STAGE BOOM.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 297, 15 December 1936, Page 8

STAGE BOOM.

LEGITIMATE SHOWS. AUSTRALIAN COMPANIES. N.Z. TOURS EXPECTED. Not for ten years has the legitimate stage been so popular in Australia as at the present time, according to Mr. Arthur J. Tait, of J. C. Williamson, Ltd., who arrived in Auckland by the Awatea from Sydney this morning to prepare for the opening of the Gilbert and Sullivan season in Auckland at the end of the month. The company, of which Miss Strella Wilson and Mr. Ivan Menzies are the stars, will arrive in Auckland by the Wanganella on December 28.

"Business is the best we have known for the past ten years," said Mr. Tait. "The public are showing more and more interest in legitimate attractions, and all over Australia, especially in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney, the shows are. attracting big crowds."

Various attractions were listed for presentation in New Zealand next year, said Mr. Tait. One of the finest was the Monte Carlo-Russian Ballet which, at the present time, was doing even better business in Melbourne than the famous Pavlova had done. It was expected that the company would open a New Zealand tour, probably in Auckland, about the middle of February.

Two concert tours that would create a great deal of interest, Mr. Tait believed, were those of the world-famed American negro singer, Paul Robeson, and the noted Italian lyric tenor, Tito Sehipa. No dates had yet been fixed for either singer in Australia or New Zealand, but they would probably be here about the middle of the year.

Efforts were being* made to arrange a tour of New Zealand by Miss Gladys Moncrief, one of the most popular li-rlit opera stars that have toured the Dominion. She recently completed an Australian tour at Adelaide, playing "The Merry Widow," "The Maid' of the Mountains," "Gipsy Princess," and "Southern Maid." It hail been one of the most successful tours which the popular soprano had ever carried out. If she came to New Zealand, said Mr. Tait, she would probably play the same four comic operas. Asked whether there was any possibility of a revival of "Rose Marie," Mr. Tait said that quite a number of letters had been received by the company in Australia recently suggesting such a revival. He felt certain that the directors would give the suggestion careful consideration.