Jean Collen's Blog, page 11

THEATRE IN SOUTH AFRICA (1956 – 1973)

I have included musicals, operas and plays in which Anne and Webster appeared, as well as amateur shows directed by them – either together or separately. The list is not complete so I would be glad to hear from anyone who can add to it or enlarge on the information presented below.

SPRING QUARTET September 1956, Cape Town. Anne and Webster. Before Anne and Webster went to Johannesburg to settle, they played in Spring Quartet, straight after their trip to Cape Town on the Pretoria Castle. Leonard Schach directed the play for the Cockpit Players, at the Hofmeyr Theatre. Others in the cast were  Joyce Bradley, Cynthia Coller, Jane Fenn, Gavin Houghton and Sydney Welch. Decor by David Crichton, costumes by Doreen Graves. At the piano were Keith Jewell and Geoffrey Miller.

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[image error]In Cape Town for “Spring Quartet”. September 1956

JOHANNESBURG  1956-1967

NIGHT IN VENICE Wednesday 14 November to Saturday 1 December 1956, Reps Theatre, Braamfontein, Johannesburg, Johannesburg Operatic Society, Anne Ziegler, Webster Booth, June Hern, Tom Reid, Harold Lake, Stella Beder, Director: Arnold Dover, Music: Drummond Bell.

[image error]Night in Venice.



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[image error]Night in Venice November 1956

ANGELS IN LOVE 29 July 1957, Reps Theatre, Anne played the part of Dearest, with Rory McDermot, Joan Blake, Michael Turner, Arthur Hall, and Edwin Quail (Fauntleroy), directed by Minna Schneier.

[image error]31 July 1957 Anne’s first non-singing role

WALTZ TIME 31 May 1958, Springs Civic Theatre, Anne and Webster, produced by Bert Dobson for Springs Operatic Society.

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MERRIE ENGLAND 16 to 21 June 1958, City Hall, East London, The Dramatic Society of East London. Anne and Webster, Mabel Fenney, Pamela Emslie, Hilary Adams, Cawood Meaker, Jimmy Nicholas, produced by Doreen Egan, conducted by Jean Fowler.

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[image error]16 June 1958 Merrie England, East London.




[image error]16 June 1958, Merrie England, East London

THE VAGABOND KING 1 August 1958, Durban. Anne and Webster starred in the show. Produced by Isobel McLaren (wife of singing teacher Arnold Fulton.

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MERRIE ENGLAND 12 to 29 November 1958, Reps Theatre, Johannesburg, JODS. Anne and Webster starred and produced and starred in the show, with Marian Saunders, June Bass, Nohline Mitchell, Kenneth Anderson, Len Rosen, and Dudley Cock, conducted by Drummond Bell.

[image error]November 1958. Merrie England at the Reps Theatre, Johannesburg.




[image error]November 1958. Anne and Webster produced and starred in Merrie England at the Reps Theatre in Braamfontein for JODs.

JACK AND THE BEANSTALK Christmas 1958, City Hall, East London, Anne appeared as principal boy. Anne told me that she had also appeared in DICK WHITTINGTON in East London.

WALTZ TIME 1959, City Hall, East London, The Dramatic Society of East London, Anne and Webster and East London cast.

[image error]Waltz Time East London.

THE GLASS SLIPPER December 1959, Reps Theatre, Johannesburg Repertory Players, National Theatre and Childrens Theatre, Anne Ziegler, Yvonne Theron, Siegfried Mynhardt, David Beattie, Hilda Kriseman, Olive King, Bruce Anderson, directed by Hugh Goldie. Music: Joyce Goldie (Piano conductor) Band: Leader Walter Mony, Bassoon: Richard Cherry, Clarinet: P Reinders, Percussion: A Johnson, Violin: Erica Anderson, Viola: Lance Lange, Cello: Phyllis Chaplin

[image error]The Glass Slipper, December 1959. Children’s Theatre




[image error]Anne as the Fairy Godmother pointing the way for Cinderella’s coach to go to the ball. I ushered at the Reps Theatre for one of the performances.

MIKADO 1960, Bloemfontein, Webster. I know very little about this show. I am not sure whether Webster sang in it, directed it or did both.

A COUNTRY GIRL October 1960, Produced by Anne and Webster at Little Theatre, Springs. Leads were played by Corinne van Wyk and John Wilcox.

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LOCK UP YOUR DAUGHTERS 19 December 1960 to January 1961, Playhouse, Johannesburg, Anne, Valerie Miller, Leon Eagles, John Boulter, Robert Haber and Ivor Berold, directed by Leonard Schach.

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[image error]Anne, Dame Flora Robson, Ivan Berold



[image error]Anne and Valerie Miller

THE AMOROUS PRAWN September to October 30 1961, Alexander Theatre (previously the Reps Theatre), National Theatre, Pretoria, 31 October to November 12, Alhambra Theatre, Durban, November 15?

Webster was the Prawn, with Simon Swindell, Gabriel Bayman, Diane Wilson, Joe Stewardson, Ronald Wallace and Joan Blake, directed by Victor Melleney.

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[image error]Amorous Prawn rehearsal with Joan Blake, Simon Swindell, Ronald Wallace, producer: Victor Melleney. Webster with a monocle was the Prawn.



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THE DESERT SONG October to November 1961 at Springs Theatre, Anne directed this show for the Springs Operatic Society. Sylvia Watson (nee Reilly), who kindly wrote to me to tell me more about these shows was in the chorus.

THE ANDERSONVILLE TRIAL February 1962, Alexander Theatre, Webster took a small non-singing part with Simon Swindell, Michael McGovern, Gordon Mulholland, Joe Stewardson, directed by Albert Ninio. My piano teacher, Sylvia Sullivan, saw the play and remarked about Websters role, “Such a small part for such a great man.”

