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G’DAY ANDRE

■■■■■ International violinist André Rieu is due to return to Melbourne, performing at

the Rod Laver Arena on Friday and Saturday next week (Oct. 18-19). Rieu is also

performing in Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Auckland.

NEW: GREYHOUNDS RACING SECTION

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- Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, October 9, 2013 www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

City DeskThe hottest news about Melbourne’s A-listers

City Desk

‘Guys And Dolls’ at National Theatre

■ After achieving stunning success earlier this year with the spectacularworld amateur premiere season of The Phantom of the Opera, versatileCLOC Musical Theatre now presents the contrasting, light-heartedmusical fable of Broadway, Guys And Dolls, at the National Theatre,St Kilda until October 19.

Adapted from Damon Runyon's story and characters, with musicand lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Bur-rows, Guys And Dolls is set in New York in the late 1940s, where theunlikely worlds of underground gambling, gangsters, missionaries andshowgirls merge into a romantic comedy inter-laced with witty lyrics andbright, familiar tunes.

These include Sit Down, You're Rockin' The Boat, Luck Be A Lady,Bushel and A Peck and Adelaide's Lament, all superbly rendered byPhillip Osborne's magnificent orchestra.

Co-director Chris White's atmospheric set design facilitates aseamlessly staged production, artistically complimented by Brad Alcock'slighting and Victoria Horne's colourful, stylish costumes.

Choreography by co-director Lynette White is terrific - constantly vi-sually interesting and performed by first class dancers. However, onstagebusyness sometimes risks becoming distracting.

CLOC has assembled a cast of wonderfully talented musical theatreperformers. Kelly Windle delivers an exquisite portrayal of refined mis-sionary Sarah Brown, while Sarah Watson uses show-biz flair andgreat comedy timing in her entertaining performance as showgirl AdelaideAdams.

Scott Hili is well-cast as gambling operator Nathan Detroit, andJon Sebastian portrays high-roller gambler Sky Masterson in cool, con-trolled style.

Dynamic comedy duo Jason Mill (Benny Southstreet) and MichaelButler (Nicely-Nicely Johnson) use impressive, energetic physicalityin their stand-out performances as the bumbling henchmen.

The show's pace slows a little at times, but as a product of the less-frenetic 1950s, that's how it is.

Congratulations to CLOC Musical Theatre for presenting an expertrevival of this much-loved classic musical.

Performances: October 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19 at 8pm and October12, 13 at 2pm.

Venue: National Theatre, St KildaTickets: $50 full price, $45 Concession and groups, $35 Child (16 and

under)Bookings: 1300 362 547 or www.cloc.org.au

-Review by Cheryl Threadgold

●●●●● Crapshooters Josh Cinco (left), Nathaniel Lamond, TamblynSmith, Jon Sebastian, Matt McDonald, Jason Mill and ChrisRogers in Guys And Dolls, at the National Theatre until October19. Photo: Richard Crompton

Melbourne Moments

Ricky is racing■ Former Australian cricket cap-tain, Ricky Ponting, has moved fromSydney to Melbourne and retiredfrom all forms of cricket, affording himmore time to concentrate on one of hisgreat passions, greyhound racing.

Having moved to Victoria,Ponting will increase his involvementin greyhound racing, assisting Grey-hound Racing Victoria with the pro-motion of greyhound ownership and theGreyhound Adoption Programthat has re-homed more than 4500greyhounds.

Ricky Ponting has been involvedin greyhound racing for more than 20years has owned three Group 1 runnersin the past, including 2013 NationalSprint Championship finalist,Rumbling Rick. ●●●●● Ricky Ponting resumes his love for greyhounds in Victoria

Reece sings at Epping

●●●●● Reece Martin

■ Australian singer-songwriterReece Martin will appear at Pa-cific Epping (formerly EppingPlaza) at 11.30am this Saturday.

His appearance include perfor-mance of hits Rockstar and Shut UpAnd Kiss Me.

Dance crew Swagamama willjoin Martin on stage at UrbanDiner, the centre’s restaurant andentertainment precinct.

The day’s attractions also includeChinese lion dance performances.Local girl Madeline Perrone willperform on Sunday.

Under The Clocks

The BuzzFinalists play

CHARITY FOOTY

●●●●● Independent musicians did battle in the Melbourne Punk RockCharity Shield at the State Hockey Centre in Parkville on Saturday.This was a football game between two teams created for the event:the Suburban Vikings and the Melbourne City Sharks. Arthur Stevenshas a full report on Page 20.

■ The six talented Chamber Mu-sic Finalists for the 2013 ABCSymphony Australia YoungPerformers Awards have beenannounced – two of whom are only15 years old!

They form the shortlist of bril-liant young musicians who will per-form with seasoned professionalsfrom the MSO in the ChamberMusic Round today (Wed.) at 1pmand 7pm – in the thrilling count-down to the Grand Final on Sat-urday (Oct. 12).

The six successful finalists:Stefan Cassomenos, 28 (Vic –Piano), Grace Clifford, 15 (NSW– violin); Andrew Kawai, 15 (Vic– oboe); Hoang Pham, 28 (Vic –piano)’ Jonathon Ramsay, 19(NSW – euphonium); and HarryWard, 17 (NSW – violin) – whowill each perform in a concert atMelbourne’s Iwaki Audito-rium.

Vic. premiere

●●●●● Stefan Cassomenos

■ Three theatre companies havecome together for a 'theatricaldocumentary', Beautiful One Day,about Palm Island.

Publicist Ben Starick says theVictorian premiere takes place inthe season that runs from Novem-ber 26-December 1 at Arts House,North Melbourne Town Hall,521 Queensberry St, NorthMelbourne.

Bookings: artshouse.com.au or9322 3713

★ Some Melbourne radio people will make their way to Brisbane thisweekend for the Commercial Radio Awards.

★ Casual opening celebrations will take place from 2pm-4pm on SaturdayOctober 26 at Firestation Print Studio, 2 Willis St, Armadale, Sue

Top combines her two passions: bush-walking and making art.in the 'Fun-gus Meets Ferrite' exhibition which continues until November 9.

★ The Joshua McClelland Print Room, 310 Rathdowne St, Carlton,is conucting the opening of the exhibition of Hybrid Collaborative

prints by Damon Kowarsky and Atif Khan at 6.30pm on Tuesday, Octo-ber 15. Exhibition continues until November 9.

★ Melbourne Music Week is being held at the Australian Centrefor the Moving Image from November 16-22. It will coincide with

Melbourne Music Week and Spectacle: The Music Video Exhibition.

★ The John Steel Singers’ national Everything’s A Thread Tour startsFriday, November 8, at the Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne.

ObserverMelbourne

Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, October 9, 2013 - www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

What’s On In Melbourne

Straight from the heart♥ E-Mail: [email protected]

Mark Richardson

SHOOTING FOR THE STARS■ At just 24 years-of-age, Mel-bourne's Josh Howlett is well onhis way to slam dunking his life ambi-tion of producing his first movie - Fi-nal Four.

Born and raised in the Mel-bourne's western suburb ofWerribee, when Josh was in pre-school, he first fell in love with actingwatching his godmother, CathMcCallig, performing in several the-atre productions around Melbourne.

After Josh completed high school,he ventured out into the 'real world' fora few years in hope of finding direc-tion.

Immersed in artistic culture ofMelbourne's inspiring west, Joshcouldn't shake the acting bug.

Whilst working in his last 'real' jobas a travel agent, he discovered thatthe film industry is where he wantedhis career to take flight. He immedi-ately handed in his resignation to fol-low his dream.

The following day, Josh put pen topaper and wrote the synopsis for a film- Final Four - a present day dramathat follows the journeys of four teen-age Australian basketball playersfrom primary, high school and throughto their pursuits as college basketballplayers in the United States.

After months of rewrites and suc-cessfully pitching the concept to inves-tors, producers and agents in Austra-lia and the United States, Final Fouris currently in pre-production with a

ProducerPorch

Thoughtswith some of Hollywood's biggestnames preparing to sign to direct andstar in the film.

On his Producer Porch in his studioin Werribee, I caught up with Joshto find out more about the inspirationbehind his film and discovered whenhe is not writing, Josh is involved sup-porting disadvantaged youth throughprograms such as the Reach Foun-dation.

Acting has played such a hugepart of life in terms of shapingyour life's ambitions. What wassome of you first professional act-ing gigs?

I was involved in many productionsboth in and out of school. My first pro-fessional acting gig was a one off ap-pearance as The Tin Man in aMelbourne production. It was a 38degree day in January and I was wear-ing a latex mask. From there I went onto act in a small screen productions andlearning the art of writing and produc-ing.

From what I've read, FinalFour is all about heart. What is onemovie that pulled at yourheartstrings?

Remember The Titans in 2000. It

was based on the true story of Afri-can-American coach HermanBoone portrayed by Denzel Wash-ington. In the 1970s, Herman triedto introduce a racially integrated teamat a High School in Virginia. Theadversity those boys overcame to re-main true to themselves and eachother was a huge inspiration for me.I've seen it at least 30 times and Istill get goose-bumps when I watchit.

Do you feel growing up inMelbourne's western suburbsinfluenced your writing or fu-elled your passion for producingfilms?

Definitely! The West is where thetrue artistic heart of Melbourne canbe found. If you spend a day walkingher streets, you'll see everything thatyou both want and don't want fromlife. All of the best artists I know,whether it be actors, photographers,fashion designers or street artists,seem to stem from The West.

The Final Four is based on atrue story based on a group ofAustralian high school athleteswho attend University in North-ern California and come to great-ness in NCAA basketball. Whois it based on?

