The Nick Enright Songbook

Edited by Peter Wyllie Johnston (Currency Press $49.95)

The publishing of Australian musical scores is rare, and the publishing of any individual songs from them even rarer, so this collection is a welcome and worthy addition to any music library. It contains 50 songs from ten musicals with lyrics by Nick Enright. They also represent the work of five different composers; Terence Clarke, David King, Max Lambert, Alan John and Glenn Henrich, whose music is published in print form for the first time.

The album of songs covers a 24 year period, from Enright and Clarke’s hit Aussie version of Goldoni’s play The Venetian Twins in 1979 to Enright and King’s account of the life and times of boxer Les Darcy in The Good Fight in 2002. In between came the chamber musical Variations which won the 1983 New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award for Drama, the depression-era On the Wallaby (1978), the travelling show-folk salute Summer Rain (1983), a televangelist expose, Miracle City (1996), the epic convict story of Mary Bryant (1996), plus Buckley’s! (1981) and The Betrothed (1993).

Peter Wyllie Johnston’s “An Appreciation” at the beginning of the book gives an authoritative overview of Enright’s career in which he claims Enright was “the most experienced professional Australian lyricist of his generation and the most influential” and this volume of literate and eclectic material justifies his claim.

Johnston also writes at length about the history and performance of each production. Of particular interest is the saga of Orlando Rourke (1985), a musical about Australia’s early film industry mounted by the State Theatre Company of South Australia, which was cancelled in rehearsal. Enright’s dedication to the musical genre was rewarded when he posthumously received a Tony Award nomination (with Martin Sherman) for his book for the jukebox musical The Boy From Oz (2003) following the Broadway run.It was a fitting tribute to a short but illustrious career and this songbook is a fitting and lasting legacy. Songs include “Jindyworoback”, “One In a Blue Moon”, “Sail Away” and “I’ll Hold On”.

Review by Peter Pinne

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Nick Enright (1950–2003) trained for the theatre at New York University School of Arts after early experience in Australia including with Nimrod and MTC. He was an actor, director and teacher as well as a writer. His plays include On the Wallaby, Daylight Saving, St James Infirmary, Mongrels, A Property of the Clan, The Quartet from Rigoletto, Blackrock, Good Works, Spurboard and A Man with Five Children. With Justin Monjo he adapted Tim Winton's Cloudstreet for the stage. He has also written for film and television, including co-writing with George Miller the screenplay for Lorenzo's Oil which was nominated for an Academy Award. He has written a number of musicals including The Venetian Twins and Summer Rain with composer Terence Clarke, and wrote the book for the Australian production of The Boy From Oz. Among many awards were two Green Room Awards for Best Play, and four Gold AWGIE Awards, the 1998 Sidney Myer Performing Arts Award and the NSW Premiers' Special Award. As well as being a prolific writer, Nick was a noted acting teacher, particularly at NIDA and WAAPA.