AustLit

Revue.

Although no details regarding this revue have been located, it was likely a pot pourri-style entertainment that drew on popular items (or requests) from the shows staged during the season.

Revue.

Revue.

Revue.

Described in the Sydney Morning Herald in 1932 as 'a musical comedy with an Eastern setting', Heads Off is said to have allowed Phillips 'full scope for his particular type of humour and together with with Messrs. Keith Connelly and Joe Lawman, provided a great deal of amusing farce' (1 February 1932, p.4).

Revue.

In its review of the 1932 Grand Opera production, the Sydney Morning Herald reports that 'The audience saw an entertainment as something of a colourful kaleidoscope, with Nat Phillips and his company producing in rapid succession a variety of bright turns and scenes. One of the features of the programme, with an effective stage setting, was the song scena in which Angela Parselles and Nita Carr appeared' (25 January 1932, p.4).

Revusical.

Revusical.

Revusical.

Revue.

Revusical.

Money to Burn is described in an Age review as a 'musical comedy revuette' (17 December 1928, p.12). Phillips again plays his alter ego 'Stiffy.' According to the Nat Phillips Collection manuscript, the characters in this revusical include Stiffy, 'Erb, Pacy, Pom, Mrs Rock, and Girls.

Revusical.

The Brisbane Courier theatre critic writes: 'The Mustard Pot was what it pleased Nat Phillips to call his revuette because that was the name of the inn which formed the setting for the antics of himself and his supporters. Stiffy and 'Erb were in their favourite roles as two knights of the road with voracious appetites and no money. The shifts they put on to get something to eat and then evade payment provide all the fun that could be desired' (14 February 1927, p.22).

Songs known to have been incorporated into the 1927 Brisbane production included 'Dreams of Long Ago' (sung by Hal Cooper) and 'Cavelier' (Dorothy Manning).

Revusical.

'As usual Stiffy (Mr Nat Phillips) plays an important part in the success of [this] production,' writes the Brisbane Courier theatre critic:

'Everything he does has a quaintly original touch, and his humour never flags. The "buying of the business" by Stiffy and 'Erb leads to a host of amusing situations, and many weird and wonderful business deals are finalized - always to the discomfiture of the gullible Stiffy. His efforts to recoup himself invariably ended in further monetary loses, in which the ethics of true business were not always rigidly observed. Woven into the revue are many colourful ballets which are daintily executed by as bright a bevy of girls as ever stepped [on] a stage' (31 January 1927, p.18).

One of the songs incorporated in the revusical was 'Maggie Dooly' (sung by Daisy Merritt).

Revusical.

A newly wedded couple set out on their honeymoon but unexpectedly encounter the antics of Stiffy and Erb, 'a couple of "buttinskis" whose fate in the ladder of life had called upon them to act as waiters in a fashionable restaurant' (Brisbane Courier 24 January 1927, p.16). The action and laughs are played out in the restaurant as the couple, their friends, and the bride's parents attempt to cope with each other and the two larrikin waiters.

Songs incorporated into the 1927 Brisbane production included 'A String of Pearls' and 'Tiptoe' (performed by May Laurence), 'Every Time I See You' (Polly Power), 'Lonesome and Sorry' (Dorothy Manning), and a yodeling song performed by Harry Cash.

Revusical.

Stiffy and Mo (Stiffy and 'Erb in 1927) play bailiffs 'who attempt all sorts of subterfuge and disguises to affect entry into a house, but the occupier (Daisy Merritt) is too astute for them' (Brisbane Courier 17 January 1927, p.16).

Among the songs presented in the 1925 Melbourne production were Queenie Paul's composition 'A Smile in Everybody' (sung by Paul and Mike Connors), 'Star of the East', and 'Pyjama Blues'.

Revusical.

Stiffy and 'Erb are two 'soldiers of sort' on leave, who visit the home of Miss Amelia, the aunt of their mate Harry. The visit is complicated by Aunt Amelia's worry over her soldier nephew's supposed mesalliance, the presence of her ward Phoebe, and the arrival of the soldiers' superior, Captain Andrews.

Among the songs incorporated into the Whirligig's 1926 Brisbane season were 'Grey Hair, Grey Eyes' (Mike Connors and Queenie Paul), 'No Foolin'' and 'Row, Row, Rosie' (Elsie Hoskins and chorus), and 'Cobber of Mine' (Dan Weldon).

Revue.

