R.S.A. Carnival Off To Bright Start

Chronicle (Levin), 22 July 1949, Page 3

R.S.A. Carnival Off To Bright Start

The carnival cpnducted toy the?; Shannon, branch of ihe Returnedj ServiceS' ; Association in /aid* of ihe^ War Memdriai, , fund had^adhrigh.% openihg iaSt" ; evening, 'v^hen1 the] stage presenfatibn oi the "Shannon SerViceman's Showdown'' playecfi bpfore "7uti:v the t)ruids';HalI. Those responsible'-foi| the; production left well alone :th4 "village coricfert" theme;lthe $shbw-i down" being ' a rapid-fire' reviey? playe'd by an all-male cast oi "Diggers" and "Kiwis," Considering that over 90 per cent. of the players were making t their stage' dehut, the show was. very ably acted with every player handhng his part to perfeetion. The production was bright right from the overture by the five-piece orchestra, ' their popular tunes being well received. with the audience joining in the. choruses. The highlight of the show, however, was the 25-minute sketch eiititled "The, Couneil's Night-Mayor." The origihal - script hy Mr. Doug". Aitchison was very. Ijwell ."writteii and the. -story depicted . a' shiah4 town council ahd its problems s^rbunding ' the r resignation ,pl tK,e sapitation engineer. ' The climak came when , the. Mayor, . Mr. ; Fit^j: Hyphen-Geraldj tendered his ,resignation as Mayor to take over tiie position. The Mayor (played "by R. Herbert) and Crs. Claybird (L. 'Carter), Ragman (B. Moynihdn), Horace (L. Burling), Frownes (J. Reid) , . Inquest (J! Ritcie), Sayall (F. O. Burtt) , Wishful (P. O'Donnell) and Arguson (D. Aitchison) all showed signs of 'strain from their heavy duties of administerihg the town's affairs, while Town. Clerk Bovine (P. J. Cole) and the Sanitation Engineer (S. W. Barber) both did their share bf douhlecrossing. The Glee Singers (ten b,oys in khaki) were very well received with their minstrel and popular choruses. , The sketch "Lucky Night" had Roy Herbert as the "tipsy" husband, Noel Retter as fhe wife an'd "Buster,". .Bateman as "the tliird cornef Of thf , triangle. ' ' Uoug. •Aitchison, ,BilI McLeash, Byyan "Claytpn. and Pat Cble wpre up to no good when one of our- local Vcertainties" suffered %a - dopirig in '"Stable Doa'r." Pat O'Dopnell gave an excellent . impersonation of Horace Kenny, with Roy Herbert as the .manager in "Trial Turn.'; Doug. Aitchison let a few "cats out of the bag" in his "Topical Dialogue," while the "girls" of the ballet de.lighted all with' their renderingv oi "The Scarlet Toenail" an'd. "Shape-; ly Calves." / : i

