Programme 1964 – The Belle of New York

THE HASTINGS MUSICAL COMEDY COMPANY (INC.)

PROUDLY PRESENTS

the

Belle of New York

PRODUCED BY
SADIE BROWN

HASTINGS   August 31st – September 12th
NAPIER   September 16th – 19th

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The Hastings Musical Comedy Company Inc.
A Member of the N.Z. Federation of Operatic Societies

Officers, 1964

Patron:
W. E. BATE, Esq.

President:
W. WILSON, Esq.

Vice-President:
D. WHITWORTH, Esq.

Committee:
Miss G. JONES
Mr R. BUCKLEY
Mr D. HARRIS
Mr J. HENDERSON
Mr L. HODGSON
Mr M. PALMER
Mr B. PETRIE
Mr C. SPENCE
Mr H. SPENCE
Mr P. TRASK

Hon. Treasurer:
N. J. TOOMEY, Esq.

Hon. Secretary:
S. C. TAYLOR, Esq.

Hon. Solicitor:
C. E. H. PLEDGER, Esq.

Asst. Secretary:
J. BLACKWELL, Esq.

Hon. Auditors:
Messrs CORBIN and ESAM

PRODUCTION PERSONNEL
Producer   SADIE BROWN
Musical Director   ROBERT MULHOLLAND
Choreographer and Ballet Mistress   JEAN BALLANTYNE
Chorus Mistress   MARY BELL
Official Pianist   MARIE STOTHART
Ballet Pianist   MARY BELL
Wardrobe Mistress   FRANCES MURRAY
Wardrobe   JEANNE HALL, TREVOR HALL, DOREEN HAMILTON, GLORIA JONES, RUTH PORTEOUS, EUNICE SPENCE, BARBARA MORRIS
Properties   SYBIL REAY, BRENDA REAY, BRIAN PETRIE, ALAN THOMSON, GAYNOR BROWN, HELENA HANNAH, DENISE JEFFS, LORRAINE MILDON, JUDITH PALMER, BRENDA REAY, HELEN ROBINSON, JANEVE TREACHER, JUDITH WEBB, DIANE WILSON
Stage Director   HECTOR SPENCE
Stage Managers   COLIN SPENCE and SYDNEY TAYLOR
Chief Electrician   JOHN HENDERSON
Publicity   DERECK WHITWORTH, LEN HODGSON, BRIAN PETRIE
Advertising   W. WILSON
Programme and Business Manager   DERECK WHITWORTH
Prompt   BOBBIE GAMBLE
Call Boy   PETER BROWN
Librarian   DAVID HARRIS

SADIE BROWN, Producer of “The Belle of New York”, comes to us after her recent successes with “The Mikado” and “Iolanthe” for the Hastings Light Opera Company.

She is well remembered for her fine singing and acting ability in many of our past productions and her wide experience in the acting field has undoubtedly assisted her in the measure of success she has achieved in her new role of producer.

We welcome her most warmly and express the hope that she will continue to contribute her talent to us in the future.

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ROBERT MULHOLLAND joins the Company as Musical Director for “The Belle of New York” following an outstanding musical career.

After three years’ study at the Royal Manchester College of Music, Mr Mulholland gained further experience with the Halle Orchestra, the Liverpool Philharmonic and Manchester Opera House Orchestras. Fourteen years’ association with the Fairy Aviation Band included a period of four years as bandmaster, during which time he conducted the band in broadcasting and concert tours of Britain and the Continent. Since residing in Hawke’s Bay he has been Musical Director for the Napier Operatic Society in their productions of “Oklahoma” and “Love from Judy”.

Without doubt, this wide experience has contributed to the high musical standard of this years poduction [production] and we express our grateful thanks to Mr Mulholland for his assistance.

JEAN BALLANTYNE, Choreographer and Ballet Mistress for “The Belle of New York”, needs no introduction to Hawke’s Bay theatre audiences, for she has been associated with amateur productions for many years, as well as having her own studio in Hastings.

