... Fridays come pouring from the woodwork SIR Indeed it is dangerous to make any claims about the oldest, youngest, first, etc. Unfortunately for Ashley House Pantomime (iroup, there have been female Man I'Yidays around since at least November 2 3. 1H67, when Offenbach's Robinson Crusoe was first performed at the Opera-Comique, Pans. In this, Man Iriday is played by a mezzo-soprano, yet another ...

... Funny business is neglected SIR So your TV Critic was less than pleased to witness the success of Murder Most Hornd at the Comedy Awards. Why so? It was perfectly con sistent with the judges' other pro gramme selections, (Bottom etc) i.e. Alternative. In Crowd, Right On, P.C.. One Joke Concepts labonously stretched out by Comedy Store Clones mugging to camera. Good actors delivering well ...

... SIR We members o! the cast, orchestra and staff of the West lind Musical Which Witch, would like to protest through your letters column at the behaviour of a number of fellow professionals in the audience at the show's final lhursday matinee on December 17. 'llic loud laughter which puncniated the performance at the most inappropriate moments probably came from only a handful of the large ...

... Demonstration of how to be critical SIR, I am interested in the ongoing debate on theatre criticism and particularly in the editorial response (The Stage, December 3) referring to 'demonstrable truth' and 'the philosophical problem.' There is another demonstrable truth in theatre criticism, which is to do with the question of whether or not the text of a play has been realised or actuated. In ...

... Not for sale SIR, We read with interest the piece Savoy chief dies in The Stage and Television Today of December 3 1992. May I, however, point out the follow ing. In the second paragraph, you state: His death is likely to produce renewed interest from potential buyers keen to bid for the theatre to which Wontncr devoted much of his life. The Savoy Theatre is a wholly owned subsidiary company ...

... SIR, Members must be won dering which will end first. The BBC's despised soap Eldorado or the series of referenda attempting to resolve the issue of Equity sub scriptions. It must be time to call an end to both these time-wasting procedures. I was glad to vote NO last time as I strongly disapproved of the proposals, but I shall vote YES this time in the hope of ending the nonsense and allowing ...

... Women in another guise SIR, I am currently writing a book about people who have been doing one sort of thing and then change to do something completely different and make a success of it: The sheep-farmer-tumed-stockbroker type of thing. In order to complete the list of profiles, my publisher has insisted that I find two women who are in the public eye actress, singer or presenter types who ...

... SIR,--The increasingly heated correspondence about union membership and employment legislation continues to ignore the practicalities. As an actor, I am totally free to choose what work to accept and thus with whom I will be working. If I decide to withdraw my services after agreeing a contract, my action will cer tainly not be illegal. I will be in breach of contract, of course, but that has ...

... Where has all the sponsorship gone? SIR, It is difficult to accept that there was an upswing of 1 5 per cent in business backing last year. To where is it going? It certainly isn't going to the fringe or are the corporate prizes included as sponsorship? Merely because the Prudential, for example, backs a prize with many thousands of pounds, it should not qualify as 'sponsorship' in the true ...

... On course for agent training SIR, The Secret Agent's plea for a college or polytechnic to run a nationally recognised course for entertainment agents (November 5) has been heard! We arc interested in running such a course, but would be grateful if anyone could tell us of a similar course already running we don't want to reinvent the wheel. We have contacted the Arts and Entertainment Training ...

... They're alive and kicking SIR I read with interest the article Debate in wake of TIE crisis (November 26) which stated that Language Alive! had disbanded. I am pleased to say that rumours of our death have been greatly exaggerated! We recently lost a hard fought campaign to retain seven of our LEA funded teacher/actor posts. However, Language Alive! continues to serve Birmingham schools and ...

... Youngsters flock to auditions SIR Vital statistics To any who may have feared that interest, enthu siasm and commitment amongst the young [pr music theatre may have been waning, they can take comfort from the sheer statistics of the National Youth Music Theatre's latest auditions. By mid-December, over 7,500 hours worth of auditions will have been given to more than 3,000 11-19 year-olds in 1 ...