''Jonah'' (originally titled ''Jonah Jones'') is an Australian musical with book and lyrics by John Romeril and music by

Alan John Alan John (born 7 May 1958 in Sydney) is an Australian composer. He studied music at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1980. His compositions include original music for various plays, films (such as '' Holding the Man'', ''Three Dollars'' a ...

. It is based on the 1911 novel ''

Jonah Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spo ...

'' by Australian writer

Louis Stone Louis Stone (21 October 1871 – 23 September 1935) was an Australian novelist and playwright. Early life Stone was born in Leicester, England, baptized as William Lewis, son of William Stone, a basketmaker, and his wife Emma, ''née'' Tewk ...

. Set in the inner suburbs of Sydney in the thirty years prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, the musical is an ironic story of the capitalist rise of a hunchback shoe repairer from a leader of a local

Push Push may refer to: Music * Mike Dierickx (born 1973), a Belgian producer also known as Push Albums * ''Push'' (Bros album), 1988 * ''Push'' (Gruntruck album), 1992 * ''Push'' (Jacky Terrasson album), 2010 Songs * "Push" (Enrique Iglesias ...

to an industrial magnate. The musical was commissioned by the

Sydney Theatre Company Sydney Theatre Company (STC) is an Australian theatre company based in Sydney, New South Wales. The company performs in The Wharf Theatre at Dawes Point in The Rocks area of Sydney, as well as the Roslyn Packer Theatre (formerly Sydney Thea ...

and first produced in 1985 after having been in development for six years.

Productions

''Jonah'' premiered (as ''Jonah Jones'') at the Sydney Theatre Company's The Wharf Theatre on 26 October 1985, one of the first productions in the newly developed theatre. The cast included Simon Burke as Jonah Jones, Geraldine Turner as Mrs Yabsley, Lynne Emanuel as Ada Yabsley, Dianne Smith as Pink Partridge, Alan David Lee as Arthur 'Chook' Fowles, Wayne Scott Kermond as 'Waxy' Collins and

Michelle Fawdon Michele Fawdon (1947–2011) was an English-born Australian actress and singer. She is known for her roles in TV serials ''Matlock Police'' (1971–1974), ''The Unisexers'' (1975) and ''A Country Practice'' (1980, 1985, 1992). In 1979 she won t ...

as Clara Grimes. Other cast members included Tony Taylor, Peter Carroll and Valerie Bader. The production was directed by

Richard Wherrett Richard Bruce Wherrett AM (10 December 19407 December 2001) was an Australian stage director, whose career spanned 40 years. he is known for being the founding director of the Sydney Theatre Company in 1979. Early life, education and family Ri ...

with musical staging by Ross Coleman and musical direction by Michael Tyack. It was designed by Roger Kirk with lighting design by Nigel Levings and sound design by Colin Ford. Sydney Theatre Company intended the season at the Wharf Theatre to be a tryout before a transfer to the larger

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century archit ...

Drama Theatre and a national tour. As it was not a popular success, this did not occur. A revival by the

State Theatre Company of South Australia The State Theatre Company of South Australia (STCSA), branded State Theatre Company South Australia, formerly the South Australian Theatre Company (SATC), is South Australia's leading professional theatre company, and a statutory corporation. I ...

was produced in Adelaide in 1991, at The Space,

Adelaide Festival Centre Adelaide Festival Centre, Australia's first multi-purpose arts centre and the home of South Australia's performing arts, was built in the 1970s, designed by Hassell Architects. The Festival Theatre opened in June 1973 with the rest of the cent ...

Neil Armfield Neil Geoffrey Armfield (born 22 April 1955) is an Australian director of theatre, film and opera. Biography Born in Sydney, Armfield is the third and youngest son of Len, a factory worker at the nearby Arnott's Biscuits factory and Nita Armfie ...

directed the musical as a promenade production, with a cast including David Field and

Nancye Hayes Nancye Lee Bertles AM ( Hayes; born January 1943), billed under her maiden name as Nancye Hayes, is an Australian actress, dancer, singer and choreographer/director and narrator. She has been a leading figure in Australian musical theatre si ...

. ''Jonah'' has also been performed a number of times at the

Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) at Edith Cowan University (ECU) was established in 1980 to provide performing arts tuition. WAAPA (commonly pronounced "whopp-a") operates as a part of ECU, located at the ECU campus in ...

Playscript and recordings

The book and lyrics were published by

Currency Press Currency Press is a leading performing arts publisher and its oldest independent publisher still active. Their list includes plays and screenplays, professional handbooks, biographies, cultural histories, critical studies and reference works. H ...

in 2010 as part of a collection of John Romeril works. Although there is no cast recording, the "Cardigan Street" musical sequence was performed by

, Valerie Bader and Jodie Gillies in a 1994 ABC television special on Australian musicals ('' Once In a Blue Moon'') and is featured on its soundtrack.

References

{{Reflist Australian musicals 1985 musicals Musicals based on novels Compositions by Alan John