Following her outstanding work in “Zip Goes a Million” we express to her our deep appreciation for the time that she has devoted to this, our 1964 production.

MARY BELL has been responsible for the very fine chorus work of all productions since the Company first ventured into musical comedy and we are again indebted to her.

“SALLY”   “RIO RITA”
“NO. NO. NANETTE”   “THE STUDENT PRINCE”
“ROSE MARIE”   “SOUTH PACIFIC”
“NAUGHTY MARIETTA”   “CAROUSEL”
“SHOWBOAT”   “ZIP GOES A MILLION”
“THE BELLE OF NEW YORK”

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About . . .  “THE BELLE OF NEW YORK”

A satire on the lives of famous people in New York before the turn of the century, “The Belle of New York” is renowned the world over for the stir it created at its first performance in George Lederer’s production of 1897 at the New York Casino. The fact that the lives of celebrated New York residents had been caricatured did not meet with success in the city in which these people lived, and so it is no wonder that it ran for just six weeks at this time.

Opening at London’s famous Shaftesbury Theatre on 12th April, 1898, and running for 697 performances, it was a riot and on its return showing in New York, “The Belle” became an immediate success and is still revived at regular intervals.

The spectacular costuming of the period – elegant ladies, complete with large hats, flowing frocks and the long-handled umbrellas; the men, theatre dandies of the times, immaculate and carefree – together with captivating melodies, farcical humour and colourful ballets indicate its everlasting freshness and appeal.

Ann Clifford as Violet Grey
York Davis as Harry Bronson

The Orchestra . . .

Piano:   MRS M. STOTHART
Violins:   MRS E. DUNN (Leader), MRS A WILSON, MR G. WADE, MR P. LOWE
Viola:   MRS A. NORRIS
Cello:   MRS J. PALMER
Bass:   MR L. SPEAKMAN
Flute and Piccolo:   MR A. TIBBENHAM
Oboe:   MRS J. OLDROYD
Clarinet:   MR O. KNIGHT
Trumpet:   MR R. G. MULHOLLAND, MR P. BESWARICK
Horn:   MR I. WARD, MR L. WARD
Tympani, Drums and Effects:   Mr J. SETON

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Bob Murray as Ichabod Bronson
Jewell Shaw as Cora Angelique

Bruce Logan as Karl von Pumpernick
(The Polite Lunatic)

The Belle of New York – CHORUSES

LADIES OF THE CHORUS
Collen [Colleen] Bishop, Roberta Bowers, Kay Dawson, Jeanne Hall, Christine Haycock, Diane Hemmingway, Gloria Jones, Elizabeth Low, Sue MacKenzie, Sue McKay, Joyce Mardon, Wendy Middleton, Philippa Moore, Anne Rainbow, Lois Reefman, Elizabeth Smith, Maybelle Verity, Lyn Westerman, Judy Woodham, Myra Woodham, Marilyn Wotherspoon.

GENTLEMEN OF THE CHORUS
Rob Aernout, Webber Booth, Robert Buckley, Ian Drake, Trevor Hall, David Harris, Winfried Heuser, David Holmes, Owen Kirker, John McKenzie, John Minett, Mark Morgan, Brian Morley, Malcolm Palmer, Reuben Parahi, Robin Potts, John Purdie, Richard Rees, Derek Rolls, Mike Stewart, Peter Trask.

COON CHORUS
Boydie Campbell, George Ferris, Rangi Hapi, Bob Hirini, Owen Kirker, Bob Mokutu, Mane Neho, Adam Puriri, Reubin [Reuben] Parahi, Leo Pere, Sam Poto, Jim Puriri.

CORPS DE BALLET
Briar Haig, Ann Gillett, Janne Treacher, Marie Watson, Vera Green.

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THE HASTINGS MUSICAL COMEDY COMPANY Inc.

