Antonio Carlos Jobim, Composer, Dies at 67

Photo courtesy IMDb

By William Grimes

Antonio Carlos Jobim, the Brazilian composer, songwriter and musician whose hits "The Girl From Ipanema" and "Desafinado" touched off the bossa-nova craze of the 1960's and inspired many American jazz artists, died yesterday at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Manhattan. He was 67.

The cause was heart failure, said Leeza Peltz, a hospital spokeswoman.

Mr. Jobim (pronounced zho-BEEN), who had homes in New York City and Rio de Janiero, entered the hospital on Monday for treatment of blocked arteries, said Brigida Barros, an official at the Brazilian consulate in New York.

Brazil's Minister of Culture, Luiz Roberto do Nascimento e Silva, said Mr. Jobim "was a musician who universalized our music" and called his death "an irreparable loss."

Athough he was known primarily for "The Girl from Ipanema" and "Desafinado," Mr. Jobim, by his own estimate, wrote some 400 songs, including "One Note Samba," "How Insensitive," "Wave," "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars," "Meditation," "No More Blues" and "Dindi."

Mr. Jobim, who was inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame in New York in 1991, also played piano and sang. He performed on Frank Sinatra's recent recording "Duets."

Widely praised as one of the great pop composers of his time, he employed unusual harmonies. "I was a beach boy, and I believe I learned my songs from the birds of the Brazilian forest," he told The Associated Press in a 1991 interview.

Mr. Jobim was born in 1927 in Rio de Janeiro and grew up nearby in Ipanema. He played the guitar and piano as a child and at 14 began studying under the 12-tone composer Hans Joachim Koellrutter. He worked briefly for an architect in the 1940's, but after hearing Duke Ellington and other American bandleaders perform in Rio, he decided to become a musician, performing in the small, crowded Rio clubs known as "inferninhos," or "little infernos."

The trumpeter Bill Horne described Mr. Jobim's samba style at the time as quite distinctive, "soft and sophisticated, in much the same way an American pop tune sounds with a subdued modern jazz treatment."

By the late 40's Mr. Jobim was performing his own compositions, and in the early 50's he found work as an arranger for a large Brazilian recording company.

With the guitarist and composer Luis Bonfa, he wrote the samba-influenced score for the French-Brazilian film "Black Orpheus," which retold the Orpheus myth in the setting of Brazil's Carnaval. The movie was a worldwide hit and won an Academy Award for best foreign film in 1959.

Mr. Jobim, who had become the music director for Odeon records, began collaborating with Joao Gilberto, who was mixing samba and jazz in what came to be known as the bossa nova. Their first single was "Chega de Saudade," or "No More Blues," which became a jazz standard.

Bossa nova was a quiet revolution in Brazilian music. Built on the samba, it transferred the rhythms and messages of public celebrations to an intimate scale. Syncopated guitar chords replaced much of the percussion; melodies and harmonies echoed the twists of cool jazz, and lyrics were sly and elliptical, often sung in a whisper. Mr. Jobim's songs, written with such lyricists as Newton Mendonca and Vinicius de Moraes, set a sophisticated standard for bossa-nova craftsmanship, influencing songwriters around the world.

The bossa nova, and Mr. Jobim's music, won an even wider audience when the saxophonist Stan Getz and the guitarist Charlie Byrd recorded the album "Jazz Samba" on the Verve label in 1962. The album, which included "Desafinado" and "Meditation," reached the top of the pop charts. Mr. Jobim made his United States debut with Mr. Gilberto, Getz and Mr. Byrd at Carnegie Hall in 1962.

Further acclaim came with the 1964 album "Getz/Gilberto," which included "The Girl from Ipanema." Mr. Jobim played piano on some songs.

Mr. Jobim recorded several solo albums, including "Wave and Tide" (1967), "Stone Flower" (1970), "Urubu" (1975) and "Terra Brasilis" (1980), as well as scores for for films, notably "Bahia" (with Walter Queiroiz). With the renewal of interest in Brazilian music in the mid-1980's, Mr. Jobim began performing again. In April he appeared at Carnegie Hall in a program celebrating the 50th anniversary of Verve records.

He is survived by his wife; their son and daughter; a son and daughter from a previous marriage, and a sister, Helena.

