“THE SHOW MUST GO ON”

Korero (AEWS), Volume 2, Issue 17, 28 August 1944, Page 15

“THE SHOW MUST GO ON”

3 Div’s Concert Party carried Old Stage Motto into Jungle A KORERO Report

qq tyiHE first item on the programme I at one of our shows was entirely unrehearsed. It was a crocodile shoot. Just as we were about to begin, word spread through the audience that a couple of crocodiles were coming down stream. Our stage was just beside the river, so we stood there and watched while the boys had shots at them with anti-tank rifles. They didn’t have any luck. We went on with the show. Next afternoon the crocodiles again ‘ gatecrashed ’ and, while we held up the performance, the marksmen got them.” Just one of the incidents recalled by the producer of the Kiwi Concert Party (3rd Division) : one that occurred during their tour of the forward areas in the Solomons ; one that added a little more variety to their Variety Revue. Others were Higgins boats in a rough sea, land crabs in the dressing-room, the roof collapsing during the National Anthem, and a performance in mid-air above enemy territory. Like their “ elder brothers ” in the Middle East, the Pacific party had their difficultieshurricanes instead of sandstorms, and land crabs as well as ants. They, too, lost all their equipment when the truck carrying it was burnt out. But, as their counterparts did in the

desert, they carried the old stage motto into the jungle, “ The Show Must Go On.” The party had its beginnings in Fiji, where . several members of the group performed at unit and Brigade concerts. A Brigade party was being organized when the Division returned to New Zealand. In New Caledonia S.M. Rex Sayers organized his own party at Div. H.Q. early in 1943, and from this grew the official party approved by General Barrowclough and under the auspices of A.E.W.S. There were plenty of performers offering, but the new unit’s strength was only twelve, so auditions were held to select the best talent. Then, with their own costumes, props, and instruments, the party went “ on the road.” Their first tour of New Caledonia, when they played to New Zealand and American units hungry for entertainment, took seven weeks. They had two shows, one intended for general consumption, to which the local people were invited, and one of somewhat stronger flavour “ For Men Only.” There was some consternation when it was discovered that the locals had been sneaking in on the wrong night.

The native population were always interested, although they couldn’t understand a word of the dialogue. One thing they could understand was a shot fired on the stage. It never failed to send them pell-mell into the bush, to reappear a few moments later, grinning and unashamed. On arrival at a camp the party would help erect a stage, perhaps with boards on oil-drums or on stoves. Once the goal posts of a football field formed the proscenium, and on another occasion the party played on a river-bed with boards blanketing the stones. It was after this first tour that a fire robbed the party of all their equipment, leaving them with their musical instruments and the clothes they stood up in. The Court of inquiry into the accident was hardly over before the National Patriotic Fund Board was sending out new gear by air. The Tui Concert Party and the local people also lent a hand to re-equip the unit, and in three weeks the party was back at work. A new travelling stage, something like a horse-float, provided them with a 22 ft. stage and such luxuries as “ wings,” lighting, three drop curtains, and a canvas roof. An amplifying system was also necessary, because by now the audiences had increased from five hundred to well over a thousand.

The party often played to appreciative American audiences. On one tour they played two shows a day for ten days, and on another they entertained the crews and patients of ships and hospital ships in Noumea Harbour. It was here that they played in one of their most unusual settings —on board an aircraft carrier. The lift used to hoist the planes to the flight deck was the stage and the hangar was used as the body of the hall. Following the Division, the party flew north, stopping off at the New Hebrides to play for the R.N.Z.A.F. and American units. On the next lap, by sea, they had for fellow-

passengers the Fijian Commandos, who were able to repay the compliment of a concert in no mean fashion. After three weeks on Guadalcanal the party went on to Vella Lavella. Here they did a nine weeks’ tour entertaining the troops company by company around the island. This was one of their most difficult trips. They had no piano, so some American paratroopers gave them a portable church organ. For over three weeks they sailed from bay to bay in a Higgins boat, navigating themselves, and playing to groups of men everywhere. Spray, of course, soaked them and their equipment on every trip and meant daily repairs to the organ. Land crabs as big as dinner plates invaded the camp one night and the players had to fight their way into the dressing tent. The crabs were also handy at picking up anything left lying about for a moment. There was many a frantic search for " props.” It was during this tour that the crocodile incident occurred. They were stranded in one bay for days, and five landing-barges were wrecked trying to get them off. Finally they had to wade out to the barge in waist-deep water carrying their gear, including the organ, above their heads. There were nightly alarms and several air raids to add to their difficulties, but,

