The Bunyip and the Satellite | |
---|---|
Music | Val Fawcett |
Lyrics | Barry Humphries Jeff Underhill |
Book | Barry Humphries Peter O'Saughnessy |
Basis | novel Children of the Dark People by Frank Dalby Davison |
Premiere | 27 December 1957: National Theatre, East Melbourne, VIC |
The Bunyip and the Satellite is a 1957 Australian stage musical written by Barry Humphries and Peter O'Saughnessy. It was based on Frank Dalby Davison's children's novel Children of the Dark People. [1]
The Bulletin called it "well formed, well and sometimes wittily written." [2]
There was a sequel Mumba Jumba and the Bunyip.
The bunyip is a creature from the aboriginal mythology of southeastern Australia, said to lurk in swamps, billabongs, creeks, riverbeds, and waterholes.
John Barry Humphries was an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He was best known for writing and playing his stage and television characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. Humphries' characters brought him international renown. He appeared in numerous stage productions, films, and television shows. Originally conceived as a dowdy Moonee Ponds housewife who caricatured Australian suburban complacency and insularity, Dame Edna Everage evolved over four decades to become a satire of stardom – a gaudily dressed, acid-tongued, egomaniacal, internationally fêted "Housewife Gigastar".
Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, was a character created and performed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured hair and cat eye glasses ; her favourite flower, the gladiolus ("gladdies"); and her boisterous greeting "Hello, Possums!" As Dame Edna, Humphries wrote several books, including an autobiography, My Gorgeous Life; appeared in several films; and hosted several television shows.
Bunyip is a town in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia, 81 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Cardinia local government area. Bunyip recorded a population of 3,131 at the 2021 census.
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The Argonauts Club was an Australian children's radio program, first broadcast in 1933 on ABC Radio Melbourne. Its format was devised by Nina Murdoch who had run the station's Children's Hour as "Pat". The show was discontinued in 1934 when Nina moved to Adelaide. The format was revived on 7 January 1941 as a segment of ABC's Children's Session and broadcast nationally except in Western Australia where the two hour time difference made a local production more attractive. From 6 September 1954 it was called the Children's Hour, running from 5 to 6pm. It became one of the ABC's most popular programs, running six days a week for 28 years until October 1969, when it was broadcast only on Sundays and was finally discontinued in 1972.
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Peter O'Shaughnessy OAM was an Australian actor, theatre director, producer and writer who presented the work of playwrights ranging from Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov to modern dramatists, such as Ionesco, Pinter and Beckett. He acted as a mentor to and collaborator with comedian Barry Humphries in his early career. He attended Xavier College, Melbourne.
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Seven Little Australians was a 10-part TV series that aired on ABC Television in 1973. The mini-series was based on Ethel Turner's best-selling novel, Seven Little Australians.
The Bunyip, also known by the longer title The Enchantment of Fairy Princess Wattle Blossom, was written by Ella Palzier Campbell. The pantomime was a highly successful musical comedy that toured Australia for a decade within Fuller Brothers theatre circuit. The show was produced by Sydney entrepreneur Nat Philips. The premiere of the show ran for at least 97 performances and was revived several times over the following decade.
Heather Doris Gell, pron. "Jell", was an Australian kindergarten teacher and early proponent of Dalcroze eurhythmics to Australia. She also worked as a radio broadcaster, television presenter and theatre producer.
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