Lola Montez (musical)

Lola Montez is a 1958 Australian musical. It was written by Alan Burke, Peter Stannard and Peter Benjamin and focuses on four days of Lola Montez visiting the Ballarat Goldfields.

Lola Montez
Original cast recording
MusicPeter Stannard
LyricsPeter Benjamin
BookAlan Burke
Productions1958 Melbourne
1958 Brisbane/Sydney

Background

Stannard, Benjamin and Burke were all friends from university who wanted to write a musical together. Alan Burke says he had never heard of Lola Montez until he heard her mentioned in a program on the ABC. He was attracted to the subject because it was Australian but had international appeal; he did not want to make something along the lines of On Our Selection. Also, since the lead was a performer, the songs would come naturally.[1]

Productions

Original production

Hugh Hunt of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust heard several auditions of the work and agreed to fund a trial production at the Union Theatre Repertory Company in Melbourne in early 1958. It was directed by John Sumner. The production was very popular.

Cast

Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust production

The Trust took up their option and launched a professional production. George Carden was brought in to direct.[2][3]

Alan Burke says his dream Lola was Vivien Leigh but that he wanted Moyra Fraser to star.[1] Hugh Hunt wanted a star so they imported 25 year old Mary Preston from the United Kingdom to play the lead.[4] Burke said Preston was hopelessly miscast playing a 37 year old aging beauty.[1]

The show trialled in Brisbane for a short season. Michael Cole, who was playing Daniel, was sacked in Brisbane because of his voice. He was replaced by Eric Thornton, who Burke said was too old - a 45-year-old man playing a 19-year-old. The play moved to Sydney, where it opened on 22 October 1958. Burke says it lost £30,000 and "was a show loved by very few people but it went into legend."[1] However the show did run for more than three months.[2][5] Michael Cole's single recording of "Saturday Girl" became a minor hit.[3]

Cole later appeared in the TV musical Pardon Miss Westcott which was commissioned from the writers of Lola Montez.[6]

Cast
  • Mary Preston as Lola
  • Frank Wilson as Sam
  • Michael Cole, then Eric Thornton, as Daniel

The production and costumes were designed by Hermia Boyd. A retrospective celebration of the work was mounted in February 2018 at the Smorgon Family Plaza, Arts Centre Melbourne.[7]

1962 television play

Lola Montez was adapted for TV by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1962.[8]

Lola and the Highwayman
Lola and the Highwayman
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time30 minutes
Production companyABC
Release
Original release27 September 1965 (Sydney)[9]
4 October 1965 (Melbourne)[10]
25 October 1965 (Brisbane)[11]

In 1965 the ABC presented a TV special called Lola and the Highwayman. It consisted of selected songs from Lola Montez and another Australian musical The Highwayman. Melbourne producer Fred Axian said "some of the melodies from these musicals are among the best in the world." Songs selected from the musical were interwoven in a story to give it continuity.[11] Eleven songs were used in all.[10]

An extract from the production is at the State Library of New South Wales.[12]

Cast
  • Suzanne Steele as Lola
  • Jon Weaving

Select Songs
  • "Gold, God of the World"

Revised edition

The musical has been much revived since in amateur and school productions.[13]

The musical was heavily revised in 1988 for a production in Canberra.[3][14][15]

References
  1. "Alan Burke interviewed by Bill Stephens in the Esso Performing Arts collection". National Library of Australia.
  2. Alan Burke obituary at Sydney Morning Herald
  3. "Lola Montez the musical". Janus Entertainment.
  4. "English star is "Lola Montez"". The Australian Women's Weekly. 26 (21). Australia. 29 October 1958. p. 39. Retrieved 9 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Women's Letters". The Bulletin. 23 November 1960. p. 56.
  6. Vagg, Stephen (4 November 2020). "Forgotten TV Plays: Pardon Miss Wescott". Filmink.
  7. Hermia Boyd & Lola Montez: Designing an Australian gold rush musical. Arts Centre Melboure, February 2018
  8. 1962 TV adaptation at Ausstage
  9. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 27 September 1965. p. 13.
  10. "Untitled". The Age. 30 September 1965. p. 21.
  11. "Oo-la-la! It's Lola on TV". TV Times. 20 October 1965. p. 10.
  12. "Edmond Samuels papers, 1919-1964". State Library of New South Wales.
  13. Lola Montez at David Spicer Productions
  14. "Arts and entertainment Lola Montez inspired Australian musical". The Canberra Times. 63 (19, 411). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 28 November 1988. p. 17. Retrieved 27 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. "Goldfield spirit in light, bright 'Lola'". The Canberra Times. 63 (19, 418). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 December 1988. p. 20. Retrieved 27 May 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
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