INVASIONS ON THE FULLER CIRCUIT.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1553, 29 January 1920, Page 37

INVASIONS ON THE FULLER CIRCUIT.

ENCOURAGEMENT TO BEGINNERS. According to Mr. Clym Edgares, manager of the Auckland Opera House, several top-notch acts have recentlv arrived, in Australia, having been booked from America by Mr. Ben Fuller. A real live parson is one of them —the Rev. Frank Gorman, who, concluding that the church did not pay him a living wage, decided to go into vaudeville and use the money from his engagement to establish a church which he intends to run on business lines. He admits the church is as much a business as anything else, and is confident that if it is run on commercial lines it must prove a success. Mr. Gorman, one of whose trump cards is singing, will appear in Auckland about May. The Artois Brothers are responsible for a sensational act with a pantomime flavour. Their comedy is polished and they can get the laughs even in the midst of the most thrilling feats. They are due here in April.

Another star pair are Macnamara and Clinton (a man and a girl), whose offering consists of a musical satire on the ways and manners of customs officials. The girl arrives with a trunk of dainty garments; the man is a customs officer, and the resultant sparring which ensues may be easily imagined by those who travel. He is said to be an agile comedian with unusual methods.

Corporal Joe Nathan is another headliner on the list. He has a great reputation as a versatile genius in American vaudeville, and from all accounts keeps the audience speculating as to what he will do next. As his title indicates he has done his part in the theatre of war. George Hall, whose talent as a raconteur has been proved on a previous visit, returns years’ absence in America. He opens in Christchurch next month with a racy budget of new stories. Aspirants to vaudeville —singers, monologuists, acrobats, novelty performers, etc. —have a sympathetic confidant in Mr. Edgares, who has given a start to quite a number of local acts on the Fuller circuit. Renaux and Arta are one pair for example, and their manipulation of the xylophone shows they, know how to deliver the goods appreciably. Mr. Edgares points with pleasurable pride to the fact that it was he who recommended Davis and Lee, that natty balancing couple whose inclusion is a draw on the very strongest bill. “If an act shows promise,” says the local manager, “we can give and guarantee five years’ continuous work. Any that come to me I’m prepared to give them personal attention and help them forward as far as possible with any knowledge that I possess.”