It's loosely based on the St MarysCollege basketball team in theStates who are well known for re-cruiting Australian players such asMatt Dellavedova and PattyMills. We've been in touch withsome key members of thatorganisation and they are very ex-cited about the project.

How long did the initial con-cept take to write?

It took me a full day of writing fol-lowed by a lot of procrastinating andthen back to writing it again. I thenteamed with film producer BobbyGalinsky who is writing the officialscreenplay, he wrote the treatment inroughly two months.

Did you play basketball your-self to give you some 'real-life'prospective?

I played a bit of ball in my junioryears for the St Andrews Basket-ball Club in Werribee. I've alwaysbeen a massive fan of the sport.

How did you develop the char-acters in the USA such as Assis-tant Coach 'Rocket Richardsfrom your studio in Werribee?'

One of the main characters in thestory - Coach Richards, I slightlybased on my dad. He is a complexcharacter. He is a win at all costs kindof guy who, under his harsh exterior,

●●●●● Josh Howlettreally just wants what's best for theteam. I had to use a lot of imagina-tion through life experience to createthe characters.

Did you consult with any Aus-tralian basketball professionals?

In the early stages of the projectwe managed to secure Darryl 'D-Mac' McDonald as our basketballconsultant. He is now a retiredAmerican Australian basketballprofessional who last played for theMelbourne Tigers in the NationalBasketball League. He provided in-credible insight on how the processreally works in the sport. With your acting skills, willyou be playing a part in the film?

I'll be playing one of the three maleleads. I think it's important for actorsto also produce films. Producing yourown projects is the only way to haveany control over your own career. Youcould spend years auditioning andnever get a role.

What stage is the film at andwho is interested in being in-volved?

We've secured our first investor andhave interest from many past andpresent NBA players and also fromAmerican Studios. Zach Greenwho is a renowned American filmproducer will be handling that inter-est once the final screenplay is com-pleted.

Who would you like to see starin the film?

There's been a few names float-ing around and we've attached localactors Chris Kirby (The Matrix,Fresh Prince of Bel Air) and ClydeBoraine (Angry Boys). On a per-sonal note, I'd like to see WoodyHarrelson play one of the coaches. What is the main message au-diences will take from the film?

One of mateship, believing inyourself and achieving greatnessagainst all odds.

How did you become to be in-volved with the Reach Founda-tion?

It was an incredible honour to beasked to present at their Heroes Dayand share my story to 500 children inAugust. I encouraged everyone to fol-low their dreams and not to let any-one tell them they you can't achievesomething.

What is your Porch ThoughtFor The Day?

The best way to predict the futureis to create it. So, get creative.For regular updates on FinalFour follow Josh Howlett oninstagram@jchowlett or visitwww.final4themovie.com orwww.handmademediafilms.com

- Mark Richardson


PH

OTO

: IKO

N IM

AG

ES

Off The Porch Thought For The Day

Sam BeltRingwood Hawks Superstar/NCAA All American“There's nothing like chasing a sporting dream.To be a NBA superstar was my first childhooddream. When we have these dreams so young,there is nothing that gets in our way. Whenadversity hits, that is when true superstars showtheir character. When we have a dream that haslasted 20 years, you will knock down any wall ifit means getting closer to your DREAM. Abasketball film telling this story will beinspirational for future generations.”

Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, October 9, 2013 - www.MelbourneObserver.com.au


AshThe Melbourne Observer

Editor Ash Long is heard:●●●●● 8.45am Wed., with Ron Burke, 3NRG-FM Sunbury

●●●●● 10am Wed., with Denis Scanlan, Pulse 94.7 Geelong●●●●● 9.15am Thu., with Bob and Judy Phillips, 3RPP Peninsula

Shapes ofGeoffrey Rush

St KildaFilm Festival

■ The St Kilda Film Festivalis now calling for entries to itscoveted film competitions for2014 including Australia’s Top100 Shotr Film Competi-tion, the SoundKILDA Mu-sic Video Competition andthe Under The Radar FilmCompetition for filmmakersunder 21.

Celebrating its 31st anniver-sary in 2014, the St Kilda FilmFestival, is produced by the Cityof Port Phillip, and has aprize pool that totals $40,000worth of cash and prizes.

Tony leadsart project

Debra Byrne:Born To Perform

●●●●● Attacca Quartet - comprising Amy Schroeder, KeikoTokunaga, Luke Fleming and Andrew Yee - are per-forming as part of the Melbourne Festival. JulieHoughton has details in the Observer Showbiz sec-tion on Page 107.

At Melbourne Festival

●●●●● Philip Brady, of 3AW’s Nightline and RememberWhen programs, is at a Melbourne rehabilitation cen-tre, learning how to walk after his hip surgery in HongKong. Philip broke his hip after a fall down a flight ofstairs at a Hong Kong hotel. He hopes to soon returnto nightly broadacsting on 3AW. John Blackman hasbeen the stand-in co-host while Philip made his wayback to Australia.

Philip enters rehab.

PHOTO: FACEBOOK

■ The National Gallery ofVictoria will openMelbourne Now, the largestand most ambitious exhibitionin its history.

The NGV has revealed thelist of more than300 artists,architects, designers and cre-ative practitioners who areparticipating in this landmarkexhibition.

Tony Ellwood, Director,NGV said: “Melbourne hasa dynamic creative identity,and through several keythemes such as the poetics ofplace, history and memory,independent production, playand participation, visitors toMelbourne Now can explorethe complexity of the city’screativity in a major exhibi-tion over the summer months.

“The NGV is fully fo-cused behind-the-scenes aswe work to transform exhibi-tion spaces, produce a suiteof five publications and pre-pare for this landmark con-temporary art exhibition.

“We look forward to wel-coming everyone to this freeexhibition in November,” saidMr Ellwood.

Melbourne Now willpresent major new commis-sions and a range of newworks by leading emergingand established artists.

Visual arts projects en-compass the fullest range ofcontemporary art disciplinesand practices, from painting,sculpture, drawing, ceramicsand contemporary jewellery,to photography, video, sound,performance, installation andonline projects.

In addition to the involve-ment of more than 20 NGVcurators, Melbourne Now in-volves more than 10 guestcurators who have contrib-uted to specific areas such asarchitecture, design, danceand sound programming, aswell as artists who have beeninvited to respond to theNGV Collection, or to de-velop dedicated ‘exhibitionswithin the exhibition’.

An architecturally de-signed space has been cre-ated by the architectural firmMcBride Charles Ryan.This highly participatoryspace will serve as a work-shop, stage, platform and cat-walk, hosting a rotating pro-gram of more than 600 eventsthroughout Melbourne Now.

In the spirit of ‘communityhalls’ across this city, theNGV is calling all passion-ate enthusiasts, collectors,students and hobbyists ofMelbourne to get involvedwith its Community Hall.

Donors include theDewhurst Family, RobinCampbell and BruceParncutt. It runs rom No-vember 22- March 23.

●●●●● Tony Ellwood

■ Actor Geoffrey Rush willbe signing copies of the cata-logue accompanying the exhibi-tion The Extraordinary Shapesof Geoffrey Rush at Arts Cen-tre Melbourne at 2pm, Sun-day, October 20.

Curated and developed byArts Centre Melbourne withthe assistance of GeoffreyRush, the exhibition has al-ready had more than130,000visitors and, as a result of itspopularity, will be extended anextra week to close November3.

Featuring costumes, photo-graphs, moving image and per-sonal items, the exhibition high-lights roles created by Rush inplays including Exit The King,The Diary Of A Madman andThe Importance Of Being Ear-nest, and in films such as Shine,Quills, Pirates Of The Carib-bean and The King’s Speech.

Loud Shirts■ Taralye is calling on peopleto wear loud and proud outfitsfor Loud Shirt Day, (FridayOctober 18) to help raise fundsfor children who are deaf tolearn how to listen and speak.

Loud Shirt Day is a na-tional fundraising initiative co-ordinated by Taralye and FirstVoice, open to participants of allages.

Thousands of Loud ShirtDay participants will swap theireveryday wearfor their brightestpossible outfits and holdfundraising events.

●●●●● Robbie Mulholland and James Rooney were atthe opening night of Guys And Dolls at National The-atre, St Kilda, which continues until Sat., Oct. 19.

www.cloc.org,auPhotos: Denise Damianos. More pix on Page 12

●●●●● Tim Scott with Peter Smitheram

●●●●● The National Playwright Competition Judges' AwardWinner The Devil You Know, featured Josie Parelli (JulieWilson) and Josh Walter (Craig Wilson) as a warringcouple on their way to work on the 8.20am to SouthernCross. More details (at right) on Page 7.

Just a sec!

■ Entertainer Debra Byrne,is opening a new performancearts school at Coburg in Janu-ary.

The ballet classes will belead by Sarah Kate Landy.Sarah will be teaching theRAD curriculum.

Debra will have a limitedenumber of private classes avail-able.

The school will specialise indrama and singing. Phone 0434271 380 for enrolment enquiries.

●●●●● Debra Byrne

●●●●● Geoffrey Rush

‘THE DEVIL YOU KNOW’WINS PLAYS COMPETITION

Latest NewsFlashes Around Victoria

ObserverMelbourne

In This 120-Page Edition

City Desk: Reece sings at Epping ................. Page 3Mark Richardson: Straight from the heart .... Page 4Ash: Philip Brady back on his feet ............... Page 6Di Rolle: I love my job! ................................ Page 8News: Obscene and outrageous .................. Page 9Long Shots: Que Sera Sera ....................... Page 10Melb. Confidential: 3AW gambles audience . Page 11In The Picture” Guys And Dolls first night .... Page 12Yvonne: Regrets, I’ve had a few .................. Page 13Melb. Extra: Nick Le Souef, Kevin Trask ..... Page 14

Features: Horses (P19), Hunting (P116)

It’s All About You!