PRESENTS

“The Belle of New York”

Producer:
SADIE BROWN

Musical Director:
ROBERT MULHOLLAND

Music and Lyrics by
GUSTAVE KERKER

Book by:
HUGH MORTON

A MUSICAL COMEDY IN TWO ACTS

Cast
(In order of Appearance)
Harry Bronson (a young spendthrift)   YORK DAVIS
William (his butler)   MALCOLM PALMER
Twiddles (his secretary)   PETER TRASK
Cora Angelique (the queen of comic opera)   JEWELL SHAW
Doc. Snifkins (her father)   DEREK BELCHER
Count Ratsi Tattattoo (twin Portuguese noblemen)   TREVOR HALL
Count Patsi Tattattoo   JOHN McKENZIE
Pansy Pinns (Cora’s principal bridesmaid)   GLORIA JONES
Cora’s Bridesmaids   SUSAN McKAY, SUSAN McKENZIE, WENDY MIDDLETON, ANN RAINBOW, MARILYN WOTHERSPOON
Kenneth Mugg (low comedian of comic opera)   PETER HANNAH
Kissy Fitzgarter (a music hall dancer)   GLENDA SMITH

Cast
(In order of Appearance)
Blinky Bill McQuirk (a mixed-ale pugilist)   GOOCH PARAHI
Fricot (a French chef)   ERIC REAY
Fifi Fricot (his daughter)   BEVERLEY COWAN
Mr Sheep (a minister)   MALCOLM PALMER
Ichabod Bronson (president of the Young Men’s Rescue League of Cahoes)   BOB MURRAY
Karl von Pumpernick (a polite lunatic)   BRUCE LOGAN
Violet Gray (a Salvation Army lassie)   ANN CLIFFORD
Mamie Clancy (a Pell Street girl)   DOREEN MUDGWAY
New York Policeman   MALCOLM PALMER
Mr Snooper (a newspaper reporter)   OWEN KIRKER
Mr Peeper (a press photographer)   PETER TRASK
Railway Gateman   REUBEN PARAHI

ACT I
Scene 1 – The Dining Hall of Harry Bronson’s house on Riverside Drive, New York.
Scene 2 – The Conservatory of Harry Bronson’s House.
Scene 3 – Pell Street, New York, on Chinese New Year’s Eve.

ACT II
Scene 1 – Smyler’s Candy Store, Broadway, New York.
Scene 2 – Interior, Grand Central Station, New York.
Scene 3 – On the lawn of the Casino at Narragansett Pier.

Choreographer and Ballet Mistress:
JEAN BALLANTYNE

Chorus Mistress:
MARY BELL

PATRONS ARE RESPECTFULLY INFORMED THAT THE TAKING OF PHOTOGRAPHS DURING THE PERFORMANCE IS PROHIBITED

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Musical Numbers

ACT I
INTRODUCTION   Orchestra
“WHEN A MAN IS 21”   Harry and Men
“QUEEN OF COMIC OPERA”   Cora and Chorus
“LITTLE SISTER KISSY”   Bill, Mugg and Chorus
“TEACH ME HOW TO KISS”   Fifi and Girls
“WE COME THIS WAY”   Men’s Chorus
“ANTI CIGARETTE SOCIETY”   Ichabod and Chorus
“WINE WOMEN AND SONG”   Harry, Fifi and Chorus
“LA BELLE PARISIENNE”   Fifi and Bridesmaids
“MY LITTLE BABY”   Ichabod and Cora
“PRETTY LITTLE CHINA GIRL”    Chorus and Ballet
“THEY ALL FOLLOW ME”   Violet and Chorus
“SHE IS THE BELLE OF NEW YORK”   Bill, Mamie and Chorus
FINALE ACT I   Violet and Company

ACT II
ENTR’ACTE   Orchestra
“BELLE OF NEW YORK”   Candy Ballet
“OH SONNY”   Harry and Chorus
“WHEN WE ARE MARRIED”   Fifi and Harry
“I WANT TO GO TOMORROW   Muggs
“THE PURITY BRIGADE”   Violet and Chorus
“I DO, SO THERE”   Violet, Ichabod and Chorus
“TAKE ME DOWN TO CONEY   Bill and Mamie
“SPECIALTY NUMBERS”   Coon Chorus
“CAN CAN”   Ballet
FINALE   The Company

