... Angel employee cleared of arson charge THE production controller accused of starting the fire which caused thousands of pounds to top theatrical costumier Morris Angel has been cleared of the charge by a jury at Southwark Crown Court. Angel employee Aiden Heed, 34, was arrested in 1989 soon after the blaze swept through the firm's West End premises. Only a day before the incident he told his ...

... Paget Rooms face new improvements PENARTH Town Councillors want to carry out improvements costing an estimated £2 1 ,000 at the council-owned Paget Rooms, which are used regularly for all types of live entertainment. Town Clerk Edward Vick told the Properties, Leisure and Amenities committee that proposed improve ments to the ladies' toilets would cost £1 1,000 and to the gents' toilets £9,000 ...

... Easter Ball for Gulf victory FIRST Leisure is celebrating the Gulf war victory with a special Easter Saturday Ball. The VG Ball is the brainchild of marketing executive, John Herdman, and is offering free admission and VIP treatment to any member of the armed forces in Blackpool at the time. We have VE and VJ celebrations so it seemed the right thing to do to have a victory in the Gulf one, ...

... Morter forced out of Her venue GREAT Yarmouth impresario Gerald Morter has been ousted from the town's Wellington Pier theatre by its local authority owners for alleged non-payment of bills. Borough council officials repos sessed the end-of-the-pier venue last week claiming that Morter had reneged on the terms of the five year lease, which he took on last year after his second year at the ...

... Club bashing budget Chancellor Norman Lamont was branded a nightclub killjoy by venue bosses after he slapped a two pence increase on the price of a pint, xvrites Brian Attwood. The rise means that excise duty on booze will go up by nearly ten per cent and, warns Brian Hession of the Club and Institute Union, many smaller premises could go to the wall as a result. It just goes to show that ...

... Council says 'NO' to circus pressure By STAGE REPORTER FOR THE second rime within six months, Lincoln's Labour-controlled city council has registered strong pressure from animal rights campaigners to impose a ban on circuses using performing animals. Their message to circus proprietors is clear Cany on coming to Lincoln, because a circus isn't the same without animals. As reported The Stage, ...

... Industry faces the music CONSUMERS in the United Kingdom top the charts for the top buyers of music products in the world but, says a leading firm of analysts, the industry faces a tough time in the nineties. Business experts Coopers Lybrand Deloitte warn that, while the longterm future looks good, the first five years of this decade will prove dif ficult and performers could be the first to ...

... Musicians warned not to ignore royalty payments MUSICIANS may be missing out on massive royalty earnings because they are too wrapped up in their art to worry about business, according to accountants Touche Ross. One leading international recording artist was found to be as much as £500,000 down after the firm looked into record company contracts. Other royalty claims of between £20,000 and ...

... By HELEN GOULD FORGOTTEN West German-based families of British servicemen have sent out a desperate appeal for entertainment, after government defence cuts halted variety tours to their camps. The Ministry of Defence ordered a freeze on showbiz spending for UK troops in Germany, Cyprus and Gibraltar three years ago. Families left alone in German bases had to wait until last month for their ...

... The show goes on at Gorleston THE SAGA of the Gorleston Pavilion was resolved at a recent council meeting in Great Yarmouth. For some weeks a question mark has hung over the sea side theatre, which has been run suc cessfully for the past seven years by East Anglian impresario and Entertainer Carl Adams. The lease was up for grabs this year and it was suggested that the building was ideal for a ...

... Bosses win royalty rates rise fight BRITISH record bosses have won their two-year fight against a rise in royalty rates to songwriters, which had threatened to force major companies into spending cuts and smaller labels out of business. Royalty collection agency, the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society had demanded that British rates be boosted by more than one per cent to bring them in ...

... A Grand pay off A BUMPER year has enabled Blackpool Grand Theatre to pay £10,000 off a loan it received 11 years ago. Representatives of the Grand Theatre Trust presented the cash to Blackpool Mayor Jack Smith as part repayment of a £50,000 interest-free loan granted by the council in 1980. The theatre repaid £5,000 in 1984 and the council agreed in 1985 that the £45,000 balance should remain ...