First published at The New York Times, December 9, 1994

Review: RUSSIAN PIANO MUSIC OF THE REPRESSIONIST ERA. Larry Sitsky, piano, at James Fairfax Theatre, NGA, Oct 9 1994. Reviewed by Tony Magee

Fascinating, entertaining, astonishing, educational, witty, humorous....... Larry Sitsky packs so much into his concert presentations, its somehow easy to forget that he is also a masterful pianist and interpreter.

This piano recital, and lecture that followed, dealt with music from Russian repressionist composers, an era sometimes referred to as "The Silver Age Of Russian Art". Mr Sitsky's new book, Music Of The Repressed Russian Avant-guard, 1900 - 1929, was launched at the conclusion of the Lecture.

As Mr Sitsky explained, whilst the composers represented are not household words today, the music is important because it accompanies significant economic and social change within a society. These composers were literally plunged straight into the public eye as fitting accompaniments to revolution - "a revolutionary society must have revolutionary music". So for a time (1900 - 1929), this avant-guard music became very much part of the establishment, and although it's demise came almost as quickly as its rise to popularity it has left a significant mark on the map of 20th century classical music.

But who are these "repressionist" composers? Mr Sitsky's book deals with a large number, but for the purpose of his recital, we were treated to examples from five.

Nicolai Roslavets' (1881 - 1944) second sonata (1915) opened the concert. This piece is particularly noteworthy as the point at which the composer formulates his own identifiable method of composition. He also developed, independently of Schoenberg, theories of 12 note serialism.

Five short pieces (1914) from Arthur Lourie (1892 - 1966) followed which demonstrated the composer's experiments with atonal music. In his later works he abandoned this for a modal style of writing.

Three pieces by Leonid Polovinkin provide the earliest examples of "fiddling" with a piano. In the second of this set of three, objects were placed on the strings of the Yamaha CF-3 concert grand. The piece featured dramatic arpeggiated chords with heavy use of the sustain pedal. These were punctuated by staccato notes, which combined with the object on the strings produced a wonderful percussion effect.

Polovinkin was heavily influenced by the French impressionists and this was certainly evident in these pieces, particularly the third one which could have been 

mistaken for Debussy.

My second encounter in a month (see Muse Crits, October '94) with Alexander Mosolov (1900 - 1973), came in the form of his Sonata No 1 (1924). The music is composed in rhythmic blocks which are often repeated and is referred to as 'constructionist' music.

Much of this music is hair-raisingly difficult, but nothing presented a problem for Mr Sitsky. He carried each piece off with flair and style, while also being able to administer the most delicate of sounds and emotions when required. All-in-all, a captivating performance presented with the charming humility that is Larry Sitsky.

First published in Muse Magazine Nov 1994

Review: RACHMANINOV PIANO CONCERTO NO.3, Larry Sitsky piano, Isaiah Jackson conductor, Canberra Symphony Orchestra, at Llewellyn Hall, Oct 27 1994

Isaiah Jackson

by Tony Magee

Isaiah Jackson brings to Canberra and its orchestra an international experience and to my mind, our orchestra delivered the goods well and truely. He is also a showman 'par excellence'! Add to this the remarkable and electrifying pianist and composer Larry Sitsky and the result was a stunning concert presentation of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 3 in D minor, Sitsky's Songs and Dances from 'The Golem' and Beethoven's Symphony No 5 in C minor.

The program opened with the Rachmaninov - huge sweeping beats from Isaiah Jackson and the clearest piano tone imaginable from Larry Sitsky, as he played the opening lyrical melody, which according to musicologist Joseph Yasser, is derived from an ancient chant of the Russian Orthodox Church. As the first movement progressed the piano began to dominate more and more climaxing in a huge thunderous onslaught of sound suddenly contrasted by lyrical arpeggiated chords over which beautifully executed solos sang out from Vernon Hill on flute, David Nuttall on oboe, Rachel Best Allen on clarinet and Dominic Harvey on horn. 

During the piano cadenza, Mr Sitsky delivered us through soft delicate lyrical passages and stormy onslaughts, followed by a return from the orchestra which featured some excellent ensemble playing from the cellos over the top of well executed pizzicato work from the basses. 

To my mind, Larry Sitsky restores humanity to the concert platform - gone were the traditional tails and white bow- tie, in favour of a kind of gold lamae vest over black shirt and trousers; taking off his glasses during piano tacets to wipe his brow and face - just venturing into the slightly unconventional without having to be deliberately reactionary.

