... 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, ...

... Maybox sells off showpiece cinema FILM and theatre group Maybox has surprised the entertainment world by announcing it has sold its showpiece ten screen cinema in Slough in a multi-million pound deal with a top Canadian chain. North American cine giant Cineplex Corporation, which operates 1,700 screens throughout the United States and Canada, has purchased all shares in the Slough movie centre ...

... Spanish police boot out 'illegal' British artists By YASMINE KARTAL SPANISH police are storming all British owned entertainment venues in Alicante as part of a major crackdown on illegal performers. Artists are facing expulsion or hefty fines amounting to thousands of pounds. The crackdown came to light when Liverpool comedian Johnny Hackett was arrested for performing at the Talk of the Coast ...

... Illusionist escapes from the demon drink ILLUSIONIST Brian Farron suffered wallowing in a milk churn full of 70 gallons of beer and reeking of the alcoholic beverage for days last week to win the accolade of completing the only escape Houdini never managed to achieve, writes Yasmine Kartal. The boozy stunt which involves escaping from a beer filled churn j sealed by padlocks and chains was j ...

... Music hall is planned for renovated site FOLLOWING THE success of renova tions at the former Piccadilly Bar, beneath the famous City Varieties music hall last year (re-named Barney's), Tetley's the brewers have decided to renovate and up-grade the Scarborough Hotel in Leeds. One of the city's oldest public house* and a listed building, the Scarborough dates back to 1826. It gained fame around ...

... 'Parrot-face' turns comedy promoter MOIRA PETTY reports COMEDIAN FREDDIE Parrot Face Davies is to strike out as an independent promoter of comic talent following an invaluable two-year apprenticeship with producer Lisa Baron. In what he described as a perfectly amicable split, he moves into the West End's Regent Palace Hotel next Monday (April 5) to set up the new Freddie Davies ...

... Ideal for fundraising The Celebrities Guild of Great Britain had a well-patronised stand at the Ideal Home Exhibition, the object of which was to raise funds, through the sale of raffle tickets for a car donated by Renault, for the Queen Mary's Hospital, Carshalton. Throughout the exhibition a steady stream of celebrities turned up to autograph the raffle tickets, two of whom, IAN OGILVY and ...

... Staking future on Trafford WHITBY'S I.OSS-making Spa Theatre is staking its future on traditional seaside comic, Tommy Trafford. Tommy has been booked for the theatre's summer show between July 12 and September 4 and the theatre management hope the idea of a tradi tional performance will attract enough holidaymakers to put the theatre back in ihe black. ...

... Back with the USSR Ann Nugent sees Makarova return to the stage with the Kirov for eight minutes after 18 years away KIROV BALLET (Makarova's return) THE TALKING point of the Kirov Ballet's last night at the Business Design Centre was Natalia Makarova's brief reunion with her old company. Just eight minutes on stage, an extension over the East West divide and the opening of a new chapter for ...