WAKING UP

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1064, 30 August 1930, Page 24

WAKING UP

Theatres in Australia Plan Big Shows

The legitimate theatre seems to be waking up in Australia. J. C. Williamson, Ltd., has announced that it is importing two big overseas stars and the advent of Hugh D. Macintosh is creating unusual interest.

Mr. Macintosh announced recently in Melbourne that he had made an important alliance with Union Theatres, Ltd., under which he would be able to put on theatrical productions at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne, and St. James Theatre, Sydney. The provision of all forms of stage entertainment is contemplated by Mr. Macintosh, who said that lie was now in negotiation with several stage celebrities for appearances in Australia. The first production at the Princess, once the home of the best stage plays, will probably be Noel Coward’s “Bitter Sweet,” for which actors would be brought from England about the end of the year. Mr. Macintosh made the fact clear that the new alliance was merely a working arrangement between the •two parties. It concerned besides the Princess and St. James Theatres, the Tivoli, Melbourne, and the Sydney Haymarket, which had been renovated at a cost of £15,000. An interchange of artists, besides theatres, was also possible under the agreement. The company now appearing at the Tivoli is to open a season at St. James Theatre, Sydney, with a midnight performance on September 12. The Tivoli Follies of .1930, which Mr. Macintosh is now' organising, w r ill begin at the Tivoli on September 6. This, says Mr. Macintosh, will be a very strong combination. “The new working agreement with Union Theatres, Ltd., must be taken as a recognition by talking picture theatre proprietors of the permanency of the legitimate stage,” declared Mr. Macintosh.

“I am very gratified at the success which has marked my re-entrance into theatrical management. The capacity houses at the Tivoli prove that people will go to the theatre if they can get genuine entertainment at a reasonable price.”