Pearls Before Swine (musical)

Last updated

Pearls Before Swine
Pearls Before Swine 1986 LP cover.jpg
Original cast recording
MusicChris Harriott
LyricsDennis Watkins
Book Dennis Watkins
Premiere13 May 1986: Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney
Productions1986 Sydney/Melbourne
1988 Penrith

Pearls Before Swine is an Australian musical with book and lyrics by Dennis Watkins and music by Chris Harriott. Billed as "in the tradition of South Pacific and Apocalypse Now ", it is a satirical take on Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War, suggesting that one of the world's worst cabaret entertainers, Lamont Cranston, was responsible for the My Lai Massacre. [1]

Contents

Production history

Pearls Before Swine opened at Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre on 13 May 1986. It was directed by Geoffrey Rush with choreography by Mark Daly and musical direction by Harriott. The cast included Dennis Watkins (Lamont Cranston), Valerie Bader, Terry Serio, Robyne Dunn, Jenny Vuletic, Mark Daly, Toni Allaylis and Jonathan Biggins. [2] The production moved to the Everest Theatre at Sydney's Seymour Centre between 5 June and 5 July 1986. [3] It then transferred to Melbourne, playing at the Universal Theatre from 15 July 1986 to 24 August 1986. [2] [4]

Penrith's Q Theatre revived the musical in June 1988 and this production also played at the Riverside Theatres Parramatta's Lennox Theatre. [2]

Virgin Records released a cast recording in 1986. [5]

Musical numbers

Musical numbers taken from the cast recording: [1]

Reception

Critical reaction was highly positive. The Sydney Morning Herald called Pearls Before Swine "a highly subversive, thoroughly entertaining, flawlessly constructed piece of propaganda that is beautifully directed by Geoffrey Rush". [6] The Age said that the musical "bounces along with tremendous verve and gusto, pillaging and plundering and laying siege to good taste" and "if it's not a smash hit with Melbourne audiences, I'll be surprised". [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoffrey Rush</span> Australian actor (born 1951)

Geoffrey Roy Rush is an Australian actor. Known for often playing eccentric roles on both stage and screen, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award and a Tony Award, making him the only Australian to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, in addition to three BAFTA Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. Rush is the founding president of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts and was named the 2012 Australian of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Wenham</span> Australian actor

David Wenham is an Australian actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre. He is known for his roles as Faramir in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Friar Carl in Van Helsing and Van Helsing: The London Assignment, Dilios in 300 and its sequel 300: Rise of an Empire, Al Parker in Top of the Lake, Lieutenant John Scarfield in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Hank Snow in Elvis. He is known in his native Australia for his role as Diver Dan in SeaChange and Price Galese in Les Norton.

Pearls Before Swine may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essie Davis</span> Australian actress

Esther "Essie" Davis is an Australian actress and singer, best known for her roles as Phryne Fisher in Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and its film adaptation, Miss Fisher & the Crypt of Tears, and as Amelia Vanek in The Babadook. Other major works include a recurring role as Lady Crane in season six of the television series Game of Thrones, Sister Iphigenia in Lambs of God, and the role of Ellen Kelly in Justin Kurzel's True History of the Kelly Gang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacqueline McKenzie</span> Australian actress

Jacqueline Susan McKenzie is an Australian film and stage actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Andrewartha</span> Australian actress (1951–2024)

Janet Andrewartha was an Australian television and theatre actress and director and singer. Andrewartha began her career as a high school music teacher before attending drama school. She graduated in 1979 and began securing television and theatre roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine McClements</span> Australian actress

Catherine McClements is an Australian stage, film and television actress and television presenter. She is known for her TV roles in Water Rats and Tangle, for which she won Logie Awards, and has performed in stage productions for theatre companies such as Belvoir St Theatre, the Melbourne Theatre Company, the Sydney Theatre Company and the State Theatre Company of South Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marina Prior</span> Australian soprano and actress

Marina Prior is an Australian soprano and actress with a career mainly in musical theatre. From 1990 to 1993, she starred as the original Christine Daaé in the Australian premiere of The Phantom of the Opera, opposite Anthony Warlow and later Rob Guest.

Geoffrey Walter Edelsten was an Australian businessman and former physician known for founding the health care company Allied Medical Group.

The Sapphires is an Australian play written by Tony Briggs and directed by Wesley Enoch. It is set in 1968 and it tells the story of The Sapphires, a singing group of four Yorta Yorta women who tour Vietnam during the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trevor Ashley</span> Australian actor

Trevor Ashley is an Australian musical theatre actor, cabaret, and drag artist based in Sydney. He also has appeared on television in The Very Trevor Ashley Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christie Whelan Browne</span> Australian actress (born 1982)

Christine Whelan Browne is an Australian performer who has worked extensively in musical theatre as an actress, dancer and singer. She has also appeared on television shows and in films. In March 2012, she married fellow performer, Rohan Browne.

<i>Beach Blanket Tempest</i> Australian musical

Beach Blanket Tempest is an Australian musical with book and lyrics by Dennis Watkins and music by Chris Harriott, loosely based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. Set on the fictional island of Avalon, which according to this play is located somewhere in the Great Barrier Reef, the musical combines Shakespeare's tale with 1960s California surf film culture.

Esther Hannaford is an Australian singer and actor who has performed major roles in musical theatre in Australia. Her roles include Penny Pingleton in the original Australian cast of Hairspray, for which she received a Helpmann Award, Ann Darrow in King Kong, and Carole King in Beautiful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rowan Witt</span> Australian actor

Rowan Witt is an Australian film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for starring in The Book of Mormon, Hamilton, Totally Completely Fine, She Loves Me,Dogfight, Gloria, Into The Woods, South Pacific, Home and Away, and The Matrix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zahra Newman</span> Australian actress

Zahra Newman is an Australian actress.

Stephen Ross Madsen is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jason "J.D." Dean in the Australian production of Heathers: The Musical, and for originating the role of Alexander Shkuratov in the musical Muriel's Wedding.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Rathgeber</span> Australian actor and singer

Alex Rathgeber is an Australian actor and singer, perhaps best known for his Helpmann Award-winning performance as Billy Crocker in Anything Goes. More recently he appeared as the Tin Man in Andrew Lloyd Webber's revival of The Wizard of Oz.

Eryn Jean Norvill, sometimes spelt Eryn-Jean Norvill, is an Australian stage and television actress. She has mostly performed in Sydney Theatre Company productions, and frequently collaborated with STC artistic director Kip Williams. In May 2022 she played all 26 characters in an adaptation of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Theatre Sports is an Australian improvisational comedy television series broadcast by the ABC in 1987. It was based on the Canadian game of theatresports, created by Keith Johnstone, and features four teams of four improvising based on supplied game scenarios. and The Hanging Judge. Theatre Sports had become popular at the Belvoir Street Theatre where it was run by Dennis Watkins and Paul Chubb. ABC adapted it for TV bringing in Chubb as host and Watkins as a judge alongside Debbie Spillane and The Hanging Judge.

References

  1. 1 2 Pearls Before Swine (liner notes). Virgin Records. 1986. CBS 466884 2.
  2. 1 2 3 "Pearls Before Swine". www.ausstage.edu.au. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
  3. ↑ "Theatre Directory". Sydney Morning Herald. 5 June 1986. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Schembri, Jim (18 July 1986). "Days of swine". The Age. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "Pearls Before Swine - 1986 Original Cast".
  6. ↑ "Theatre". Sydney Morning Herald. 13 June 1986. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  7. ↑ Radic, Leonard (18 July 1986). "Now, Vietnam the musical". The Age. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.