... Street-wise Patrick Newley's article on the Albany Players brought back a wave of nostalgia for the summer of 1959 when I was engaged by them for the season at Butlin's, Clacton. As 'juvenile-character' man, the general roles I played were small or indif ferent. My chance to shine, however, came with the lead as the delinquent 'cosh boy' in Master Crook three times a day every other Monday and ...

... Foy story I was at the USITT/OISTAT convention in Pittsburgh in March, where Josef Svoboda and I received lifetime achievement awards in theatre. When I was there, a young man from England approached me. He said that, some two years ago, he had seen an enquiry in The Stage from somebody seeking information about Tom Foy, and was he any relation of mine. Tom was my uncle and his younger brother ...

... Extend 'pool' to whole tax system I read with amusement the letter advocating the 'Equity pool' (February 13, page 9). On the face of it, it might seem a good idea, in particu lar, to anyone earning less than the £250 per week. But how many of those who earn more than this amount would support the idea? This country has suffered 1 7 years of a government determined to increase the volume of ...

... Foresight for the premiere league Congratulations on Phil Gibby's report (February 20, News, page 4) and to David Hare for his comments at the National Theatre. As a regu lar theatregoer and performer myself, no matter how good, I do not intend regularly visit ing plays which have already been done to death, time and again, such as The Merchant, Forty Years On, etc. Thank goodness, there fore, ...

... Bared to the minimum I am sure that those actors and stage managers work ing in subsidised repertory theatres were overwhelmed by the number of actors willing to support their claim for a minimum wage of £250 per week which you published (February 20, Advertisement, page 5). Looking through this list I was not convinced that the majority of actors listed had recently been working in regional ...

... Particular about an eccentric dance duo I am researching the career of Jenny Golder, music hall and revue artist in Paris and London, who died in 1928. Her real name, I believe, was Rosie Sloman. and she was, by marriage, Mrs Joseph Bowden, the latter being a trick cyclist/acrobat. At one point, they toured as an eccentric dance duo called Jenny and Joe (around 1914). I particularly need to ...

... Equity ultimatum daft One wonders what Equity is playing at giving an ultimatum to the TMA (April 3, News, Front page). Has it not been pointed out to them that many regional theatres are facing possible closure through lack of funds? The Stephen Joseph recently had to fight for its existence with the council against the civic need for public lavatories and the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool ...

... Bush is planting seeds for new writing At the Bush, we are entering into a deal with London Weekend Television whereby we recommend scripts and writers to the station which may be suitable for develop ment in the field of TV com edy. LWT pays the Bush £20,000, which is general support for our continuing programme of new writing. The implication of your story (March 27, News, page 3), ...

... Fmnire days Can anyone supply me with programmes and playbills from the former Sheffield Empire, Leeds Empire, Liverpool Empire, London Palladium, Palace Theatre, Manchester, Hippodrome (Ardwick Green) Manchester, and any Blackpool theatres from the fifties. If anyone can help me with the above, could they please inform me of the cost first David Cooke 87 Albion Road Idle, Bradford West ...

... Speak out (properly) Wholehearted congratula tions to Anthony Field on his excellent article 'Voice of Concern' (August 14, Leader feature, page 6). As a one-time pupil of the late legendary Elsie Fogerty and a voice coach for more than 30 years, I fully concur with all his comments. Only too frequently one is appallet by poor pronunciation, pro jection, diction, etc both in the theatre and on ...

... NEW YORK NOTEBOOK CLIVE BARNES Broadway theatre fancifully likes to call itself an industry, but as an industry it is neither so industrious nor so efficient as its sometime friend and occasional rival based on that alternative coast, the movie industry. Just think of the manner in which these two entertainment factories organise their seasons. With movies, the season, the period for which ...

... Missing persons How is it possible to have a list of the most important peo ple in the theatre and include so many obscure people no one has heard of and yet leave out people who have done so much for all of us? I am thinking especially of two people who have done more for more years then half the people in your list. Firstly and foremost must be Charles Vance who was not only president of the ...