AMERICAN ACTRESS

Grey River Argus, 7 August 1937, Page 12

AMERICAN ACTRESS

TO VISIT N.Z. SYDNEY, July 26. Fulfilling an ambition which she has cherished for many years, Katharine Cornell, described as America’s leading stage actress, will all probability appear on the Australian stage next year during the course of a world tour, which will also embrace New Zealand, China, Japan India, ahd London. The prospects of the success of such a tour, and the interest it is likely to receive in lhe various parts of the world, are being investigated by Mr. Ray Henderson, a representative of the famous actress, who arrived in Sydney yesterday. Mr. Henderson revealed that, providing his reports were satisfactory, Katharine Cornell would tour witn a company of 30 to 35 other artists and a repertoire of some half a dozen plays of a very high class. These would include “Romeo and Juliet’’ “The Barretts of Wimpole Street,” “St. Joan,” “Candida,” and “The Ivory Fan”. The last was a new play, which had not yet been produced. “Miss Cornell is not out for financial gain, but solely to rtbhieve an artistic success,” said Mr. Henderson. “The stage is perhaps her main interest in life. Film work has never appealed to her, and on one occasion she turned down an offer or 256,000 dollars to play Elizabeth Barrett for Thalberg.” Mr. Henderson explained that Miss Cornell would be the first outstanding American stage actress to make a world tour. With the exception of one occasion in London, which marked her introduction to the stage, she had never played outside America. One of her largest audiences totalled nearly 4000.

It is estimated that the tour will cost a quarter of a million dollars and covers 30,000 miles.