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THE VAGABOND KING October 1962, Springs Little Theatre
Anne and Webster directed this production for the Springs Operatic Society.

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THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE October 1962, Bloemfontein. Webster directed this production. As a gimmick he had a chimpanzee going on to the stage with the pirates. The chimpanzee idea was not without problems. She disgraced himself during Websters opening night speech. With a quick wit he quipped, You naughty girl. I wont take you out again in a hurry.

THE MERRY WIDOW November 1962, Springs Little Theatre. Anne directed this production for the Springs Operatic Society.

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GOODNIGHT MRS PUFFIN January 1963, Alexander Theatre, Anne and Webster with Jane Fenn, George Moore, Deborah Francis, Leonne Carnot, Clive Pownall, Paddy Canavan, Anthony James and Michael Newell, directed by John Hayter.

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[image error]The Amorous Prawn. Anne is Mrs Fordyce, with Leonne Carnot, Jane Fenn



[image error]Anne and Webster with their stage family.

THE NEW MOON, 10 April 1964, Springs Little Theatre, Anne directed this production for the Springs Operatic Society.

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THE YEOMEN OF THE GUARD May 1963, Alexander Theatre, JODS, Webster took the part of Colonel Fairfax at short notice with Denise Allen, June Hern, Lilian Gartside, Len Rosen, Lyle Matthews, Ethlynne Cohen and Peter Lynsky, directed by Keith Stammers-Bloxham, conducted by Desmond Wright.

[image error]Yeomen of the Guard 6 June 1963.



[image error]6 June 1963. Yeomen of the Guard.

TONIGHT AT 8.30 8 July 1964, Hofmeyr Theatre, Cape Town, Port Elizabeth, CAPE PERFORMING ARTS COUNCIL (CAPAB) Anne and Webster appeared in Family Album with Yvonne Bryceland, Michael Drin, Nanette Rennie and Flora McKenna, directed by Margaret Inglis, conducted by Keith Jewell.

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THE MERRY WIDOW October 1965, Bloemfontein. Anne directed this production in Bloemfontein.

[image error]The Merry Widow in Anne’s production in Bloemfontein. I don’t know her name. Do you?

THE LOVE POTION November 1966, Intimate Theatre, Johannesburg, PERFORMING ARTS COUNCIL OF THE TRANSVAAL (PACT), Anne, with Alec Bell, Fiona Fraser and Arthur Hall, directed by Ricky Arden. This show was not a success and came off early.

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THE BARTERED BRIDE November (Pretoria) 14, 17, 20, 22 December 1966, (Johannesburg), Aula Theatre, Pretoria, Civic Theatre, Johannesburg, PERFORMING ARTS COUNCIL OF THE TRANSVAAL (PACT), Webster played non-singing role of Circus Master, with Gé Korsten, Nellie du Toit, Gert Potgieter and Oysten Liltveld, directed by Victor Melleney, conducted by Leo Quayle

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[image error]The Bartered Bride?



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COUNTESS MARITZA 1967, Pretoria. Anne and Webster either directed or appeared in this production or perhaps they did both.

KNYSNA 1967-1974

MERRIE ENGLAND 11  July 1968, Knysna and District Choral Society, Webster, Anne, Dorothy Davies, James Squier and Ena van der Vijver

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CINDERELLA December 1968, Knysna. Anne played principal boy and wrote the script. Del le Roux, Ena van der Vijver, Dorothy Davies and Sadie Hamilton Cox were also in the cast.

[image error]Ena van der Vyver and Anne as principal boys.

PANTOMIME December 1969, Knysna, Anne played principal boy and wrote the script but I do not know the name of the pantomime.

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COX AND BOX/TRIAL BY JURY ( Date?), Knysna, George, Oudtshoorn and Ladismith (Cape)

LADY AUDLEYS SECRET December 1971, Port Elizabeth Opera House, Port Elizabeth Musical and Dramatic Society. Anne produced this show.

[image error]Alys Tayler and Ted Mayhew in Lady Audley’s Secret, PE, 1971.

DICK WHITTINGTON December 1972, Port Elizabeth Opera House, PEMADS. Webster produced and conducted for this pantomime, while Anne played Principal Boy.

[image error]Rehearsing Dick Whittington in PE>

THE MIKADO 4 to 14 April 1973, Guild Theatre, East London, The East London Light Operatic Society, Pam Emslie, Colin Carney, Bernie Lee, Leigh Evans, Irene McCarthy, Jim Hagerty and Jimmy Nicholas. Webster produced this show.

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[image error]Webster at rehearsal.




[image error]Rehearsal




[image error]Me and June Evans



[image error]Me, June Evans and Neil Evans.



[image error]Me in The Mikado.



[image error]Me – back left with June Evans and other members of the chorus.

Updated 16 December 2019.

BROADCASTING IN SOUTH AFRICA

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Anne and Webster settled in South Africa in mid-July 1956. I compiled the following lis of radio programmes from newspapers, magazines and personal diaries. Contact me if you can add more information to this list.

MOBILGAS MELODY WORLD 16 February 1956/57? Springbok Radio,

[image error]16 February 1956

Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth in a programme compèred by Michael Drinn.

LIGHT UP AND LAUGH – ITMA, December 1956

[image error]December 1956

Thirteen-week series on Springbok Radio, recorded at the Brooke Theatre. Webster (rather incongruously!) took Tommy Handley’s part in South African presentation of ITMA scripts.

ELDORADO, (Ralph Trewhela) 1957

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Anne and Webster took the leading roles in this musical, directed by Frank Douglass, SABC Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Jeremy Schulman. Work commissioned by SABC for 21st anniversary programme.