Isaiah Jackson abandoned his baton at the beginning of the 2nd movement and controlled his orchestra with remarkable flowing gestures from both hands, rather like a magician casting a magic spell. The violins and violas sounded particularly lush here. This movement also featured a small clarinet duet, superbly played by Rachel Best Allen and Chris Woods.

As Jonathan Kramer states in the program notes, the third movement is a study in piano textures, a fact delivered with conviction by Mr Sitsky. At one point, the Llewellyn Hall resounded in three huge chords where conductor, pianist and orchestra were all operating as one - it was an electrifying moment. This performance was just so wonderfully great. I loved every moment.

Larry Sitsky

Larry Sitsky's Songs and Dances from "The Golem" is a fascinating work. This is a kind of suite based on the Christian and Jewish hymns and folk melodies which appear in the full opera. We were advised by the composer that if we imagined something fairly 'nasty' was going on as a kind of programmatic theme to the suite, then we would be on the right track. This was certainly easily imagined whilst listening to the performance - drama, suspense, intrigue etc. The folk tunes were easily evident, but were often underplayed by a disharmonic countermelody which gave an overall eerie and haunting presence to the piece. 

Mr Jackson demonstrated not only total control over the orchestra, but also over the audience as he held the last dwindling moments of the F pedal point with slowly falling arms and then kept that moment for a further few seconds before his body gestures signalled that the piece was finished - what conducting craftsmanship. 

Canberra Symphony Orchestra last played Beethoven's Symphony No 5 in the November season of 1987 under Leonard Dommett. This performance under Isaiah Jackson was assured and exciting and perhaps at a slightly faster tempo than say a hallmark performance by Karajan or Klemperer. The eagerly awaited brass fanfares of the 2nd movement rang out with great clarity. 

At the conclusion of the performance, Mr Jackson was visibly delighted with the orchestra, shaking the hands of many of the players and generally and deservedly milking maximum applause from the very enthusiastic Thursday night audience.

First published in Muse Arts Monthly (Canberra), Nov 1994

Review: MUSIC AND POETRY OF THE SEASONS, performed by Cathexis, October 23, 1994, at Alliance de Franchaise. Reviewed by Tony Magee

Shock, Horror! Someone actually managed to put an entertainment program together reflecting the seasons without mentioning or playing Vivaldi!

In fact the afternoon's concert was a well constructed program of mostly original and some traditional compositions (but all original arrangements) played by folk group, Cathexis (def: "the investment of emotional significance in an activity, object or idea"). The members of the group are Stephen Rosenberg, Bruce Robertson and Steve Hartnett. The music was interspersed with quality poetry by Canberra poets Frank McMahon and Ken Gardiner.

The instruments chosen for the performance were a combination of the familiar - acoustic guitars, flute, harmonica and voice - and the not-so-familiar - acoustic bass guitar (a much larger body than the conventional guitar with a depth of sound that was simply stunning), a small "petite" guitar, a monster tin whistle (pitched in D) and various improvised percussion instruments.

The music and poetry was designed to reflect the moods and emotions of the four seasons in the order Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter and with the help of Stephen Rosenberg's informative and appropriately casual narration, this goal was achieved very successfully. Many audience members could be seen closing their eyes, as indeed was I, perhaps utilising the music's deliberate programmatic effect to conjure up images appropriate with each season, or just mildly tapping their feet or hands to the various beats.

More than this however, taken out of the context of this presentation, each original piece stands up quite well on its own simply as a delightful melody, with its own, and sometimes unusual, harmonic and rhythmic structure.

First published in Muse Magazine Nov 1994

Advertisement: 3rd Anniversary Concert - The Singing Waiters

THE VALLEY VIEW

12 October 1994

Jillian Donaldson and the Tony Magee Quartet - Wagga RAAF Officers' Spring Ball

 

'Driving Miss Daisy' star Jessica Tandy dies at 85

Jessica Tandy. Photo: John Mayne

Jessica Tandy, who enhanced the American theater and enriched the American screen as few actresses have, died Sunday at her home in Easton, Conn. She was 85.

The cause was ovarian cancer, said her husband, actor Hume Cronyn, who was by her side when she died about 6 a.m.

Tandy, who was born in London on June 7, 1909, triumphed on Broadway in 1947 as Blanche Dubois in Tennessee Williams' ``Streetcar Named Desire,'' which co-starred Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski. She was still a great star more than 40 years later when she played the title character in the 1989 film ``Driving Miss Daisy.''

