FARE FOR OUR THEATRES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 528, 4 December 1928, Page 13

FARE FOR OUR THEATRES

MR. J. H. TAIT’S WORLD TRIP MANY NEW PRODUCTIONS During the last nine months Mr. John H. Tait, a director of J. C. Williamson. Ltd., has been visiting theatres in all | parts of the world. Ho is returning to Australia on the Niagara with a list of future successes ior production in .Australia. These include “A Damsel in tress.” a comedy: “The Squeaker,” another Edgar Wallace thriller; “Virginia.” “Mr. Cinders,” two musical comedies which are essentially English- and another London musical comedy, “Lady Mary.” It is quite probable that ‘ Plunder,” the latest Ben Travers farce, will be bought by the firm for Australia and New Zealand. “Tom Walls, who plays in all the Travexs farces in London may come out with ‘Plunder,’ ” said Mr. Tait. “He is very anxious to come to Australia again, and he will do so if he „ can arrange his business accordingly.” Although much has been written about the superiority of American productions Mr. Tait did not find them, on the whole, better than those he saw in London. “I was in New York for six weeks and I never saw one comedy or drama which was worth buying,” he said. “In London, on the other hand, I saw numbers of comedies and draihas all good and suitable for production here.” Mr. Tait thinks that the New York musical productions are better than those of London, chiefly because the Americans put more “pep” into the chorus and the dances. They spend endless money on their musical comedies and revues, and the production. he says, is wonderful. “The New Moon,” the best of the New York musical shows, lias been secured by the firm. Air. Tait saw plenty of evidence of an improvement in the London theatres. Managers were more confident, and there was a general desire to improve the musical shows. In Budapest Mr. Tait saw the performance which impressed him most ; on the whole tour. That was by Hanna ; Hon thy. a Budapest girl, in a musical j show. Mr. Tait has met many famous stage folk and seen many productions on his tour. In London he saw Dennis Eadie's last appearance before he died; in Paris he met Maurice Chevalier and Jack Hyton, who is bringing his band out, under engagement to the firm, next April. He was disappointed by i what ho saw in Berlin and delighted with what he saw in Vienna, where the individual artists are very good. He witnessed a poor revue in Munich and a number of very entertaining shows in Paris. In London Mr. Tait did the theatres very thoroughly, and called on many Australians who are now doing well in the productions there. “Show Boat” is regarded as the best musical production in London, and Charles Lawton and Nicholas Hannen as two of the finest of the recently | “discovered” actors. ! Mr. Tait also stated yesterday | that Anna Pavlova, the famous dancer, j will arrive in Australia in March for ; a short season. Madame WilI Ham Murdock and Harold Williams I have been booked for concert tours.