The Swagman Restaurant was a restaurant in

Ferntree Gully Ferntree Gully is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, at the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges, 30 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox local government area. Ferntree Gully ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...

, Australia, which opened in 1972 and was destroyed by fire in 1991. The restaurant was famous in Melbourne for its long-running television commercials,

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dinin ...

shows, and smorgasbord. The Swagman was located on

Burwood Highway Burwood Highway is a major transportation link with Melbourne's eastern suburbs. It begins in the suburb of Kooyong, Melbourne at the junction of the Monash Freeway as Toorak Road between Monash Freeway and Warrigal Road, and finishes in Belg ...

, Ferntree Gully. It was owned by Bastiaan (Basil) and Ina De Jong. An unusually large establishment, The Swagman eventually had a capacity of 1,200 seats and covered 20,000 square metres, and was noted for attracting buses of tourists from rural and international locations, especially Japan.

Entertainment

The floor shows, featuring dancers, singers, and other acts, were quite unique in Melbourne at that time. The shows changed every three months. Choreographers included Peggy Rush, Coral Deague, Jan Rogers, and Jodie Greenwood. Greenwood was a dancer and performer at the Swagman for 14 years, and was the choreographer from 1979 until 1991, when the restaurant burnt down. She featured in all the television commercials for the restaurant, which played on late-night commercial television for many years. Performers who played at the venue included Frank Amorosi (father of

Vanessa Amorosi Vanessa Joy AmorosiSharon Verghis"Back on track" ''The Sun-Herald'', 18 October 2009, Archived fro''the original''on 6 March 2016. (born 8 August 1981) is an Australian singer-songwriter and recording artist. Her combined album and single sales ...

), David Gould, Dean Lotherington, Sean Martin Hingston,

Debbie Reynolds Mary Frances "Debbie" Reynolds (April 1, 1932 – December 28, 2016) was an American actress, singer, and businesswoman. Her career spanned almost 70 years. She was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for her portra ...

Robert Goulet Robert Gérard Goulet (November 26, 1933 October 30, 2007) was an American and Canadian singer and actor of French-Canadian ancestry. Goulet was born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts until age 13, and then spent his formative years in Canad ...

, the

Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies an ...

Dr. Hook Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show (shortened to Dr. Hook in 1975) is an American rock band, formed in Union City, New Jersey. The band had commercial success in the 1970s with hit singles "Sylvia's Mother", " The Cover of 'Rolling Stone'" (both 1972) ...

Pilita Corrales Pilar Garrido Corrales (born August 22, 1937) is a Filipino pop singer, songwriter, actress, comedian and television presenter. She is dubbed as "Asia's Queen of Songs" and is widely known for her rendition of "Kapantay ay Langit" which eventu ...

, and the

Village People Village People is an American disco group known for its on-stage costumes and suggestive lyrics in their music. The group was originally formed by French producers Jacques Morali, Henri Belolo and lead singer Victor Willis following the rel ...

. Paul Sheean at age 16 was the youngest singer to perform full-time in the cabaret floorshow.

Fire

The Swagman burnt down at around 4:30am on 27 May 1991. The fire was front-page news in Melbourne. The insurance firm

Royal Insurance Royal Insurance Holdings plc was a large insurance business originating in Liverpool but based in London from the early 20th century. It merged with Sun Alliance in 1996 to form the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group. History Formation and ...

alleged arson and refused to pay the $7 million claim made by the owners of the restaurant, who then sued for the amount. The case was confidentially settled in October 1992. After the settlement, however, the owners were sued by the

ANZ Bank ANZ may refer to: People * Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician Banks * ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia ** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand ** ...

, who also alleged arson.Kevin Childs & Simon Mann, "ANZ sues in wake of Swagman fire," ''The Age'', 26 December 1992, page 1. The restaurant was not rebuilt after the fire. The owners sold the property, on which the Stylus nightclub was then built. The new owners hired Basil De Jong to manage the nightclub.

References

External links

Photo of the Swagman after the fire, September 1992

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in th ...

, accessed 23 March 2015
Photo of choreographer Coral Deague
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swagman Restaurant Restaurants in Melbourne Defunct restaurants in Australia Restaurants established in 1972 1991 disestablishments in Australia 1990s fires in Oceania 1991 disasters in Oceania 1991 fires Buffet restaurants 1972 establishments in Australia Restaurants disestablished in 1991

Entertainment

Fire

See also

References

External links