STAGE ROMANCE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 227, 27 September 1935, Page 10

STAGE ROMANCE

MR AND MRS C‘. RITUHARD HONEYMOON IN DOMINION A honeymoon couple on the AIoiW toi v on the vessel's arrival at Aut-k--land last Saturday were Mr aud Mr» 1 . I.’it elm rd, of Sydney, who are more widely known as Cyril Ritchard and .Miss .Madge Elliott, the popular Australian stage stars. Mr and Airs Rit-* chard propose spending a uhort holiday in the North Island before they commence work’ again with the J. C. Williamson Musimi Comedy Company, which will arrive at Auckland from Sydney on October 1 to begin a 10 works’ season in the Dominion. The. wedding of Mr and Mrs Ritehard took place in Sydney a week ago last Mondav nt St. Alary’s Basilica, where a huge crowd gathered to catch a glimpse of the popular couple. Fifty police had an unenviable task in keeping the people back and preventing a disorganisation of the city traffic. In speaking of their romance, Mr Ritchard said he could not remember when they

had first met, although they had known each other and played together for many years. They had always been good friends. Air and Mrs Ritchard, who were last seen in New Zealand in “Blue Roses,*’ are considered two of the most notable stage players in Australia, both being well known as dancers and light come* dians. Miss Elliott made her first aj>pearance on the stage in Sydney In 1912, and since then Jias appeared with success in many musical comedies. It was in 1917 that Air Ritchard was first introduced to Sydney audiences, and. from that time until 1924 he was continuously engaged with J. C. Williamson, Limited. For some time ATiss Elliott and Air Ritchard have been ap j pea ring m the same company. The company that would shortly visit the Dominion. Air Ritchard said, was,, without prejudice, the best that he had ever Toured with. It would present “Roberta” and modernised versions of “High Jinks” and “Our ATiss Gibbs, ’•* all of which "had had long seasons in Australia. “On this tour will depend our future policy in New Zealand,” h<» added. “If it is a success they intend sending more companies like this across. If the tour is not a. success, then good-bye to New Zealand.” On completion of the New Zealand tour, which will include the main centres and a number of the smaller towns, Air and Airs Ritchard will sail fo** England, where they will undertake stage and screen work. THE PRESS AGENT T. R. ZANN AND HIS LlOlf. GREAT PUBLICITY STUNTS. If some of the. stunts that are put into practice by Press agents were made part of the plot of a picture dealing with the feats of the exploiters, you would think them farcically fanlast ic. For highly-paid press agents do things directors would never think of filming. Here are a few examples of what press agents do. A hearse drove down the main street of Pittsburgh. Somehow, a coffin dropped out of it. People on the street shouted to the driver of the hearse, but he paid no attention, and the sombr® black vehicle turned a corner and disappeared. The coflin lay there blocking traffic until the police took it to the station house. They called various undertakers but none could claim the lost coffin. Reporters from all the local papers gathered round while the police opened the casket in an attempt to identify Ihe deceased. Finally the lid was unscrewed and lifted off. The “corpse” • limbed out. dressed in a winding sheet. The next day “"White Zombie.” dealing with the living dead, opened in a Pittsburg theatre, unth realms of publiuitv. A press agent took the credit. Then again, there is the story of the man who booked in at one uf New Murk’s hotels under the name of T. R. Zann. Later he was discovered to have in his room a live lion, and proffered, the excuse that ho had boon so taken with the hero of the Tarzan books that he changed his name. He planned, he •<aid. to take his lion to Africa, where he hoped to live as Tarzan did. The newspaper reporters, never far from the the police, spread it all over the papers from coast tn coast—just in time to precede the opening of the pieture. A press agent, also took the credit for that. Occasionally these stunts gn astray, but on the whole the Press agent hae been responsible for some amazing exploits. / J