King of show management, and the road, turns off lights

Press, 6 April 1989, Page 21

King of show management, and the road, turns off lights

By

HANS PETROVIC

WHEN TREVOR KING retired as manager of the Avon cinema recently, he brought a New Zealand show business era to an end. His career in films and live entertainment spanned half a century. He thinks back most fondly to the more than 20 years he spent touring the country with big-name overseas stars. In Christchurch, to the children attending Saturday morning matinees for five years in the 1950 s — first at the Liberty, then the Crystal Palace — he was known as Uncle "Trevor, host of the Chums Club.

Trevor King also became a familiar face throughout the country, acccompanying overseas personalities from pop to opera performaners as tour manager. “Have bag, will travel,” was his motto. He became known as the man with a suitcase — “King of the road.” Touring activities reached their height during the 1950 s and 19605, and for Trevor King a suitcase became a vital part of living. He often spent up to nine months of the year travelling. It is unlikely that any other tour manager has criss-crossed the country to the same extent.

The list of names and dates tends to overlap and become a little confused, but during three months in the 19605, King travelled with a cosmopolitan collection of performers that included the Dutch College Swing Band, a Danish gymnast team (plus Nina and Frederik), the Andy Stewart Show, the Seekers, the Mexican Ballet, Acker Bilk, and the Paramount Jazz Band. A letterhead from about the same time depicts a much younger Trevor King as “theatrical and publicity agent.” It boasts this astonishing list of artists: the Luton Girls’ Choir, direct from England; Ted Heath’s famous band, direct from the London Paladium; Johnny Devlin; the Harlem Blackbirds, America’s all-coloured revue; a £5OO Search for Talent, with a sixmonths record season in Christchurch; the Dave Bruback Quartet; Nat "King” Cole; Max Merritt; the Pan Yue Jen Chinese troupe, from Hong Kong; Bullens Bros Circus; James Fitzpatrick, “The Voice of the Globe,” globe-

trotting cameraman from the United States; the Old Vic Theatre Company, direct from London; Lee Gordon’s Fabulous Fabian Show; Armand Perren’s Ice Shows, with Rose Marie on Ice, and Alfredo Campoli, worldfamous violinist.

To top all these, there was that memorable tour by the Beatles in 1964, as well as the Rolling Stones. “The only two who didn’t come to New Zealand were Liberace, and Bill Haley and the “Comets,” says Trevor King wistfully. “Elvis Presley didn’t make it, either, but he didn’t tour anywhere outside the United States, except Canada. I saw him perform once, though, at Madison Square Garden in New York. He was excellent.”

The story that King started in show business as an ice-cream boy at the Metro Theatre, Sydenham, in 1939, at the age of 15 has been told so many times that it sounds almost apocryphal, but it is true.

He was quickly promoted to doorman, then transferred to the St James (later, the Odeon, now a church), in Lichfield Street, by Christchurch Cinemas, Ltd, as publicity manager for stage shows.

He began advertising for Stanley McKay’s Gaieties of 1939, a vaudeville revue which was touring New Zealand. He was transferred to the Grand Theatre, the first cinema in Christchurch to screen continuous films and weekly serials. In 1942, he joined Amalgamated Theatres and became manager of his first cinema, the Liberty, at the age of 18. Later, at the Theatre Royal, he handled outdoor publicity for many well-known stage promoters — J. C. Williamson Theatres, the Tivoli Circuit (Australia), Garnett Carroll Theatres and the Ophir Rees Revues were among them. Trevor King also toured New Zealand with several hypnotists, including Henri Roland and Van Loewe, as well as the first woman hypnotist, Dormia Robson. She made news with her hypnotic dental demonstration, during which a dentist pulled a tooth from a hypnotised subject on stage.

