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Lola Montez (musical)

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Lola Montez
Original cast recording
MusicPeter Stannard
LyricsPeter Benjamin
BookAlan Burke
Productions1958 Melbourne
1958 Brisbane/Sydney

Lola Montez is a 1958 Australian musical. It was written by Alan Burke, Peter Stannard, and Peter Benjamin and focuses on four days of Lola Montez visiting the Ballarat Goldfields.

Background

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Stannard, Benjamin, and Burke were all friends from university who wanted to write a musical together. Alan Burke says he had never heard of Lola Montez until he heard her mentioned in a program on the ABC. He was attracted to the subject because it was Australian but had international appeal; he did not want to make something along the lines of On Our Selection. Also, since the lead was a performer, the songs would come naturally.[1]

Productions

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Original production

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Hugh Hunt of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust heard several auditions of the work and agreed to fund a trial production at the Union Theatre Repertory Company in Melbourne in early 1958. It was directed by John Sumner. The production was very popular.

Cast

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Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust production

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The Trust took up their option and launched a new production. George Carden was brought in to direct.[2][3]

Alan Burke says his dream Lola was Vivien Leigh but that he wanted Moyra Fraser to star.[1] Hugh Hunt imported 25 year old Mary Preston from the United Kingdom to play the lead.[4] Burke said Preston was hopelessly miscast playing a 37 year old aging beauty.[1]

The show trialled in Brisbane for a short season. Michael Cole, playing Daniel, was sacked in Brisbane because of his voice. He was replaced by Eric Thornton, who Burke said was too old - a 45-year-old man playing a 19-year-old. The musical moved to Sydney, where it opened on 22 October 1958. Burke says it lost £30,000 and "was a show loved by very few people but it went into legend."[1] However the show did run for more than three months.[2][5] Michael Cole's single recording of "Saturday Girl" became a minor hit.[3]

Cole later appeared in the TV musical Pardon Miss Westcott which was commissioned from the writers of Lola Montez.[6]

Cast

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  • Mary Preston as Lola
  • Frank Wilson as Sam
  • Michael Cole, then Eric Thornton, as Daniel

The production and costumes were designed by Hermia Boyd. A retrospective celebration of the work was mounted in February 2018 at the Smorgon Family Plaza, Arts Centre Melbourne.[7]

1962 television play

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Lola Montez was adapted for TV by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1962.[8]

Lola and the Highwayman

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In 1965, the ABC presented a TV special called Lola and the Highwayman.

Revised edition

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The musical has been much revived since in amateur and school productions.[9]

The musical was heavily revised in 1988 for a production in Canberra.[3][10][11]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Alan Burke interviewed by Bill Stephens in the Esso Performing Arts collection". National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ a b Alan Burke obituary at Sydney Morning Herald
  3. ^ a b c "Lola Montez the musical". Janus Entertainment.
  4. ^ "English star is "Lola Montez"". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 26, no. 21. Australia. 29 October 1958. p. 39. Retrieved 9 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "Women's Letters". The Bulletin. 23 November 1960. p. 56.
  6. ^ Vagg, Stephen (4 November 2020). "Forgotten TV Plays: Pardon Miss Wescott". Filmink.
  7. ^ Hermia Boyd & Lola Montez: Designing an Australian gold rush musical. Arts Centre Melboure, February 2018 [1]
  8. ^ 1962 TV adaptation at Ausstage
  9. ^ Lola Montez at David Spicer Productions
  10. ^ "Arts and entertainment Lola Montez inspired Australian musical". The Canberra Times. Vol. 63, no. 19, 411. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 28 November 1988. p. 17. Retrieved 27 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Goldfield spirit in light, bright 'Lola'". The Canberra Times. Vol. 63, no. 19, 418. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 December 1988. p. 20. Retrieved 27 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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