The Sentimental Bloke (musical)

The Sentimental Bloke
Original cast album
Music	Albert Arlen
Lyrics	Albert Arlen, Nancy Brown, C.J. Dennis & Lloyd Thomson
Book	Lloyd Thomson & Nancy Brown
Basis	The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke by C.J. Dennis
Productions	1961 Melbourne 1983 Penrith 1988 Parramatta

The Sentimental Bloke is a 1961 Australian musical by Albert Arlen, Nancy Brown and Lloyd Thomson based on Songs of a Sentimental Bloke by C.J. Dennis. It is one of the most successful Australian musicals of the 20th century.

Albert Arlen and Nancy Brown had worked on the musical since 1950. Initially they sought the involvement of George Johnston, who showed little interest. Later, the actor Lloyd Thomson was brought on board as writer. Arlen and Brown went to England in 1955 to promote the show. This was unsuccessful so they returned to Australia, borrowed some money, and self-produced the musical in an amateur production at Canberra's Albert Hall in March 1961. The cast included Edwin Ride and Brown. The show had a one-week run in Canberra, which was so popular that extra seating in the aisles had to be arranged. J. C. Williamson's directors Sir Frank Tait and John McCallum attended the final performance.

Later that year, J.C Williamson's produced the musical professionally in Melbourne. The original six-week season at Melbourne's Comedy Theatre (from 4 November 1961), directed by John Young, was later extended to five months. The roles of The Bloke, Doreen and Rose of Spadger's Lane were played by Edwin Ride (from the amateur Canberra production), Patsy Hemingway and Gloria Dawn respectively. Through 1962, the production toured to Adelaide (Tivoli Theatre), Brisbane (Her Majesty's Theatre), Sydney (Theatre Royal) and Auckland, New Zealand (His Majesty's Theatre).

The Sentimental Bloke was revived professionally by Penrith's Q Theatre Company in April–May 1983, directed by Doreen Warburton. A subsequent professional production was staged by the Parramatta Cultural Centre and Q Theatre Company in March–April 1988, also directed by Warburton. Amateur theatre groups in Australia often perform the musical.