AT HOME WITH ANNE, commenced on 21 January 1958. Anne presented this series on Springbok Radio. The programme was still running in July 1959.

DO YOU REMEMBER? 1959 to 24 April 1960, Anne and Webster presented weekly music programme on Springbok Radio on Sunday afternoon. They spoke about their illustrious careers and the people with whom they had worked.

Anne in a recording of a broadcast at SABC, 1963

CONCERT HOUR 1960 – English service of the SABC. SABC Concert Orchestra, Rita Roberts, Webster Booth, Asaf and Philharmonic Choirs, conducted by Anton Hartman.

DOUGLAS LAWS Record show, 4 October 1960. Anne and Webster appeared as guest artistes.

MESSIAH 8 December 1960 Webster sang tenor solos in the Port Elizabeth Oratorio Festival, conducted by Robert Selley.

TEST YOURSELF 1960. Anne and Webster presented this quiz show together on Springbok Radio.

OPERA, ORATORIO AND OPERETTA (ON WINGS OF SONG) Wednesdays at

[image error]On Wings of Song. 1961

8.30 pm, later Thursday, 9.20 pm, 1961

Webster presented a weekly programme of recordings (including some of their own) on the English Service.

DREAM OF GERONTIUS, MESSIAH, 27 November 1961. Port Elizabeth Oratorio Festival broadcast Monday and Wednesday at 8pm. Webster, with Emelie Hooke, Joyce Scotcher, Harold Hart, Port Elizabeth Orchestra, directed by Robert Selley.

[image error]27 November 1961 from Port Elizabeth.

GILBERT AND SULLIVAN 1962, 1963. When the copyright on Gilbert’s words ended, Webster presented a weekly programme on the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas on the English Service. During his illness in 1962, Paddy O’Byrne read the scripts of this programme.

[image error]Webster presents the Gilbert and Sullivan Radio programme January 1962.

DRAWING ROOM, April 1962

Webster presented a short series of drawing room concerts before a studio audience on the English Service. He and Anne sang in this series, and a number of guest artistes took part. He also sang duets with the bass, Graham Burns. The guest artistes were Doris Brasch, Rita Roberts, Gert Potgieter, Gé Korsten, Graham Burns, Jean Gluckman, Kathleen Allister and Walter Mony The accompanist was Anna Bender.

MUSIC FOR ROMANCE, August 1962. Anne presented a series of programmes in which she presented recordings and reminisced about her life and career in England.

PORT ELIZABETH ORATORIO FESTIVAL, November 1962

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Elijah and Messiah from Port Elizabeth.

Webster, Monica Hunter, Joyce Scotcher, and Graham Burns, conducted by Robert Selley. The complete oratorios were broadcast locally in the Eastern Cape. Excerpts were broadcast nationally later, but strangely none of Webster’s recordings were used in the national broadcast.

SUNDAY AT HOME, January 1963. English Service. Paddy O’Byrne conducted a fifteen minute interview with Anne and Webster at their home in Craighall Park.

GREAT VOICES, January 1963-1964. Webster presented this series on the English Service. He was criticised by the critic Jon Sylvester of The Star for including some of his own recordings, yet most people expected to hear Webster Booth the singer as well as Webster Booth, lately-turned broadcaster.

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RECITAL WITH ORCHESTRA 8 April 1963. Anne and Webster sang a programme of duets, with orchestra conducted by Edgar Cree, on the English service.

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[image error]I was Pooh Bah!

BALLADS OLD AND NEW, July 1963. Webster presented this short series on the English Service towards the end of 1963.

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CHILDREN’S PROGRAMME 1963/64 Anne and Webster presented a series of children’s programmes, directed by Kathleen Davydd.

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[image error]Nursery School Sing-Along.

SATURDAY NIGHT AT THE PALACE, November 1963. A short series, which attempted to recreate the atmosphere of the Music Hall on the English Service. Anne and Webster were guest artistes on this programme. 

Webster, Anne, Jeanette James and Bruce Anderson sing a quartet in the programme

OPERA AND OPERETTA, July 1964, Monday, 7.35 pm Webster returned to the English Service with this series.

IF THE SHOE FITS, Christmas 1964. Webster and Anne starred in this Christmas pantomime on the English Service.

TEN OCLOCK AND ALL’S WELL, September 1966. Webster was guest presenter for a week in this short series on the English Service.

2 October 1966, CITY HALL, JOHANNESBURG. ORCHESTRAL CONCERT (FOR JOHANNESBURG EIGHTIETH BIRTHDAY)

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Anne and Webster were soloists, with the SABC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Edgar Cree. Webster told Edgar Cree that he was not pleased with his voice and thought it was time for him to stop singing.

O lovely night (Anne and Webster)

Drink to me only with thine eyes (Anne)

Lehar medley (Anne and Webster)

The Holy City (Webster)

Love’s old sweet song (Anne and Webster)

We’ll gather lilacs (Anne and Webster)

Selection from Bitter Sweet (Anne and Webster)

MELODY MARKET, May 1967. Webster presented this programme in the early morning on the English Service.  “A sort of housewife’s choice,” was how he described it in a letter to me. It was the last programme for the SABC before leaving Johannesburg for Knysna a month or so later.

SOUTH AFRICA A TOUCH OF THE BRITISH, 29 May 1973. BBC TV. Documentary. Anne and Webster appeared in this BBC TV documentary. Anne said that she had had enough of South Africa and wanted to go home to die. The programme ended with Anne and Webster singing We’ll gather lilacs.

PETER BROOMFIELD’S OPEN HOUSE, 20 March 1975. English Service. Anne and Webster were guests of Peter Broomfield on his morning programme, broadcast from Cape Town, on the English Service. Anne’s friend, Babs Wilson-Hill (Marie Thompson) who was on a visit from the UK, and Anne and Webster’s singing dog, Silva were also present in the studio. Silva sang along to a Harry Lauder record!