Radio merger mooted■ A merger between Fairfax Radio, opera-tors of 3AW and Magic 1278, with the Sydney-based Macquarie Radio Network has beenmooted by The Australian newspaper.

Thug bashed AFL star■ Josaia Cabealawa drank a bottle of whiskybefore launching a vicious, unprovoked attackon West Coast Eagles star Will Schofield inGeelong's CBD, a court has heard. MagistratePeter Mellas convicted Cabealawa andplaced him on a 12-month community correc-tions order with 100 hours unpaid communitywork, reports the Geelong Advertiser.

Drug bust at Heyfield■ A Heyfield man has been charged with drugtrafficking after Police executed a search war-rant. Police allege the 22-year-old had a quan-tity of ice. He has been bailed to appear at SaleMagistrates Court on November 2.

‘Driver blows .183’■ A South Australian man will have to re-turn to Horsham to face the city's magistrateafter police allege he drove drunk fromAdelaide, reports the Wimmera Mail-Times.

Weather Forecast■ Today (Wed.). Partly cloudy. 15°-27°.■ Thurs. Chance of rain. 8°-22°.■ Fri. Mostly cloudy. 9°-19°.■ Sat. Chance of rain. 6°-20°.■ Sun. Chance of rain. 2°-12°.

Top 10, Movies, DVDsLocal Theatre

Neighbours plotlinesMega Crossword

ObserverMelbourne

Showbiz News

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, October 9, 2013 -

ObserverShowbizObserverShowbiz

■ The National Playwright Compe-tition is one of the few competitionsaround Australia that gives playwrightsa chance to have their words produced andperformed.

For 14 years a dedicated team of vol-unteers including directors, actors, back-stage and front of house crews have madepossible a diverse and creative one act playseason that celebrates the writer.

John Tilbrook, a multi-award win-ner in this competition, has written anengaging drama, Point Of Departure, thatexplores love, death and ageism througha chance meeting at a bus stop.

Director Sue Lindsay expertlyhandles the switch from humour to pathosin this play about the generation gap.

Denise Kuchmar, in particular,brought charm as Caroline in this pro-duction and was the audience’s choice asBest Female Actor.

Fred Barker was voted Best MaleActor for his performance as Xavier.

Neil Anderson, another multi-awardwinner, also followed the theme of loveand pain in The Devil You Know.

Director Sonia Zabala fleshed out thisstory of a warring couple in the midst of amarital mid-life crisis played out in frontof their would-be lovers on a train.

Blackout transitions are always a prob-lem in a short play – audiences tend tothink the play has finished only to find thatit continues.

●●●●● Radio Eastern personality Brian Amos is in hospital after a garden fall

Brian Amos in hospital

■ Radio Eastern 98.1 FM listeners will bemissing presenter Brian Amos's popular pro-grams as he recovers from an accident in hisgarden.

Brian was rushed to the Maroondah Hos-pital where a large gash just above his left eyerequired emergency treatment of 14 staplesand four stitches.

After hospitalisation for 26 hours, Brianwas then transferred to the Knox Hospital.

Brian has doctors' orders to take it easy forat least a month before returning to the air-waves.

Lots of get well wishes are sent to Brianfor a speedy recovery.

- Cheryl Threadgold

Mike McColl Jones

Top 5THE TOP 5 APPS

THEY MAY NOT

HAVE THOUGHT

OF YET

5. Make someone laugh - Happy Appy.4. Understanding Tokyo - Jappy Appy.

3. Understanding someone who's in a bad mood -Snappy Appy.

2. How to put on some Huggies - Nappy Appy.1. Clean the nappy - Crappy Nappy Appy.

■ Fab Nobs Musical The-atre presents It's A Bird ... It'sA Plane ... It's Superman fromOctober 11 - 26 at the Fab Fac-tory, 33 Industry Place,Bayswater.

Directed by KarlMcNamara, with musical di-rection by Danny Forward,It's aA Bird ... It's A Plane ...It's Superman is a tongue-in-cheek musical that highlightsSuperman's efforts to defeatProfessor Sedgwick, a madscientist who seeks to destroySuperman and all he stands for.

There is also tension be-tween Superman and Max, acolumnist for the Daily Planet,who also has eyes for LoisLane.

This show boasts catchyBroadway tunes by the writ-ers of Annie and Bye Bye Birdie,and brings to life the quirkycomic book world of Super-man.

Performance Season: Oc-tober 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 24,25, 26 at 8pm and October 20 at5pm.

Venue: Fab Factory, 33 In-dustry Place, Bayswater.

Bookings: 0401 018 846 orwww.fabnobstheatre.com.au

- Cheryl Threadgold

●●●●● Maddie Magetti, Rachel Conway and Gemma Fos-ter in It's A Bird ... It's A Plane ... It's Superman, open-ing on October 11 in Bayswater. Photo: Karl McNamara

IT’S A BIRD, IT’S APLANE, IT’S SUPERMAN

National Playwright Competition– One Act Play Open Award

ResultsJudges’ Awards (for writing):

1st The Devil You Know by NeilAnderson; 2nd Cat Fish Jump-ing by Greg Roberts; 3rd Point OfDeparture by John Tilbrook

People’s Choice Awards fromvotes during the performanceseason:

Best Written Play: Cat FishJumping (by Greg Roberts)

Best Performed Play: Cat FishJumping. Cast: Audrey Farthing,Kevin Powe, Tony Condon, LauraBrough and Harrison Friend

Best Female Actor: DeniseKuchmar in Point Of Departure

Best Male Actor: Fred Barkerin Point Of Departure

●●●●● Turn To Page 101

By KATHRYN KEEBLE

GREAT MEMORIES OF HILTON

- Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, October 9, 2013

DiTo

For with leading Melbournepublicist DI ROLLE

Neil Oliver – His-tory In The Making isin Melbourne onWednesday, November27 at 8pm. The Ple-nary, MelbourneConvention and Ex-hibition Centre.

Bookings: www.ticketmaster.com.au or136 100.

★Speaking of

Olivers, I was mostinterested to hear thatUK chef JamieOliver is going to be-come the face ofWoolworths.

It was just an-nounced, following theColes news that theother UK chef HestonBlumenthal was go-ing to be the face oftheir store.

His Hidden Or-ange ChristmasPudding is to die for;it’s on the shelves nowat Coles.

Jamie Oliver willtaking on a strong cam-paign to stop eggs fromcaged chickens beingsold in Woolworths.It’s all good!

Favourites■ Katie andMarielle Labequeare Madonna’sfavourite pianists.

They are sisters,and they are two of themost charismatic, ver-satile and inquisitivemusicians working to-day.

In a string of hitrecords and interna-tional engagements,they’ve collaboratedwith a who’s who offamous composers,conductors and orches-tras playing music fromthe Baroque to the21st century.

Their performancesare displays of perfectunity, of course, but thesisters have very dif-ferent personalities; theextroverted Katia of-ten plays the showiertreble part, while thegrounded Marielle of-

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au

●●●●● Carmen Fraser King

■ Changes, so many changes, USA is in lockdown,our PM has changed, Buddy is leaving Hawthorn,and Daisy Thomas is leaving Collingwood.Things just won’t be the same.

I can’t imagine in anything except brown-and-gold, Daisy in black- and-white, America not hav-ing money.

Change is the only constant we have. One of myfavourite quotes on my desk is by Barack Obama– it reads “Change will not come if we wait for someother person or some other time. We are the oneswe’ve been waiting for. We are the change that weseek.”

I really got to see that when I lost both my par-ents last year and felt utterly alone. Even thoughthey were still with me in spirit I really got that thisis it. This is going to change my life and it has. Re-markably.

It was proved to me when I holidayed in Baliand everything fell into place. Change is inevitableand sometimes it doesn’t look like we had imaginedor indeed dreamed.

However I have always found that change is forthe better. No matter what it is. Someone will re-place Buddy, someone will replace Daisy andmoney will come back to the Americans ... or itwon’t.

And of course Confucius has the last say onChange: “only the wisest and stupidest of men neverchange”.

I love my job!I love my job!

●●●●● Kevan Johnson and Jill Perryman atthe lifetime achievement awards heldat Her Majesty’s Theatre on Mondaynight. See P108. Photo: Kevin Trask

■ One of the things I desperately needed tochange in my life was my website!

I am so busy I have just let it go and I haveheaps to talk about and mention on my site, soI sent out the call to the wonderful CarmenFraser King,

I wrote about Carmen a couple of years agowhen she was pursuing her singing career.

She has taken on a sea-change and is nowcreating websites. Very savvy in the socialmedia department, Carmen is the grand-daughter of another social media fan,Malcolm Fraser, our former PM.

I figured with such a great pedigree Icouldn’t go wrong in her hands. Her grandfa-ther loves to Twitter daily, so she began and Iam so thrilled with it.

So born of a true blue blood, my website isstarting to look like a real grown up person’swebsite. Thank you Carmen.

Called The Website Store- www.thewebsitestore.net - I highly recommendit.

What I really liked about The WebsiteStore is that Carmen was able to create forme a cost effective, visually beautiful websitethat communicates my business message, witha focus on social media integration to supportmy marketing strategy.

Integration of social media makes my lifeeasier, a cost effective website which meansI’ll get a great return on my investment

Online presence that attracts more notice,bringing more clients and generating moresales.

I was happy to discover to that I can havean easy e-commerce option for wanting to sellonline, will come in handy when I finish mybook.

Amazing customer service and Carmenworks with me until I am 100 per cent satis-fied with my website

Very exciting and very much working intothe future … do visit Carmen.

I am thrilled with the result.

