| The Telephone | |
|---|---|
| Based on | The Telephone by Menotti |
| Starring | Marie Tysoe Kevin Mills |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | George Trevare |
| Running time | 30 mins |
| Production company | ABC |
| Original release | |
| Release | 20 December 1956 |
The Telephone is a 1956 Australian television play. It was a filmed version of the opera The Telephone by Menotti. [1] It was the first of many operas broadcast by the ABC. [2] It went for 25 minutes and only featured two people, played by Marie Tysoe and Kevin Mills. [3]
Ben attempts to marry Lucy but she keeps gossiping on the telephone. Ben decides to propose to her on the phone.
Tysoe and Mills had performed the opera together many times in 1953 and 1954, on stage and on radio. [4] [5] [6]
Marie Tysoe later recalled making the film:
It was done live to air from the radio studio at Kings Cross. The OB Van was parked at Kellett Street, and I remember all the cables going through the windows down to the van. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra was there. We had a marvellous producer, George Trevare, and it all went without a hitch. I actually sang this opera before for a group of singers called the Sydney Opera Group. The ABC – that is Tony Hughes or Werner Baer - probably knew about that, and I got the call. It was an ideal opera to start off on television, as it only had 2 performers and was a relatively simple set and not many props. During rehearsal I remember the producer asking me what I was going to wear. The conductor and one of the stage managers took me to a boutique shop at Kings Cross, and they bought an elegant dress for me to wear on the production. [7]
Amahl and the Night Visitors is an opera in one act by Gian Carlo Menotti with an original English libretto by the composer. It was commissioned by NBC and first performed by the NBC Opera Theatre on December 24, 1951, in New York City at NBC Studio 8H in Rockefeller Center, where it was broadcast live on television from that venue as the debut production of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. It was the first opera specifically composed for television in the United States.
Patricia Anna Lovell, commonly referred to as Pat Lovell, was an Australian film producer and actress, whose work within that country's film industry led her to receive the Raymond Longford Award in 2004 from the Australian Film Institute (AFI).
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Rosemary Kuhlmann was an American operatic mezzo-soprano and Broadway musical actress best known for originating the role of the Mother in Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the Night Visitors, the first opera commissioned for television. Kuhlmann portrayed the role on the annual live NBC broadcast of the production from 1951 through 1962.
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Andrew McKinley was an American operatic tenor, violinist, arts administrator, music educator, and school administrator. Although he mainly performed in the United States, he had an active international singing career with major opera companies and symphony orchestras from the 1940s through the 1960s. His repertoire spanned a wide range, from leading tenor parts to character roles.
Leon Lishner was an American operatic bass-baritone. He was particularly associated with the works of Gian Carlo Menotti, having created parts in the world premieres of four of his operas. He performed in many productions with the New York City Opera and the NBC Opera Theatre during the 1950s and early 1960s.
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The Marriage of Figaro is a 1960 Australian TV film. It was a filmed version of Mozart's 1786 opera, sung in English.
Amahl and the Night Visitors is a 1957 Australian TV play. It was a filmed version of the opera Amahl and the Night Visitors by Menotti. The ABC had previously televised Menotti's The Telephone and this was the second opera they broadcast.
Nigel Tasman Lovell was an Australian stage, radio, film and television actor, and producer of opera and both stage and radio drama.
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