In the years between, she and her husband played opposite each other in success after success to become the most illustrious theater couple of their day.

With the role of Blanche Dubois, Tandy emerged from a series of minor film roles as a maid for some of Hollywood's leading ladies to establish herself as one of the leading ladies of the stage.

When she was 80, her portrayal of an aging and fiercely independent Southern lady in ``Driving Miss Daisy'' won her critical acclaim from Los Angeles to Berlin and, at last, an Academy Award. When she received the Oscar in March 1990, she was the oldest person ever to win one.

The Academy Award came one year after she won an Emmy for her performance in the television adaptation of ``Foxfire,'' of which her husband was a co-writer. Even after she became seriously ill, she continued to work, completing three films and two television dramas.

When Tandy and Cronyn first appeared together, in ``The Fourposter'' in 1951, audiences found a husband-and-wife team that would come to succeed Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne as the foremost couple of the American theater. One triumph followed another, culminating in ``The Gin Game'' in 1977 and ``Foxfire'' in 1982.

Tandy was nominated five times for a Tony and won three: in 1948 for her role as Blanche Dubois, for ``The Gin Game,'' and for ``Foxfire.'' Cronyn also was nominated for ``The Gin Game'' but did not win. ``I was bitterly disappointed,'' Tandy said. ``His performance is part of mine. I think he's very proud when I win, and vice versa.''

Her memory and her legacy as an actress were honored Sunday night at the Emmy Awards, where she and Cronyn were nominees for their performances in ``Hallmark Hall of Fame: To Dance With the White Dog.'' Tandy was not selected, though Cronyn received an Emmy for his role.

The audience at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium observed a moment of silence for her.

``I am saddened by the death but inspired by the life of Jessica Tandy,'' said presenter Faye Dunaway.

In July, Tandy and her husband were honored with a special Tony for their life's work in the theater. They had already received the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement medal in December 1986, and the National Medal of Art from President Bush in 1990.

Besides ``Miss Daisy,'' Tandy's movies included ``The Seventh Cross'' (1944), ``Forever Amber'' (1947), Walt Disney's ``Light in the Forest'' (1958), Alfred Hitchcock's ``The Birds'' (1963), ``Butley'' (1974) with Alan Bates, ``The World According to Garp'' (1982) with Robin Williams, ``The Bostonians'' (1984), ``Cocoon'' (1985), ``Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991) and ``Used People'' (1992).

There was no temperament, no tantrums. Elia Kazan, her director in ``Streetcar'' said: ``She's absolutely sweet-natured. She does her job; she has a sense of humor.''

With each performance her reviews improved. ``I think I've gotten better,'' she said when she was 77. ``I've gotten more confident in myself in the last five to six years. Earlier I think I distrusted myself. I'd be in things I felt weren't being done right, and I didn't speak up. Now I do. I think people trust me.''

First published at The Roanoke Times, September 12, 1994

Peter Cushing, Actor, Dies at 81; Known for Playing Frankenstein

The late Peter Cushing was an iconic actor known for Dracula and Star WarsCredit: Getty - Contributor

Peter Cushing, a British actor who chilled a generation of filmgoers as the evil Baron Frankenstein, died yesterday in a hospice in Canterbury, England. He was 81.

The cause was cancer, The Associated Press reported.

With his gaunt figure, gentlemanly demeanor and controlled acting, Mr. Cushing brought a creepy power to his portrayal of the mad scientist Baron Frankenstein in films like "Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell" and "Frankenstein Created Woman." His film roles also included Dracula. Hammer's Olivier

The horror films were produced by Hammer Films in Britain. In 1970, in his review of "Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed" in The New York Times, Vincent Canby called Mr. Cushing "Hammer's Laurence Olivier."

He "plays the baron once again," Mr. Canby wrote, "impeccably seedy in his spats and raspberry smoking jackets. If for no other reason, I would cherish Cushing for having inspired the following biographical note in Leslie Halliwell's 'Filmgoer's Companion.' Cushing, says Halliwell, 'has played Baron Frankenstein, Van Helsing, Sherlock Holmes and Captain Clegg, and has dealt firmly with mummies and gorgons.' "

Mr. Cushing was born on May 26, 1913, in Kenley, England, and won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. He made his stage debut in 1935, then set off for Hollywood. He found work in several films, including "The Man in the Iron Mask" and "A Chump at Oxford" with Laurel and Hardy.