Carmen casts her net

■ Change! I was quitesaddened - even thoughI know that change isthe only constant - tohear that the HiltonHotel in Melbournewas involved in a clo-sure proposal.

One of the originalluxury hotels, theHilton On The Parkholds the most wonder-ful memories for me.

I met a man whowas going to be my fu-ture husband there.

And when workingon Channel 9’s DonLane Show I attendedmany drinks parties andprivate parties withmany stars too numer-ous to mention.

I also held somegreat PR events there,one being a luncheonfor the movie 10, star-ring Bo Derek and thewonderful funny, hand-some and irresistibleDudley Moore.

He was stunningand wooed the Mel-bourne female mem-ber of the media whoattended the women-only luncheon for thelaunch of the movie.

I was at Roadshowat the time and workedwith Advertising Man-ager at the time, AlanFinney. It really wasa wonderful PR event.

Bo Derek wasthere. It was her birth-day and she snuck intoa side room to have asmall portion of a birth-day cake so her beauti-ful husband at the time,actor John Derek(who was so handsomeyou couldn’t look at)didn’t see. He watchedevery morsel of foodshe put into her mouth.

I am sad to see TheHilton may be goinginto a new incarnation.

The times spentthere were wonderfuland a major part of mylife. So to the Hiltonon the Park and toDudley Moore Idedicate my columnthis week. I looked dif-ferent then too!Change is inevitable. Iembrace change andall that comes with it.

●●●●● Flashback: Dudley Moore and Di Rolleat the Hilton Hotel Melbourne

■ Warm weather iscoming and so morepeople will come andentertain us in Mel-bourne.

The English per-formers love cominghere in the summermonths.

The weather attractsentertainers, comedi-ans and historians andarchaeologists and pre-senters of BBC TVseries.

I speak of NeilOliver who is beingbought out here by Lat-eral Events and BBCWorldwide Austra-lia & New Zealand(ANZ).

Neil is historian, ar-chaeologist and pre-senter of acclaimedBBC TV series suchas Coast which Iwatched avidly. Ithought it was brilliant.

Vikings and A His-tory of Ancient Britainwas another brilliantseries.

He is coming to theAustralian stage for afascinating live show,Neil Oliver – History InThe Making

It will coincide thebroadcast of Oliver’snew series Coast Aus-tralia on Foxtel in De-cember.

In History In TheMaking, Neil will

Neil’s here bring British and Aus-tralian history to life.

Shedding light intothe turbulent DarkAges when KingArthur was rumouredto have held court andthe Saxons and Vi-kings invaded, Neilwill give a unique in-sight this intriguing andtransformative era inBritain.

People really lovethis stuff. Neil willalso discuss his newseries, Coast Austra-lia, in which he hasgathered stories, amaz-ing facts and revela-tions aboutAustralia’s own his-tory, people, archaeol-ogy, geography andmarine life. Nowyou’re talking!.

Neil is one of theUK’s most compellingTV presenters, pop-ularising history pro-gramming with storiesof heroic figures andeveryday lives from thepast.

The UK series ex-plores the natural andsocial history of theBritish coastline. theseries was very com-pelling and is now in itseight season,

Oliver has recentlycompleted Coast Aus-tralia for The HistoryChannel. The seriesstarts Monday Decem-ber 2 at 7.30pm. I look-ing forward to it.

fers vital support in anideal partnership. TheLabeques caught themusic world’s attentionwith their recording ofGershwin’s Rhap-sody In Blue, and it’sthe jazz-inflected mu-sic of the next genera-tion which forms thecentrepiece of this re-cital.

Leonard Bern-stein’s unforgettableWest Side Story gets theLabeque touch in anextended suite ofdances and songs fromthe musical completewith fierce Latin per-cussion.

Bernstein’s soar-ing melodies and red-hot rhythms make WestSide Story one of themost beloved works of20th-century theatre,and was arranged bythe musical’s originalorchestrator IrwinKostal into a dazzlingvirtuoso vehicle espe-cially for theLabeques.

In the first half of theprogram ClaudeDebussy’s hauntingpiano duo is musicetched in black andwhite.

Composed in themidst of the FirstWorld War, en blanc

et noir is Debussy athis most abstract andincisive. There’s noimpressionistic misthere.

Instead, Debussywas inspired by thechiaroscuro of Hoyaand Velazquez, thoughrelieved by bursts oftenderness and humour.

Debussy’s col-league MauriceRavel paints a verydifferent picture ofSpain-sundrenchedand sensuous.

In his Rapsodieespagnole the pianoduet version was asketch along the way tothe more familiar or-chestral fantasy, but theLabeques easilymatch an orchestra forcolour and sheer bril-liance.

This will be superb.And this is what I dofor work!

This superb concertwill be held at theElisabeth MurdochHall on Saturday, Oc-tober 19 at 7.30pm.

Tickets from$50.00. Presented byMelbourne RecitalCentre in associationwith Melbourne Fes-tival. Bookings phone9699 3333 ormelbournerecital.com.au

●●●●● BuddyFranklin

●●●●● DaisyThomas

OBSCENE AND OUTRAGEOUSObserver

Melbourne

Showbiz Newswww.MelbourneObserver.com.au

Briefs

Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, October 9, 2013 -

●●●●● Stacey AlleaumePhoto: Leesa Needham

■ Noble Park soprano Stacey Alleaume is on topof the world as the winner of the 2013 Herald SunAria at Hamer Hall last week.

While there is plenty of honour and glory with thistitle, it also comes with a cash prize of $12,500 and a$22,500 scholarship for overseas tuition.

Stacey, 27, won the coveted title on her third at-tempt, although she has been runner up on a previousoccasion.

She wowed the judges with aria from Bellini's ICapuleti e I Montecchi and Micaela's aria fromBizet's Carmen.

Stacey leaves Melbourne soon to take up a con-tract in Opera Australia's professional chorus inSydney.

Runner-up was 28-year-old tenor Sam Sakkerfrom Yarraville, who impressed the judges and theaudience with arias from Massenet's Werther andPuccini's Tosca.

Sam takes home $6000 cash and a $8000 scholar-ship for Australian or overseas tuition.

Winner of the encouragement award was 25-year-old baritone Nathan Lay of Southbank, who re-ceived $2500 for Australian tuition. Nathan is alsothe recent winner of the 2013 RMP Aria.

The remaining finalists, soprano StephanieGibson, mezzo-soprano Jade Moffat and tenorNicholas Jones, each received prizes of $1250.

All the singers sang their hearts out, making it afine evening with wonderful performances from allsingers to an enthusiastic large Hamer Hall audi-ence. - Julie Houghton

Stacey wins Aria

Melbourne Observationswith Matt Bissett-Johnson

THE BARREL‘Never pick a

fight with a manwho buys inkby the barreland paper by

the ton.’

Life achievement award

●●●●● Four leading ladies of J C Williamsons:from left, Joan Brockenshire (Sugar Babies),Suzanne Steele (Man Of La Mancha), NancyeHayes (Sweet Charity) and Jill Perryman(Funny Girl)

●●●●● Roger Corbett

■ The 45 Fairfax jour-nalists who have just beensacked will be comfortedthat CEO Greg Hy-wood’s salary has lev-elled at $1.61 million($30,961 every week).

Fairfax ChairmanRoger Corbett’s payhas slipped to $414,745($7975 every week). Thecompany has lost $3 bil-lion in three years.

Pay slips for F’fax bosses

■ As part of Theatre Works’ Selected Works 2013,Sisters Grimm present Summertime In The GardenOf Eden, from November 7-16 at Theatre Works, StKilda.

Written by Melbourne’s cult queer theatre-makersSisters Grimm, this southern gothic romance is ‘fullof laughs, smarts and dizzied-up gender-play … obsceneand outrageous, it smashes past political correctness andmakes excuses for nothing.’

Previously put up for only the bravest audiences in ashed complete with live chickens and a beer fridge inThornbury, Summertime In The Garden of Eden soldout its premiere season and garnered critical acclaim.

This time, Theatre Works welcomes SistersGrimm to their Selected Works season before companymembers lift their hoop skirts and head off to Sydney.

Set in Georgia, 1861, against the backdrop of theAmerican Civil War, Summertime In The Garden OfEden is the story of a faded Southern belle who returnsto the family plantation after 10 years away.

In the spirit of Gone With the Wind and Jezebel, com-bined with the histrionic theatre of Tennessee Williams,Sisters Grimm creates a familiar, sepia-stained worldof cotton-fields, iced-tea on the lanai, and deep, dark fam-ily secrets.

This production stars Melbourne scene-queensAgent Cleave and Olympia Bukkakis (as feudingdebutantes), alongside Peter Paltos, GenevieveGiuffre and Bessie Holland as ‘Big Daddy’.

Formed in 2006 by Ash Flanders and DeclanGreene, Sisters Grimm company members have spenttheir time on Melbourne’s theatre scene making the-atre that as ‘cheap, accessible, and extremely faggy’,with shows appearing at the Adelaide Fringe,Edinburgh Fringe, Falls Festival, shop fronts, ga-rages, basements, lounge rooms, galleries, gay bars, plussold out seasons at Sydney Theatre Company andMelbourne Theatre Company, and later this year,Griffin Theatre.

Previews: November 7, 8Season: November 9 - 16Times: 8pm daily, plus 5pm 10 Nov, 10.30pm 15 Nov

(see website for details)Bookings: www.theatreworks.org.au or 9534 3388Tickets: $28 full / $20 conc, under 30s / groups of 8+

/ previewVenue: Theatre Works, 14 Acland St, St KildaDuration: 70 minsWarnings: Adult themes, smoke machines, recom-

mended for 16 years and over- Cheryl Threadgold

●●●●● Agent Cleave in Summertime In The GardenOf Eden. Photo: Marg Howell

■ The presentation by Equity of lifetime achieve-ment awards to Jill Perryman and husband KevanJohnston at Her Majesty’s Theatre has broughtback memories for theatre people.