although all travelling had to be done by sea, they managed to complete two tours of the island giving one show every night. On Vella Lavella the party showed their versatility by staging several sideshows at a New Year Carnival organized by the troops. Three “ crystal-gazers ” told the soldiers’ fortunes in relays, and Alamat the Magician, with the aid of a female impersonator, put on a convincing “ Headless Woman ” act. Here, too, they did several concerts with the Divisional Band. They went on to the Treasuries by air, arriving when the heaviest raids were in progress. Five minutes before the end of their second performance the A.A. batteries opened up with what was considered at the time the biggest “ fireworks display ” ever seen in the South Pacific. There followed a mad scramble to get under the stage, and by the time the performers had grabbed their tin hats they found the audience already in possession. This was the last time the troupe wore whites. The Treasury mud made the uniforms unwashable. This tour lasted a month, and almost every night the party contested possession of the foxholes with the land crabs. Yet, in spite of frequent sickness, a performance was never cancelled.

One night on Vella Lavella they were awakened by a scream. A Jap had attacked an American cook with a bayonet. But the cook was having the better of the argument. He had hit the Jap with a lamp and was proceeding to ensure that he didn’t try any more funny business. Next day the Staff Captain handed the Jap over to the O.C. of the Concert Party and they went south to Guadalcanal with the prisoner in tow. The return to Base was essential. The costumes were in pieces, the instruments were almost done, the organ was in the last stages of asthmatic consumption (it was

returned to its owners, however), the back of the bass was tied on with rope, cord had replaced the gut strings, and the neck had been repaired with parts of a Jap plane. The party went down for a two weeks’ rest, and while there were completely re-equipped by the National Patriotic Fund Board. Then off they went on a tour of New Caledonia, included in which was a command performance for the senior officers of the area. Any one below the rank of Lt. Col. sat in “ the gods ” of Hickson Theatre, Noumea, a spot usually occupied by the natives. In the audience were five Admirals (including Admiral Halsey, then C. in C. of the South-west Pacific), seven Generals, a Governor-General, and numerous consuls with their wives and retinues. Special invitations and programmes were printed by the Kiwi press, who also did programmes for all the shows put on by the party. During this time the party played to twenty-nine thousand troops in three weeks. Once, when a hurricane warning had been given, latrine screens were erected round the stage to keep off the wind. Rain fell in torrents, but, nothing daunted, the audience sat huddled underground sheets and saw the show out. With all open-air theatres it was nothing unusual for rain to soak the audience for

two solid hours, but so much did they appreciate the entertainment that they would never let the performers call the show off. One chap in the New Hebrides stripped completely and enjoyed a showerbath as well as the show. The party’s happiest time was spent at •the Kiwi Club at Bourail, where for three weeks they surfed, rested, and swam while rehearsing a new programme —their sixth. After giving a performance at the opening of the club they left for Nissan at short notice by sea and air. Stopping off at the Treasuries they played under much improved conditions to audiences totalling fourteen thousand. The last hop was by plane. During this trip the party gave a performance in mid-air, mainly, it is hinted, for the benefit of an attractive American nurse. This flight took them over a portion of Bougainville occupied by the enemy. They were more than welcome at Nissan. Air Force parties would fly over from near-by islands to see the show. It was here on an 8 ft. high stage (which the performers were scared of falling off) that the tarpaulin roof, weighted down with water, collapsed during the National Anthem. Here, too, the party had another encounter with the enemy. One member investigating a noise in the camp at night flashed his torch on a Japanese prowling around the tents. Revolvers emptied into the bush missed their mark, but next day the natives brought the Jap in trussed up like a fowl.

The high humidity of the tropics played havoc with the musical instruments. Several gallons of water soaked the works of the piano one night, and next day all the felts had to be replaced with felt from the back of a boot-brush. Finally, after a hectic tour, the party climbed the landing-nets of a Liberty ship and headed back for Base. The unit’s strength was increased to sixteen when it arrived back in New Caledonia, but one of the original party was lost through sickness. Another tour of the island and then the party was placed on the New Zealand Roll for a well-earned leave. The Concert Party gave 235 performances in sixteen months to audiences ranging from fifty to eight thousand. To give these shows it travelled by plane, Higgins boat, Liberty ship, L.S.T., and all sorts of conveyance. Because of the size of the party (twelve most of the time, and never more than sixteen) it could not attempt the type of work done by the Kiwi Concert Party in the Middle East. For one thing, an orchestra was out of the question. The emphasis was on humour, songs, sketches, and female impersonations with some excellent vocalists and instrumentalists. But both parties had two things in common —difficulties and popularity . Both were fully appreciated by the most critical of audiences troops.