Lola Montez

 

This should have been a British musical. In fact, the sound and atmosphere of this delectable score is more British than some of the British shows that were around in 1958. But while, during that year, West End audiences were enjoying such shows as Chrysanthemum, Expresso Bongo and Valmouth, Australia had its first home-grown musical comedy proper - the wondrous Lola Montez. Anyone in the least interested in British musicals of this period will want to hear the newly re-issued EMI recording of the original cast album, beautifully produced (in acceptable sound) with a generous serving of bonus tracks.

 

Lola Montez was never a commercial hit, but the critics of the time warmed to it, and the critics were right. The work of Peter Stannard (music), Peter Benjamin (lyrics) and Alan Burke (book), the show was originally mounted by the Union Theatre repertory Company in Melbourne, and taken up by the Elizabethan Theatre Trust who presented it in a major production in Brisbane in October 1958, directed by George Carden. The critics smiled, but audiences stayed away. The pattern was repeated at a second showing when the show transferred for three weeks to Sydney, but - miraculously - the score was recorded. And what a score it is: an unending delight, with a quality and confidence all of its own.

 

The score suggests that the show’s book was strong in catching the feel of a Victorian town in Australia gripped by the search for gold, with its chorus of miners (among them Bruce Barry, who later appeared in The Biograph Girl and Marilyn!, and John Parker, who later played in Robert and Elizabeth in Britain) and ladies of the night, and a hopeful young man in search of love and a virgin heroine wanting to make a prettier town. As Lola, the outrageous courtesan and one-time mistress of the King of Bavaria, the English actress Mary Preston almost certainly had the greatest success of her career. Anyone hearing her sing her first roof-raising number ‘Let Me Sing! Let Me Dance!’ must warm to this skirt-kicking performance, and the song is unlike anything else you will ever hear. In a short bitter-sweet aria, ‘A Lady Finds Love’ Preston also displays a real ability to move us. In 1956, she had played a starlet in the great British success Grab Me A Gondola, eventually taking over a role from featured Joyce Blair and meanwhile understudying the show’s star Joan Heal. After Lola Montez folded, Preston returned to Britain to pursue her career, and appeared in West Side Story (she also recorded a ‘cover’ version of No, No Nanette with Margaret Burton) but her name has almost been forgotten. On this evidence, she deserves better.

 

In fact, most of the best songs go to other members of the pleasing company. Jane Martin is an utterly charming ‘nice’ second heroine, with a lovely song, ‘I Can See A Town’ that absolutely captures the best spirit of musicals of the time. The two male leads are equally good. Michael Cole as the handsome lover has a voice that warms to his numbers, among them the magical ‘Saturday Girl’ and ‘I’m The Man’. Frank Wilson as Sam Vanderburg is characterful. Troupers all, they sing Stannard and Benjamin’s songs for all they are worth, and they’re worth the listening.

 

When the original LP transfer runs out, there is the extra delight of material gathered from other sources. This is a great opportunity to once again hear Jane Martin glorying in ‘I Can See A Town’ in an enhanced mono version (rather better than the stereo sound), a ‘pop’ version of ‘I’m The Man’, and a radio broadcast of a medley of the songs. These, too, couldn’t be better done. The disc ends with a number not recorded on the original cast edition, ‘There’s Gold In Them There Hills’ (taken from a subsequent radio production of the show) and, newly recorded for this occasion, an unaccompanied male chorus singing the other ‘missing’ song ‘Ballad Of A Tree’.

 

The whole thing is a model of taste and affection. Who, now, is going to give us, for example, a full CD of the music from Follow That Girl ? - the original LP, with bonus tracks of Julian Slade playing his piano selection, Peter Gilmore’s separate version of the title song, and the Vocal Gems. Australia cares. So should we.

 

Meanwhile, let us enjoy the little-known beauties of this friendliest of pieces. The disc is available on the Bayview label at budget price.

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