Australia

Local Boy and Girl Make Good

Australian artists are to be given their big chance in the main roles of the American musical, "The Pajama Game", which J.C. Williamson Ltd. will produce at Her Majesty's Theatre from February 2.

Blonde, vivacious Melbourne soubrette, Toni Lamond, will play the principal role of the pajama factory girl, Babe Williams.

Geelong baritone William Newman will appear opposite Miss Lamond as Sid Sorokin, the factory superintendent, who comes to discipline Babe, and remains to fall in love with her.

Terry Vaughan, JCW production manager, who made the announcement this week on behalf of the JCW directors, said:

"This clever musical play gives us the opportunity to use Australian talent as a change from importing overseas players for the parts.

"Tests have proved that Miss Lamond and Mr. Newman are ideally suited to the roles ... so why look any further and take a certain amount of risk with artists of unknown ability from America or London?"

That's a significant comment which sounds like the start of a new era of opportunity and success for the local artist.

This will be youthful Toni Lamond's first big part (I hear she's still only 19 years old).

Toni, the daughter of Stella Lamond, well-known in local variety shows and on the radio, has recently been on tour with Max Reddy's Olympic Follies (Max is Toni's step-father).

Toni appeared at the Tivoli with the Tommy Trinder show, and played at the Plaza, Northcote, when that theatre ran regular vaudeville performances.

The part of Babe is the "big break" all young actresses dream about.

William Newman started his career in the chorus of "South Pacific" at Her Majesty's Theatre.

After that he played in "Paint Your Wagon", and was then given the male lead in "Can-Can", in which he will again be seen in a brief return season at Her Majesty's commencing on December 26.

Producer of "The Pajama Game" in Melbourne will be American Fred Hebert, who has been the stage director with the show in New York, ever since it opened there about 18 months ago.

Hebert will arrive her on December 11, to help choose the rest of the cast and start rehearsals immediately.

Hebert is anxious that the Australian production should reach a similar high standard to that of the Broadway performance.

I understand that New York hasn't been entirely satisfied with the London version of the show, now running with Australian Joy Nichols in the lead.

Hebert wants to make sure that the show we see here has all the zip and sparkle of the original production.

"The Pajama Game", which is now being made into a screen musical by Warner Bros. with Doris Day, is one of the most unusual musical shows produced in a long time.

The setting is a pajama factory, and the story concerns the threatened strike by the workers for a wage rise of 7 1/2 cents.

The leading lady is head of the Grievance Committee, and a fiery supporter of the workers' rights. The leading man is the harassed superintendent trying to settle these grievances. An entirely modern theme.

Witty lyrics, tuneful songs and colourful ballets animate these amusing proceedings, spoken in the American vernacular and adapted from an entertaining book by Richard Bissell (who combined with George Abbott in adapting it to the stage).

Music and lyrics are by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross.

The show lends itself to all sorts of novelty numbers.

Outstanding among these is the soliloquy song "Hey There!" sung by the superintendent into a dictaphone and transformed into a duet when the superintendent sings with himself in the "play back".

"The Pajama Game" is a musical without glamor - but with the age-old battle between Capital and Labor. It will carry a lot of impact in being "different".

Fred Hebert, who has been busy all the week completing his all-Australian cast for "The Pajama Game", is enthusiastic about a young Sydney singer he has found for the top comedy role of Hines - the part played by Eddie Foy Jnr., in the original Broadway productions.

This is baritone Keith Peterson ("one of the best voices I've ever heard", said Hebert), who has been doing night club work in Sydney and has an easy style in light comedy work which makes him a "natural" for his role in "P.G.".

Hebert has selected Melbourne baritone Don Richards, who is at present appearing at Chevron, for the part of the brash, happy-go-lucky Pres - a role which is complementary to that of Hines.

Richards is also said to have a flair for comedy.

To Tikki Taylor, with her gamin hair-do and piquant charm, goes the coveted role of Gladys, the dancing comedienne.

This is the crowning success of a stage career which began when she was six years of age in Blue Mountain Melody with Cyril Ritchard and the late Madge Elliott.

Panto followed, and at 14, while still at school, Tikki spent her evenings at the theatre as a "call boy". This enabled her to absorb a miscellaneous but useful collection of knowledge of backstage craft.

By the time she left school Tikki had completed her Royal Academy of Dancing examinations and went into the ballet of Desert Song.

Her only break with theatre came about three years ago, shortly after her marriage with John Newman, whom she met while both were playing in South Pacific.

Deciding to see something of the world, they worked up a comedy song-and-dance act and set out with Singapore first stop.

The act must have been good - it took them to Colombo, Bombay, Calcutta, New Delhi, Rome, all through England (including the famous Palladium) and France.

In London they saw The Pajama Game, liked it, heard it would be presented by the Firm in Australia - and came home in the hope of being included in the cast. They are.

New Show Highlight in Career of Local Dancer

The success of The Pajama Game will be a personal triumph for Betty Pounder. But the audience will not see Betty; only the result of her work. She is ballet mistress for the show - a crowning point in 17 years' work with the Firm.

The firm sent her to New York to study the Broadway production. Night after night she sat in front, concentrating on every step, every movement. Then she would dash back to her hotel and make notes.

The numbers you will see tonight have been built up from these notes ... augmented by Betty's remarkable memory for movement and position.

Betty joined Williamson's in 1940. For two previous years she had studied in England on a scholarship.

She always wanted to be a ballerina. But now she is just as satisfied with her work back-stage.

Like most young dancers she went through the run of the mill in the ballet of musical comedies before being entrusted with solo numbers.

Next step was her appointment as assistant to Hazel Meldrum who was then Williamson's ballet mistress, but has since retired.

Betty's ability was soon recognised. She was sent off to New Zealand with Gladys Moncrieff, who toured in a series of revivals of popular musicals.

As only the principals were sent from Australia, Betty had to train a local ballet and direct the movements of the ensembles in the requirements of six musical comedies.

Later she tackled a similar task when touring New Zealand with the Italian Opera Company. But local additions to the company had to be taught the different dances and moves in 14 operas.

Betty has assisted to arrange and train ballets for all the "new" style musical plays presented by the Firm. These, she considers, began with Annie Get Your Gun.

There is, said Betty, a big difference in dance numbers between the old and new style of musical. In the former, ballets were interpolated into the story, and did not necessary have any bearing on the play. Today they arise naturally from the course of the story and must be strictly in character.

Because of this, she does not think the modern ballet girl in a musical show needs to be as versatile as in the old days. "We had to be everything from classical dancers to tumblers", she said.