BACK TO VAUDEVILLE

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1073, 10 September 1930, Page 16

BACK TO VAUDEVILLE

THEATRE MAN’S FAITH IN LEGITIMATE STAGE FATE OF EX-COMEDIANS Despite the pessimistic talk about the death of the theatre, the Humphrey Bishop Company has battled on—and battled successfully. There was no storm to weather—except the general depression in Australia—for this band of entertainers has never stopped playing since it left New Zealand some years ago. Mr. George Rox, manager of the company, reached Auckland this morning to make' arrangements for the forthcoming tour. He brings with him the news of a revival of vaudeville both in Australia, England and America. Some of the comedians who once made Aucklanders laugh have definitely left the stage, he says. They have taken all kinds of jobs. Dan Morris, of Moon and Morris, is now the proprietor of a cafe in Bondi, Sydney. Joe Valli, of Hanna’s Digger Troupe, is a scrap-iron dealer in Brisbane. Bert Le Blanc, the Jewish comedian, runs a fish shop in Waverley. Audrey Lewis, a former J.C.W. player. is * cashier at the Sydney Lyceum. Fred Monument. the baritone, is town traveller for the Sydney firm of Edwards Dunlop and Co. These are only a few of those who have deserted the stage; others who have maintained their faith in the theatre are now in demand everywhere. CHANGING TIMES One indication of the changing times is the fact that in Australia vaudeville is being associated with talking pictures at many of the bigger houses. The Humphrey Bishop Company recently played a long season in conjunction with talking pictures at The Regent, Brisbane, Australia’s newest and most up-to-date picture theatre, which cost £250,000. Mr. Rox states that Mr. Bishop’s Company played 14 weeks at the J.C.W. Garden Theatre, Adelaide, 12 weeks at the Theatre Royal, Perth, and shorter seasons in the other big towns of Australia. Before that they toured the East with great success. “For the past two years we seem to have heard nothing but wailing about the fate of the legitimate stage,” said Mi*. Rox. “We have been told the firstclass stage artists are starving and that the stage has gone for ever. There is such a thing as suggestion, and all this dismal talk did more to affect the stago than the pictures themselves. Now, however, we are able to use this suggestion in another direction - . During the last four months in England and America there has been a definite return to vaudeville and the movement has npw spread to Australia.”