Jill and Kevan first met during 1953 in a produc-tion of Call Me Madam, also at Her Majesty'sTheatre. Their partnership has endured 60 years.

The photo (above) shows four leading ladies ofthe J C Williamson era: Jill Perryman, NancyeHayes, Suzanne Steele and Joan Brockenshire.

Actor Tommy Dysart, Joan’s partner, says thephoto was taken at a private party

Jazz Archive

fundraiser■ The Victorian Jazz Archive ispresenting a fundraiser from1.30pm-4.30pm on Sunday,October 27 at the Clayton RSL,155-163 Carinish Rd, Clayton.

The function features TheGroovin’ Easy Orchestra andMichele Forbes.

Archive Marketing ManagerMavis Pickering says admissionis $20. Meals are available fourpurchase from 12.30pm.

Proceeds will be used by theVJA for its special projects.

The Archive is based atKoomba Park, 15 Mountain Hwy,Wantirna.

●●●●● Kevin Trask, Bev Purcell and PresidentBetty McCabe at Heidelberg Ladies ProbusClub.■ You never quite know when you are going tocome across THAT man, Kevin Trask. Kevinis heard on 3AW, 96.5 Inner FM and interstateradio stations. He is seen every week in theMelbourne Observer. He is a theatre producer andpromoter, and recently been accompanying hiscousin, Diana Trask, to her Victorian concerts.Observer subscriber Bev Purcell she enjoyed histalk at the Heidelberg Ladies Probus Club ...where she purchased Kevin’s book, WhateverHappened To Diana Trask.

That man Kevin Trask

Chopper

■ Air to ground direc-tions resulted in arrestsof four people after alaser light was directedat the Police helicopteron Saturday night inCoburg.

Air Wing crew in-tercepted a blue fordsedan in Lindsey St,Coburg with the menon board.

Three men, all agedin their late teens, areexpected to be chargedwith conduct endanger-ing life, interfere withaircraft and possessprohibited weapon.

Do youmind, ump?

■ Ovens andMurray FootballLeague umpires arefurious their grand finalpay-packets were cutfrom $295 to $215.Minimum rate is $182,but often there is a pre-mium for a final, re-ports the Border Mail.

Footy trip■ Two men have beencharged with criminaldamage after allegedlycausing more than$20,000 damage to aBallarat backpackershostel on Friday night.They are believed tohave been on a footytrip in Ballarat withtheir club fromTintinara, reports TheCourier.

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Contents of Court Lists are intended for information purposes only. The lists are extracted fromCourt Lists, as supplied to the public, by the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria, often one week prior topublication date; for current Court lists, please contact the Court. Further details of cases areavailable at www.magistratescourt.vic.gov.au The Melbourne Observer shall in no event acceptany liability for loss or damage suffered by any person or body due to information provided. Theinformation is provided on the basis that persons accessing it undertake responsibility for assess-ing the relevance and accuracy of its content. No inference of a party’s guilt or innocence shouldbe made by publication of their name as a defendant. Court schedules may be changed at anytime for any reason, including withdrawal of the action by the Plaintiff/Applicant. E&OE.

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT COURT REPORTS

Thought For The Week■ “Don’t pray for rain if you are going to complain aboutthe mud.” - The Buloke Times

Observer Curmudgeon■ “An antique is something people forget to throw awayuntil it is valuable.”

Text For The Week■ “Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Cae-sar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the thingsthat are God's.”

- Matthew 22:21

ObserverTreasury

ObserverMelbourne

Ash On Wednesday

Long Shots

with Ash Long, Editor

[email protected]

“For the cause that lacks assistance,‘Gainst the wrongs that need resistance

For the future in the distance,And the good that we can do”

SHAKIN’ ALL OVER■ Melbourne musicwriter Ed Nimmervollwill next month launch hisbook on one of Aus-tralia’s most popular en-tertainers, The NormieRowe Story.

From dizzying highs todeep lows, Normie hasovercome break-ups,breakdowns and unex-pected blows.

At one time, he wasAustralia’s biggest musicaltalent. In 1965, his songsQue Sera Sera and Shakin’All Over were number onehits around the country

He produced a string oftop 10 hits until, in 1968, hislife was suddenly turned onits head – he was draftedinto the army and shippedout to Vietnam.

When he returned fromthe war, his pop career wasvirtually over, JohnFarnham and others hav-ing taken his place.

Battle left him withPost-Traumatic StressDisorder, which re-mained undiagnosed foryears and was exacerbatedby the end of his marriageand the tragic loss of hiseight-year-old son.

Ed Nimmervoll is aformer Editor of Go-Setand Juke. He has co-authored with BrianCadd and Renee Geyer.The book will be priced at$29.95.

Going tothe dogs

●●●●● Normie Rowe

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Local Media Pty Ltd, ABN 67 096 680 063, of theregistered office, 30 Glen Gully Road, Eltham,

Distributed by All Day Distribution.Responsibility for election and referendum comment is

accepted by the Editor, Ash Long.Copyright © 2013, Local Media Pty Ltd

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The Melbourne Observer is printed by Streamline Press,

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Local Media Pty Ltd, ABN 67 096 680 063, of the regis-

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MelbourneTV Memorieswith Kenneth Mulholland

■ The Happy Show was a happy place to be. It wentto air in Studio 1 at Dorcas St in the beginning ofthe 1960s.

Harry (Happy) Hammond was the lively, fin-ger-snipping host, dressed in the tartan jacket and hat,

Hap was at times almost manic. Sometime in hispast Hap had lost a part of one finger down to thefirst knuckle, and at private moments of impishnesswould shove the stump up a nostril, making it looklike most of his finger was in there. But he was greatwith kids who genuinely seemed to love him.

“Why does a bee fly around with its legs crossed?'asked one giggling five-year-old girl. “I don't knowdarling, why?””Because it's looking for a BP station!'(British Petroleum)

OK, in 2013 that is just a playground joke, but inthe early 1960s when we were coming to grips withmodern times, to hear a little peeing joke coming froma tiny child still had parents and Happy, laughing itaway with just a hint of embarrassment.

But on with the show!There is a story, and it most likely is just a story, thatone afternoon two of the staging crew for The HappyShow decided that they wanted a few beers at thelocal, so they bet the third, 'novice' crew member afew 'bob' that he couldn't put the 'Western Set' up onhis own. He took the bet.

They left him with The Set Floor-Plan Book, show-ing where all the 'flats' should be placed on the studiofloor, and where any props - tables, hitching posts,hay bales etc - were to be set.

All went well. When the wayward drinkers re-turned for the show everything was done and in place.Opening theme: 'Happy Days are here again...'.Happy Hammond burst through the saloon-bardoors, and the set began to collapse, flat after flatuntil the entire set was horizontal.

The pine braces nailed to the back of the flats en-abled them to stand upright, especially when sand-bags weighted them. Without those sand-bags theentire set was unstable. Truth? Or myth?

Another story. When I and my fellow stage handsused to strike The Happy Show, including the pianoand organ, the seats had lift-up lids.

The weapon of choice for 'musos' was the flask,be it brandy, rum or whisky. These flat bottles werecommonly found in all kinds of places (and you mightbe astounded to know that they were always empty).They were found from musician's stools to toiletcubicle,s from South Melbourne to Fitzroy.

Ah yes, such was the world then.Happy, Princess Panda, Robbie Bob, Big

John, Cousin Roy and Lovely Anne. Parer TheMagician with Frosty the Rabbit, Sylvester theTalking Sock with his darner Ian Williams,Charlie the Talking Camera and Uncle Tony.

And last, but not so very least, Vic 'Funnyface'Gordon. These were the cast members, and peoplesuch as Ron Barassi, in full footy gear, had seg-ments of their own. I have a feeling that Olivia New-ton-John might have replaced Lovely Anne whenshe and Brendon married and were away on theirhoneymoon.

On staging, we used to get the sets ready for eachtheme day. I can't recall now what they all were. Therewas a Cowboy Western Day, a Circus Day and pos-sibly a King Arthur kind of day.

What I do recall were the rostrums for the chil-dren to sit on. These were collapsible, tiered seatingconstructed of pine and plywood, with padded seatsof covered rubber.

When we 'struck a set’ (that is, pulled it down andtook all the bits and pieces of it away to the scenerybay) the crew was usually three.

Turn To Page 13

The Happy Show

●●●●● Vic ‘Funny Face’ Gordon, ‘Princess’ Panda(Lisner) and Happy (Harry) Hammond

●●●●● Kyle Galley■ We welcome KyleGalley to the Racing De-partment of the MelbourneObserver.

Kyle will present aweekly column on grey-hound racing in Victoria.

He joins our sports teamheaded by Ted Ryan (thor-oughbreds), Len Baker(harness racing) andHarry Beitzel (football).

Short Shots■ Only 10 more Observ-ers until Christmas.■ A bust of Julia Gill-ard is expected to be un-veiled soon in Ballarat.■ A top job soon to be va-cant?

ConfidentialMelbourne

BitchMelbourne’s Secrets

Whispers

Rumour Mill

Hear It Here First

3AW GAMBLES ITS AUDIENCEWITH SUMMER CRICKET MOVE

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, October 9, 2013 -

E-Mail: [email protected]

Talk is cheap, gossip is priceless

■ Day-long broadcasts of cricketmatches are a double-edged sword forAustralian radio stations.

Cricket fans love it. Day-after-daycommentary about every ball, everyover, every innings.

But for those who do not enjoy theirregular radio listening replaced bycricket match commentaries, it is anopportunity to change radio stations.

