“LUXURY AND LICENCE”

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1016, 5 July 1930, Page 24

“LUXURY AND LICENCE”

ATTACK BY CANON ON CHORUS GIRLS THE PROFESSION REPLIES Prominent members of the theatrical profession in London expressed astonishment at the opinions uttered by Canon Guy Rogers, rector of Birmingham recently, on the lives and morals of chorus girls. Canon Rogers asked, in an address, “How far is the beauty and youth of the chorus girl being sacrificed to the modern' Moloch of luxury and licence ?” He went on: “Her profession is not made easy for her at any point, and, in some cases, it is made gratuitously insulting.”

I Canon Rogers must have been ; reading old-time sensational theatri i cal stories. One of the pleasantest asj pects of my experience of the stage lis the ambition and earnestness ol | chorus girls. They ; one and all realise j that they can get on only by hard work and they have no time for silliness away from the theatre. If a good-look-ing girl is of the type to be easily “tempted,” she does not have to be on the stage to meet with trouble. The girls under my management treat their work just as normally and sensibly as any typist or other employee. Cicely Courtneige, who acts as “mother” to the girls in “The House that Jack Built,” and other productions of her husband, Jack Hulbert: ■ Present-day theatrical conditions ; make the chorus girls’ temptations I practically nil. They are the very i nicest types, with no nonsense about j them: they believe in coming out of | the stage door after the performance j and going home. I The “stage-door Johnny” is a myth | nowadays. I don't suppose you could J find ten men waiting outside all the | musical comedy theatres in the West j End. | A. V. Drewe, general secretary of : the Variety Artists’ Federation: j So stringent is present-day legislai tion regarding stage conditions that casj.es of girls being “gratuitously insulted” are rare. Undesirable agents I are few, and the theatrical profession j is in as healthy a state as any other business.

For the last week of her season of, revivals in Sydney Gladys Moncrieff! is playing “Katinka.” “Rio Rita,” revived recently in London, ran for only a month. “Heads Up/* another American piece, ran for only a week. “Love Lies” opens at His Majesty's Theatre this evening. It is the first | musical comedy«4o be played in Auck- ; land for many months and should at- ! tract record audiences. Clem Uawe has returned in an amusing role. He is supported by an. excellent cast including Betty Elvey, Michael Cole, Marie Eaton, Dan Agar and many others. “So This is Love” will follow. “The Importance of Being Earliest,” Oscar Wilde’s comedy, has drawn big audiences to the Concert Chamber during the week. It will be presented for the last time this evening. The comedy, which is an amusing and sparkling piece of work, despite its 35 years, is interpreted by ;ood cast. Roberts Tole, Lees Bullot, Biddy Philcox, Joan Hudson, Susan Moncrieff McCallum, Nell Lush and Zante Wood are among the best performers.