Manning Clark's History of Australia – The Musical is an Australian musical by Tim Robertson and Don Watson with John Romeril with music by Martin Armiger and George Dreyfus with David King. Written to coincide with the Australian Bicentenary, the musical interweaves the life of historian Manning Clark from 1915 to 1988 with Australian history from 1788 to 1915, utilising drama, melodrama, music, song, comedy and circus.[1]
Development
Watson, Robertson and Romeril began working on a stage adaptation of Clark's (then) five volume A History of Australia in 1983.[2]
Negative initial reviews and poor ticket sales resulted in the musical facing closure after three weeks.[4][5] In an effort to continue, the cast agreed to forgo wages, the theatre owner waived the rent and Hoyts provided free publicity.[6][7]History of Australia finally closed in late February 1988, well short of initial expectations and without proceeding to a national tour.
The musical received a mixed critical reaction. In Melbourne newspaper The Age, theatre critic Leonard Radic said the musical gave an overall impression of "patchiness and a failure of imagination".[4] Playwright Jack Hibberd called Radic's review "disrespectful, captious and harsh" and "choked with terrible misjudgements".[11][12][13]
^"B[?]CENTENN[?]AL ARTS '88". The Canberra Times. Vol. 62, no. 19, 105. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 26 January 1988. p. 9 (Supplement to the Canberra Times). Retrieved 28 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
^"History is axed". The Canberra Times. Vol. 62, no. 19, 115. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 5 February 1988. p. 11. Retrieved 28 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
^"More History help". The Sydney Morning Herald. NSW. 9 February 1988. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
^"Manning Clark's show may go on". The Canberra Times. Vol. 62, no. 19, 117. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 7 February 1988. p. 1. Retrieved 28 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
