Wednesday, September 3, 2014

THREE TWINS IN DISAPPEARING MUSICAL CHAIRS / COALITION BUDGET BOX OFFICE BUMMER

The unusual title of this   circa  1920s   bright    musical   comedy     could   well   be   taken to represent   the current   Federal  government’s failure to  sell   the brutal  budget .  Some  of   the   catchy songs  in the stage show  have   a  current   desperate  political  plea to voters  -   Can’t  You  Hear  me  Calling ,  Caroline ?   and    Cuddle  Up  a  Little Closer , Lovey  Mine.     On   the  ABC’s    Insiders (  welcome  back  Barrie  Cassidy )   program  there  was  discussion  about  the  way  the Finance Minister, Senator  Mathias Cormann  had  been  manfully  shouldering  the  burden  of   three  Liberal spruikers  ,  trying   to  sell  the  unpopular  budget on his own.

The  right wing  commentariat  even  said  sweaty Treasurer  , Joe    Hockey ,   had    almost  withdrawn   from   sight   after   finding  it  hard  to explain himself ;  Assistant  Treasurer  , Senator  Arthur   Sinodinos , John Howard’s  former chief of  staff and  former  president  of the  NSW Liberal party , properly   moved  to  the  backbench  over  a  matter  raised  in  the  ICAC  hearing in  NSW  and has been silenced  . So   Cormann, German  speaking of Belgian descent , was  left  on his   own ,  storming  though  the Coalition’s  extensive  , blood-soaked lowlands  trying  to  convince  voters   that  the budget is  beaut .  Many  observers  say  he  deserves  a 10 cent  cigar for  effort , if  nothing  else.   

Star of  the  Three Twins  show  was  Australian   singer, dancer  and  actress ,  Miss Dorothy Brunton , whose  popularity  with  the  Australian  population   was  gigantic.  In Sydney and Melbourne during    1915-16 ,  she appeared in a number of  musical  comedies   and  a  lively  marching song      So Long , Letty   was   adopted by soldiers  who  called  her  the  Diggers’ Delight, and carried her shoulder high  to  her  cab each  night .  In 1917 she went to America , crossed to London, where  it was said  she  was literally worshipped by Australians  . . . they cheered, they coo-eed, they whistled with ear-splitting shrillness and joyous abandon; the male star was not pleased She  entertained  Australian  troops on  leave at  her flat , called  Dot’s Diggers’ Rest  . While living in London during the  Second World War, she was  injured  during  the German  blitz . After being diagnosed with Parkinson’s  Disease, she returned to  Sydney  in  1949, went to Sweden for medical treatment, died  in 1977 and  was cremated .