Melbourne radio station 3AWand its Sydney sister station 2UEhave won rights to broadcast cricketmatches this summer.

“The coverage will carve into theregular and highly successful pro-graming horrendously,” said oneformer 3AW personality at a radioindustry page on Facebook.

“Updates are one thing, but con-stant commentary may be a differentthing. It could cause some people to‘unrust’ their dial,” said another ra-dio industry insider.

Radio industry website, RadioInfo.com.au, reports: “2UE, 3AWand other commercial stations in theFairfax Media network are ex-pected to begin live cricket commen-tary this summer, breaking the ABC’straditional stranglehold on the game.

“The ABC will still continue its

Winner

Matt, Jo to sign off

●●●●● Matt Tilley and Jo Stanley

‘Never been better’

Rob gone■ The respctedname of RobertBradley has disap-peared from thecredits at the NorthCentral Review. Hewas manager at theKilmore-basednewspaper, ownedby Walter Mottand Bob Yeates, fornine years.

■ 3AW ContentDirector NicoleDenton has wonthe Young Leadergong in the Fair-fax Women of In-fluence Award.

Ice pick

Sign of the times

test coverage, but is likely to lose itsrights to a range of domesticmatches.

“Triple M is also expected to se-cure rights to the Twenty20 BigBash League.

“Cricket is known to polarise au-diences. While many cricket loversrush to the ABC to hear the summercricket calls, other more traditionalABC talk format listeners desert thestation during that time. Unlike foot-ball coverage, which is quick, the longcoverage hours of cricket do not al-ways deliver good ratings,”RadioInfo reported.

Cricket Australia will nowkeep the digital market to itself, af-ter partnering with Nine in a digitalrights alliance that will have televisedgames streamed live on smartphone,tablets and the Cricket Australiawebsite.

Extended timefor embryos

■ A woman has receivedpermission for 10 embryosto be stored until 2018.

The woman, no longerwith her partner, enteredIVF after she contractedbreast cancer.

The man has not re-sponded to requests forpermission to use the em-bryos.

VCAT, headed by Pres-ident, Justice Greg Garde,set aside a decision by thePatient Review Panel.

The woman, 46, a pri-mary school teacher, waslikely to be a loving andcaring mother, VCAT deter-mined.

The man has elected notto be involved in the legalproceedings.

■ Fox FM breakfast show radio pair Matt Tilleyand Jo Stanley have announced they are quitting af-ter 10 years “to embrace new opportunities”.

“Together, we’ve made this decision because, af-ter a decade, it’s time for new challenges,” Stanleysaid in a press release distributed by the station.

The ratings offer a clue why ‘Matt and Jo’ aresaying farewell to their show. They have lost about aquarter of their audience this year. Spring ratingsfor this and previous years shows a decline in the au-dience numbers:

2013, 7.8. 2012, 10.8. 2011, 10.7. 2010, 10.5.

Guilty: 7 criminal charges■ Toorak businessman Russell AndrewJohnson, the sole director of Sonray Capital Mar-kets Pty Ltd, last Wednesday pleaded guilty in theSupreme Court of Victoria to seven criminalcharges brought by the Australian Securities andInvestments Commission.

Johnson faces a maximum of 10 years’ impris-onment for each of the state offences of false ac-counting, theft and deception and a term of five yearsimprisonment for submitting a false document toASIC.

Johnson, 41, pleaded guilty to:■ three charges of false accounting;■ one charge of submitting a false document toASIC;■ two charges of theft to the value of $742,641; and■ one charge of obtaining a financial advantage bydeception

The charges relate to the use of various Sonrayclient's trading accounts to create numerous unfundeddeposits for which no physical cash was involved.

This was done to either obtain funds for use byhimself or Sonray, or to hedge the trading bookagainst margin calls.

The effect of withdrawing funds from client ac-counts from unfunded deposit entries caused an ac-tual deficiency in the segregated client account funds.

Additionally, Johnson, in a solvency report re-quired by ASIC, made a false statement about eq-uity injections of $5.2m into Sonray.

ASIC Commissioner Greg Tanzer said: "ASICexpects directors to act honestly and with integrity,and always in the interests of the company. We takevery seriously conduct to the contrary, and the chargesthat Mr Johnson has pleaded guilty to reflect that.”

Johnson was granted bail and will appear at theSupreme Court on November 11, for a sentencehearing.

FINANCE LICENCECANCELLED BY ASIC

■ The Australian Securities and InvestmentsCommission has cancelled the Australian finan-cial services licence of Chambers Investment Plan-ners Pty Ltd after it failed to obtain professional in-demnity insurance and entered voluntary administra-tion.

ASIC also cancelled the Australian credit licenceof Chambers after it ceased to engage in credit ac-tivities.

Chambers has the right to appeal to the Admin-istrative Appeals Tribunal for a review of ASIC’sdecisions.

ASIC is also conducting enquiries into the conductof the officers and representatives of Chambers.ASIC will not comment further at this time.

Chambers was licensed to deal in, and provideadvice on, a range of financial products, including lifeinsurance, superannuation, managed funds, securitiesand margin lending.

●●●●● Nicole Denton

■ The quiet countrytown of Alexandrahas a problem withthe drug ‘ice’. Twomen have been ar-rested after a longt-standing Police druginvestigation, ‘Op-eration Downey’.

To Court

■ St John’s Pri-mary School,Frankeston East,has requested a Mel-bourne Magis-trates’ Court hear-ing this morning(Wed.) to allege acivil claim againstSteven Canepa for“services rendered”.

Campaign■ A man hopeful ofleading a Victorianorganisation mayhave to fightrumours of miscon-duct with women.

Farewell■ Is a Mel-bourne radio teamsoon to be invited toannounce their re-tirement citinghealth issues?

Hunt for new Steward■ Harness Racing Victoria is on the hunt for anew Chief Steward. Applications are being taken un-til Friday (Oct. 11).

■ Garry Linnell, theFairfax news exectivewho enjoys use of hisfolded-arms ‘tough guy’image (at right), sent out afirm message that his edi-torial team has never beenbetter ... despite losing 25in number.

“Fairfax is actuallystronger now than at anytime before,” Linnell toldthe Mumbrella website.

“Fairfax has just cre-ated the largest and mostaudience-focused homefor business journalism inthe country.”

By sacking severaldozen people. ●●●●● Garry Linnell

www.MelbourneObserver.com.au - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Melbourne People

Guys And Dolls

CLOC Musical Theatre

National Theatre, St Kilda

Photos: Denise Damianos

●●●●● Ashleigh Watson and Genevieve Hall ●●●●● Courtney Davies, Jon Lee and Briony Davies ●●●●● Ellie Sutherland with Peter Stanbrook

●●●●● Candice Sweetman with Tyler Hess ●●●●● Jaxson Plumley with Joanna Harris ●●●●● Jason Mill with Ashley Tynan

●●●●● Josh Cinoco with Lynette White ●●●●● Kelly Windle with Tim Billington ●●●●● Laura Slavin with Ben Husdon

●●●●● Michael Butler with Jason Mill ●●●●● Nadia Gianinotti and Janette Diab ●●●●● Penn Vale and Shelly Bentleigh

REGRETS: I’VE HAD A FEW, BUT THEN AGAIN TOO FEW TO MENTION


ObserverMelbourne

Life & Style

Yvonne’s Column

with Yvonne Lawrence

[email protected]

■ I was looking through a photo album and halflistening to a talkback radio program at the sametime.

The open line topic was ‘ have you any re-grets?’ so of course I sat down and listened towhat some of the callers were saying.

It got me thinking about any regrets I may have.Real regrets, not just choices I made. I didn’t in-clude in my musing any ‘what ifs?’.

I have to admit that I’ve had a few, and I won-dered if I had chosen a different course, wherewould I be now.

Life has treated me very well.

Please with my lot■ I do regret that I had no family. It would belovely to have children popping in. And sharingChristmas laughter around the tribal feast tablewith loved ones.

It just wasn’t my lot to have children it seemed.Heart break with every miscarriage, and for awhile I envied my friends with their babies.

But I was top of the list when it came to baby-sitting. And I can’t count on both hands the num-ber of Godchildren I have.

I don’t even regret turning down a job offer asPublicity Director from a famous film companyin America.

That doesn’t mean that Peter and I often won-der where we would be now if I’d accepted.

But for a few regrets, I’m pleased with mylot.

Jeff’s team for me■ I’ve met some fantastic people and been tosome exotic places around the world. So, if I’mconfined to barracks for a while with the sameproblem as my old radio mate Philip Brady,who cares? I’m still breathing and enjoying life.

I didn’t think that I would ever reveal this tomy friends because I was never into football andI used to wonder what their passion was all about,but I just loved watching the Grand Final ontelevision.

I’d settled in for the day and my ‘Mr Darcy’prepared some great footy food.

I was barracking for Hawthorn because itwas Jeff Kennett’s team, and he was a man Irespected and admired.

He was a good Premier, and an excellent ra-dio presenter. I was working at 3AW when Jeffcame on air, and I used to watch the switchboardlight up when his program started.

He had listeners waiting on the line to readtheir poems and relate stories about their animals.

How could you not like a man who talked abouthis family, his dog and his garden? When it cameto his watching over Victoria, he was the manwho thought outside the square.

There are some people who will never forgivehim for some of the decisions he was forced tomake when he became Premier of a bankruptState.

But for this man I’d live out my life never hav-ing been to a football match.

Being a good sport■ I’m starting now to think about a team andread as much as I can about the game.

But there was regret on the day; well therewere two actually. Are the words of our NationalAnthem so hard to learn that the footballers be-come mute? Learning the words should be part oftheir training.

