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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
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).
Notes
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The 1918 Brisbane Pot Pourri production is not believed to have been the first of these season finales.
Production Details
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1918: Empire Theatre, Brisbane, 24-30 August.
- Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd.
- Troupe Nat Phillips' Stiffy and Mo Company.
- Cast incl. Nat Phillips (Stiffy), Roy Rene (Mo), Daisy Merritt, Caddy Franks, Horace Mann, Dan M. Dunbar, Peter Brooks, Belle Pollard, Walter Jackson [aka Walter Whyte], Vince Courtney, Cliffe O'Keefe.
1921: Empire Theatre, Brisbane, 9-15 October.
- Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd.
- Troupe Stiffy and Mo Company.
- Cast incl. Nat Phillips, Roy Rene, Daisy Merritt, Dan M. Dunbar, Lola Hunt, Belle Pollard, Gerald Cashman, Walter Jackson [aka Walter Whyte], Dot O'Dea.
1927: Empire Theatre, Brisbane, 5-11 March (as Go as you Please).
- Director Nat Phillips; Producer Fullers' Theatres Ltd. Music Director Frank Wilson.
- Troupe Nat Phillips' Whirligigs.
- Cast incl. Nat Phillips, Roy Rene, Jack Kellaway ('Erb), Daisy Merritt, Dan M. Dunbar, Dan Weldon, Dorothy Manning, Mary Laurence, Polly Power, and the Radio Six.
- Musicians Charleston Super Six Symphonists, incl. Frank Wilson (trombone/accordion), 'Tiny' Douglas (violin), Art Dewar (banjo), Frank Morton (banjo), Les Clements (piano).
- Mary Laurence's surname is sometimes spelled Lawrence. Her first name is sometimes given as May.
