THE MODERN STAGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21273, 29 August 1932, Page 10

THE MODERN STAGE

LONDON CONDITIONS MUSICAL SHOWS IN DEMAND "We had the warmest possible welcome at every New Zealand town we visited," said Air. Cyril Ritchard, tho Australian musical comedy star, speaking for himself and Miss Madge Elliott, on their arrival aA Auckland on Saturday after an absence of over seven years in London. "Thero is no doubt that this country wants living artists on the stage, particularly in musical shows," said Mr. Ritchard. "I am glad to say that there is a regular queue of them waiting to come across from Australia in our footsteps, with grand opera standing out above the rest." Speaking of tho stage in London, Mr. Ritchard said that since the "talkie boom" had subsided managers had realised that the theatre was on an even sounder footing than ever. They had taken courage and were going ahead with confidence. One effect of tho rise of talking pictures had been to make managers, producers and authors begin a real search for new ideas and new talent. They realised that the theatre could not risk getting into a groove. This was very noticeable in musical en tertainmcnts. American musical comedy proved too machine-made to hold tho field, and while English composers and authors began to come again into their own, the Continent was heavily drawn upon, sometimes for complete operettas. There was a return from jazz to tuneful music of the Viennese order. Mr. Ritchard cited Noel Coward's "Cavalcade" as an outstandingly original production, staged at a time when national sentiment made the public welcome it with open arms. "I met Americans who told me that it made them feel like patriotic Britishers," ho said. "They realised as never before that we and they sprang from a common stock." In London a really good show was assured of success, and expense had littfp to do with it. The number of poor and phort-lived shows was amazing.