Vaib Solomon

Solomon was born in Medindie, South Australia,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article54495367 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=South Australian Register |location=South Australia |date=5 June 1897 |access-date=19 April 2020 |page=4 |via=Trove }} the only son of politician Vaiben Louis Solomon (1853–1908) and his second wife Alice née Cohen (died 19 May 1954).{{Cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23429300|title=Family Notices|date=1954-05-21|work=Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957)|access-date=2020-04-19|pages=17}}

He was educated at St Peter's College then at Wesley College, when his parents moved to Melbourne.

He wrote humorous pieces for a school magazine The Lion, which he sub-edited,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223556071 |title=Australian Librettist |newspaper=Weekly Times |location=Victoria, Australia |date=29 November 1924 |access-date=19 April 2020 |page=16 |via=Trove }} and was active in amateur theatricals raising money for patriotic causes during the Great War.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63794288 |title=Talented Adelaidean |newspaper=The Mail (Adelaide) |location=South Australia |date=22 November 1924 |access-date=19 April 2020 |page=11 |via=Trove }}

He was successful in business, but continued to write, notably short humorous verses which were regularly published in Smith's Weekly 1922–1923.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234278680 |title=Scandal |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=4 February 1922 |access-date=19 April 2020 |page=20 |via=Trove }}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234275018 |title=A Ballet Mistake |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=25 February 1922 |access-date=19 April 2020 |page=10 |via=Trove }}

He wrote a sketch for the comedian Gene Gerrard, which drew the attention of Hugh J. Ward, who had just acquired the rights to the "hit" farce Tons of Money{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165974360 |title=New Plays for Australia |newspaper=Geelong Advertiser |location=Victoria, Australia |date=6 June 1922 |access-date=19 April 2020 |page=5 |via=Trove }} and commissioned Solomon to write the lyrics of a musical version{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article244849407 |title=A Magician's Partner |newspaper=The Herald (Melbourne) |location=Victoria, Australia |date=22 November 1924 |access-date=19 April 2020 |page=19 |via=Trove }} to a score by Willy Redstone.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163261351 |author=Vaiben Louis |title=The Art of Writing Lyrics |newspaper=The Newcastle Sun |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=6 December 1924 |access-date=19 April 2020 |page=7 |via=Trove }}

It had a successful run at Sydney's Grand Opera House 1 March – 23 May 1924 and Melbourne's Princess Theatre 10–30 November 1924 with Charles Heslop and Dot Brunton as Aubrey and Louise Allington.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article146560249 |title=The Theatre and Its People |newspaper=Table Talk |location=Victoria, Australia |date=27 November 1924 |access-date=19 April 2020 |page=25 |via=Trove }}

He appears to have then ceased writing, and apart from his marriage in 1931, dropped out of the limelight completely.

Solomon married Claribelle "Claire"{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article147567837 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=Table Talk |location=Victoria, Australia |date=29 May 1930 |access-date=20 April 2020 |page=54 |via=Trove }} Mitchell of Camberwell, Victoria on 31 March 1931.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4386006 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Argus (Melbourne) |location=Victoria, Australia |date=23 May 1931 |access-date=20 April 2020 |page=11 |via=Trove }}

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Category:1897 births

Category:Poets from Melbourne

Category:Australian musical theatre lyricists

Category:Jewish Australian writers

Category:1982 deaths