Oklahoma

It has been a while since I described my Musical Activities. That was "Showboat' in the first half of 1991, the year when I had very little employment and no idea what my future would be.   After such a large production in the first half of the year, we took on the much easier 'Oklahoma' for the later part of the year. I was one of the Territory folks.  I did actually pluck up courage and audition for the role of 'Jud' without success.
I enjoyed being a cowboy, in fact I had all the necessary costume in my wardrobe. Here I am in the middle. The guy on my left, also named Brian, is still in the musical society.  He took a role in 'Sound of Music ' which I saw the Society put on two weeks ago.

I am wearing my leather vest in the finale in the second photo.


I cannot resist including the hunky, sexy, Hugh Jackman singing "Oh What a Beautiful Morning'.

Showboat

Pressure of work meant I did not take a stage role in the shows over the next few years but I did work as either a stage hand or in lighting for 'The Music Man' and 'Fiddler on the Roof'. However in 1991 I left teaching (I thought) and looked for other employment.
I obtained some work door to door interviewing which was soul destroying and some part-time teaching (6 hours per week) at TAFE (Technical and Further Education).

Therefore, I had plenty of time to return to the stage and we put on 'Showboat'.
As usual I was part of the chorus but I did have a small role as the doorman Charlie.
"Gotta message from ya prima donna, said to tell ya she was goin on a tare"
"Hey, I'm a doorman not a nursemaid"
were my lines which I still remember as seen in the first photo.

Playing the songs raises strange emotions in me. It was an anxious time as I did not know where my future lay and I was very lonely being home so much. It was, of course, before the internet.

We usually prided ourselves that all our singers were local. Some of them sang professionally, as did Leslie Andrews who sang the role of Joe but also worked for the Australian Opera. However he lived locally. But for 'Showboat' we employed a professional to sing Ravenal. I loved every night, when I was on stage with him, as he sang "Till Good Luck Comes My Way". His voice was overpowering.

Several years later I went to see it performed professionally at the Lyric Theatre in Sydney and was amazed to meet my partner from the show, Helen, during the interval.

I enjoyed some of the costumes: bow tie and tails at the New Year's Eve Ball and the natty brown number with green tie and pocket handkerchief. I just threw them out a few days ago.

It is difficult to find any but the main numbers on Youtube so I have decided to go with the lovely Dame Kiri Te Kanawa singing "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man".
I cannot listen to it without tears of sadness, partly the song and the show but also my memories.

Calamity Jane

To continue with my amateur musical career. In the 2nd half of 1987 we put on Calamity Jane.

I actually got to sing a line early in the first number "The Dead Wood Stage" About 2 minutes in my line was "Hi Ya Calam, What'ja bring us today?"
Although our leading lady was not Doris Day and our coach wasn't going anywhere, it was truly a stagecoach.

I had a lot of costume changes for a bit part player. Later I came in covered in blood, having been shot by Injuns.


Then I was a stage door Johnny accompanying the song "It's Harry I'm planning to marry." I had a different coloured moustache to fool the audience :-)

and later I became a member of the cavalry.

I still have that jacket which I bought at a 2nd hand clothing store although I think it was the wrong colour but what would an Aussie audience know.

As a baritone I loved "The Black Hills of Dakota" It is the only song I have sung where the baritones in the chorus get to sing the tune.

Pirates of Penzance

Continuing with my time in Musical Theatre. I told you how it all began when the school where I was teaching put on Pirates of Penzance and I took the role of a pirate (seen on the left of photo behind the Pirate King - a student) in the first act. Then I was a policeman in the 2nd Act (on the right with truncheon at head below)

One of the other teachers had great difficulty keeping in time with the choreographed steps. We would practise with him interminably while off-stage but then, because he was out of step, he brought the house down. It was very difficult to maintain composure when you can see the School office ladies stuffing handkerchiefs in their mouths and tears of laughter running down their faces in front of you. The school theatre was very small.