The Story of . . . “THE BELLE OF NEW YORK”

The story opens with Harry Bronson, heir to his father’s fortune, convivially celebrating his majority. He is to be married the next day to Cora Angelique, Queen of Comic Opera, but his purpose wavers on meeting Fifi, the daughter of the French chef, Fricot, engaged to prepare the wedding breakfast. Things are complicated by the claim of Kissy Fitzgarter, a music hall dancer, that Harry has promised to marry her, and further by the arrival of Ichabod Bronson, President of the Young Men’s Rescue League of Cohoes, who disinherits his son of his fortune and incidentally of two prospective wives, who suddenly discover convenient engagements elsewhere. Fifi alone remains constant and Harry goes to work.

In the meantime Harry has met Violet Gray in Pell Street, a low Chinatown quarter. Violet is a pretty Salvation Army lassie and known in the neighbourhood at the “Belle of New York”, but the difficulty with her converts is that “they do not follow the light; they always follow me”. Ichabod, who transpires to be a person of convenient morals, appears and, disgusted at finding his son in such an ill-reputed quarter, declares he will leave his fortune to the first worthy person he meets, and, of course, it is Violet. At first she refuses, but she then conceives a plan which, put into operation, brings a satisfactory conclusion to the play.

The path of the plot is crossed many times by a host of humerous [humorous] characters: Mamie Clancy and Blinky Bill, of the New York Underworld with their amusing Bowery love-making; Karl, that most polite lunatic, who pursues his rivals in love, the two Bronsons, father and son, with his murderous “sticker”, Mugg, the melodramatic tragedian, who aspires to Cora’s hand; and Doc Snifkins, who aspires to a more lucrative union for his daughter.

Photo caption-

Gooch Parahi as Blinky Bill

Doreen Mudgway as Mamie Clancy

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Photo caption-

Peter Hannah as Kenneth Mugg

Glenda Smith as Kissy Fitzgarter

Blinky Bill

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Harry Bronson

Beverley Cowarn as Fifi Fricot

Eric Reay as Fricot

Harry Bronson, Derek Belcher as Doc Snifkins, Cora Angelique, Kenneth Mugg, Owen Kirker as Mr Snooper, Peter Trask as Mr Peeper

Ichabod Bronson and the Anti-Cigarette Society

John McKenzie and Trevor Hall as Counts Ratsi and Patsi

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The Belle of New York

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Bridesmaids and Partners

Housemaids

Thanks and Appreciations . . .
All Scenery and Costumes for “The Belle of New York” were hired from the Hamilton Operatic Society.
Grants Opticians for loan of Spectacles.
Napier Frivs for loan of Music.
Mr Alex Houston for co-operation with Photography.
Mr Keith Brazier for designing Programme Cover, Posters, etc.
Mr M. Parkhill for continued assistance.
Mrs M. Florance for designing Ballet Costumes.
L. J. Harvey Ltd. for loan of Glasses and Flowers.
Bon Marche Ltd. for assistance.
National Cash Register Co. Ltd. for loan of equipment.
Mrs Mavis Stayt for supervision and assistance with make up.
Mrs J. M. O. Robetson [Robertson] for assistance.
Mr Cedric Wright for assistance.
Messrs Long and Barden for Cordial used in this production.
Mr Alan Bowes for loan of Cycle.
Diamond Dry Cleaners for assistance.
Mr Ron Hunter and the Tin Hat Club for loan of Suits.
Our Social Committee for serving suppers and providing social events throughout rehearsals:
Peggy Brazier, Kay Dawson, Jeanne Hall, Gloria Jones, Derek Burns, Trevor Hall, David Harris, John McKenzie, Mark Morgan, Malcolm Palmer.
To the many members, friends and business firms who have given so generously of their time and assistance to make this and our past productions a success, we express our grateful thanks.