He returned to Britain during World War II to help entertain the troops and met and married the actress Helen Beck, who died in 1971. After the war, he was a member of Olivier's Old Vic company and was praised for his performance as the foppish courtier Osric in Olivier's 1948 film version of "Hamlet." He branched into television and won awards in the 1950's playing a range of classic roles, in "Pride and Prejudice," "The Winslow Boy," "Beau Brummell" and "1984."

In the 1960's, he starred with Christopher Lee in "Dr. Terror's House of Horrors," and in 1972, he appeared with Vincent Price in "Dr. Phibes Rises Again." Among his many other film credits are "The Hound of the Baskervilles," "The House That Dripped Blood," "Tales From the Crypt" and "Star Wars.”

First published at The New York Times, August 12, 1994

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Article: Crunchy Frog leaps into the big pond

by Naomi Mapstone

Inspiration comes from strange places.

Canberra’s first and only music distribution service, headed by well-known local performer and musical agent Tony Magee in called Crunchy Frog.

Monty Python enthusiasts may recall a particular chocolate by that same name (“tender baby frogs… lovingly enveloped in chocolate, when you bite in the little bones just go crunch”) from the Monty Python Whizzo assortment of chocolates a few years back.

Magee certainly did. He liked it so much he named his company after it.

Top, the Crunchy Frog logo and,
below, the man behind the label.

Inspiration for the actual business came in a much more predictable way. Magee was encouraged by a “flurry” of CD’s produced by local musical groups such as the Canberra New Music Ensemble and the Vocal Group from The Canberra School of Music and decided selling recorded music would be a natural progression from selling live music.

At the time, he was busy selling a CD by eight-piece funk-rock band The Throbs, Mind Behind the Sky, to local stores and had made some of the contacts he needed to start selling CDs by other local performers.

Larger record companies do not usually even look twice at people on the local level. “I’m small fry for small fry,” Magee said, which is perhaps a bit of an understatement of the work he has taken on.

He has so far signed a number of local talents, including The Throbs and Folked Up Jazz band Straight Ahead, as well as receiving a number of inquiries from interstate bands.

The Throbs featured this week on Nine Network’s Wonderworld and their CD has been selling reasonably well in Canberra but a bit slower in Sydney, Magee said.

Straight Ahead’s Folked Up Jazz CD has been selling great guns in Canberra, but again, slower in Sydney.

Magee has a number of other projects on the drawing board, including a CD from The Singing Waiters and a classical piano four-hands CD from Mark and Anna Jurkiewicz.

Canberra’s continued expansion will ensure a steady flow of local talent seeking a way to sell their wares. Churchy Frog, it seems, has chosen the perfect time to leap into a ever-growing pond with a great deal of potential.

First published in The Canberra Times, July 16 1994

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In a wonder world of throbotrons

by Rachel Hill

Two years ago at a legendary gig when lead singer of The Throbs, Andrew Bisset, said “the show must go on”, the famous saying took on a whole new meaning.

While his eight-piece band was performing at a private function he had an internal haemorrhage and fainted.

He was dragged into the back room and revived, had a quick discussion about what to do with the room full of people, collected the cheque, got back on his feet and finished the gig.

Lying in his sick bed in hospital, Andrew was approached by the saxophonist with a new song called Throb Your Life Away.

“It was so appropriate because I had taken a big step towards the edge myself. I thought if you’ve got to go, what better way to go than doing what you love,” Andrew said.

While in intensive care and strung out on morphine, the “guts on another song” were composed.

Both of these songs were used on the band’s first CD, Mind Behind the Sky, which also served as a useful recuperation initiative for Andrew.

After the accident Andrew and the band’s manager Tony Magee, planned a full-strength attack on the iron doors of Sydney’s record companies and were lucky enough to open one.

Although EMI let them in, the forbidding words “we’ll get back to you” were spoken and the pair soon found themselves, their suits and their tapes on the other side of the door.

A few months later, the footman delivered a magic scroll.

The trumpets sounded and the drums rolled as The Throbs read with glee an offer from EMI to sign a deal with Channel Nine’s popular program Wonderworld.

Since then the show has been using the band’s music as backing for some of their stories.

