AustLit

The House That Jack Built was the fourth Frank Dix pantomine to be staged in Australia following his arrival in 1912 to produce Puss in Boots for J. C. Williamson's - the others being The Forty Thieves (1914) and Cinderella (1915). As with the earlier productions Dix collaborated with local or locally-based practitioners, in this instance with music director/composer Victor Champion and writer Harry Taylor. The libretto was also produced with the help of English actor George M. Slater.

Although the critics were mostly impressed with the three hour extravaganza, staged with some 140 juveniles, most of the praise was lavished on the, scenic art, choreography and performances - especially the six actors who were making their Australian debuts. In its review of the opening night the Argus critic wrote:

The nursery rhyme of Jack's simple architectural essay and those who took advantage of it is told directly the curtain rises by pencillings on a huge slate and school children's chorus which follows each item as it is figured. Thereafter all is brilliant extravaganza burlesque ballets, and turns (26 December 1916, p.3).

On the same day the Age review records:

The pantomime season, with all its revelry of color and jest, and its care-free atmosphere of fairyland, is once more with us, and was triumphantly and gorgeously ushered in at Her Majesty's Theatre on Saturday night, when a very large audience gave the heartiest of welcomes to the story of The House that Jack Built. To tell the truth, as is the case with most pantomimes, the story of Jack and of his house was rather obscure. It was almost lost in a maze of rainbow color and a flood of light-hearted music. But that mattered nothing, for the fun was fast and furious and the pantomime went with a swing from start to finish without any trace of first-night stiffness out it, and with its succession of glowing pageants, its bewildering variety of dresses, its novel ballets and stage effects it is probably one of the most successful from a spectacular point of view that has yet been staged for Melbourne audiences (26 December 1916, p.7).

The critic appears to have been largely unimpressed with Victor Champion's score, however, noting that although tuneful, it was "not all that good."

Not surprisingly The House That Jack Built introduced a good deal of patriotic material - notably in songs such as 'Anzac' (presented amidst a khaki attired chorus bearing in their haversacks cleverly devised lighted letters forming the title of the song) and 'Our Boys,' set to a scena revealing the Sphinx, behind which was the deck of a battleship with guns and searchlights in action. 'Our Own Dear Flag' was staged with a chorus of allied flags with the Union Jack and Commonwealth flags unfurled over the footlights, while 'The Dance of Emotions,' portrayed purity, death and the triumph of love.