Then having been in the Gondoliers and South Pacific in my local society, I was surprised when the next year (1987) they decided to stage the Pirates. As I said at the time, at least I knew the words. I was able to use the same costume as a pirate.


and then you can see me being admired by the ladies in their night dresses below. The painted on moustache is not very convincing.

I have searched and found a recent production of the University of Iowa singing the pirate king song in Act 1 and When a felon's not engaged in his employment sung by the police in Act 2. I chose these as not being as professional as some of the others available where the on stage antics were far beyond my athletic ability.

The Gondoliers

Yea, the Australian stock market rose today after decisive Government action over the weekend. As I post the European news is good and we are still waiting for Wall Street to open. Hoping that things might continue to improve, I am posting what I wrote several weeks ago as the next chapter in my musical career.

Actually it involves going back to the beginning.
In 1986 I was teaching in a Catholic Senior Boys' College. One of the other teachers was a keen member of a musical society and often took leading roles. He decided to join with the neighbouring Girls' College and stage Gilbert & Sullivan's 'The Pirates of Penzance'
However it was difficult to get enough boys interested. Some boys volunteered to play the Pirates and the Pirate Captain. The teacher took on the demanding role of Frederick and several male teachers were roped in to play the policemen. I also joined the boys as a pirate in Act 1. It was great fun and at the end I thanked the teacher for finally allowing me at the age of 42 to fulfill a dream and act in a Gilbert & Sullivan production. I had been a G&S tragic since my own school days.
He said ' Why don't you join your local society? I went home, checked the local paper and saw an advertisement for the Blue Mountains Musical Society. They were about to begin rehearsals for 'The Gondoliers' and so I joined up. I found it was much more professional and demanding than the school production but I loved it.
In the first photo I am 4th from the left in the back row as a gondolier in Act 1.

While in the next photo I am on the left as the gondoliers become courtiers in Act 2.And here is the chorus of the UBC Opera of Vancouver singing one of the best and most exhausting songs 'Dance a Cachuca'. It was the beginning of extending my jigging around the lounge room to the stage in front of an audience.

South Pacific

I have decided to be a little self-indulgent and blog about my "musical career". I have been inspired by a segment on the morning classic breakfast program to which I listen, which usually runs through an opera or operetta each week telling the story and playing some pieces. Last week was a little down market when they chose Rodger & Hammerstein's South Pacific but set me reminiscing.

This was the second show in which I participated with the Blue Mountains Musical Society way back in 1986. As always, I was just one of the chorus, a sailor, and can be seen on the left in the two photos below. The second with Bloody Mary in the front.The program shows me as playing the part of Seaman Tom O'Brien and I think I had a few lines of dialogue, I was always too nervous to take even a small singing part.

I always thought it was a rather sexist show 'There is nothing like a dame' but should take into account that it was first staged in 1949 and apparently it was ahead of its time in dealing with racism 'Carefully Taught'.
Of course, it is not unusual for a gay man to love musicals but to my knowledge none of those on stage with me were gay but then I was not out at the time. I was a bit bemused that the young men, mostly married, were keen to vaunt their heterosexuality despite obviously enjoying taking part in musical theatre.
Listening to the score, there are several songs in which the word 'gay' is used but not in its modern connotation. "I'm as trite and as gay as a daisy" in 'A Wonderful Guy' and 'gayer than laughter' in 'Younger than Springtime' which I love but could not find a good version on Youtube without all the lead up so instead have found this rendition of everyone's favourite 'Some Enchanted Evening' apparently by members of a current Broadway cast. Enjoy.



Playing the CD today and thinking how wonderful the songs are, I have been wondering why I do not remember enjoying my participation as much as some of the other shows I did. I think it is because the men's chorus is not involved in any of the great songs. They only sing 'There is nothing like a dame' which did not inspire me, 'Bloody Mary' which was OK and 'Honey Bun' also only okay. I will continue with this in future weeks.