Laurel and Hardy were as good on stage as on screen
JUST to add a snippet of interest to the April 5 edition’s mention of Wolverhampton theatres, I have a report from 1954 from Laurel and Hardy’s appearance at the Wolverhampton Hippodrome in 1954.
Under the heading, ‘Laurel and Hardy’s droll capers’, it describes their show and lists the many supporting acts:
“For many years before the Second World War the names of Laurel and Hardy were synonymous with comedy at the cinema. During the war, a number of new screen comedians came to the fore, and the old team were seen less and less at the cinemas of this country.
“It is some considerable time since a new Laurel and Hardy film has been seen in Wolverhampton, or, for that matter, any other town.
“But the reception given last night to this Anglo-american combination, on their first joint stage appearance in the town surpassed any at this theatre for many years.
“It was not until the second half of the show that they made their entry, but then they held the stage in a two-scene sketch that lasted for almost half an hour.
“To it they brought many of the delightfully amusing characteristics that made their film so popular.
“Indeed, it was most amusing and entertaining.
“In an excellent supporting bill, Derrick Rosaire brought to the stage the well-known horse Tony, and almost human creature, which does nearly everything but talk, and then with the help of Betty Kayes, showed that Pekingese dogs can be surprisingly intelligent.
“Harry Worth is a ventriloquist who presented an act that was rather out of the usual style. Paul Arland was a fascinating conjurer.
“Alan Rowe gave a series of impressions; Audrey Jeans sang and provided additional comedy; Roy and Ray sang to their own accordion accompaniment, and Jill, Jill and Jill danced.”
My late mother was a cleaner (part time) at the Hippodrome, and she used to get free tickets for some of the shows.
She took me to see Laurel and Hardy. I used to watch them on screen at the Children’s Saturday Morning shows, and even now, they still make me laugh when I watch their old films. I even have their set of DVDS.