6 March 1958 (1958-03-06)– 1 January 1960 (1960-01-01)[1]
Hal Lashwood's Alabama Jubilee was an Australian television variety series hosted by Hal Lashwood which aired from 1958 to 1961 on ABC Television. It was essentially a minstrel show, with some of the performers appearing in blackface makeup.[2] In 1960, it was retitled Hal Lashwood's Minstrels.[3]
Hal Lashwood's Alabama Jubilee began in Sydney on 6 March 1958.[4] It aired in Sydney on Thursdays and Melbourne on Fridays.
It was devised and prepared by Lashwood and produced by Harry Pringle.[5] It aired fortnightly, alternating with Cafe Continental, a variety series featuring acts of diverse ethnic backgrounds.[6]
It sometimes aired after episodes of Amos'n'Andy.[7]
Notable episodes include:
6 March 1958 (3 May in Melbourne) – Premiere episode – with Reg Quartley as Tambo[8]
31 July 1958 – guest starring entertainer Amy Rochelle[9]
4 December 1958 – guest starring Heather Pitt
12 March 1959 (3 June 1959 in Melbourne) – the show's one-year anniversary, with a guest appearance by Australian baritone Ron Williams who "will sing a number of negro spirituals"[10]
28 July 1960 (1960-07-28)[17]– August 1961 (1961-08)
The show came back as Hal Lashwood's Minstrels which started in July 1960 and went until August 1961. It was replaced by The Magic of Music.
Notable episodes include:
28 July 1960 – Premiere episode
12 November 1960 – guest starring Heather Pitt and Jack Allan
24 December 1960 – the Paul Robeson episode – Robeson starred in a segment where he gave a Christmas message to six children of different races and sang various Christmas songs.[18][19][20]
Other guest stars included Al Kenny, Stan Penrose, Jimmy Haines, C. Ray Smith and Patti Markham.
In 1961 an album called Hal Lashwood's Minstrels was released.[21]
Cast
Hal Lashwood as Mr Interlocutor
Sydney Heylen as Bones
Reg Quartley as Tambo
Jack Kerh as Mr Dixie
Peggy Mortimer as Miss Carolina
Nell Williams as Mr Melodry
Jack Allen – and the Swanee River Boys (Django Kahn, Neville Thomas and Ron Webber)
Reception
Writing in The Bulletin in 1963 Max Harris referred to the ABC commissioning variety shows:[22]
Even a modest weekly entry into the variety field is a dubious investment. Shows of the calibre of Cafe Continental, The Lorrne Desmond Show, and the dismal Hal Lashwood Minstrels, demonstrate the hopelessness of the A.B.C.'s half-baked amateur essays at glossy effects. Against the failure of such shows to attract viewers, the A.B.C. was shattered by the enormous national success of "The Outcasts". Public reaction itself confirmed the A.B.C.'s impulse to re-think programming at a loftier level.
References
↑ "Friday Television". Radio/TV Supplement. The Age. Melbourne. 31 December 1959. p.6. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
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