And what can we do to ease the pain of thelosing team. I felt so sorry for Fremantle at theafter-match presentation ceremony. The boys whohad played their hearts out sat on the ground in adesolate heap and not a soul went near them tocommiserate.

My ‘chef for a day’, told me that one year thelosers were given a medal, but some just threwthem on the ground and walked away.

When I was playing sport at school, we weretaught not only the rules of the game but also howto be sportsmanlike.

Congrats. Bill Collins■ But there were no regrets however when MikeBrady sang Up there Cazaly, and I might add, Isang along with him with great gusto. I knew ev-ery word so that gave Peter rise to rag me andcall me a closet barracker.

It was certainly my week because Bill

Collins – Mr Movies - was celebrating 50 yearsas a movie buff, a film critic and a presenter offilms both contemporary and classic.

I first met Bill when I rang him to ask if hewould do an interview with me on my film seg-ment. I was nervous, thinking the great man wouldsay no. But he was simply wonderful.

So, in for a penny, in for a pound, I rang himagain a couple of weeks later to ask about a film,and he touched on the one subject I knew about –books.

Bill is a reader, and from that moment I neverfeared phoning him, invariably, we would discussthe book of the film, and then the film.

I’m proud to say that we would phone one an-other when we found a book for which we hadbeen searching. He gave me the phone numberand address of the second hand bookshop in a coun-try town that would find books for him. And Itold him about Rainyday Books.

My personal invitation■ I was surprised to receive an invitation to adinner he was being given in Sydney to celebratehalf a century in films.

It was held in a wonderful old picture theatreand there was to be a surprise guest.

I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. Onmy acceptance I was sent a plane ticket and ac-commodation details.

So of course this meant a big spend up on afrock for the night, after all I was meeting MrMovies in the flesh, not just over the phone.

He was all his publicity said he was. A warm,happy reader of books and a film criticextraordinaire.

We went to dinner, and it was just wonderfulmeeting people I had only read about.

Then came the fanfare to introduce Bill andhis surprise guest.

We were all trying to guess who it might be,because he had so many favourites.

But a gasp went up when a spotlight lit thestage, and a figure appeared, from out of the foldsof the curtains and we knew that the film industryhad flown out for the night one of Bill’s favouritefilm stars.

Legs go on forever■ Cyd Charisse with the longest legs in thebusiness embraced Bill and I’ve never seen any-one so happy.

I should have guessed that it would be CydCharisse because he had mentioned many timesthat she was such a wonderful dancer, and hadlegs that went on forever.

The night then went from great to sensational.Everyone mingled and chatted about films.

And I didn’t think that I would meet Mrs Bill

Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, October 9, 2013 -

Collins and Cyd Charisse all on the one night.I understood why Bill Collins always takes

the trouble to describe some scenes or tell us tolook for a certain action in a film he is presentingbecause he was a teacher, and I remembered thisas I tuned in to watch him present the 1941 filmdrama The Little Foxes. It starred a very youngBette Davis and Herbert Marshall and wasin black-and-white.

I enjoyed the film immensely and more so be-cause he set the scene and explained when to lookout for something special in the film.

Thanks Mr Movies for a great night at themovies. May you go on presenting films and edu-cating the young filmgoers to appreciate cinema.

And let’s still talk about books.

Changes at 3AW■ My last regret was reading in last week’sMelbourne Observer that there may be changesto the 3AW midnight to dawn program with An-drew McLaren and Mark Petrovic.

I would regret this. Not only are Andrew andMark two of the nicest people in a very cut-throatworld, but also they make me laugh.

Why the powers in the upper echelon woulddecide to change the format that has been top ofthe ratings for the past 20 years I will never know.

There is a whole world listening through thewee small hours and every one of them wants toair their opinion on the radio.

So why stop an army of listeners and deprivethem of phoning the station?

If there was nothing wrong, why try to fix it?

Best ever overnights■ There is no denying that Keith McGowanwas the best overnight presenter ever. His rat-ings were enormous and many Overnighters weptwhen he retired.

He’d done the shift for more than 20 years,and he deserved his retirement.

Keith’s interviews were so interesting that sleepwas impossible until they finished. And he put somuch work into the beautiful music that he pre-sented.

Part of Keith’s charm was that he could begrouchy and he could be gentle depending on hismood. But whatever, he kept you entertained ev-ery single second of the night.

Friendships were started on Keith’s program,and if the 3AW Program Manager thinks thatchanging the format once again will increase rat-ings, he shouldn’t hold the position.

Other than that, I have no regrets about myweek.

- YvonneContact: Melbourne Observer

P.O, Box 1278, Research, 3095

ObserverMelbourne

Melbourne TV Memories

If that crew was comprised of my-self, Ray Ackerly and BruceJacobs, Bruce was the fellow whowould say, “I'll do the rostrums if youtwo strike the rest.”

So he would fold down these big,collapsible structures, lift them ontofloor trolleys, around a metre square,flat on the floor, with four wheels ineach corner, and get them out on his own.

Bruce always finished first andwent on his way. At that time weworked on ‘time sheets'.

No time-clocking in and off as Iwould encounter at ATV-O. So thefaster you did the work, the quicker youwalked out of the building.

In my first time working on the stu-dio floors I encountered other recentemployees: apart from John Gilby .There were others: Jack Bell, Bruce

Jacobs, Billy Webb (iead of Stag-ing), Les Young, his 2-i-C. DaveDoogood, Ted Jobbins, Jack Frost,Harold Hansen, Enzo Dobrilla,Graham MacNamara, BobBarnes, Peter De Silva and laterStuart Kinchen, Chris Motten andBob Meillon.

Les Young, staging, the middlebrother between Alex and Robbie(both on lighting at the time), was mypathfinder.

Unlike Billy Webb, 'The AngryAnt,' Les took the time to take measide and give me valuable instruction:

“These fly lines are dangerous. Highup there, cables can get tangled andweights can get jarred loose. Don'tstand amongst the lines. A bloke gotkilled at the Princess when a weightjumped the cradle and fell on him.”

And ... “Big scenery, battened-out

can come apart up there, under stress.Got to be very careful when we drop itin to de-rig. We don't want lumps ofstuff falling down on us.”

Apart from looking after cameracables out at the Teletheatre, my du-ties on staging were usually setting andstriking the sets of The Happy Showthrough the week, as well as Tell TheTruth, hosted by Mike williamson,and on Fridays, after the kids show,setting Swallows Juniors.

I remember one with pain and theother with pleasure.

I had been entrusted to do 'idiotsheets' for the commercial breaks onTell The Truth, which by then was be-ing either put on kine or videotaped.Mike did the commercials as an inte-grated part of the show.

So there I was, feeling very much apart of the grown-up world of tele-

vision, sitting in the lighting consolewith Robbie Young on the studiofloor, smoking cigarettes and having alovely time of it.

And then ... everything went veryquiet, and I came to my senses. Therewas Mike, standing on the set lookingextremely annoyed, even angry.

I grabbed up the bundle of sheets andhurried forward. The whole programhad come to a halt. If it had been 'liveto air' I would probably have beensacked.

Mike's words, now so long ago, arestill branded in my brain: 'Look Son,do you want to work here or not!'

The program resumed, and I stayedby camera two and did what I was be-ing paid for.

Afterward, the cast retired to themen's dressing room for a few conviv-ial drinks. I was alone in Studio 1, pull-

ing down the set, when Athol Charl-wood, the show director came out fromthe corridor that led past the dungeondoor, and to the dressing rooms.

I was almost in tears, so ashamedof my cocksure behavior. I couldn't sayanything.

Athol, a very decent bloke, said tome, “You need to learn a lesson fromthis. Mike's pretty stewed up. Don'tmake the same mistake again.”

Then he added, “Don't make anymistake again. I have to get it right. Andwe have to get it right. We're all ateam. It's important that you under-stand.”

I sniffled a reply of genuine re-morse, wishing that I wasn't me. Whowanted to be me just then?

Behind-the-scenes on ‘The Happy Show’By Kenneth Mulholland

●●●●● From Page 00

●●●●● Turn To Page 14


■ Judith Tuvim was born in New York Cityin 1921 and was the only child of Abe and HelenTuvim.

She grew up in Queens and graduated fromthe Julia Richman High School. In her teensshe was rejected by the Yale Drama Schooland found work as a backstage operator at theOrson Welles Mercury Theatre.

At the age of 17 Judy performed in a profes-sional night club act. When the act broke up in1944 Judy managed to work in several small filmsbefore being cast in a small role in the film WingedVictory under the stage name of Judy Holliday.

The following year she performed in her firstBroadway play at the Belasco Theatre on West44th Street. I actually went backstage at theBelacso Theatre in 1995 to do a radio interview.It is a very old theatre which was built in 1907 - Iloved the atmosphere backstage.

In 1946 Judy opened at the Lyceum The-atre in the play Born Yesterday which was so suc-cessful it ran for 1642 performances.

On the success of the play Judy was cast inthe film Adam's Rib in 1946 where she starredopposite Spencer Tracy and KatharineHepburn.

Judy was nominated for a Golden GlobeAward for Best Supporting Actress for her per-formance in Adam's Rib.

She married Dave Oppenheim in 1948.Judy secured the lead role in the film version

of her stage success Born Yesterday and played

WhateverHappened

To ...Judy

HollidayBy Kevin Trask

of 3AW and 96.5 Inner FM

- Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, October 9, 2013

●●●●● Judy Holliday

She won a Broadway Tony award for herperformance in the stage musical comedy TheBells Are Ringing in 1956 where she played thelead role of a dizzy telephone operator.

Four years later she starred in the big screenversion opposite Dean Martin and it turned outto be her final film role.

The Bells Are Ringing is one of my favouritefilm musicals and Judy was wonderful in everyway. She returned to stage productions in her lateryears but became very ill during a production ofHot Spot in 1963.