Taking another jaunt to Sydney to “press flesh” with Wonderworld, the same pair ventured forth, coming away with another gold star.

The following day Wonderworld called and said they wanted to film the band.

The video clip of Throb Your Life Away went to air on June 15.

Pleased with the choice, Andrew said, “with the song being so rhythmically intricate, the visual images could work just as fast, which is what you want in a clip.”

In true Wonderworld style the band never knows when another song is going to be used, that is until the footman reappears with a postcard and a request scrawled on the back.

How can things be taken too seriously when the name of the band was inspired by the Kenny Everett Video Show.

Remember Captain Kremmin and the voluptuous Carla? The band did.

It took its name from the space control’s Throbotron - a strange machine that the pair hopped into for a bit of R and R.

Mind Behind the Sky is distributed through Crunchy Frog.

First published in The Canberra Times, June 1994.

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Warwick wins Canberra hearts

Dionne Warwick in Concert

Royal Theatre, Canberra

May 17, 1994

by Graham McDonald

RATHER dreading a past-her-use-by-date pop singer, dutifully plodding through a succession of 30 year old pop songs, this concert proved to be an un-expected delight.

We certainly heard all the big hits, but these were deftly packaged together in a medley right at the start of the show. For the rest of the evening, we were treated to a section of mostly Brazilian material.

Warwick now lives in Brazil, so we got sambas, a short medley of songs by Antonio Carlos Jobim and a lengthy production of a song called 10,000 Words by American songwriter Brenda Russell with a definite South American flavour.

Her backing band did everything expected of it and the trio was sparingly but effectively used. Warwick’s voice has lost the top few notes with the passing years, but she works around that with arrangements and phrasing.

She finished the show with the audience on their feet demanding, but not getting and encore.

The opening act by local singer Ra Khahn, charmed the audience with a set that was well thought out, ably assisted by Tony Magee and piano. Khahn showed poise and confidence on stage.

First published in The Canberra Times, May 19, 1994

Article: Rep's Old Time Music Hall Turns 20

muse Arts Monthly

May 1994

C O V E R    S T O R Y

Tony Magee reports on kidnappings, fun, discipline and more self-indulgence.

Oh we are three

Ladies of the Rep Company

Who’ve spent a month in rehearsal

Creating universal

Espirit

In Canberra in the early 1970’s, the late Helen Wilson threw wonderful “showbiz” parties that often ended up with a sing-a-long around 3am. She had in her possession some song sheets which had been procured from Players Theatre in London, which held (and still does) an annual Music Hall. Other guests at these parties included Rosemary Hyde, Russell Brown and Andrew Kay. ‘Hey! Why don’t we put on a music hall show…!’

We’re joined by

Four

Others from the hearts of the Corps

Who take their dancing and singing

As seriously as winning

The war

The heyday of Music Hall was from the 1850’s to the First World War, when it became a distinct kind of entertainment with its own theatre, players and repertory. The actual name “music hall” was simply a description of the places where such entertainment took place. Specially adapted or constructed halls were added to public houses to attract custom by providing entertainment. Songs, sketches and ditties were written or adapted, often reflecting the working class life, who were the intended audience.

We ask you

What is it about the Music Hall

That we sing you this song?

It isn’t just because you’re a Londoner

That keeps you coming along

Canberra’s music hall, which is produced by Canberra Repertory Society, began in 1974 and this year marks its 20th anniversary (there was no production in 1977). Even though it was started out of sheer enthusiasm and a love for the art form, music hall has now also become the financial backbone of the Canberra Repertory Society.

The first show ran for two weeks and was held at Theatre Three. At this time, Ross McGregor was both director and manager for Rep. Rosemary Hyde recalls: ‘Helen and I, together with other enthusiastic performers decided to approach Rep Council about the possibility of staging a music hall, with me as director! They agreed, although Ross was a little apprehensive at first - he would normally have directed all of Rep’s productions for the year. Norma Robertson and Andrew Kay teamed up as our pianists and Hector MacMillan was the MC. Russell Brown took over this job in 1975, however he was involved in the ’74 production as a performer. He has never missed a performance.’

Rosemary Hyde has in fact directed all but two music halls. The late Ian Howard directed in 1980, and Colin Anderson directed in 1991. Rosemary has also performed in all of the seasons to date and is fondly dubbed as ‘The Queen of the Music Hall’.

