Errol Flynn - Humour and Music

As anticipated, the humour in EFGBABFB has been attacked as being 'Benny Hill' style. I take that to mean puerile and sexist. The suggestion is that that is a bad thing! On the contrary!-) Seriously though, the script was written at a time when the Monty Python TV series had given rise to a plethora of Uni Revue-style comedy shows. This show can be seen as a cross-over between a revue and a play with a message. Maybe the humour is a little dated, but then it is either funny or it isn't. It depends on whether you have a sense of humour or not. Either way, I think the point is that Errol was a schoolboy hero and the butt of many a topical joke during his lifetime, many of them warranted. In deference to modern audiences, we actually cut a big chunk out of the script that in our view made too light of the issue of underage sex. Maybe we shouldn't have. There was no music attached to this script. The playwright - who wrote the lyrics - is no muso - he just suggested that we 'do our own thing' music-wise. The script called for a lone pianist throughout. Would you believe it is easier to find a 3-piece blues combo than a lone pianist in Fremantle these days? I approached local singer/songwriters Dave Hale and Norma Holmes to put melodies to the lyrics, which I believe they did extremely well and more credit is due to them. We tried hard to get Dave to play in the show as well, but the pay was inadequate, so Norma and I have shared the guitarist duties between us. Anyone who calls the music 'country' is correct only to the extent that 'country' fits the definition of 'white man's blues'. We prefer to think of it as 'bar-room blues'- closer to jazz - but otherwise we see no need to be more era-authentic (Brecht again). Of course, it would have been nice to have the WA Youth Jazz Orchestra drop in to play one or two numbers, but we understand they're otherwise engaged!-) More later...