Hal Lashwood's Alabama Jubilee

Hal Lashwood's Alabama Jubilee was an Australian television variety series hosted by Hal Lashwood which aired from 1958 to 1961 on ABC. It was essentially a minstrel show, with some of the performers appearing in blackface makeup.[2] In 1960, it was retitled Hal Lashwood's Minstrels.[3]

Hal Lashwood's Alabama Jubilee
30 Jun 1958 advertisement
GenreVariety
Created byHal Lashwood
StarringHal Lashwood
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
Production
ProducerHarry Pringle
Running time30 mins
Release
Original networkABV-2 (Melbourne)
Picture formatBlack-and-white
Original releaseMarch 1958 (Sydney) –
1 January 1960 (Melbourne)[1]

Hal Lashwood's Alabama Jubilee

Hal Lashwood's Alabama Jubilee began in Sydney on 6 March 1958.[4] It aired in Sydney on Thursdays and Melbourne on Fridays.

It was devised and prepared by Lashwood and produced by Harry Pringle.[5] It aired fortnightly, alternating with Cafe Continental, a variety series featuring acts of diverse ethnic backgrounds.[6]

It sometimes aired after episodes of Amos'n'Andy.[7]

Cast
  • Hal Lashwood
  • Syd Heylen
  • Jimmy Hanlon
  • Peggy Mortimer
  • Neil Williams
  • Jack Kersh

Various episodes

(Air dates are for Sydney)

  • First show - 6 March 1958 (Sydney), 3 May 1958 (Melbourne) - with Reg Quartley as Tambo[8] - Melbourne pre
  • 3 April 1958 - produced by John Buttle[9]
  • 1 May 1958
  • 22 May 1958
  • 5 June 1958 - live from Sydney stadium, produced by Harry Pringle[10]
  • 19 June 1958
  • 3 July 1958 - produced by Harry Pringle
  • 17 July 1958
  • 31 July 1958 - guest star Amy Rochell[11]
  • 14 August 1958
  • 28 August 1958
  • 11 September 1958
  • 25 September 1958
  • 9 October 1958
  • 23 October 1958
  • 6 November 1958
  • 20 November 1958
  • 4 December 1958 - guest star Heather Pitt produced by Harry Pringle[12]
  • 18 December 1958
  • 1 January 1959
  • 15 January 1959
  • 29 January 1959 - produced by Harry Pringle[13]
  • 12 February 1959
  • 26 February 1959 - produced by James Upshaw[14]
  • 12 March 1959 - the show celebrated its one-year anniversary with a guest appearance by Australian baritone Ron Williams who "will sing a number of negro spirituals" according to the Herald.[15] (Melbourne aired 3 June 1959)
  • 26 March 1959[16]
  • 9 April 1959 jazz singer Betty Fisher guest starred.[17]
  • 23 April 1959
  • 7 May 1959
  • 21 May 1959 - produced by Harry Pringle with baritone Neil Williams as guest[18][19]
  • 4 June 1959
  • 18 June 1959
  • 2 July 1959 - last performance. (Aired 1 January 1960 in Melbourne)

The show was replaced by Rooftop Rendezvous.[20] Lashwood went into another variety show, Shower of Stars.[21][22] Other guests - Roy Giles, Noel Melvin, Babs MacKinnon, James Wilson, Nellie Small

Hal Lashwood's Minstrels
Hal Lashwood's Minstrels
GenreVariety
Created byHal Lashwood
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time30 mins
Release
Original networkABC
Picture formatBlack-and-white
Original release28 July 1960 (Sydney)
13 August 1960 (Melbourne)[23]

The show came back as Hal Lashwood's Minstrels which started in July 1960 and went until August 1961. It was replaced by The Magic of Music.

