the so and so's [3] · - sadie tilburn: singer/coster impersonations - togo: japanese juggler...

THE SO AND SO'S [3]

AUSTRALIAN VARIETY THEATRE ARCHIVE: RESEARCH NOTES

See last page for citation, copyright and last updated details.

aka Shafto's So and So's

(Western Australia: 1922-1923) Almost exclusively associated with Perth's

Shaftesbury Theatre, the So and So's comprised some of the cream of Australia's

variety entertainers of the 1920s. The first line-up, which made its debut on 17

March 1922 under the direction of comedian Arthur Hemsley and musical director

Harold Partington, had been engaged from the Eastern states by the Shaftesbury's

owner/producer, T.A. Shafto. The debut line-up included Hemsley, his partner Elsa

Brull, Dot Browne, Fred Williamson, Florrie Mable, George Malfe,1 Cyril James,

Charles Wren, the Phillips Sisters, and James Caldwell.

The So and So's entertainment largely comprised a mix of revue/revusicals, operetta

(notably The Bohemian Girl) and vaudeville - including comedy scenas, sketches,

solos, duos, trios, quartets and ensemble numbers. Moving pictures were also

screened on a regular basis.

On 26 May the first So and Sos company played its final performance at the

Shaftesbury, and the following night transferred to Fremantle where it played a brief

season before opening in Kalgoorlie on 3 June. All of the performers left Western

Australia after the final show (8 June). On 27 May a new So and So's opened at the

Shaftesbury. Featuring Peter Brooks, Hats McKay, Lillian Graham, Will Rollow,

and Fred Keeley and Ivy Aldous, the company had arrived in Western Australia a little over a week earlier, playing

Kalgoorlie for four nights while the first company completed its Perth season. The director for these pre-Perth shows

was Fred Keeley. He likely oversaw the Perth season as well.

George Sharratt, who had toured his own [unrelated] So and So's company [2] through New South Wales in 1921,

took over the direction of "Shafto's" company from 22 December 1922. He also brought with him several performers

who had toured with his So and So's - namely his partner Annette Lang, and Hazel Fuller and Aneurin Morris. This

third company remained at the Shaftesbury until mid-1923, albeit with regular line-up changes. From around April the

company's name is mentioned less frequently in advertising and reviews. The last reference to the So and So's appears

in the 7 July issue of the Daily News.

• T.A. Shafto's So and So's does not appear to have had any relationship

with J.C. Williamson's So and So's Costume Comedy Company [aka The

So and So's [2], which played Adelaide in late-1920 and early-1921.

• Performers incl. Abbott and Sidney, Ernest Baraclough, Joy Barry, The

Brackens, Peter Brooks, Ruby Brown, James Caldwell, Two Campbells

(aka Campbell Boys), Signor Cerbasi, Lee Chandos, Tommy Clyde,

Madame Cotilda and Gladys, Vince and Eva Courtney, The Cracknells,

Craydon and Mack, Delavale and Stagpoole, Frieda de Marsden, Doody

and Wright, Bert and Evelyn Dudley, Harley Edwards, Rose Fitzgerald,

Hazel Fuller, Bert Glover, Thomas Gordon, Lillian Graham, Nat Hanley,

Dulcie Hall, Lesley Holmes, Lola Hunt, Mayo Hunter, Hunter and Bobs,

Cyril James, Kayle and Koyne, Jack Kearns, Keeley and Aldous, Lindsay

Kemble, Grace King, Annette Lang, Joan Lascelles, Lloyd and Raymond,

Fred Lorriane, Hats McKay, Marks and Fields, Eddie Martyn, Jean

Maynard, Carlton Max, Aneurin Morris, Pagden and Stanley, Phillips

Sisters, Ramona, Will Rollow, Russell and Frost, Beryl Scott, Sharrett and

Lang, The Shirleys, Cicely Stewart, Dan Thomas, Sadie Tilburn, Togo

(Japanese juggler), Vaude and Verne, Clare Vears, Victor the Great, Fred

Williamson, Flying Winskills, Charles Wren, Tom Zeno.

1 Malfe's surname is sometimes misspelled as Ralfe in previews and reviews.

T.A. Shafto

Truth (Perth) 9 Sept. 1928, 6.

Call (Perth) 17 Mar. 1922, 12.

https://ozvta.com/theatres-wa/

https://ozvta.com/practitioners-h/

https://ozvta.com/practitioners-b/


https://ozvta.com/practitioners-p-q/


https://ozvta.com/organisations-a-l/

https://ozvta.com/troupes-s-z/


http://ozvta.com/practitioners-c/


http://ozvta.com/practitioners-d/


http://ozvta.com/practitioners-h/


khttp://ozvta.com/practitioners-k/

http://ozvta.com/practitioners-k/


http://ozvta.com/practitioners-p-q/



http://ozvta.com/practitioners-t/

http://ozvta.com/practitioners-u-v/

• Producer T. A. Shafto; Directors Arthur Hemsley (1922), Fred Keeley (1922), George Sharratt (1922-1923);

Music Director Harold Partington; Business Manager R.H. Shafto.

Charity fund-raising (Perth 1923).

Image courtesy of the Brooks family.

Special thanks to Terry Brooks (Nat Hanley's son).

• Miscellaneous Performer Notes:

- Abbott and Sidney: illusionists

- Joy Barry: comedienne/pianist

- Peter Brooks: fashion-plate tenor

- Signor Cerbasi: Irish harp

- Lee Chandos: baritone

- Tommy Clyde: Scottish comedian.