A MUSICIAN REMEMBERS, 19 and 26 October 1975. English Service. Webster reminisced about his career in the theatre.

A MUSICIAN REMEMBERS, 2 and 9 November 1975. English Service. Anne reminisced about her career in the theatre.

WOMENS’ WORLD, English Service, 1975 – Pamela Deal, who had conducted the first interview with Anne and Webster when they stopped off briefly on their way to Australia in 1948, interviewed them again when they decided to stop singing in public. They had given a farewell concert in Somerset West towards the end of 1975. This decision was rescinded when they moved back to the UK in early 1978 and found that people remembered them and wanted to see and hear them once again.

RADIO TODAY 1485 When Anne and Webster left South Africa their voices were rarely heard on South African radio. Ronald Charles, the broadcaster and musician who had been the musical director at Michaelhouse in the sixties, played several of Webster’s oratorio recordings from his personal collection on his classical request programme. As far as I know most of the 78s in the SABC record library were discarded, but as time passed, a number of their recordings were released on CD. Occasionally a recording was played on Uit Vergange se Dae on Radio Pretoria.

Paddy O’Byrne was always happy to play a recording when he was with the SABC and later at Radio Today, although his access to their recordings was extremely limited. Clare Marshall, on her Sunday morning programme, Morning Star on Radio Today 1485, is about the only broadcaster in South Africa to feature their recordings regularly. Sadly, Radio Today does not feature her excellent programme Morning Star any more.

Compiled by Jean Collen. Updated in 2019. 

MY TEENAGE DIARIES

I have removed the posts about my teenage diaries from this website as I have published a PDF file entitled Extracts from my Teenage Diaries, available at http://www.lulu.com/shop/jean-collen/extracts-from-my-teenage-diaries/ebook/product-24359810.html

[image error]Extracts from my Teenage Diaries (1960 – August 1963) by Jean Collen.

Jean Collen 15 December 2019

PAMELA DAVIES (née JAMES) (1926 – December 2019)

Pamela Davies (née James)

Pamela Davies was born Pamela James in London in 1926. She studied at London University and at Reading’s Graduate School of European Studies. After completing her degrees she taught French and German and visited the USA and Germany in connection with her teaching career. She met her future husband, Walter Davies, at a German evening class and they were married in 1969.

Pamela studied singing as a hobby and did some solo work as well as singing in various choirs. Coincidentally, her singing teacher was the mother of a young woman who appeared in And So to Bed with Anne and Webster in the early 1950s. Pamela and Walter retired to a 300-year old cottage in Worcestershire, the heart of Elgar Country. Walter died in the early 2000s.

Church House, Great Comberton.

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Pamela was particularly interested in the music of Edward Elgar. Her other interests were antiques, historic houses, and reading French and German. She was a guide at a historic house in the Great Comberton area and visited China, Russia and New Zealand and Australia later this year. She was a cat lover and owned two rescued cats.

Pamela, as a teenage evacuee from London, first heard Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth singing on the radio in 1944. She took an immediate liking to their voices and became their firm fan, listening to their singing on the radio and attending many of their concerts, films, and the musical play in which they starred in 1945, entitled Sweet Yesterday. She obtained their autographs at one of these concerts and had a brief conversation with Webster.

She mentioned in her book Do You Remember Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth? that she and her fellow teaching students gathered round the radio to listen to the Victory Royal Command Performance in November 1945 to hear Anne and Webster singing. She made extensive notes of all their radio appearances and the concerts in which they had appeared and which she had managed to attend.

In 1956 Anne and Webster moved to South Africa for twenty-two years, but Pamela never forgot them. When she heard that they had returned to the UK in 1978 she wrote a letter of appreciation to them. This was the beginning of her correspondence with Anne. Pamela and Walter attended Webster Booth’s Memorial Service at St Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, which led to them taking Anne out to lunch whenever they were in the North Wales area, and the growth of their friendship with Anne.

I “met” Pam when she contacted me after Anne’s death in 2003 as she had read one of my articles on the internet. At the time I was writing my book, Sweethearts of Song: A Personal Memoir of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth. She too had hoped to write a book about her association with them. We decided to collaborate and her book Do You Remember Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth? was published at the same time as mine in 2006.

Do You Remember Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth? by Pamela Davies

We kept in touch with each other after the books were published and corresponded with Jean Buckley at the same time. Unfortunately, the postal system in South Africa was failing and Pam was not computer-literate so our correspondence faltered slightly until she obtained a tablet and gradually learnt to use it. 

Pam became increasingly deaf which was very sad indeed as the music she loved was distorted by her deafness. Recently she left her beautiful cottage in Great Comberton and moved into a frail care home. She had a very bad fall and died a few days ago, at the age of 93. I will treasure all the beautiful letters she wrote to me when the postal system in South Africa was more reliable than it is today. I will always remember her with love.

Jean Collen – 13 December 2013.

MY WEBSTER BOOTH-ANNE ZIEGLER COLLECTION

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I have collected records, cuttings, photos and letters in connection with Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler since I first met them nearly sixty years ago. Originally, I hoped to be able to pass my collection on to a British theatrical museum but then I realised that it would be extremely expensive to ship it to the UK from South Africa. Later, I was told about the National English Literary Museum in Grahamstown, now known as  Makhanda, (NELMS). I wrote to Mr Malcolm Hacksley who was in charge of NELMS at that time, and received an enthusiastic reply to my letter:

From: Jean Collen 
Sent: 05 April 2009 10:06 PM
To: m.hacksley@ru.ac.za
Subject: Anne Ziegler-Webster Booth collection

Dear Mr Hacksley,

Johan Geldenhuys suggested that I should contact you in connection with my collection of letters, photographs, records (78s, LPs, CDs, tapes), press
cuttings and programmes connected with the British duettists, Anne Ziegler
and Webster Booth.

