Medleys, University of Melbourne Medical Revue
Medleys is an annual comedy revue, performed at the Union House Theatre and written by a group of medical students from the University of Melbourne. The Union House Theatre is the premiere theatre of the Union House building of the university's Parkville campus. The Med Revue has been running since 1915 and is the longest running revue on campus. Over time, Medleys has changed in shape and format. It originated as entertainment for the annual medical ball but was eventually forbidden from this setting after the year of the great food fight at the Melbourne Town Hall. After being banned successively from the Melbourne Town Hall, the St Kilda Town Hall and the San Remo Ballroom, the show relocated to the Union Theatre and food was no longer served. Currently, the show runs for 3 nights each year, combining a multitude of original sketches and a two-act musical. Although the Med Revue is performed by medical students, the revue avoids medical jokes and parodies of faculty staff. Past titles of the Med Revue have included "I should be Souvlaki", "Fidel Castro Boy", and "The Derryn Hinchi Code." Proceeds from ticket sales are donated to different charity organizations each year.
Format
Medleys features a live band and a cast of approximately 20 students each year. Students are also responsible for all the lightings, sounds and production of the show. The Revue has 2 acts, each featuring a series of stand-alone sketches and ending with an act of the musical. All sketches as well as the musical are original and written by the cast. Sketches generally have nothing to do with the title and vary greatly in their style, their structure and content.
Casting and Membership
All medical students studying at the University of Melbourne are able to take part in any aspect of the Med Revue on a voluntary basis. There are no auditions; the only requirement is that people are committed to the show and attend rehearsals, meetings and the 2 rehearsal camps which are held throughout the year, starting in March and continuing until the show is performed in late August or early September. The directors cast the show once they have decided which sketches are to be in it and when the musical has been completed.
Musical
The musical runs for about 30 to 60 minutes over its two acts. It includes full scale dance scenes and songs, with original choreography, plot, costuming and vocal arrangements. All cast members have roles in the musical, as well as playing roles in the sketches which precede it in both acts.
Past Medical Revues
1921 - A Sparkling Melange
1929 - Peeps Into Hades
1932 - The Powerful Pathological Production Paralysis Agitans
1936 - "Diuresis": shake off your worries and listen to the doings of squatters' daughters and peers' sons
1938 - Sirenomelus: a monster show with a point
1939 - Polyuria; or On with the Flow
1940 - Cryptorchidism, or Bal Masque
1948 - Diverticulum
1951 - A Night in Charcot's Joint
1952 - Surgery Urgery
1953 - Call Me Adam
1954 - Tummy Rot
1955 - Interrupted Malady
1956 - Jocular Vein
1957 - Piles of Fun
1958 - Thanks for the Mammary
1959 - The Wizard of Os
1960 - Whores de Combat
1963 - Pro's 'n' Con's
1964 - Lawrence of Alabia
1965 - Bedside Story
1966 - There's a Meatin' Here Tonight
1968 - The Examination of the Black Oriphus - Directed by Marty Green & Peter Grossberg
1971 - Gobbler's Travels, or Boobs, Pubes and Tubes
1977 - Did The Future Suture? - Directed by Pete Desmond
1978 - The Sound of Mutants - Directed by Peter Cosgriff
1979 - A Funny Thing Happened on My Way Through the Anal Stage - Directed by Peter "Spic" Fear
1980 - The LXIXth Medliad - Directed by Peter "Spic" Fear
1981 - The Rocky Hormone Show - Directed by Bob Dunn
1984 - Acalypso Now - Directed by Paul Ekert & Rick Dowling
1990 - Medley Street - Night of the Superchicken
1991 - Seven Medley Sins - Directed by Justin Coleman, first performance away from Melbourne Town Hall
1992 - Nude Medleys on Ice - Directed by Arun Rakkar, first performance at San Remo Ballroom
1993 - Aida - San Remo Ballroom
1994 - Little Bottoms under the Big Top - Directed by Dani Stewart
1995 - Mission: Really, really hard! - Directed by Tim Iseli, first performance in the Union Theatre, Melbourne Uni.
1996 - Three Colours Brown - Directed by Scott Baker
1997 - A Clockwork Cumquat
1998 - So I Married an Axe - Directed by Brett Manley
1999 - Rage Against Mr. Sheen - Directed by Andrew Lim
2000 - Mortal Wombat - Directed by Kim Le Marshall
2001 - I Should Be Souvlaki - Directed by Tristan Leech
2002 - Fidel Castro Boy - Directed by Daniel Engelman
2003 - A Fish Called Rwanda - Directed by Gregory Kelly
2004 - Pilates of the Caribbean - Directed by Jeremy Carr & Simon Liubinas
2005 - Sleeping with the Anemone - Directed by Patrick Ruane
2006 - The Derryn Hinchi Code - Directed by Clare Hampson
2007 - Dancing with the Tsars - Directed by Benjamin Privett
2008 - The Passionfruit of the Christ - Directed by Charlotte Reddington
2009 - The Land Before Swine - Directed by Teresa Cosgriff
2010 - The Dalai Wears Llama - Directed by Aaron Wagen
2011 - Lock Stock and Two Smoking Squirrels - Directed by Heli Simpson
2012 - Laurence of the Labia - Directed by Nathan Murfey & Yianni Efstathiadis, performed at Saint Martin's Youth Art Centre due to asbestos removal at Union House Theatre
2013 - Betty Crocker and the Philosopher's Scone - Directed by Hsiang Han Hsieh
2014 - 50 Shades of Footscray - Directed by Krishmen Rasu
2015 - Partial Recall - Directed by Samuel Hawthorne