Little is known about this revusical, believed to have been first staged in 1925. The Age theatre critic simply records, 'At the Bijou on Saturday Stiffy (Nat Phillips) and Mo (Roy Rene) staged another revue entitled The Huntsmen. The adventures of these absurd comedians and the machinations of the villain made a hit with a crowded house... Dan Dunbar gave an excellent sketch of an old-time actor, Horatio Muggs, his exaggerated comedy proving very popular' (13 April 1925, p.5).

Although the 1928 Whirligig's Bijou season is described in advertising as a 'new and original revue' (Age 26 December 1928, p.16), it is likely that it was based on this revusical. Roy Rene's part would, in the 1928 version, have most likely been performed by Jack Kellaway (possibly as 'Erb).

Revusical.

Stiffy and Mo appear as merchant seamen, creating havoc aboard and ashore. The parts were played by Nat Phillips and Jack Kellaway (as Stiffy and 'Erb) ca. 1926. Although little is known about this revusical and its storyline, the Sydney Morning Herald theatre critic notes:

An abundance of fun was provided at Fuller's on Saturday with the return of the popular Stiffy and Mo Company. The entire second half of the programme was devoted to staging the company's laughable revue The Sailors.... Nat Phillips, who is the writer and producer of the sketch, was as versatile as ever in his favourite role, "Stiffy", while Roy Rene, "Mo", again proved himself to be a mirth-maker of high order. The many musical numbers accompanying the sketch were well given, and the effectiveness of the revue was greatly enhanced by the bright ballets (1 September 1924, p.6).

Revusical.

Stiffy and Mo are a couple of bell-boys at a hotel, who find themselves mixed up in the troubles of two young lovers, Helen and Frank, and Helen's father, Hiam Plaster. When the father arrives at the hotel, he is suspicious and demands to see his daughter. Stiffy and Mo help keep Frank hidden and then devise a plan to trick Mr Plaster into accepting Helen's relationship with Frank. As usual, however, the two larrikins manage to turn the situation upside down with their shenanigans. An Age review from 1925 proposes that the 'title could easily have been changed to "The Hotel Impossible" without altering the significance of the entertainment' (16 February 1925, p.11).

Songs known to have been incorporated into the 1924 production include 'I am the Manager,' 'We are a Couple of Bellboys,' and 'At the Grand.' The 1925 Bijou Theatre production included 'What'll I Do?' and 'Rose of the Rio Grande.'

The 1932 revival saw Joe Lawman take over the role previously played by Roy Rene (Mo) and Jack Kellaway ('Erb).

Revusical.

Stiffy and Mo are janitors at a bank. The other characters are Mr Morgan (a banker), Mazie (his daughter), Freddie (her fiancee), Jacques (the manager), Quilpy (a clerk), Miss Fussy (the head typist), Dora (a secretary), and Mrs Mush (the charwoman). An advertisement for the 1925 Bijou Theatre production records, however, that Stiffy and Mo appeared 'as do it yourself bank clerks' (Age 23 Mar. 1925, p.12), while the Brisbane Courier records in 1927 that Stiffy and 'Erb (Nat Phillips and Jack Kellaway) portrayed 'bank clerks of the never-to-be-seen order' with the pair developing 'many highly amusing situations in the world of finance' (7 February 1927, p.15).

Among the songs presented during the 1922 Sydney production (Fullers' Theatre) were 'Come, Be a Sport' (chorus), 'If it comes from Dixieland' (Ivy Davis, Ida Merton and girls), 'Parisian Jazz' (Doc O'Brien and girls), 'Maizie' (Connors and Paul), 'Oh, Laws Laugh' (Merton and O'Brien), 'Jaffalla' (Mike Connors and girls), 'Belgravia' (Nat Phillips and Gladys Shaw), 'All By Myself' (Queenie Paul and girls), 'On My Feet Again' (Keith Connolly and girls), and 'Close the Bank' (company).

Two of the hits from the 1927 Whirligig version were 'Let's Buy the Bank' (a duet sung by Stiffy and 'Erb) and 'Talking to the Moon' (by Dorothy Manning).

Revue.

A Pot Pourri is more a revue than a revusical, in that it had no narrative structure. In this respect, each production (invariably presented as a Stiffy and Mo season finale) was made up of popular selections from the troupe's repertoire over the course of the season. The title appears to have been changed over time, with a similar end of season production in Brisbane during 1927 given the billing Go As You Please.

A 1927 Truth review sheds some light on the production, recording:

The farewell week of the Whirligigs' revue company was begun at the Empire last night, when Stiffy and Mo presented a jumbled mixture of drollery culled from the revues played in the past weeks ... Backed up by Jack Kellaway ('Little 'Erb'), Polly Power and Dan Dunbar, the production lent itself to the versatility of the two principals (6 March 1927, p.10).