"Sally’’ Season Showed £200 Loss

Radio Record, Volume VIII, Issue 45, 17 May 1935, Page 25

"Sally’’ Season Showed £200 Loss

Christchurch Musical Comedy Society Had a Bad Season — Marie Tempest Jubilee Matinee in London on Tuesday, May 28Harmonic Society’s New Music-Pop ular Dramatist.

\ WE Chrischurech Musical Comedy Society was faced, on the closing night of their recent show, "Sally," with a loss of £200. ‘his has since been partly made up by an extra performance of the production given in St. James’s Theatre, Christchurch, on Saturday evening last. "The public in this city is much too eritical,’ said Mr. G. L. Donaldson, secretary to the Society, in an interview with a Christchurch. newspaper. "There is no doubt, too, about the tremendous apathy of the Christehurch public. I. attribute the failure of the society’s production largely to the fact that the performance on the opening night was not up to standard. From Monday night on the performances would have been a credit to any amateur Society, and were equal to, if not better than, many professional shows, Unfortunately, however, the attendances after the opening night were so small that there were not enough satisfied people to ‘boost’ the show." [? was impossible to produce such a show as "Sally" with expenses totalling less than £650, said Mr Donaldson, ‘The rent of the theatre was about £150 for a season of nine pel feymances (seven nights and two matinees), royalties had totalled 54 guineas, and in addition there was the hiring of band parts, libretto, costumes and scenery-a very expensive itemstage hands absorbed £50, an orchestra cost over £50, and a producer, conductor, and ballet mistress'also had to be paid. HE Christchurch Harmonie Society announces that it has secured the following pieces of music for presentaion during its 1935 season:-ive Operatic Choruses (Handel), "The Coffee Cantata" (Bach), "In Windsor Forest" (Vaughan Williams), "King Estmere"’ (Gustav Holst), "The Blacksmith" (Dyson), "Lhe Highwayman" (Armstrong Gibbs), "The Merry Wedding" (Perey Grainger), "Tribute to Foster" (Perey Grainger), "Britain, Ask of

Thyself" (Elgar), "Come Follow Me" (Henry Pureell), "The Bay of Biscay" (Gerrard Williams), "The Fisherman" (Lyon) and "Lhe British Grenadiers" (Stanford Robinson). HE prices of the seats at the Marie Tempest jubilee matinee, which is to take place at Drury Lane Theatre on Tuesday, May 28, have been fixed. They ure as follow :- Stalls: £10/10/-, £5/5/-,;and £8/8/.. Grand Circle: Front row, £5/5/-; other rows, £38/3/-, £2/2/-, and £1/1/-. Upper Cirele: Front row, £1/1/-; other rows, 15/- and 10/6. Pit: 7/6 and 5/-, Gallery : 8/6, All the seats will be bookable, ‘The lirectors of Drury Lane have consented to number the seats in the gallery, and it will be the first time in the history of the theatre that the gallery bas been bookable in advance HAKESPERARE has been a popular dramatist in London this season. When "Hamlet" was withdrawn from the New ‘Theatre recently, the production had taken over £30,000, The play ’

had then completed a run of 155. pertormances, the longest since Irving's famous presentation at the Lyceum in 1874, when there were 200 — perforinances, Until recently ‘"Tlamlet’ had played to 2000 a week, whith is probably the biggest money drawn. by Shakespeare in recent years, If was n success from the start owing largely to John Gielgud’s production and acting. In the usually flat week before Christmas the box-office takéngs were £1961, The advance booking was considerably more than for "Riehard of Bordeaux." THE Wellington Operatic aml "hertrical Society (Ine.), has started rehearsals for its production of Sydney Jones’s popular musical vomedy. "The Geisha." This bright show was played by amateurs in Wellington in 1915, with Miss Helen Gard’ner in the leading role, and again jn:1923 with Miss Gard’ner again in the lead, The cast for the present production has not yet been announced, "The Geisha" has a tuneful musical score and bright dialogue.