Judy Holliday tragically died of breast can-cer in 1965 at the age of 43.

Her marriage to David Oppenheim hadended in divorce in 1958 and in later years herson Jonathan Oppenheim went on to be a docu-mentary film maker.

Judy Holliday was beautiful, a great singerand a fine comedy actress who starred in someclassic films during the 20th Century.

Kevin TraskThe Time Tunnel - with Bruce & Phil-

Sundays at 8.20pm on 3AWThat's Entertainment - 96.5FM

Sundays at 12 Noon96.5FM is streaming on the internet. To

listen, go to www.innerfm.org.au andfollow the prompts.

BIRDS OF A FEATHER■ It's often the case in the bush thatthe slightest excuse can be made forfestivities.

It seems as though there is such asituation in Alice Springs at the mo-ment - the fifth year of the Red Cen-tre Bird Festival.

It will be "bigger and better thanever, packed full of events and activi-ties for the whole family".

The adulation of birds in the Terri-tory is an activity which can be wellappreciated, because there are so manyspecies of every type flying around allover the place.

On my five-acre block I would al-ways be astounded by the variety ofwinged visitors who chose to flutterabout in my shrubs.

From proud majestic wedgies, whooften soared overhead, and occasion-ally dropped down, to minute finchesand wrens, which graced the desert withtheir beautiful plumage.

And the brilliant red-breastedmistletoe bird would often flash aboutin the sunlight.

As did the black cockatoos, whichjust ambled around in the air, with theirbeautiful red tails and wings.

But all of this was for me just anindividual pursuit - now all the birdersare about to indulge in more extrava-gant activities - bird art and craft, facepainting, Wing of Prayer flags, andthe opening of a Bird Art in the Parkexhibition.

And plenty of food stalls and live mu-sic as well.

Letting their hair down - or maybetheir feathers.

■ I wish that I could go for a weekwithout reporting on some alcohol re-lated tale, with a bit of violence thrownin - but not so!

There was the Barkly AustraliaFootball League Grand Final overthe weekend, and Police were "im-pressed" with the behaviour of the vis-iting crowds from many surroundingoutlying communities.

The Janapurlalki Eagles beat theAli Curung Kangaroos by 20 points.

These "impressive results" meantthat "only" 14 arrests were made, 186people were taken into protective cus-tody, 29 infringement notices and 22summary infringement notices wereissued. And only 188 litres of alcoholwas tipped out.

Then, one recent night in Alice,there was an upsurge of drinkers. Some126 people were taken into protective

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custody to sober up for the next day.Finally, there was a large brawl at TiTree, 200 kms north of Alice.

Two family groups came together ina melee, and two cars were set on fire,and the usual weapons of choice - axes,machetes, nulla nullas and iron bars -were introduced into the fray.

More peaceful moments in the NT.

■ Of late I've mentioned endangeredspecies in the NT, which have beendecimated by cats and foxes. Anotherone is the Marla, which is a little kan-garoo-type marsupial.

The town of Marla, just below theSA-NT border, is named after this littlecreature, because there were once manyof them hopping around there, but nomore.

However there is a colony of themnear the Rock, in a predator-proof en-closure. They started with 24 in 2005,and now there are about 200. Which isexcellent for the species. But it is costly to feed and waterthem - about $22,000 a year - so thePark Rangers have devised a methodof raising a few bucks to help with this.

They need to clean out their habi-

tats every couple of weeks, and gathertheir droppings so there's no diseasespreading about. So what do they dowith them - make paper.

Apparently, elsewhere in the worldthey utilise poo products from el-ephants, and rhinos, reindeer and pan-das, so why not Marlas, they thought?

They mix it up with a bit of grassand other recycled material and bingo -paper!

So they sell this to visitors, and ev-eryone is happy.

■ The Alice Springs Desert Parkis another spot where breeding pro-grams are being undertaken.

Which reminds me of an unfortunateincident which took place there a fewyears ago.

A group of Aboriginal kids fromone of the outlying communities wasgiven a special treat - a trip to town,and on the itinerary was a visit to thePark. There was a media contingenton hand to record this feel-good event.

However, also roaming around theplace was the beloved mascot of thepark, a huge tame Perentie (goanna).

Unfortunately the kids spotted this.Back home where they lived this was arare delicacy, so they grabbed handfulsof rocks, and immediately stoned it todeath. Not so much feel-good anymore.

However, this week there's been agood story. Another endangered speciesis the Western Quoll, another localcreature on the Threatened SpeciesList. Four little joeys have just beenborn, and are feeding from mum.

They will be kept in the Park forall to see, and a new colony will be bredfrom them.

■ There is an early summer in theCentre, and that bodes ill: flies!

There's plenty of horse and cameland cattle dung around the place, sothey've been breeding up in readinessto buzz around hapless tourists as theystroll around in the warm sun.

I've experienced them from being amere nuisance to, in some years, a com-plete nightmare.

I heard a report of one little old ladyfrom England who completelyfreaked out with these pesty little crea-tures buzzing around her face. And oth-ers, visiting the Rock, just staying intheir hotel rooms all day, missing allthe majestic sights outside.

They just hang around all day long,perpetuating the ‘Aussie salute’ of con-tinually brushing them away.

■ I'd finished striking the show andwas sweeping out the empty studio,feeling totally miserable when Mikecame in from the dressing room cor-ridor.

“Hey young fellow, Athol and Ihave had a chat. I'm sorry I spoke toyou like that.

“And I know you just made a mis-take. And ... I know that you won'tdo that again.” He gave me a side-long grin and left.

People remember MikeWilliamson for “Jesaulenko, youbeauty!”

I remember him for those kindwords. And I have not forgottenAthol either. I met him one lasttime, out at 0-10 years later. He wasinvolved in set-building on a com-mercial basis, from memory. Alovely guy. He backed me twice andI failed him once and scraped overthe edge the second time.

And as far as the time of pleasurewent: well that was Friday night at7. At the Teletheatre, Sunnyside Upwas going 'live' to air.

Back at Dorcas St, after TheHappy Show and the News, read thenby Geoff Raymond, our crewwould be setting Swallows Juniors.

The set designer was Ray Watt.Ray was not only a good designer,but also a 'teller of tales, tall andsometimes true.'

A lovely bloke, married to CoralDeague, an ex-Nine ballet dancerand choreographer who often toldhim to stop 'bull dusting’.

It was a usual three man crew onFridays: often Bob Meillon, Gra-ham MacNamara and me.

After our dinner break we'd gettogether in Studio 1 and work hard,Ray Watt pitching in as well, direct-ing where he wanted hay bales orrostrums or flats.

But, punctually at twenty-five pasteight, we would all head up the stairsthat led to the control room of the stu-dio, bi-pass it and go to the 'Sponsor'sViewing Room.' A small room thatoverlooked Studio 1 and had a tele-vision set installed.

There we would settle in and beenthralled for one hour. This was thehour of Rod Serling's TwilightZone.

A couple of beers later, by 9.30,we'd come down to finish off the set.

Saturday, we came on duty afterall the audio recording for The Jun-iors was finished and studio rehears

als began. Dick Jones was the Di-rector at the time and I rememberthe camera crew being GrahamRowland and Brian Finch, laterto be replaced by Bob Meillon andJack Degenkamp, though I'm surethere were others I've forgotten.

My memories of Brian And TheJuniors were of 'stretched parents'almost but not quite, competingagainst each other, striving to be nice,whilst jockeying to gain some kindof advantage for their child.

The kids themselves were like allkids. Just like those I was later toencounter at 0-10 on Young TalentTime. They had issues. They vied, asdid their parents, with each other.They pranked and teared up andteased: all good healthy stuff.

But when you are 19, and still agawky youth, it is difficult to havesomeone like Joy Lemon sitting onyour lap and laughing at the otherkids. That also was an innocent markof the time. (And I did say 'someonelike.')

Ted Jobbins was Floor Manageron The Juniors and managed the en-tire brood, including parents, brisklyand effectively.

One Voice. One single voice, fromall of them, rang true to me. I won-der where she is now? She certainlywas not primped and prompted andpreened and pushed, from my recall.Yet, I think, her voice was true, hon-est, pure. Her name was NadiaAlessi. In the studio, when she sang,I stood still, and listened.

Brian Naylor: Always a GentleMan, always poised and composed.Good looking, well dressed, goodwith the kids, a smile that told youthe man had a sense of humour andperhaps a dash of daring. And ofcourse, for Brian, the years aheadwere to be fruitful and, I'm sure, sat-isfying.

The terrible end of his life and thatof his wife, was preceded by illhealth and the loss of his son.

Here concludes this post. Let's letLarry K. Nixon have the final say:I love to spend this hour with you.As friend to friend I'm sorry it's

through.I'm telling you, just how I feel.I hope you feel that way too.

Let's make a date, tomorrow at three.Please don't be late.

I'll be waiting, you'll see, to sing again,bring again, the things you want me to.I love to spend this hour, with you.

●●●●● From Page 13

Melbourne TV Memories

the dumb blonde ‘Billie Dawn’ beautifully win-ning the Academy Award for Best Actress in

1950. In actual fact Judy Holliday was highlyintelligent with an IQ score of 172. She was oncequoted as saying, "You have to be smart to play adumb blonde over and over and keep the audience'sattention without extraordinary physical equip-ment."

Judy was accused of being a communist bythe FBI during the McCarthy fiasco but althoughshe was completely cleared it did affect her ca-reer.

Her films in the early 1950s included The Mar-rying Kind, It Should Happen To You and Phfft.

Judy was acclaimed for her role in The SolidGold Cadillac in 1956.

Ob 09oct13 az

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