So here’s to Music Hall and Good Queen Rosemary!

How Norma and Andrew can play!

The ship will not go down with Master Russell Brown

While they all keep banging away!

No music hall entertainer was likely to achieve fame and subsequent demand for their services without at least one familiar song connected with his or her name. In the days before the establishment of copyright (around 1900), the music hall stars would buy their songs outright from the hardworking professional composers (Joseph Tabrar is credited with over two thousand songs) for extremely meagre amounts. Many a lasting favourite was sold for a guinea or two, and was then considered to be the singer’s exclusive property.

Rosemary Hyde: ‘With music hall, the show is never really written until the cast has been decided, then you choose the musical numbers to fit the cast. Some people have special songs which we like to bring back every few years or so.’

Doug Williams and Hec MacMillan could certainly both lay claim to ‘Have Some Madeira My Dear’ as could Trish Williams to the ‘Vienna Schnitzel Waltz’ (bang!). Kate Peters will always be ‘Sweet Emiline’, the then 8 years old Kirsty McGregor is unforgettable as ‘The Fairy on the Christmas Tree’ and in ‘Why do I do It’. Dick Goldberg is fondly remembered in ‘Two Lovely Black Eyes’. ‘I’m Only a Faded Rose’ belongs to Queen Rosemary, and Judy Burnett’s ‘A Spider in the Bath’ is another. Sometimes an act is shared by two or three - how about Dick Goldberg, Linda Pearson and Steve Bardwell in ‘Be My Baby Bumble Bee’!

There are also some originals which pianist Andrew Kay has written with specific performers in mind. 

For Rosemary, Andrew has written ‘The Farthing Song’ and ‘Never Been Kissed in the Same Place Twice’. He has also composed ‘Let’s Go Cricketing Together’ for David Cox, ‘Two Young Ladies From the Country’ and ‘It’s Fabulous Being a Fairy’ for Judy Burnett and Rosemary Hyde. ‘Brunhilda and Val Keary Ride Out’ is one for the threesome of Judy Burnett, Rosemary Hyde and Kate Peters.

Other Composers for music hall have been Peter Fyfe who wrote ‘Too Old to be a Principle Boy’ and ‘The Weed Song’ and Vivian Arnold’s ‘Apron and Cap’ performed by Karen Sourry and ‘Bow and Dickie’ for her husband Lindsay Roe, later performed by Gary Pollock.

And Now we’re 

Many

Dedicated women and men

Who’ll work their hardest and meanest

To make this show the cleanest

The English music halls of the 1880’s included such stars as Jenny Hill (1850 - 1895), Arthur Roberts (1852 - 1933) and Harry Randall (1860 - 1932). In Australia and America, similar types of variety shows were termed ‘vaudeville’ and were also intend as a family style entertainment. The burlesque was also a variety show, but strictly adults only. Two Australian vaudeville stars were Mo (Roy Rene) and Arthur Tauchert, later to be know as the ‘bloke’ in the 1919 silent film ‘The Sentimental Bloke’.

In England, the term ‘theatre of varieties’ was a common billing and the music hall gradually developed from providing entertainment as an extra to refreshments, to being a self contained place of theatrical entertainment. In 1914, the consumption of food and drink in the auditorium was forbidden and this marked the end of the old music hall in its original form.

Dick Goldberg recalls: ‘I remember when we were in Theatre Three, the audience were allowed to drink during the show! They would bring flagons of wine and pass them up and down the rows.’ Rosemary Hyde continues: ‘One night, an audience member was enjoying copious amounts of alcohol and became so noisy it looked like the audience was gong to lynch her! We offered her a refund during an interval, but she insisted that she would refrain from interjecting, which she did.’

Kate Peters was kidnapped from the stage one night, as Russell Brown recalls: ‘Kate had just finished performing ‘Why Am I Always The Bridesmaid’ and got called back for an encore. Two large men jumped up onto the stage and carried her off out the side door. I think Kate may have been a bit frightened at first, but fright quickly turned to anger when she realised they meant no harm, but had completely ruined her encore - there was a competition on at the time to see who could milk the most encores out of the audience!’

Just for the record, the undisputed encore king was Phil Thomas, who could get up to five on a good night.

