, 1880-1958; Benjamin J. Fuller (Firm), For you [music] / words & music by Marsh Little, W.J. Deane & Son{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. De Pinna, Herbert, -1936; Benjamin J. Fuller (Firm) (1914), I love you [music] / words & music by Herbert de Pinna, W.H. Paling & Co{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  17. De Pinna, Herbert, -1936; Boyer, R; Benjamin J. Fuller (Firm) (1914), Bills' enlisted [music] / words by R. Boyer and H. de Pinna ; music by Herbert de Pinna, W.H. Paling & Co{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  18. De Pinna, Herbert, -1936; Benjamin J. Fuller (Firm) (1914), Sonny mine [music] / words & music by Herbert de Pinna, W.H. Paling & Co{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  19. Courtney, Vince, -1951; Benjamin J. Fuller (Firm), My Chinee girl [music] / words and music by Vince Courtney, W.J. Deane & Son{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. "The Bunyip". The World's News. No. 1203. New South Wales, Australia. 3 January 1925. p. 5. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. "Fullers' Pantomime". Sunday Times. No. 2028. Sydney. 14 December 1924. p. 20. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. "Fuller's Pantomime "The Bunyip"". The Register. Vol. LXXXII, no. 22, 017. Adelaide. 2 June 1917. p. 9. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  23. "Advertising". The Mirror. No. 195. Western Australia. 16 May 1925. p. 3. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  24. ""The Bunyip" Pantomime". The Graphic of Australia. No. 101. Melbourne. 20 December 1917. p. 3. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  25. "The Bunyip". The Sunday Times. No. 2029. New South Wales, Australia. 21 December 1924. p. 3. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  26. "Picture Patter and Theatrical Topics". Port Adelaide News. Vol. 4, no. 42. South Australia. 1 June 1917. p. 3. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  27. "The Bunyip". The Daily Telegraph. No. 14, 053. New South Wales, Australia. 22 December 1924. p. 11. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  28. ""Bunyip" Pantomime Artists performing at the Majestic". The Critic. Vol. XVII, no. 1009. Adelaide. 13 June 1917. p. 13. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  29. "Filmland, Vaudeville, and The Stage". The Journal. Vol. LII, no. 14329. Adelaide. 26 May 1917. p. 4. Retrieved 11 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  30. "Scenes Behind the Scenes". The Herald. No. 13, 005. Victoria, Australia. 5 February 1918. p. 6. Retrieved 12 November 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
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