HONORARY LIFE MEMBERS
Mr H. Spence
Mr W. Wilson

HONORARY MEMBERS
Mrs Mary Bell
Miss May MacDonald

SUBSCRIBING MEMBERS
As at 7th August, 1964
Beckett, Mr R.
Beckett, Mrs R.
Brazier, Mr K.
Bradshaw, Mr L. E
Brown, Mrs T. H.
Brown, Mr V.
Bryant, Mrs H.
Burchmore, Mrs F. H.
Burns, Mr D. J. W.
Butler, Mr A. R.

Cameron, Mrs E. K
Campbell, Mr D. F.
Carr, Mr H. G.
Cartwright, Mrs B. C.
Cesarini, Mrs C.
Cesarini, Mr M.
Charlton, Mrs F. W.
Christeson, Mrs. M. K.
Cooch, Mrs G. R.

Day, Mrs I.
Doree, Mr J. M.
Doughlas, Mr D. B.
Dunlop, Mr J. D.
Dunlop, Mrs J. D.

Fairclough, Mr J.
Fippard, Mr N. B.
Fleming, Mr R. J

Garnett, Miss I. M.
Gillespie, Mr P.
Godfrey, Mrs R.
Gordon, Mr. I.
Goulding, Mrs J. S.
Graham, Miss J.
Grant, Mr W. C.
Greer, Mr W., Snr.

Hamilton, Mr J. B.
Hamilton, Mrs J. B.
Hannah, Mr B.
Hannon, Mr A. J.
Hannon, Mrs A. J.
Hannon, Mr G. J.
Hare, Mrs F. L.
Harris, Mrs D.
Hastie, Mr B. R.
Hawkes, Mr R.
Hemingway, Mr E.
Henderson, Mr J.
Higgins, Mr P. M.
Hill, Mr D. J.
Holderness, Mr S.
Horne, Mr H. A.
Houston, Mr A.
Howard, Miss R.

James, Mrs P.
Johansson, Mr C.

Kearney, Mr R.
Keys, Mr R.
Keys, Mrs R.
Kirkby, Miss L. M.

Lay, Mrs E. G.
Lowe, Mr C. P.
Lillywhite, Mrs B. L.

Marshall, Mr P.
Mills, Miss M.
McAulay, Mrs N.
McCarthy, Mrs. Z.
McCracken, Mr E. R.
MacErlich, Mr I.
McKay, Mr, N. G.
McPherson, Dr H. Grant
McRae, Mrs M. A.
Nash, Mr. L. R.
Nash, Mrs L. R.
Nicoll, Mr I. R.
Nottingham, Mrs R
Nottingham, Mrs I.

Olsen, Mrs B. E.
Pacey, Mrs G.
Palmer, Mr N. R.
Palmer, Mrs O.
Parkhill, Mr M.
Poppelwell, Mr H.

Richardson, Mr. D
Richardson, Mrs. D.
Rixon, Mr D. E.
Rosser, Mr C.

Seton, Mr J.
Seton, Mr J. G.
Shakespeare, Mr R.
Shakespeare, Mrs R.
Simonson, Mr J.
Sims, Miss N.
Sisson, Mrs I.
Spence, Mr C. H.
Spence, Mrs H. L.
Spence, Mr R.
Stayt, Mrs M.
Storkey, Mr L. E.
Sutcliffes Ltd.

Tankersley, Mrs S.
Taylor, Mr H. A.
Thomas, Mrs J.
Thompson, Mrs D. H.
Toomey, Mr N. J.
Trask, Mrs E. J.
Treacher, Mr G.
Treacher, Mr W.

Upchurch, Mrs R. T.

Walker, Mrs A.
Warner, Mr J. A.
Warnes, Mr W. R.
Warren, Mr W. A.
Williams, Mr K. J.
Williamson, Mr D.
Williamson, Mrs G. M.
Woon, Mr J. L.

Young, Mr A.

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