STAGE WORLD PROSPERS

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22142, 12 July 1937, Page 19

STAGE WORLD PROSPERS

"GOOD SONGS ALWAYS POPULAR"

MISS GLADYS MONCRIEFF IN CHRISTCHURCH

The success of stage productions in Australia was now past the stage when it could be said to be promising well; the world of the theatre was definitely on the up-grade, and Australia was following the lead of London, where I there were more than 80 theatres, all of them playing. This opinion was expressed by Miss Gladys Moncrieff, star of "The Merry Widow" and "Maid of the Mountains," in an interview yesterday. Miss Moncrieff said that the increasing popularity of the stage vas also evident in New Zealand. The present company had done exceptional business so far. and audiences had been, as always, appreciative of good songs. The work -of modern songwriters could scarcely be compared with that of their predecessors. Miss Moncrieff said. The test c£ that was that, popular though they were for a short time, meet of the songs of the newest productions in the light comedy field would not. live, as had the favourites in such shows as "The Maid of the Mountains" and "The Merry Widow." Miss Moncrieff herself is no stranger to New Zealand audiences. She was in Christchurch some years ago, as the star in "Rio Rita." one of the most popular light comedies in years. When the present New Zealand tour is completed she will go to Brisbane to play a season. After that she is considering taking a holiday. In the nine years since she came to Australia from England, Miss Moncrieff can recall breaks from work amounting to about only three months in all, and she considers that a holiday is well deserved. She had planned to go to the Coronation, but the present tour upset that holiday, and so, in spite of offers of engagements, she intends taking the first chance of going on a holiday trip to either England or the United States.

Broadcasting was taking the services of artists in increasing numbers in modern days, Miss Moncrieff saftl, and the field of endeavour offered by radio work was broadening all the time. The film industry in Australia was also growing, and the success and artistic merit of th? latest productions of Australian studios showed that ihe latest comers into the field of film work were now well able to stand on their own feet, British films, late in the field, had had. of course, to face the handicap of lagging behind in the first stages, the well-established American concerns, with years of experience, and the same fate could not be avoided in the early growth of film work in Australia. But the outlook was distinctly promising. Broadcasting and the film industry between them had absorbed many stage folk, and it could be said with truth that plenty ~of employment was. offering those in the theatre. Three of the shows at present doing well in Australia were "imported," playing with casts recruited from other than Australia, and the outlook, generally, for the stage in Australia and New Zealand was most promising.