After I left school at the end of 1960 I studied singing with them at their
studio in Johannesburg, was Webster’s studio accompanist for several years
and remained friends with them until Webster’s death in 1984 and Anne’s in
2003. During that time I accumulated a considerable collection of
memorabilia related to them, including about 250 letters. I published a book
called “Sweethearts of Song: a Personal Memoir of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth” on https://www.lulu.com/duettists in 2006. They had written their autobiography, “Duet” before they left the UK in 1951. My book concentrates mainly on the 22 years they spent in South Africa,
and after they returned to the UK in 1978. Since that time I have written other books about the couple. You can see more information about them at the links below. 

I contacted the Theatre Museum in London about donating this collection
there after my death, and the curator expressed interest in it, but it would
cost a great deal to have it sent to the UK, and since they spent 22 years
here, Johan suggested that HELMS might be interested in having it after my
death. While I know you are concerned with English literature in South
Africa, I have noticed in your magazine that you have accepted various other theatrical archives, so I wonder whether you would be interested in this one after my death?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Jean Collen (Mrs)

The London Theatre Museum, Covent Garden This museum closed down permanently and material was transferred to the Victoria and Albert Museum after the museum at Covent Garden closed in 2007

Mr Hacksley replied as follows:

  Dear Mrs Collen

Johan is absolutely right – we most definitely WOULD want your collection of the Ziegler-Booth memorabilia! I remember their radio broadcasts with great pleasure. (We must be of much the same vintage: I left school at the end of 1961.) We have an immense amount of SA theatre material – mainly unpublished playscripts, programmes, press-cuttings, etc stretching way, way back. Yours would be a very welcome addition.

I am rather glad you have had second thoughts about the theatre museum in London. It seems to have fallen on very hard times – I’m told they had to
vacate their Covent Garden premises because they had lost their national
grant. And this was before the world-wide economic crisis, so the chances of a realistic rescue package for them are remote in the extreme. One doesn’t wish to rejoice in another’s misfortune, but we would be very glad to be able to keep your collection in SA. We accepted Moira Lister’s whole
personal archive just weeks before she died.  

  If you should decide to part with it before the Grim Reaper comes calling,
please do let us know and we will fetch it from you. Whatever you do, please
do NOT consider entrusting it to the tender or other mercies of the postal
services OR to the courier companies. Bitter experience has taught us that
we have to retrieve precious materials in person. (An instance: a set of
documents sent to us from Cape Town last month by “overnight courier” took SEVENTEEN days to reach us – despite being perfectly correctly addressed…)

With warm regards

Malcolm Hacksley  

Mr Hacksley retired from his position not long after this correspondence took place. I heard recently that the museum had changed its name so I decided to contact them to see whether they were still interested in my collection.

I received the following email a few days ago. I will not mention the name of the writer but I would be interested to know what you think I should do with my collection now.

Received on 27 November 2019

Dear Mrs Collen

Thank you for contacting Amazwi about your collection. My apologies for the delay in responding. I took it to the selection committee meeting and then had to attend meetings in Pretoria before I could reply.

I was asked to request a bit more information about Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth. From your email it seems that they were primarily musicians. Is this correct?

Amazwi is a museum of literature. We do collect material relating to theatre and plays, but not really music or dance. The focus is on productions of plays with South African scripts, and material relating to the playwrights.

As you have noted, this year the museum’s name was changed from the National English Literary Museum to Amazwi South African Museum of Literature. This will enable us to collect material in other South African languages as well as English. The collection policies remain the same, just broadened in terms of language. Our concerns about your collection, important as it is, have to do with the museum’s focus on literature as opposed to music.

If your collection is more theatre based, then please do let me know.

Best wishes…

From the tone of the email, I do not think that this is a suitable place for my collection any more. I am far nearer to meeting the Grim Reaper today than I was when I first wrote to Mr Hacksley ten years ago. If anyone can suggest what I should do with my collection now I would be interested to hear from you. I do not think I could consider including the records any longer as they are far too heavy to be shipped anywhere. Most of them have been digitised by Mike Taylor of The Webster Booth-Anne Ziegler Appreciation Group on Facebook, but surely photos, letters from Anne and Webster, cuttings, my diaries and books I have written should be of interest to someone?

I recently published the second edition of my first book: Sweethearts of Song: A Personal Memoir of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth (Second Edition)

Jean Collen.

SWEETHEARTS OF SONG: A PERSONAL MEMOIR OF ANNE ZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH (Second Edition)

I published the first edition of this book in 2006 and have recently published the second edition 13 years later. I have included excerpts from my contemporary diaries, and have drawn on the many letters written to me by Anne and Webster over a forty year period. This edition contains more information about my relationship with Anne and Webster and also includes many extra photographs collected over the years. The book is available as a paperback and as a PDF e-book.

Sweethearts of Song: A Personal Memoir of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth (Second Edition)



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ARCHIVING OF THE WEBSTER BOOTH-ANNE ZIEGLER APPRECIATION GROUP ON FACEBOOK

The group started towards the end of 2014. It never had a great many members but there seemed to be some enthusiasm for it. We were very lucky to have Mike Taylor in the group. Over the first few years he discovered a number of rare 78rpm recordings by Webster Booth and he restored these to pristine condition. Between us we found every duet record made by Anne and Webster. Mike also shared recordings by various related artists, as did the late John Henderson. I was delighted to discover the beautiful singing of Maurice Elwin who is now my favourite danceband singer.

