STAGE BOOM.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 18, 19 December 1936, Page 2

STAGE BOOM.

LEGITIMATE SHOWS.

N.Z. TOURS EXPECTED:

AUCKLAND, Dec. 17. Not for ten years lias the legitimate stage beep so popular in Australia' as at the jiresent time, according to Mr Arthur J. Tait, of J. C. Williamson, Ltd., who arrived in Auckland this week 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 Now 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 Schipa. 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 light 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.” Tt has been one of the most successful tours which the popular soprauo 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.