Kiss Me, Kate is a musical written by Bella and Samuel Spewack with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. The story involves the production of a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew and the conflict on and off-stage between Fred Graham, the show's director, producer, and star, and his leading lady, his ex-wife Lilli Vanessi. A secondary romance concerns Lois Lane, the actress playing Bianca, and her gambler boyfriend, Bill, who runs afoul of some gangsters. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.
Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio.
Jedda, released in the UK as Jedda the Uncivilized, is a 1955 Australian film written, produced and directed by Charles Chauvel. His last film, it is notable for being the first to star two Aboriginal actors, Robert Tudawali and Ngarla Kunoth in the leading roles. It was also the first Australian feature film to be shot in colour.
Call Me Madam is a musical written by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin.
A bush band is a group of musicians that play Australian bush ballads. A similar bush band tradition is also found in New Zealand.
Mona Barrie was an English-born actress, active on stage in Australia before establishing a career in the US, and in Hollywood films.
The Princess Theatre, originally Princess's Theatre, is a 1452-seat theatre in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Established in 1854 and rebuilt in 1886 to a design by noted Melbourne architect William Pitt, it is the oldest surviving entertainment site on mainland Australia. Built in an elaborate Second Empire style, it reflects the opulence of the "Marvellous Melbourne" boom period, and had a number of innovative features, including state of the art electric stage lighting and the world's first sliding ceiling, which was rolled back on warm nights to give the effect of an open-air theatre.
There were two Australian periodicals called The Port Phillip Gazette.
The New Theatre, formerly Workers' Art Club and New Theatre League, is a community theatre company in the Inner West Sydney suburb of Newtown, Australia. Its origins are in the international New Theatre movement of the 1920s, and it is the oldest theatre company in continuous production in New South Wales.
Her Majesty's Theatre is a 1,700-seat theatre in Melbourne's East End Theatre District, Australia. Built in 1886, it is located at 219 Exhibition Street, Melbourne. It is classified by the National Trust of Australia and is listed on the Victorian Heritage Register.
John Stanley Raymond Meredith OAM was an Australian pioneer folklorist from Holbrook, New South Wales whose work influenced the Australian folk music revival of the 1950s, in particular as a founding member of the Australia's first revivalist bush band The Bushwhackers. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 1986 for service to Australian folklore and music, and became a Member of the Order of Australia in 1992 for service to the Arts, particularly in the collection and preservation of Australian folklore.
Australian folk music is the traditional music from the large variety of immigrant cultures and those of the original Australian inhabitants.
Albert Edward Bailey, better known as Bert Bailey, was a New Zealand-born Australian playwright, theatrical manager and stage and screen actor best known for playing Dad Rudd, in both mediums, the character from the books penned by Steele Rudd.
Collits' Inn is an Australian musical play with music by Varney Monk. Its first staging was in December 1932 at the Savoy Theatre in Sydney. The 1933 Melbourne production at the Princess Theatre was the first fully professional production, presented by F. W. Thring and starring Gladys Moncrieff, George Wallace, Claude Flemming and Campbell Copelin. Wallace's role was created especially for him. It is generally considered the first commercially successful Australian musical, and it was praised by the Sydney Morning Herald as "an Australian opera".
The Sentimental Bloke is a 1961 Australian musical by Albert Arlen, Nancy Brown and Lloyd Thomson based on Songs of a Sentimental Bloke by C.J. Dennis. Set in Melbourne, it is one of the most successful Australian musicals of the 20th century. The musical has also been adapted for television and ballet.
Gloria Dawn was an Australian actress, choreographer singer and vaudevillian performer. She was one of the leading stars of the stage from the 1950s to her death.
Alan Burke was an Australian writer and film director and producer. His credits include the musical Lola Montez.
The King's Theatre was a theatre in Melbourne, Australia, located at 133 Russell Street between Bourke Street and Little Collins Street.
The Bushwhackers, initially named "The Heathcote Bushwhackers", Australia's first "revival" bush band were arguably the catalyst for Australia's folk revival of the 1950s; prior to that revival, similar bush bands, utilizing a mixture of commercially available and sometimes home-made instruments, had performed a social function in rural areas since the late 19th century. The Bushwhackers performed from 1952 to 1957, when founder John Meredith disbanded the group and its members dispersed into other activities.. Over its relatively brief existence, the group evolved from an initial novelty act to one with a more serious mission of presenting and promoting to Australia its neglected bush song heritage, and laid the foundation for similar groups to follow through the 1960s and to the present. Its members also operated—at least initially—from a Marxist / Australian Communist Party ideology, attempting to embody the struggle of the working class against the ruling classes, although this may have been less than obvious to their audiences under the guise of popular entertainment.
The Square Ring is a 1952 play by Ralph Peterson.
