Savoyards - Company in Profile

Like many community theatres, Brisbane’s Savoyards Musical Comedy Company was founded on a diet of Gilbert and Sullivan. Now on the cusp of its 50th anniversary, Peter Pinne looks back at how Savoyards has developed into a company that tours south-east Queensland.

Brisbane’s Savoyards Musical Comedy Society Inc was founded in 1961 by Olwyn and Jim Foley as a theatrical group to provide the Bayside district (Wynnum and Manly) with musical theatre productions. It’s estimated that over a quarter of a million people have attended Savoyard shows since then.
The first production opened at the tiny Wynnum Municipal Library Hall in November 1961. It was The Mikado. HMS Pinafore followed in June 1962. Originally the company was intended to perform only Gilbert and Sullivan, but it became apparent in its early days that there was a demand for more varied fare such as operettas and Broadway and West End musical comedies.

During its existence the company has performed all of the G&S repertoire (HMS Pinafore has been done four times), plus the five major Rodgers and Hammerstein successes (Oklahoma!, South Pacific, The King & I, Carousel, and The Sound of Music), and a hefty slice of shows from Broadway’s Golden era (Brigadoon, My Fair Lady, Guys & Dolls, and Hello, Dolly! amongst others). Oklahoma! has had four productions, with The Sound of Music three. West End shows have included Oliver! (twice), Me & My Girl, The Boy Friend, Jesus Christ Superstar and Les Miserables.

This year the company has presented two Australian shows, The Boy From Oz, the enormously successful musical version of Peter Allen’s life, and Paris, about the love affair between Paris and Helen of Troy. But these are not the only Australian works the company has produced. Lola Montez, the show about the infamous ‘Spanish’ dancer, set in Ballarat, was mounted in 1992.

Normally the company produce two major musicals each year with an occasional small scale show as a third production. They have also done plays, music hall and concerts. Their success is due, no doubt, to a consistent core group of passionate and dedicated members. They also vary their production team with each show to expose their members to new ideas and methods of achieving the best result possible – a lesson many other community companies could well follow.
In the beginning they mainly played in metropolitan venues and school halls, in particular Wynnum State High School, where the company rehearsed and performed from1971.

Ten years ago they moved into the Iona Performing Arts Centre (IPAC), which is attached to Iona College. Set in a scenic parkland, this venue has since become their permanent home. With its large stage and backstage facilities, it has allowed them to grow. The auditorium seats 500, and there is a spacious foyer which the company has used in the past for concerts. Earlier this year they presented a successful afternoon tea concert called Music in the Foyer.

The company have also toured extensively in Queensland, and have played venues from Murwillumbah (NSW), to Beaudesert, Nambour, Caloundra, and most recently, by invitation, the Brolga Theatre, Maryborough.

Since 2002 the company has been supported by three media sponsors -two local newspapers, and a community radio station.

The name Savoyards refers to performers who have played Gilbert and Sullivan at the Savoy Theatre, London. Despite moving into other styles of music theatre, the name remained and almost fifty years on, Savoyards, or Savs as it is known locally, has become the longest continuously running musical theatre company in Brisbane.

Originally published in the November / December 2009 edition of Stage Whipsers.