A Toast to Melba

A Toast to Melba
Written by	Jack Hibberd
Characters	Dame Nellie Melba Caruso Treacle O'Kane Madame Marchesi Buffalo Bill Lady de Grey George Bernard Shaw The Duke of Orleans Sir Thomas Beecham Neville Cardus Oscar Wilde Frank Wedekind Mayor of Brisbane
Date premiered	1976
Place premiered	Adelaide Festival
Original language	English
Genre	Drama

A Toast to Melba is a 1976 Australian play by Jack Hibberd which was written in 1975. Hibberd described it as:

Another 'Popular Play' like The Les Darcy Show. Using the Epic Theatre techniques of Bertolt Brecht (without politics), the play encompasses the life of diva Nellie Melba from childhood in Melbourne to her death in Egypt (alleged dying words: "I never did like Aida.")... The actress who plays Melba must be able to sing a few arias and parlour songs. There is a selection of recorded music that is essential to the work.^[1]

The play is one of Hibberd's personal favourites.^[2]

1980 TV Adaptation

A Toast to Melba
Directed by	Alan Burke
Written by	Jack Hibberd
Based on	play by Jack Hibberd
Starring	Robyn Nevin Michael Aitkiens
Production company	ABC
Release date	1980
Running time	85 mins
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	around $5,000^[3]

The play was adapted by the ABC in 1980 as part of the Australian Theatre Festival.^[4]^[5]

Alan Burke's direction won him a Sammy Award.^[6] The production was much praised and was sold abroad.^[7]

References

↑ "A Toast to Melba" at Jack Hibberd site accessed 30 July 2013
↑ Interview with Jack Hibberd, Stage Whispers accessed 30 July 2013
↑ A Toast to Melba at AustLit
↑ Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995, Oxford Uni Press, 1996, p. 154
↑ Contemporary review in The Age, accessed 30 July 2013
↑ "Gold Sammy award winners". The Canberra Times. 55, (16,459). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 18 October 1980. p. 8. Retrieved 9 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
↑ "Alan Burke, Errol Flynn and theatre adventures". The Canberra Times. 56, (16,920). Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 24 January 1982. p. 8. Retrieved 9 February 2017 – via National Library of Australia.

External links

TV productions of Alan Burke
Dramas	A Fourth for Bridge (1957) A Rose Without a Thorn (1958) His Excellency (1958) The Skin of Our Teeth (1959) Misery Me (1959) Wuthering Heights (1959) The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day (1960) Venus Observed (1960) A Little South of Heaven (1961) The Merchant of Venice (1961) A Night Out (1961) The Taming of the Shrew (1962) My Three Angels (1962) The Young Victoria (1963) A Dead Secret (1963) The Tempest (1963) The Harp in the South (1964) Rusty Bugles (1965) Macbeth (1965) Dark Corridor (1965) The House (1966) The Prowler (1966) Redheap (1972) The Cousin from Fiji (1972) A Curate in Bohemia (1972) Dust or Polish? (1972) Halfway to Nowhere (1972) Essington (1974) Hamlet (1974) Ride on Stranger (1979) Coralie Lansdowne Says No (1980) A Toast to Melba (1980) Big Toys (1980) Departmental (1980) The Department (1980) Rusty Bugles (1981) A Hard God (1981) Going Home (1981) Jonah (1982) The Dean Case (1983) The Amorous Dentist (1983) A Halo for Athuan (1984) Kindred Spirits (1984) The Schippan Mystery (1984) Who Killed Hannah Jane? (1984) Rooted (1985) In This Corner (1986) After Marcuse (1988) The Alien Years (1988) Gross Misconduct: The Life of Brian Spencer (1993) Giant Mine (1996)
Operas	Prima Donna (1959) Rita (1959) Cavalleria rusticana (1959) The Marriage of Figaro (1960) The Medium (1960) The Abduction from the Seraglio (1961) La Boheme (1961) Don Pasquale (1962)
TV Series	Be Our Guest (1966) Bellbird (1966-68) Vega 4 (1968) Dynasty (1971) Lane End (1972) Behind the Legend (1972) The Seven Ages of Man (1976) The Oracle (1979)
Ballet	The Tell-Tale Heart (1961)
Musicals	Pardon Miss Westcott (1959) (writer only) Lola Montez (1962) The Sentimental Bloke (1976)

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