- Madame Cotilda and Gladys: ventriloquist

- The Cracknells: sharp shooters/animal act

- Delavale and Stagpoole: aka "the Yid and the Kid" - comedy sketch/patter act

- Doody and Wright: patter (male and female)

- Harley Edwards: English dame comedian

- Rose Fitzgerald: contralto

- Hazel Fuller: operatic soprano

- Thomas Gordon: sketch artist ("chalk talk")

- Lillian Graham: soprano

- Nat Hanley: comedian/pianist/singer

- Mayo Hunter: multi-instrumentalist

- Hunter and Bobs: acrobats

- Kayle and Koyne: jugglers

- Lindsay Kemble: female impersonator

- Annette Lang: soubrette/danseuse

- Hats McKay: musical buffoon

- Florrie Mable and George Ralfe - aka Mable and Ralfe - "a dainty girl a clumsy boy"

- Marks and Fields: comedy and dancing - Johnny Marks and Clyde Fields

- Aneurin Morris: (lyric tenor)

- Pagden and Stanley: comedy sketch artists

- Ramona: mentalist

- Russell and Frost: dancers

- Cicely Stewart: contralto

- Dan Thomas: comedian/dame

Peter Brooks

Australian Variety

30 Aug. 1916, n.pag.

http://ozvta.com/practitioners-b/






http://ozvta.com/practitioners-t/

- Sadie Tilburn: singer/coster impersonations

- Togo: Japanese juggler

- Victor the Great: ventriloquist

- Fred Williamson: singer

- Chris Wren: female impersonator

NB: George Sharratt and Annette Lang, and Rose Fitzgerald and Hazel Fuller

also worked as double acts. Charles Delavale and Nat Hanley briefly

teamed up as comedy partners in early 1923.

SEE ALSO

• Shaftesbury Theatre (Perth) • So and So's [2]

ENGAGEMENTS CHRONOLOGY

1922: T.A. SHAFTO Perth (Shaftesbury Theatre; 17 Mar. - 25 May > 1st Company) • Kalgoorlie, WA (Town Hall;

20-25 May - > 2nd Company) • Fremantle (Town Hall; 26-30 May - > 1st Company, 4 nights) • Perth (Shaftesbury

Theatre; 26 May - 21 Dec. > 2nd Company) • Fremantle < by arrangement with T. Cecil (Kings Theatre; 31 May- 1

June > 1st Company, 2 nights)2 • Kalgoorlie, WA (Town Hall; 3-8 June - > 1st Company) • Perth (Shaftesbury

Theatre; 22-31 Dec. > 3rd Company)

1923: T.A. SHAFTO Perth (Shaftesbury Theatre; 1 Jan. - ca. July > 3rd Company)

2 The Fremantle season was extended by two nights due to popular demand. The company was required to move to the King's

Theatre, however, as the Town Hall was unavailable. The So and So's could not remain in Fremantle any longer because they

were booked to play Kalgoorlie beginning 3 June

Harold Partington

(music director)

Mirror (Perth) 5 Feb. 1927, 6.

Arthur Hemsley (director)

Mirror (Perth) 6 Oct. 1923, 3.

George Sharratt (director)

Critic (Adelaide) 26 Mar. 1919, 4.

Dan Thomas

Djubal Collection


https://ozvta.com/theatres-wa/


1922

West Australian (Perth) 11 Mar. 1922, 11.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/page/2758443

West Australian (Perth) 14 Mar. 1922, 8.


Daily News 17 Mar. 1922, 1.

Daily News (Perth) 17 Mar. 1922, 5.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/82884498

Mirror (Perth) 18 Mar. 1922, 4.




Mirror (Perth) 18 Mar. 1922, 4.



Call (Perth) 31 Mar. 1922, 4.


Sunday Times (Perth) 9 Apr. 1922, 6.


Daily News (Perth) 15 Apr. 1922, 1.

West Australian (Perth) 21 Apr. 1922, 8.


Daily News (Perth) 12 May 1922, 6.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/7999911






https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/7999911




West Australian (Perth) 26 May 1922, 2.





Kalgoorlie (WA): Second Company

Kalgoorlie Miner (WA) 18 May 1922, 5.










Kalgoorlie (WA): First Company


http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article93372651

Westralian Worker (Perth) 2 June 1922, 6.


Kalgoorlie Miner (WA) 3 June 1922, 5.


Kalgoorlie Miner (WA) 5 June 1922, 3.






Perth: Second Company

Daily News (Perth) 1 July 1922, 9.


Call (Perth) 14 July 1922, 8.

Sunday Times (Perth) 6 Aug. 1922, 6.


West Australian (Perth) 29 Sept. 1922, 8.


.

Sunday Times (Perth) 1 Oct. 1922, 6.






Daily News (Perth) 4 Nov. 1922, 4.


West Australian (Perth) 21 Dec. 1922, 11.


__________________________________________________

3rd

So and So's Company: Debut

West Australian (Perth) 22 Dec. 1922, 10.


Mirror (Perth) 30 Dec. 1922, 5.




1923

Daily News (Perth) 5 Jan. 1923, 6.


cont...

Daily News (Perth) 20 Jan. (1923), 9.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/82511389

Daily News (Perth) 10 Feb. 1923, 4.





Last advertisement in Daily News with So and So's named.

Daily News (Perth) 12 Mar. 1923, 1.

Daily News (Perth) 17 Apr. 1923, 1.

Last known advertisement referring to So and So's by name.

Westralian Worker (Perth) 6 Apr. 1923, 9.

Daily News (Perth) 2 June 1923, 9.



Last mention of the So and So's in a review

Daily News 7 July (1923), 9.


Australian Variety Theatre Archive: Research Notes

Published by Clay Djubal: 31/01/2018

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Australian Variety Theatre Archive • http://ozvta.com/troupes-s-z/

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* Material published the AVTA's Research Notes will be removed if requested by the legally-confirmed copyright owner. Please contact the AVTA.


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