... Redgrave Theatre auditions for Mr Small CHILDREN'S favourites the Mr Men are the stars of a new £78,000 musical which will tour Britain this autumn. The Mr Men Musical will be premiered at Farnham's Redgrave Theatre in September, and the show's backers Ian Listen of Hiss and Boo Ltd and the Uppity Stage Company are hoping the show will open in the West End at Christmas. A spokesman for the ...

... Ayr council voteto keep the Gaietyopen by JOHN MOORE MEMBERS of Kyle and Carrick District Council have discussed in open session recent financial and attendance figures for Ayr Gaiety Theatre. I his was a practice discontinued a few years ago following protests from members of the Federation of Theatre Unions. The council accepted the critic ism then that the Gaiety was unique in being the ...

... Back to the Bobbysox days THE delights of American high-school are about to be recreated on a London stage with yet another revival of fifties musical Grease. But this time around both the cast and production team are nearer the age of the characters than any of the far from teenage stars who have appeared in previous stage and film productions. The popular Cambridge Indepen dent Theatre is ...

... Buskers reject the chance of picking up easy money By JEREMY JEHU BRITAIN'S buskers may spend their lives complaining about being harassed and moved on, but holiday chiefs in Skegness have come to the conclusion that they can't recognise a good pitch when they see one. One of the summer attractions at the Eastgate Holiday Centre in the Lincoln shire resort is a 13-week Busker and Street ...

... Together--at last THE Three B's of British trad jazz, Kenny Ball, Chris Barber and Acker Bilk, are to tour together with their bands for the first time ever. Sponsored, appropriately enough, by Carlsberg, and presented by Chris Moreno for E B Productions representing the first time Paul Elliott's company has gone in for concert promo tion the tour starts off at Poole Arts Centre on September ...

... No need to mock Tudor PARIS OPERA BALLET Anthony Tudor programme THE ARRIVAL of Rudolf Nureyev as director of the opera Ballet in Paris has noticeably revitalised this season's repertoire with the introduction of several creations and a number of works new to the company. Among the latter was a programme devoted to the London-born choreog rapher Antony Tudor, which recently had its first ...

... Strange abandons nightclub scene POP PERSONALITY Steve Strange has abandoned his nightclub interests to concentrate on reviving his flagging music career. The singer has severed all links with Rusty Egan, his former partner in the projects which first made his name including the hit band Visage, the publishing company Metropolis Music and the photographic/stylist agency the Creative Workforce. ...

... Chubby to goon after tragedy COMEDIAN Chubby Oatcs has vowed to go on with the show despite the death of his youngest daughter. The Kent comic told panto bosses at Canterbury's Marlowe Theatre that he still intended turning up for rehearsals which began this week just a day after 13-year-old Julia's funeral. Panto boss Dave Lee said: We didn't even have to ask Chubby. He's a real pro. He ...

... Royal panto at Palace THIS year's Royal Pantomime is to be Babes in the Wood, at the Palace Theatre, Manchester. Princess Michael of Kent will attend the performance on December 17. This Royal Pantomime, the third, will be the first held outside London. Proceeds will go to the National Playing Fields Association of Great Britain. Babes in the Wood, starring Les Dawson, Ruth Madoc, John ...

... Brewers object MAGISTRATES have backed a brewery objection to a new live entertainment venue in Cumbria. Publican Robin Armstrong had ap plied for permission to open the new 70-seat facility in a building not far from his Letters Inn public house at Aspatria. But Wigton magistrates refused to grant a licence for the venue after hearing objections from brewers Jen nings. The company claimed the ...

... London City Ballet SADLER'S WELLS IN PRESENTING a first London gala at as important a theatre as Sadler's Wells, in the presence of its patron, the Princess of Wales, London City Ballet seized the opportunity greedily. But with a programme that endeavoured to sell the company to newcomers by incuding a sprinkling of repertory lets as well as tne customary array ot gala fireworks, it proved ...

... Stan and Ollie MANCHESTER IT'S A LONG journey to London's West End from Tameside Theatre, Greater Manchester, but Stan and Ollie have just taken the brave first step. Billed as a world premiere of a brand new musical by Ron Day and Nicky Paule (who produced the Tameside opener) and directed by John E. Perry, this story of the stage career of Laurel and Hardy has something that can be ...