Pardon Miss Westcott

Pardon Miss Westcott is a 1959 Australian TV play as part of the ATN-7 show, Shell Presents. It was a musical set in colonial Australia and was broadcast live. It was Australia's first television musical comedy.[1] [2][3]

"Pardon Miss Westcott"
Shell Presents episode
Episode no.Season 1
Episode 10
Directed byDavid Cahill
Teleplay byPeter Benjamin
Alan Burke
Featured musicPeter Stannard
Original air date12 December 1959 (Sydney)
19 December 1959 (Melbourne)
Running time75 mins
Guest appearance(s)

It ran for 75 minutes and featured eight new songs and a cast of nineteen.[4]

Plot

It is 1809 Sydney, shortly after the Rum Rebellion and before the arrival of Governor Macquarie. Elizabeth Westcott arrives in Botany Bay having been transported for serving a pompous magistrate at her father's inn in England his own lamb. On the boat over she meets Richard Soames, an army officer being transferred to the NSW Corps.

She is assigned to work at Government House. She later is granted a ticket of leave and opens an inn, The Silver Bottle, in Pitt Street, while romancing Soames.

Cast
  • Wendy Blacklock as Elizabeth Westcott
  • Nigel Lovell as Col Prestcott, the acting Governor of NSW
  • Michael Cole as Richard Soames
  • Chris Christiansen as Mansfield
  • Nat Levinson as Snark
  • Michael Walse as Harbutt
  • Joy Hill as Mog McGuire
  • Queenie Ashton as Lydia Patterson

Production

The film was commissioned by ATN-7 from the writers of the musical Lola Montez, which had enjoyed a successful run on stage. The brief was to create a family musical for Christmas. The budget was £5,000[5]

The book was by Alan Burke, the music by Peter Stannard, and the lyrics were by Peter Benjamin.[1][6][7] It was broadcast live from ATN-7 studios in Epping, Sydney. The music was conducted by Tommy Tycho.

Michael Cole had been fired from Lola Montez. He was hired by the writers for this to make it up to him.[8]

Songs
  • Overture (orchestra)
  • "He-ho, you'll never go back" - sung by male chorus of convicts at beginning
  • "Send for Me" - sung by Wendy Blacklock
  • "I'm On My Way" - sung by Wendy Blacklock
  • "Bells Suddenly Ringing" - love song sung by Michael Cole
  • "The Grog Song" - sung by taverners at The Silver Bottle
  • "How Could I See?" - sung by Blacklock and Cole
  • "The Whole Shebang" - sung by three convicts (Chris Christensen, Nat Levinson, Michael Walsh)
  • "You Walked By" - sung by Blacklock and Cole
  • "So Much More:
  • "Our Own Bare Hands"
  • "The Argument"
  • "Sometimes"
  • Finale

Songs on 1960 Cast Album

1. 'Overture' (Orchestra);
2. 'Heigh Ho, You'll Never Go Back' (male chorus);
3. 'Send For Me' (Elizabeth, Mansfield, Harbutt, and Snark);
4. 'You Walk By' (Richard);
5. 'The Whole Shebang' (Mansfield, Harbutt, and Snark);
6. 'I'm On My Way' (Elizabeth);
7. 'Grog Song' (chorus);
8. 'So Much More' (Elizabeth and Richard);
9. Our Own Bare Hands (Lydia);
10. 'The Argument' (Elizabeth, Richard, Mansfield, Harbutt, and Snark);
11. 'Sometimes' (Richard);12. 'Finale' (Elizabeth, Richard, and Chorus).

Reception

The critic from the Sydney Morning Herald wrote the musical "had an entertaining and beguilingly tuneful premiere in a smoothly organised live production" despite "the lack of colour and space in which create spectacle and the effects which properly, and uniquely-belong to the stage." However:

Nine numbers in a 75-minute show is pretty fair value, and the... tunes and lyrics were fluent, neatly turned and literate. Equally important. they arose naturally from the situations arranged by the... book, and always took the story-line, and characterisation, a step further. And at least one song, "Bells Suddenly Ring" is a possible hit tune. Moreover, the show proved that for those who are willing to use their imagination, there is plenty of theatrical material in our early history... Michael Cole acted and sang very attractively indeed: Wendy Blacklock brought the proper strength of character... but was not entirely at ease with her songs. Nigel Lovell.. was engaging and sympathetic, and Queenie Ashton, his snooty hypochondriac wife, was nicely acid. Chris Christiansen, Nat Levispn and Michael Walshe made a usefully funny convict trio, and Joy Hill danced with considerable verve and enthusiasm.[9]

A studio cast album, with some different performers from the television version, was released in December 1960.[10]

The Beacon Research Company estimated that 250,000 adults and 10,000 children watched the broadcast. More than 100 people rang in to congratulate on the broadcast on the night it aired.[11]

The show was repeated on Channel 7 in November 1960. The Bulletin called it "bright and tuneful". [12] The Sydney Morning Herald said "it came through even better on the second run than the first."[13]

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See also

References
  1. "'Live' Telecast of New Musical". Sydney Morning Herald. 7 December 1959. p. 7.
  2. Vagg, Stephen (23 December 2019). "Australian Film Musicals You Probably Didn't Realise Existed". Filmink.
  3. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  4. "As Miss Westcott". The Age. 17 December 1959. p. 13.
  5. "Australian TV is growing". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 October 1960. p. 38.
  6. "TELEVISION HIGHLIGHTS". The Biz. New South Wales, Australia. 9 December 1959. p. 19. Retrieved 9 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. Alan Burke obituary at Sydney Morning Herald
  8. "Alan Burke interviewed by Bill Stephens in the Esso Performing Arts collection". National Library of Australia.
  9. "ATN's Live Musical". Sydney Morning Herald. 14 December 1959. p. 4.
  10. "Pardon Miss Westcott cast album". TV memories.
  11. "Replay of the Musical". Sydney Morning Herald. 21 December 1959. p. 15.
  12. "Shows". The Bulletin. 7 December 1960. p. 27.
  13. Marshall, Valda (20 November 1960). "TV Merry Go Round". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 111.
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