The Chum Club brings back fond memories from the 19505. Every Saturday at 10 a.m., he would appear on stage at the Liberty (later at the Crystal Palace) as Uncle Trevor, running crazy quizzes and talent quests and presenting special acts, such as a police dog, junior Maori concert parties, and Chief Little Wolf, the wrestler, from Melbourne. “Chief Little Wolf arrived in a Cadillac wearing a big, feather headdress. As the chief was walking down the aisle, a boy put out a foot and tripped him. You should have heard the language,” says King. “I used to give away Crunchie bars to children on their birthdays, as well as posters and photos. For a kid to get a big white envelope containing posters and things was a big thing that they would always remember. I still like to post things to children now. "The kids used to love the westerns. We screened Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers and Rin Tin Tin.

“Lots of those kids still remember me now. Once, when I was travelling with Andy Stewart in Timaru, a big policeman came up to me and called me Uncle Trevor. More recently, some bikies called me by the same name,” King says proudly. In the mid-19505, Trevor King transferred to the Crystal Palace (later, the Carlton, now a shopping arcade), screening films and running Thursday evening talent quests which discovered such New Zealand talent as Max Merritt, Ray Columbus, Peter McMullen, the Wildcats, Gary Wakefield, and Isola Bennett, a young Maori entertainer. They all won the quest cash prize and' a trip to Fiji. The quest was to have run for eight weeks; because of its popularity, it continued for five months.

At the recent farewell presentation for Trevor King at the Regent, a colleague, John Hart, recalled one incident of friendly rivalry from that period. King managed the Crystal Palace — and Hart was manager of the Embassy, next door. One very rainy Saturday night, the guttering above the Embassy was blocked, sending enough

water cascading down in front of the entrance to the Crystal Palace to stop people from coming in. Trevor King complained to Hart, but was told nothing could be done because it was impossible to get a plumber on a Saturday night. That night, the Embassy got most of the customers while the Palace got virtually none at all. To get his own back a few nights later, King placed a “House Full” sign outside the Embassy and diverted people into his own cinema. It took Hart some time to wake up to why he was getting so few customers.

Trevor King also managed the Mayfair (now the Cinerama youth centre), where he stayed for five years. He had several long-running films, including “The Sound Barrier” and “The Quiet Man,” which ran for 13 weeks. He also ran several charity film premieres at that time, including "Daddy Long Legs,” which raised £9OO for the Rotary Club.

He was known for his theatre foyer displays, which included a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine for an Air Force film, “Appointment in London.” It took two days to move the engine into the cinema. King was transferred to the Savoy, where he stayed until he left New Zealand in 1955 to join an Australian promoter, Harry Wren, as publicity manager for an American revue, “The Harlem Blackbirds.” He toured Australia and New Zealand for two years with Wren, presenting stage productions from Japan and the United States.

He finally returned to New Zealand with the Harlem Globetrotters for the Auckland Public Relations Office, then joined Joe Brown in Dunedin, running a New Zealand-wide talent quest for five months.

After many years living out of a suitcase and staying in hotels, Trevor King joined the Kerridge Odeon organisation in 1957 to become manager of the Tivoli Theatre (now, the Westend). In 1958, he was requested by the late Sir Robert Kerridge to tour again as manager of the Howard Morrison Quartet. The group was to go on a tour lasting only four weeks, but they proved so popular they ran for five months.

The Howard Morrison tour also saw the beginning of a longlasting friendship between Trevor King and Harry M. Miller, who promoted the tour in partnership with Kerridge Odeon. He was later to tour with many more of Miller’s artists, including Eartha Kitt, the Kingston Trio, Louis Armstrong, Roy Orbison and Oscar Peterson, as well as the controversial pop musical, “Jesus Christ Superstar.”

King did three tours of New Zealand with John Rowles, whom he describes as “a great artist and a good ambassador for his country.” Rowles often made a point of visiting hospitalised children who would otherwise have been unable to see .him. Lee Grant and Johnny Devlin were two other New Zealand entertainers who devoted time to hospital visits.

Promotion was always an important aspect of show business to Trevor King, particularly the spectacular kind, such as airport welcomes.

“Five thousand people came to greet Winnifred Atwell at Christchurch airport,” he recalls. “We had a traditional Maori welcome, which went over particularly well for people who do not get to see Maoris very often. We also had an upright honky-tonk piano on the back of a trolley for her to play. “The next biggest welcome was for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, who were here in 1968 for a stage show. It was a Sunday and entire families came out. The children received autographed postcards. “The airport authorities, however, were not too happy about these welcomes because the people tramped all over their landscaping.

