HINEMOA AND TUTANEKAI

Te Ao Hou, June 1967, Page 62

HINEMOA AND TUTANEKAI HMV MALP 6021–2 Album containing two 12in LP 33 ⅓ rpm with descriptive booklet. With this album HMV have achieved a ‘first’. Here on record is a full length Maori operetta and no effort seems to have been spared in presenting it in a form that enables the listener to share to the full this exciting production. Each year New Plymouth stages a ‘Festival of the Pines’ in its famous Bowl of Brooklands. The Bowl is a splendidly equipped open air theatre surrounded by a stand of native bush which provides a spectacular backdrop. In front of the stage is a tiny lake and on the other side of the lake is the outdoor auditorium. The highlight of the 1966 Festival was a colourful and imaginative stage production of the famous Hinemoa and Tutanekai legend. The production was conceived by John Ford of New Plymouth and immediately he was confronted with a number of formidable difficulties. The cast numbered some three hundred Maoris who were mainly members of Maori cultural groups from all over the province. Because of this dispersion rehearsals had to be piecemeal. Even a grant of £500 from the Queen Elizabeth Arts Council was only sufficient to pay for the cost of bringing the cast together for dress rehearsals. However, prior to this, Nancy Leatham the producer spent many months visiting the clubs and co-ordinating their activities. Fourteen thousand people were fortunate enough to see the actual stage production. Now HMV have provided the means for many more to listen to a unique presentation of Maori song and sory. In issuing the recording HMV have appreciated the difficulty which many people might have in following the recorded material of what naturally was