Sixth Korea Concert Party

New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 792, 24 September 1954, Page 26

Sixth Korea Concert Party

T the end of next month New Zealand’s sixth Korea Concert Party will leave for Korea and Japan under the leadership of the well-known Wellington entertainer Henry MRudolph., Under the Commonwealth Division entertainment plan they will entertain all troops of the Division, including British, Canadians and Australians, as well as New Zealanders. The party will be away for seven weeks, including four weeks in Korea and about ten days in Japan. In this time some 65 shows will be presented to the troops. The party is travelling under the name of Henry Rudolph and His Harmony Serenaders, nd its members are Bill Entwhistle, compére and comedian, Henry Rudolph, leader and pianist, and the three harmony serenaders themselves, Pauline Ashby, Betty Evans and Lois Bognuda (who appears this week on our cover). This concert party, like previous ones, is organised by the NZBS in conjunction with the Army Education and Welfare Service. The selection of artists and production of the show are once again in the hands of Ulric Williams, and the artists are required, as usual, to be very versatile. Pop songs and comic sketches will be presented as well as harmony numbers, and Lois Bognuda, who is a

violinist in the Alex Lindsay String Orchestra, will probably oblige with a few straight violin solos. Conditions have changed somewhat Since the first concert party went to the battle zone from New Zealand. The Division is now static, and better facilities, better theatres, and better quarters are now available for concert parties. The Canadians:in particular have a very good theatre and conditions of presentation are generally improved. On the other hand, the need for entertainment

is probably greater now than when the men were fighting, as they have less to occupy themselves with in the stale life of garrison duties. Divisional reports on previous New Zealand concert parties have always been excellent. In this party, Henry Rudolph is on his first trip to Korea, though he went to Japan with a J-Force concert party in 1946. He is well experienced in troop entertainment, and has done innumerable camp concerts in New Zealand. The same experience has

been had by Pauline Ashby; who accompanied the second Korea Concert Party, and Betty Evans, who has wide concert and studio experience, mainly as a straight soprano singer. Lois Bognuda recently studied the violin in Australia, and was a member of the 2YA Studio Orchestra, Bill Entwhistle is a popular compére and comedian.