Fisher's Ghost

*Fisher's Ghost*
Fisher's Ghost
Written by	John Gordon
Starring	Ereach Riley
Music by	John Gordon
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
Production
Producer	Robert Allnut
Original release
Release	22 September 1963 (Sydney); 29 Sept 1963 (Melbourne)

Fisher’s Ghost
Fisher’s Ghost
Written by	John Gordon
Genre	operetta
Premiere
Date	29 September 1960
Place	Sydney Teachers' College

Fisher's Ghost is a 1960 Australian operetta. It is based on the legend of Fisher's ghost which had previously inspired the 1924 film from Raymond Longford.

Operetta

The operetta was composed by John Gordon and was originally performed at Sydney Teachers' College on 29 September 1960. It was revised for television.

Douglas Stewart wrote a play based on the same story which premiered shortly after the operetta.

Cast of 1960 production

Ereach Riley
Alan Light as George Worral
Ross Whatson
Pamela Coleman as Mrs Hurley
Wilhelmina Bermingham as Miss Hurley

1963 TV adaptation

The operetta was broadcast on the ABC. It was the first television opera with an Australian historical background.

Cast

Ereach Riley as Birdlime the pickpocket
Edmund Bohan as John Hurley
Marilyn Richardson as John Hurley's sister
Donald Philps as Fred Fisher

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald thought the production had "musical merit" but had "serious" dramatic problems and needed to be revised.

References

↑ Canon: Australian Journal of Music. 1960.Issues 10-18 - Page 51.
↑ Dorottya Fabian; John Napier (30 October 2018). Diversity in Australia's Music: Themes Past, Present, and for the Future. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 116–. ISBN 978-1-5275-2066-0.
↑ 'Fisher, Frederick George (1792–1826)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/fisher-frederick-george-15178/text26370, accessed 30 May 2016.
↑ Review of 1960 production in Sydney Morning Herald 30 Sept 1960
1 2 "GHOST LEGEND FROM THE PAST". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 31, no. 17. Australia. 25 September 1963. p. 17. Retrieved 29 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
↑ "Ghost Story from Convict DaysUsed for TV Opera". The Age. 26 September 1963. p. 8.
↑ Vagg, Stephen (23 December 2019). "Australian Film Musicals You Probably Didn't Realise Existed". Filmink.
↑ "Ghost Opera on Television", Sydney Morning Herald, 23 September 1963

External links

Operetta details at AustLit
TV adaptation at AustLit

This article on a play from the 1960s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by adding missing information.

[1] Canon: Australian Journal of Music. 1960.Issues 10-18 - Page 51.

[FabianNapier2018-2] Dorottya Fabian; John Napier (30 October 2018). Diversity in Australia's Music: Themes Past, Present, and for the Future. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 116–. ISBN 978-1-5275-2066-0.

[3] 'Fisher, Frederick George (1792–1826)', Obituaries Australia, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://oa.anu.edu.au/obituary/fisher-frederick-george-15178/text26370, accessed 30 May 2016.

[4] Review of 1960 production in Sydney Morning Herald 30 Sept 1960

[ghost-5] 1 2 "GHOST LEGEND FROM THE PAST". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 31, no. 17. Australia. 25 September 1963. p. 17. Retrieved 29 May 2016 – via National Library of Australia.

[age-6] "Ghost Story from Convict DaysUsed for TV Opera". The Age. 26 September 1963. p. 8.

[vagg-7] Vagg, Stephen (23 December 2019). "Australian Film Musicals You Probably Didn't Realise Existed". Filmink.

[8] "Ghost Opera on Television", Sydney Morning Herald, 23 September 1963