MARGARET BANNERMAN WILL TOUR N.Z. IN HER OWN CAR

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 418, 1 September 1928, Page 24

MARGARET BANNERMAN WILL TOUR N.Z. IN HER OWN CAR

Members of the Percy Hutchison Company, which will play “The Laughing Optimist,” will arrive in Auckland by the Ulimaroa on Tuesday morning. The season will open at His Majesty’s Theatre on September 5. Mr. Hutchisqn is a newcomer to New Zealand, and most of his company are comparatively unknown on this side. However, they all have good London reputations. “The Laughing Optimist” is an excellent comedy. “Mr. What’s-His-Name” was played in London for over a year by Seymour H icks.

Margaret Bannerman writes me from Sydney that she is longing to see New Zealand and is looking forward to her tour with a happy heart. “Everyone tells me what a beautiful country it is and how charming and hospitable the people are,” she continues. “We are bringing our motorcar with us in order that we may really see the country. After having toured England, France and Italy in the same car it will be rather like a •Home from Home’ for us." Miss Bannerman and her husband, Anthony Princep, will tour New Zealand shortly with a repertory of plays, including “Our Betters,” by Somerset Maughan, and “Sexes and Sevens.”

It is rumoured in London theatrical circles that Jose Melville, tralian, who v»as here in “Sally” and other J. C. Williamson shows, will go to New York to play in the Cochran revue, “This Year of Grace. * * * Percy Hutchison, who comes to Auckland on September 5 at the head of a talented English Comedy Company playing "The Laughing Optimist,” “Mr. What’s His Name (adapted from the French), and “The Luck of the Navy,” is a foremost figure in the theatrical word of London. He has played the principal role in no less than 78 plays, and managed 17 theatres in that great city. He is a nephew of the distinguished London actor and producer, Sir Charles Wyndham, and is president of the Stage Guild of Great Britain. It is not generally known that Mr. Hutchison was the original Brewster in “Brewster’s Millions,” and has heen described as one of the most versatile actors ever seen in London and one of its best stage managers and producers in the capital city. Mr. Hutchison comes to New Zealand under the J. C. Williamson banner.