Over the last few years the remaining recordings by Webster have not been found so I tried to keep the group going by creating medleys which included Webster and/or Anne’s recordings. I don’t think this has appealed to many members. I posted various ephemera I have collected over the years, but that had limited appeal also.

I have come to the conclusion that as I am getting older and have nothing more to interest the group it is time that the group was archived. I do not wish to close it down completely as that would mean that all the excellent material collected over the years would disappear, hence deciding to archive the group. This will mean that you will be able to look at what is in the group files but you will not be able to comment or even like the material.

I would like to thank those who have supported me over the years, particularly John Marwood, Peter Wallace, and Anne Cook – and about 15 or 20 others – out of 68 members. I was glad that Dudley Holmes (who studied with the Booths and was their close friend) was a member of the group. I shall keep my page, Jean Collen – Webster Booth-Anne Ziegler open for the time being and shall post things there occasionally for anyone who still wishes to follow me there.

If I have anything further to add, I shall add it on this blog and I might post more medleys from time to time – for my own pleasure rather than for boring other people!

Jean Collen 6 October 2019.

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FILMS and videos FEATURING WEBSTER BOOTH AND ANNE ZIEGLER.

“The Invader” was the first film in which Webster Booth appeared in 1934. Here is an excerpt from it.





“The World is Mine Tonight” on British Pathé (1936)





An excerpt from “Demobbed” where Anne and Webster were guest artistes – a rather silly film in my opinion.






Another excerpt from “Demobbed”.

Webster and Anne were guest stars in this charming film (1945)

Webster and Anne starred in “The Laughing Lady” (1946)





BBC Magazine show commemorating 35 years since VE Day.

MISSING RECORDS FROM WEBSTER BOOTH/ANNE ZIEGLER DISCOGRAPHY.

Missing
Recordings

I
read a post in The Golden Age of British Dance Bands by Javier Soria
Laso about a data bass on the internet:
(http://www.kellydatabase.org/Entry.aspx).
I discovered a number of recordings by Webster Booth
which I had not seen before – some of them had never been released.
He featured in recordings by the HMV
Light Opera Company
and the Light
Opera Male Chorus,
sometimes in the chorus and sometimes as a soloist. I have included
these recordings in my original list of missing recordings.

I
wonder whether the unreleased recordings are still in circulation or
whether they were discarded by HMV. I have a recording of Beauty’s
Eyes
(Tosti) which is marked as unreleased, also Anne Ziegler’s test
recording of the Waltz
Song
from Merrie
England.
Possibly they were obtained from the Booths’ private record
collection.

If
anyone has any of the recordings listed below, I would be very glad
to have an MP3 of any one of them so that I can add it to the list of
recordings in this group.

WEBSTER
BOOTH: Test recordings Serenata, Macushla Webster Booth, Reginald
Paul, C Studio, Small Queens Hall, London, 20 November 1929.

Here
Comes the Bride Selection (Schwartz)
Light
Opera Company
with Alice Moxon, Stuart Robertson, Webster Booth, George Baker/Ray
Noble/Studio C, Small Queens Hall, London/Cc18897-4,
25 March 1930.

C1890
Three Musketeers: Vocal Gems (Friml, Grey & Woodhouse),
 Queen of my
heart, Your eyes, March of the Musketeersparts
1 and 2, C Studio, Small Queen’s Hall, London, 7
April 1930. LIGHT OPERA COMPANY, ORCHESTRA: RAY NOBLE,  ALICE
MOXON soprano, BESSIE JONES soprano, NELLIE WALKER contralto, ESSIE
ACKLAND contralto, WALTER GLYNNE tenor, WEBSTER BOOTH tenor,
GEORGE BAKER baritone, STUART ROBERTSON bass-baritone.

C1920 C B Cochrane’s 1930 Revue: Vocal Gems, parts 1 and 2 : Piccadilly, With a song in my heart,  Heaven, All the things you do,  Part 2: Bakerloo, Just as we used to do, The wind in the willows, What became of Mary? C Studio, Small Queen’s Hall London,  16 May 1930.  LIGHT OPERA COMPANY, ORCHESTRA: RAY NOBLE,  BESSIE JONES soprano, Alice MOXON soprano, NELLIE WALKER contralto, ESSIE ACKLAND contralto, WEBSTER BOOTH tenor, WALTER GLYNNE tenor, GEORGE BAKER baritone, STUART ROBERTSON bass-baritone.

Decca K630 HMS
Pinafore Vocal Gems/Gilbert
and Sullivan, Anne Welch, Victor Conway, Doris Owens, Webster Booth
(1931)

I’m
alone because I love you (Joe Young)/ When it’s sunset on the Nile
(Ray Ellison & Ted Renard) Kensington
Cinema, London, 6 March 1931. WEBSTER
BOOTH tenor, W. BRUCE-JAMES organ Not released by HMV.

C2229
White Horse Inn: Vocal gems (Benatzky-Stolz), parts 1:   White
Horse Inn, My song of love, Your eyes; Part 2 Ho-Dri-Ho, Goodbye,
Sigesmund, It would be wonderful, Small Queen’s Hall London, 
8 May 1931/14 May 1931, LIGHT OPERA COMPANY, Orchestra: RAY
NOBLE,  BESSIE JONES soprano, NELLIE WALKER soprano, ESSIE
ACKLAND contalto, GEORGE BAKER baritone,  STUART ROBERTSON
bass-baritone,JOHN TURNER tenor,WEBSTER BOOTH tenor.

I have this recording. Webster must feature in the chorus for his solo voice cannot be heard.

C2501
Musical
Comedy Marches,
No 2 Studio, Abbey Road London,  7 November
1932,
LIGHT
OPERA COMPANY
Orchestra: RAY NOBLE, JOHN TURNER tenor, WEBSTER BOOTH tenor,
WALTER GLYNNE tenor, LEONARD GOWINGS tenor,  GEORGE BAKER
baritone, STUART ROBERTSON bass-baritone, EDWARD HALLAND bass.

