Collits' Inn
| Collits' Inn | |
|---|---|
| Music | Varney Monk |
| Lyrics | Varney Monk |
| Book | T. Stuart Gurr |
| Productions | 1932 Savoy Theatre Sydney 1933 Princess Theatre Melbourne 1934 New Tivoli Sydney |
Collits' Inn is an Australian musical play. The 1933 Melbourne production at the Princess Theatre was presented by F.W. Thring and starred Gladys Moncrieff, George Wallace, Claude Flemming and Campbell Copelin. Wallace's role was created especially for him. It is generally considered the first commercially successful Australian musical.
Love and drama at a roadside tavern in the Blue Mountains owned by former convict Pierce Collits, who built the inn on land granted to him in exchange for helping supervise construction of a road from Penrith to the western plans. Pierce's daughter Mary is in love with a young officer John Lake. However her father hates officers and refuses to give his blessing.
Bushranger Robert Keane is in love with Mary. He hits her and Lake kills him. Lake is ordered home and becomes a baron. When he returns he discovers Mary has lost her memory. However she regains it and all ends happily.
Comic relief is provided by the inn roustabout, Dandy Dick, who is in love with Sally the barmaid but faces competition from barman Toby.
In 1932 Mosman neighbours Varney Monk and Stuart Gurr collaborated on a musical together in order to submit it to a competition for an original operetta or musical play. The competition was held by Nathalie Rosenwax, a prominent Sydney singing teacher.
The musical was based on Collits Inn, a real life inn established near Lithgow on the road from Sydney to Bathurst built by Irish convict Pierce Collits. Monk and her husband Cyril, a violinist, had spent several holidays there and heard the story about how Pierce Collits daughter Amelia had been in love with a soldier. It is doubtful this story was actually true but it inspired Monk to write a musical around it.
The musical won second prize in the competition, losing to The Island of Pines, but it was Collits Inn which Nathalie Ronenwax decided to produce with her students in lead roles. They did five performances at the Savoy Theatre from 5 December 1932, starring professional soprano Rene Maxwell as Mary Collit and radio personality Jack Winn in support. The musical was revised and performed again in March 1933 at the Mosman Town Hall. It was also broadcast on ABC radio in June of that year. However it was turned down for professional production by J.C. Williamsons Ltd.
Varney Monk sent the script to Frank Thring and went down to Melbourne to play him the score. Thring was enthusiastic about the show and decided to produce it professionally. He hired an all star cast, putting Gladys Moncrieff, Australia's most popular star of light opera under a 12-month contract to play the lead. He also brought back two Australians from overseas to appear opposite her, Robert Chisholm and Claude Fleming, and hired the most popular comic of the day, George Wallace, to play the comic support role of Dandy Dan.
...
Wikipedia