Paul Robeson Episode

Paul Robeson guest starred on a show in December 1960.[24][25][26] He sang to children including two Chinese and two aboriginal.[27]

In 1961 an album called Hal Lashwood's Minstrels was released.[28]

Cast
  • Hal Lashwood as Mr Interlocutor
  • Sydney Heylen as Bones
  • Reg Quartley as Tambo
  • Jack Kerh as Mr Dixie
  • Peggy Mortimer as Miss Carolina
  • Nell Williams as Mr Melodry
  • Jack Allen - and the Swanee River Boys (Django Kahn, Neville Thomas and Ron Webber)

Episodes

(air dates given are for Sydney)

  • 28 July 1960 (Sydney)
  • 11 August 1960
  • 25 August 1960
  • 22 September 1960
  • 15 October 1960
  • 29 October 1960
  • 12 November 1960 - with Heather Pitt, Jack Allan
  • 26 November 1960
  • 10 December 1960
  • 24 December 1960 (Sydney, Melbourne) - Paul Robeson episode - he sung "Mexican Lullaby", "Silent Night", "Get on Board Little Children"
  • 7 January 1961 - with Wilma Reading
  • 19 January 1961 - guest star the Three Escorts
  • 2 February 1961 - produced by Peter Page
  • 16 February 1961 - produced by Harry Pringe
  • 2 March 1961
  • 16 March 1961
  • 30 March 1961 produced by Harry Pringle
  • 13 April 1961
  • 27 April 1961 - guest star Eddie Calvert
  • 25 May 1961
  • 8 June 1961 - guest star Dave Wheeler, Jack Allen, Helen Loraine
  • 22 June 1961
  • 6 July 1961 - guest star Noleen Batley
  • 20 July 1961
  • 3 August 1961

Other guest stars included Al Kenny, Stan Penrose, Jimmy Haines, C. Ray Smith, Patti Markham.

Reception

Writing in The Bulletin in 1963 Max Harris referred to the ABC commissioning variety shows:

Even a modest weekly entry into the variety field is a dubious investment. Shows of the calibre of Cafe Continental, The Lorrne Desmond Show, and the dismal Hal Lashwood Minstrels, demonstrate the hopelessness of the A.B.C.’s half-baked amateur essays at glossy effects. Against the failure of such shows to attract viewers, the A.B.C. was shattered by the enormous national success of “The Outcasts.” Public reaction itself confirmed the A.B.C.’s impulse to re-think programming at a loftier level. [29]

References
  1. "TV Guide". The Age. 31 December 1959. p. 20.
  2. http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=Id%3A331331;querytype=;rec=0;resCount=10
  3. Joyce Morgan, 'Lashwood, Harold Francis (Hal) (1915–1992)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/lashwood-harold-francis-hal-17116/text28946, published online 2016, accessed online 1 July 2020.
  4. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 3 March 1958. p. 10.
  5. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ... be seated". ABC Weekly. 25 June 1958. p. 9.
  6. http://jonathanbollen.net/touring-variety/moving-variety-between-stage-and-screen/
  7. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 June 1958. p. 16.
  8. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1422961630
  9. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1434968928
  10. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1436691045
  11. "Old Star as Guest". Sydney Morning Herald. 28 July 1958. p. 11.
  12. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1450534469
  13. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1527695872
  14. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1528194688
  15. ""Jubilee" Is One This Week". Sydney Morning Herald. 9 March 1959. p. 21.
  16. "All the TV Programmes". ABC Weekly. 25 March 1959. p. 32.
  17. "Accident Nearly Halted Career". 6 April 1959. p. 19.
  18. http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-1538263617
  19. "TV". Sydney Morning Herald. 18 May 1959. p. 18.
  20. "TV HIGHLIGHTS". The Biz. New South Wales, Australia. 1 July 1959. p. 24. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. "Lashwood for Comedy". Sydney Morning Herald. 18 May 1959. p. 18.
  22. "Lashwood in New TV Show". The Age. 21 May 1959. p. 8.
  23. "TV Guide". The Age. 11 August 1960. p. 31.
  24. "TELEVISION TOPICS". The Biz (2848). New South Wales, Australia. 21 December 1960. p. 8. Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  25. Paul Robeson episode at National Film and Sound Archive
  26. Peters-Little, Frances; Curthoys, Ann; Docker, John (2010). Passionate Histories: Myth, Memory and Indigenous Australia. ANU E Press. p. 169. ISBN 9781921666650.
  27. "TELEVISION TOPICS". The Biz (2848). New South Wales, Australia. 21 December 1960. p. 8. Retrieved 12 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  28. "FANGS FOR Col Joye planning THE MEMORY! to go into orbit". The Australian Women's Weekly. 29 (14). Australia. 6 September 1961. p. 9 (Teenagers' Weekly). Retrieved 1 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  29. Harris, Max (28 October 1961). "A New Cultural Deal?". The Bulletin. p. 32.


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