“One Incident backfired on me when I was touring with the troupe. On arrival at our hotel in Palmerston North, I made a point of telling the dwarfs the importance of picking up their own luggage and taking it into the hotel.

“As I was talking, another bus backed into a suitcase standing unattended on the driveway, and I pointed this out as what could happen if you were not careful. ‘ But the suitcase is yours,’ said one of the dwarfs. ”

Another embarrassing moment occurred with Acker Bilk, who travelled through New Zealand with his Paramount Jazz Band in 1968.

“Acker was asleep the morning I packed his suitcases so that they could be sent to the airport in advance. “It was not until he was awake — and the cases had gone — that I discovered I had forgotten to leave out a pair of trousers for him. Fortunately, we located a men’s outfitter who helped us by coming to town early to sell us a pair of trousers. We made it to the airport with about 10 minutes to spare.

“I toured twice with Gene Pitney and enjoyed both tours. He is always considerate with his fans. He visits hospitals, and despite his fantastic success, he was always quite natural and unpretentious.

“One night at the theatre, Gene was in his dressing room putting on a tie when he discovered a teen-age fan hiding behind a chair. She had come up the back fire escape. “Quite unruffled, Gene chatted with the girl for a few minutes, gave her a kiss and a hug, then walked her to the stage door and explained that she was not permitted backstage. “What was most memorable about the Beatles tour in 1964 was the crowd scenes, but security guards and police maintained good control of the exuberant fans. There were also youngsters trying to climb fire escapes at hotels and people hiding in wardrobes. John Rowles also attracted big crowds.

“Less hectic was the tour of the Scandinavian folk singers, Nina and Frederik. The highlight

was an invitation to accompany them to dine with the GovernorGeneral and Lady Fergusson.”

What is remembered most fondly, however, is three tours in 12 years by the Vienna Boys Choir. They were longer and covered more territory than most tours. Everyone was so friendly — they were a happy group of youngsters. They called me Uncle Trevor.”

In appreciation of the way in which he looked after the choir on its New Zealand tours, King was given a return ticket to Europe in 1960 with the compliments of the choir director. He spent six weeks there. “In Vienna, I had the director of the choir to meet me in a car. I was taken on a sightseeing trip of the beautiful city and given a special, personal concert in the palace where the boys live. It was wonderful — one of the highlights of my life.”

Trevor King is also remembered for the Sunday evening concerts he ran at the Civic Theatre for five years, and for the $300,000 he helped raise for charity and sporting bodies in Christchurch including $14,000 raised through youth club ventures and the help of Max Merritt and his parents.

In 1975, he was presented an award in Auckland by the then Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, for best promoter of the year of New Zealand entertainment.

He was relieving manager of the Regent for several years, then became manager of the Avon.

“With the advent of video and late trading at hotel bars and taverns, there was a further decline in cinema attendances,” he says. “But the cinemas seem to be recovering and attendances seem to be rising again.” “Major films of general interest, such as 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit’ are again drawing big houses for long seasons. “But to compete with TV and video, the cinemas have had to rely to a large extent on restricted (R-rated) films, which television is unable to screen, and these have posed their problems because, under the law, the age restrictions must be adhered to strictly. "I do not expect drive-in theatres to be introduced into New Zealand. The idea is 20 years too late. But I am firm in the view that entertainment outside the home is essential, espcially for young people. “I think back fondly to the days when the cinemas and ballroom dances were the main social activities of the average community, but the cinema still has a major role to play today. “Looking ahead, I see the development of entertainment centres, with a variety of activities to suit all members of the family. “I imagine we will also get a cinema complex in Christchurch, comprising a number of theatres, bars and restaurants. But I would also like to see a return to the big cinemas, at which a night out is something special, for the return of big movies like ‘Lawrence of Arabia.’ ”

Astonishing list of artists

Diversion for

cinema clients

Promotion

a vital aspect

Free trip to Vienna as guest

Recipient of N.Z. award