C2511
Robert Burns Medley, parts 1 and 2: My love is like a
red red rose,Green grow the rashes-O, Afton Water, No 2 Studio,
Abbey Road London, 5 December 1932, 
LIGHT OPERA
COMPANY (orchestra: LAWRENCE COLLINGWOOD)  ALICE MOXON
soprano, BESSIE JONES soprano, NELLIE WALKER soprano, ESSIE
ACKLAND contralto, WEBSTER BOOTH tenor, WALTER GLYNNE tenor,
GEORGE BAKER baritone, DENNIS ARUNDEL baritone.

C2716
Ballad Memories,
Light
Opera Company,
including Peter Dawson, Webster Booth, Walter Glynne, George Baker,
Gladys Peel, Essie Ackland. Date
unknown.

Columbia DB 1658 ORCHESTRE RAYMONDE, with Webster Booth, tenor and Angela Parselles, soprano, Cond. George Walter (real name Walter Goehr) Date unknown.

B8078 A dream of paradise (Claude Littleton & Hamilton Gray)/The old rustic bridge by the mill (Joseph P Skelly) Kingsway Hall, London, 23 October 1933, WALTER GLYNNE tenor, CHORUS, organ HERBERT DAWSON (orchestra Lawrance COLLINGWOOD)  WEBSTER BOOTH tenor, JOHN TURNER tenor, EDWARD HALLAND baritone, PETER DAWSON bass-baritone, GEORGE BAKER baritone.

B8071
Sweet Genevieve (Tucker), solo STUART ROBERTSON;  At
Trinity Church (Fred Gilbert), solo GEORGE BAKER; The honeysuckle and
the bee (Fitz & Penn), solo STUART ROBERTSON; b) If you want
to know the time (E W Rogers), solo GEORGE BAKER  Studio No
1, Abbey Road London England,  7 November 1933 LIGHT
OPERA MALE CHORUS (orchestra: CLIFFORD GREENWOOD) WEBSTER
BOOTH tenor, JOHN TURNER tenor, EDWARD HALLAND bass, LEONARD HUBBARD
baritone.

This
recording may be heard on Clypit: https://clyp.it/fjwbx5vs
Thanks to Robert Godridge.

B8081
The saucy Arethusa (trad.), solo STUART ROBERTSON; The
Bay of Biscay (Davy) Studio No 1, Abbey Road, London,  7
November 1933,
 LIGHT OPERA MALE CHORUS (orchestra
CLIFFORD GREENWOOD)  WEBSTER BOOTH tenor, JOHN TURNER
tenor, EDWARD HALLAND bass, LEONARD HUBBARD baritone

B8105
The
glory of the Motherland (McCall); England (Besly);
No 2 Studio, Abbey Road, London ,11 January 1934  PETER
DAWSON
bass-baritone (orchestra: CLIFFORD GREENWOOD), MALE
QUARTET  JOHN
TURNER, tenor, WEBSTER BOOTH tenor, GEORGE BAKER baritone, STUART
ROBERTSON, bass.

C2814Neapolitan Nights,
Selection
sung in English: O sole mio; Torna; Funiculì Funiculà  Studio
1, London, 20 December 1935, LIGHT
OPERA COMPANY, Orchestra:
WALTER GOEHR,  INA SOUEZ (sop), WEBSTER BOOTH (ten) Chorus
8 men

C2827
Tosti Medley Part 1: Parted; Marechiare; Vorrei morire; Part
2: L’ultima canzone; Ideale; Mattinata; Goodbye, Studio 1.
London 11 February 1936, LIGHT OPERA COMPANY Orchestra: WALTER
GOEHR,  INA SOUEZ (sop), WEBSTER BOOTH (ten) Chorus 8 men
(as La
Scala Singers)
Released1938?  

C2834
Spanish Medley, part 1 – Perjura; Lolita; La paloma;
part 2 – La partida, El relicario; Ay ay ay, Studio
1, London, 10 February 1936 (as Sevillian
Serenaders)
 LIGHT OPERA COMPANY (orchestra:
WALTER GOEHR) INA SOUEZ (sop), WEBSTER BOOTH (ten) Chorus 8 men.

Waltz
song (German)/Indian love call (Friml) Studio 3, London ,10
March 1936,
 ANNE ZIEGLER (sop)(p) Test recordings.

B8476I’m
all alone/May; I’ll
wait for you/
May,
Webster Booth, Conductor: George
Scott-Wood, Studio 2, London, 21 July 1936, released December 1936,
deleted July 1939.

September 1936
– Gramophone. Webster
Booth is a little off colour this month in two songs by May and
Feiner, I’m All Alone
and I’ll Wait for You,
both with orchestra on HMV B8476 (2S. 6d.), but this does not detract
from the fact that Mr Booth is probably the finest light tenor before
the public to-day. 

CARELESS
RAPTURE Selection (Ivor Novello)
Side
1.  
Why Is There Ever Goodbye?/Music In May,  
Side
2.
  The Manchuko/Finale – Music In May. 23
October 1936.

Released
in December 1936 and deleted in April 1941.

C2878
Memories
of Lehár, part
1: You
are my heart’s delight, Love’s melody, Smokeland, Gipsy
love; part
2:
Foreign Legion, Count of Luxembourg, Love’s melody  Studio
2, London, 23 October 1936, LIGHT
OPERA COMPANY,
soloists ERIKA STORM, WEBSTER BOOTH (ten), BBC Male Voice
Quartet (orchestra: WALTER GOEHR)

Gems
from Glamorous
Night
(Novello) Webster Booth, Muriel Barron (number
and date unknown)

My
star/Little Son (Bassett Silver),  Studio 1 London  10
February 1937 
 WEBSTER BOOTH (ten) (orchestra: CLIFFORD
GREENWOOD) Unissued.

