... *We must stick together or die together1 Cafe Theatre masters support after £900 fine By BRIAN ATTWOOD THE director of the Cafe Theatre in Charing Cross warned this week he may close the venue after it received one of the stiffest fines ever to be imposed on a London fringe site. Michael Almaz broke the news after Bow Street magistrates imposed the third penalty in just two months after staff ...

... Cabaret Koff Club comes to Liverpool TWO Liverpool performers were celebrating last week after their new alternative cabaret club proved an immediate hit, and now looks set to become a leading North West venue. City centre venture, The Koff Club, was a sell-out on the first night and hordes of cabaret fans had to be turned away at the door. Organisers Liz Moscrop and Tracey O'Conor, alias ...

... Farewell to Benjamin LOUIS Benjamin, who rose from office boy to president, was given an emotional farewell by Stoll Moss Theatres at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, last week. But as Roger Filer, managing direc tor of Stoll Moss, pointed out, while it was farewell after 52 years it was not goodbye. Benjamin had no intention of retiring completely and would still be involved with show ...

... Female magician wins through YOUNG Yorkshire magician Helen Whitehouse has struck a blow for female magicians, barred from the Magic Circle, by proving she can not only keep trade secrets, but wield them impressively to beat top male rivals. The Driffield 22-year-old scooped the Craig Trophy for the best female performer and the Theo Speaker Cup as overall runner-up at the 53rd annual ...

... Scottish boost THE SCOTTISH Record Industry Association, the group fighting for devolution for producers and bands north of the border, has received a vital boost frofti the government. It has been awarded a £60,000 grant aver three years from the Scottish Development Agency which will go to Fund the association's first official headquarters in Edinburgh which 5 pens next week. The money has ...

... Musicians call in union LONDON City Opera was due to meet the Musician's Union this week to hammer out a deal to pay its former workers. The company landed more than £40,000 in the red after last year's autumn season flopped, leaving 30 musicians, its technicians and London venue Westminster Theatre unpaid. Last week it revealed it was on the verge of a major sponsorship deal which would allow ...

... Rowle leaves RUG ANDREW Lloyd Webber's Real ly Useful Group has lost a second top executive this year with the departure of music chief Mark Rowles. His resignation comes as the group's music publishing company announced its greatest ever contribution to RUG profits. In a brief statement Really Useful's managing director John Whitney praised Rowles for his success as music publishing director. ...

... Backers split over Fame school By HELEN GOULD THE PUBLIC row over Britain's first Fame-style school continued behind the scenes this week amid signs of an apparent split in the ranks of a leading backer. Mark Featherstone- Witty, founder of the School for the Performing Arts Ltd, revealed to The Stage his com pany might have to consider pulling out from the venture to save celebrity patrons ...

... MAC braces itself for Rushdie debate RELIGIOUS controversy still raging over Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses is threatening to erupt at Birmingham's Midlands Arts Centre this autumn. As part of its sixth Readers and Writers Festival the centre plans to screen Hay Weldon's film about the Rushdie affair. Opinions, Sackcloth and Ashes in November. The film caused a storm when shown on Channel 4 ...

... Blackpool loses showbiz museum BLACKPOOL'S Museum of Entertainment has been sold. The country's only museum dedi cated to the history of showbusiness has been brought by former actor William Forbes Hamilton and will now be put on permanent display in Truro. Until earlier this month the Museum of Entertainment had been housed in the basement of the Queens Theatre in Coronation Street, but after ...