Jack Bovis,; ;alwayk ' a/' po'pulad . figure ih the'ft>#b's abti^tles^tli^ prised :eyeryone >^thJ-'his^abiM%* as , a -vopalisL- ;3Jis iwo; hifmbersf^ere l . y eriy weii rOcSiv^d. - 'Tbei S$rip|ti6 ( vocal .numbers; by- Mr.; F/.0.:'iBdftt , and 'Mr. I. P. :Hemmingsen temihded those presqnt of ' the real nafilre df the canival, that of helpihg to; erect a war memorial to those who lost their lives in World War II. Mr. Burtt's rendering of "The Requiem" and Mr. Hemmingsen's "The Holy City" were greatly appreciated by the audience. Ivan Hemmingsen and Pat O'Donnell presented a mouth organ and guitar duet of popular numbers, which those present would have liked to have heard more of. However, time was running short and there was "Abdullah the Great" ("Buster" Bateman) to mystify the two "Kiwis" with his acts of magic. His abel assistant was female impersonator Noel Retter. 'Cairo Leave" saw Doug. Aitchison and Bryan Clayton hadly let down by two charming lasses, Noel Retter and Ken Thomson. "The Orderly Room" had absentminded orderly officer Pat Cole somewhat on the spot after he had told off his clerk (Jack Reid), batman (Reg. Small) and R.S.M.- (Jack Ritchie) . The grand finale of the entire cast brought to an end one of the hest amateur productions ever presented in this town. The Glee Singers comprised Messrs B. Clayton, P. O'Donnell, P. Cole, D. Aitchison, O. Burtt, I. Hemmingsen, L. Burling, R. Hook, B. Moynihan and K. Randolph. The ballet "girls" were K. Thomson, E. Veale, S. Barper, N. Retter, G. 'Beer, W. McLeish and P. Cole. Messrs K. Thomson, I. Hemmingsen, J. Ritchie, V. J. Bateman and Mrs. F. O. Burtt, with Mr. Burtt as conductor, made up the orchestra. The "Showdown" was produced by Messrs . R. Herbert • " and P. * J. Cole and their associates /were . Messrs V. J. Batemah (stage maiiager^ ,• F. O. Burtt (musical di'rector), R. s." Downes and T: Newton (property) , Mrs. F. O. Burtt (accompanist) , Mesdames G. Beer and Burtt (wardrobe), Messrs Blyth and Aldridge (lighting), Maddm Zula; better known as Pat Cole(ballet . mistress) , T. S. Downifes (advertising) and the willing harids of many iother R.S.A.' boys.- 1 • The Women 's Section of fhe R.S.A. was responsible fof * the numerous "bouquets" presented to the ballet "girls." Public Thanked. Prior to the interval. the opportunity was taken hy Mr. Burtt, president of the Shannon branch of the R.S.A., to extend thanks to the public for their attendance iii such large numbers and to outline the forthcoming actfvity • of the carnival. Mr. Burtt extended the sincere thauks oi the to

E. L/Hyde for her many sindnesses ahd to Mes6rs ' Blyth and Aldridge, who had given many hours of work iii connecf ion with the ■ Ughtihg ar*t rahgem'ents. sl«r. Burtt wenfe on to say that he would not mention individUally those who had assisted, because ; there ' wero so many. Every member of the R.S.A. had cohtributed much towards the suobess of the show, coneluded Mr. Buttt. •• ' v- /. . Het fth'en ca|led upon Mr. R. R. Lindj- chaifmaii Of the, Shannon and- districts. War MCmorial committee, and the/ two queeris of the: recent tcarnival* conducted hy the cpmmittee, Miss Joyce Woodmass '(Countfy) . ahd Miss Margaret MacLean . (towii),,- to occupy. the place qf honour On the stage^- ,/ . . . " Mf. Ldnd extendpd >the .thanks: of his cdmmittee to the. R.iS.A. for itsgesture in/staging the. carhival ahd also' -f or honouring / the /dueens .of the" fprmer carnival. He' Went 'On to say that at the conclusion of the fast/ carhival time had not penhitr ted a presbhtation to the two young ladies who had done. so much' in the ihterests. of the war .meniorial. The op'portunity was how being taken to. make Jthe presentation' of* a small token of thanks to them for their wonderful assistance. In handing the ■ yotmg ' ladies a small gift from the committee and a . bouquet made by Mrs. • Mitchell, Mr. Lind again thanked them. The two queens were then acoorded musical honours. .. With the entire cast assembled on the stage for the grand finale, Mr. P. J. Cole, on behalf bf the company, paid' tribute to.Mrs. Burtt for the vast amount of work she had put " ihto the production. ^Withput ;the : help... of . Mrs, Burtt, potn, as accompanist and' on the teehnical side of .the ' production, |he showfaouM not' have: gpne on," stated Mr. COle as he handed Mrs. Burtt a beautiful bouquet op behalf.of the boys of the B.siA." The next major attraction. of the carnival mll be the grand b^ll to be held ih the Druids' Hall ' next Tuesday night, • the highlight of /which will be the presentation. bf from : ten to twelve debutanteSi*to Mr. B. J. Jacobs, O.B.E* (ex-presi-dent of the N.Z.R.S.A# and Mrs. Jacobs. ' . ■"