Travelling shows were once the height of entertainment. Now, a well-known family of entertainers once on the Australian circuit will be a part of the Ten Days on the Island festival.
The Corrick family were multi-skilled entertainers who came to Tasmania from New Zealand at the start of the 20th century.
For 15 years Albert and Sarah Corrick, along with their seven daughters and one son, travelled and entertained with thousands of shows.
The family settled in Launceston upon their retirement in 1915, and became devoted to music making in the community and other charitable works.
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Ten Days on the Island partnered with the National Film and Sound Archive Australia and the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery to bring a special, one-night-only show to the Princess Theatre.
The show will bring the stories, music, chimes and stage surprises of the Corrick family to life, and will screen some of their digitally restored films.
Ten Days on the Island artistic director Lindy Hume said she had been aware of the Corrick collection of films for quite a while - which had been found in a garage in Launceston.
"We always had our eye on them but when COVID happened we thought 'wow, we could do something with these films'," she said.
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Ms Hume said it was wonderful to be able to pay tribute to the family in front of their descendants who still lived in Tasmania.
The show will only scratch the surface of the family and their incredible life, but it will provide an opportunity for the family's chimes to be played for the first time in public since the 1930s.
"[The show] is such a beautiful lens to look at Launceston's history, but also Australian history," Ms Hume said.
"If you don't know this story ... you can not help but to be charmed and amazed at how modern they were."
The Marvellous Corricks music director Dean Stevenson said there was little evidence as to what the family played to accompany the films they showed audiences.
"The laying over all images with new sound is going to be a wonderful mash-up," he said.
Stevenson said the family were not recognised enough for what they had done and should be celebrated.
The Marvellous Corricks will show for one night at the Princess Theatre on March 14.
The silent films of the Corrick's only son, Leonard, will star in another Ten Days on the Island event, Leonard's Beautiful Pictures - which can be seen March 12 and 13 at the Mechanics' Institute Hall.
For more information visit tendays.org.au.
Dana Anderson
On a Friday night you may see me at the theatre, a festival, an exhibition, or in the corner of one of my favourite establishments reading a novel. So, it makes sense I am the arts and what's on reporter for The Examiner. To contact me about a story please send an email to dana.anderson@examiner.com.au
On a Friday night you may see me at the theatre, a festival, an exhibition, or in the corner of one of my favourite establishments reading a novel. So, it makes sense I am the arts and what's on reporter for The Examiner. To contact me about a story please send an email to dana.anderson@examiner.com.au