Since being relocated to the ANU Arts Centre, the only drinking that goes on in the auditorium is by the MC, Russell Brown, who is delivered a delightful cold ale every so often by one of the enchanting female members of the chorus, affectionately known as ‘beer girls’! This practice is unique to Canberra’s music hall and came about through absolute necessity! Russell Brown explains: ‘Occasionally, something would go wrong - a performer would lose their voice and be unable to go on, or as on one accession, a delayed plane fight meant that the performer simply wasn’t there! Of course, being out front I never knew about these backstage mishaps so a note would have to be brought to me by a cast member, so I could announce a replacement act. It was decided that I needed a regular visit from a cast member, with a plausible reason for visiting - hence the beer girls slip me a note with my beer if there are any changes to the show!’

Something else unique to our music hall is the ritual of ‘warming up the audience’, as the man who conducted it, Graham Robertson, explains: ‘Warm-up really started when Norma and Andrew noticed that on nights when the audience sang through the overture, it always lifted the whole tone of the evening. So it was decided that a sing-a-long should start every show. I later developed a huge hand on the end of an extremely long arm that I could sort of poke down, and up, into the audience to ‘greet them!’’

Then more come by

And give your scruples one in the eye

And tell you naughty is nicer

And other good advice on the sly

Besides vocal renditions, music hall also has a huge visual impact. Helen Yiannakopoulos has been responsible for much of the choreography (as she is again this year), Lyn Ashcroft and Jeanette Brown are the ladies of the wardrobe, and the Master Of Ceremonies is also the Master of set building - Russell Brown. The music hall backdrop was designed and painted by Michael Salmon in 1977 for a show called ‘Deadwood Dick’ and has been used for music hall ever since.

The musical accompaniment for the original English music hall ranged from a single battered upright piano or accordion in the smaller venues to 20 or more piece orchestras in the larger halls like the famous Oxford Music Hall in Oxford Street. The musical team that is the engine room of our music hall is something of a legend  - pianists Norma Robertson and Andrew Kay. ‘I came to Canberra from the Sydney band scene’, explains Norma.

'I was in a 4 piece that used to play at the Businessmen’s Club in Crows Nest - piano, bass, drums and vibes! I’ve always treated playing with another pianist like playing with a band and in the case of Andrew and I, it just sort of evolved. We’d slog it out in Farrer Primary hall, working out who should do what. At first we used to commit the whole show to memory, but now it’s all written out.’

Andrew Kay continues: ‘Norma and I had actually played together in another show, a 1976 review, but it’s the music hall songs that have really developed our playing style as a piano duo.’

In fact, this musical unity is so strong that it prompted Bill Stephens, owner of the School of Arts Cafe in Queanbeyan, to ask Norma and Andrew if they would do their own piano based show at his venue, an invitation which they accepted, much to the pleasure of the patrons. ‘The best way of describing what we do is that Norma accompanies the performers, and I accompany Norma!’ says Andrew.

Pianist and colleague Pauline Sweeney has also recently been involved. She replaced Andrew while he was overseas last year, and this year replaces Norma, whilst she has a well earned break.

Oh!

We’re almost at the end, we’ve got to go

And sing our last boom-ta-ra-ra

Take off the mascara

And so

Music hall was definitely the bastion of the affluent working-class and lower-middle-class until 1911, when a command performance was held in the presence of King George V. Suddenly, ‘respectable’ people flocked to music hall! One very notable star of the time, Marie Lloyd (1870 - 1922), was so incensed that she was not invited to perform for the King that she set up a rival performance in the same street on the same night! In Australia, patrons of vaudeville were also mainly from the lower class, but the King’s attendance in England prompted several Australian State Governors to follow suit.

The last generation of true music hall artists included Marie Kendal (1873 - 1964), Billy Merson (1881 - 1947) and Australia’s own Florrie Forde (1874 - 1941).

Music hall’s surviving repertory is rich in good tunes and personal association and retains an atmosphere which a production like Rep’s ‘Old Time Music Hall’ fondly exploits on behalf of the modern world’s love of nostalgia and the past.

It’s time to call

Your carriage to the door of Music Hall

And tell your friends that you’ll see them

Here at next year’s seasonal brawl

The Canberra Repertory

Old Time Music Hall

Th-that’s all!

Linking verse: Kay, A. Andrew’s Anthem to Canberra Repertory’s Old Time Music Hall. 1989, 1990. (The closing number in Rep’s Old Time Music Hall since 1989)

Article originally published in Muse Arts Monthly, May 1994