I
was sent these recordings by Bassett Silver’s son.

You’re
mine (Sievier, de Rance) Studio 1, London, 10 February
1937
 WEBSTER BOOTH (ten)(orchestra WALTER GOEHR) Unissued.

Lakmé:
O fair vision (Delibes, trans Claude Aveling) London,3
March 1939 
WEBSTER BOOTH (ten), LONDON PHILHARMONIC
ORCHESTRA (WARWICK BRAITHWAITE) Unissued.

Soft
and pure fraught with love (Flotow, trans Claude Aveling) London,  3
March 1939, 
WEBSTER BOOTH (ten), LONDON PHILHARMONIC
ORCHESTRA:WARWICK BRAITHWAITE. Unissued.

Ave
Maria/Schubert,
Webster Booth (tenor) Ernest Lush (piano) 11 August 1939
Unpublished

DB 1877 MELODY OF THE WALTZ – Part 1: Waltzes by Gung’l; MELODY OF THE WALTZ; Part 2 : Waltzes by Gung’l, THE BOHEMIANS: light orchestra with Al Bollington at the Abbey Road studio Compton organ and Webster Booth, tenor. Released in October 1939 and deleted in February 1944.

B9030
Rosita (Kennedy/Carr)/When you wish upon a star (Harline &
Washington)(Pinocchio)  Studio 1, London, 28
February 1940, WEBSTER BOOTH (ten) (orchestra CHARLES PRENTICE)
Released April 1940.
Deleted February 1944.

Rose of England: Crest of the Wave (Novello)/Beauty’s Eyes (F Paolo Tosti; F J Weatherley) Studio 3, London,27 March, 1941.
WEBSTER BOOTH (ten)(piano GERALD MOORE) Unissued.

I
have Webster’s recording of Beauty’s
Eyes
by Tosti.

Merrie England: Come to Arcadie (German) Studio 3, London, 19 October 1941,

ANNE
ZIEGLER (sop), WEBSTER BOOTH (ten) (orchestra: DEBROY SOMERS)
Unissued.

July 1945 – War records Webster Booth, Sydney Burchall and Clarence Wright, sang in Songs Our Boys Sang and Marching Times.

These
records were not for sale to the general public, but sets were
available at most of the 5300 National Savings Centres throughout the
Country. Further information was available from the National
Savings Committee, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, SW1.

Oft
in the stilly night (trad; Tom Moore)/There is no death
(O’Hara; Johnstone) St Mark’s Church, Hamilton
Terrace, London , 11 January,1946 , WEBSTER
BOOTH (ten) (organ HERBERT DAWSON) Unissued. Webster also made
a recording of There is no Death for HMV which was issued.

B9502All Soul’s
Day/
Richard Strauss;
Memory Island/
Harrison/
Gerald Moore,
27 February
1946.
Released
October 1946.
Deleted
March 1952.
OEA10882/3

October 1946 Gramophone Webster Booth (tenor), Gerald Moore (piano): All Soul’s Day, opus No 8 (Bernhoff/Richard Strauss); Memory Island (Askew/Harrison) HMV B9502 (10”)

Richard Strauss’s
setting of All Soul’s Day
calls for singing of considerable emotional stress, and when Webster
Booth gets impassioned his voice loses the easy charm that is its
chief characteristic. His words are a model of distinctness and the
accompaniment of Gerald Moore is perfect, but the song is not a very
happy choice.

The singer is more at
home in Memory Island,
in which a sailor home from the sea for good, casts his memory back,
Masefield-wise, to the blue lagoons, coral islands and what not of
the rover. It is a nice song with, for its type, an unusually good
accompaniment.

Without
a song (V Youmans; W Rose and E Eluscu)/ My song goes round the world
(E Neubach; English version K J Kennedy, ?Hans May) London,8 January 1948, 
WEBSTER BOOTH (ten) Orchestra: ERIC
ROBINSON Unissued.

If
my songs were only winged (Reynaldo Hahn) London, 11 July
1950,  WEBSTER BOOTH (ten) Orchestra: MARK LUBBOCK Unissued.

Countess
Maritza: Komm Zigeuner (Kalman; McConnell)  London,20
December 1950,
WEBSTER BOOTH (ten) Orchestra: MARK LUBBOCK
Unissued.

Decca F9921 Sanctuary
of the Heart (Ketelby); He
Bought My Heart At Calvary (Hamblen)
with choir of St Stephen’s Church Dulwich, Fela Sowande (organ)
June 1952

Jean
Collen Updated: 10 September, 2019

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ANNE ON HER OWN (1996 – 2003)

[image error]Anne and her nephew, Mike Eastwood from Portsmouth (circa 1996)



[image error]1997 With Bonnie in Joan Tapper’s garden in Mold.



[image error]Anne and Maurice Buckley on the way to the RNCM for the awards concert and presentation 1997.



[image error]1997.



[image error]Anne and Bonnie 1997.

In 1997 Webster’s son Keith died at the age of 72, and in March of 1998 Anne’s dear little Yorkie Bonnie had to be put to sleep, aged 15. Anne was very lonely without her and although she vowed that she could never have another dog because she was too old, eventually she did take on Toby, another Yorkie.

[image error]With Jean Buckley on holiday in Harrogate in 1998.



[image error]Anne, Allun Davies and Joan Tapper after a lunch in 1998.



[image error]Anne and the new Yorkie, Toby in 1999. Sadly, Anne became too frail to care for him and he had to be placed in a new home a year or so later.




[image error]Anne and Joan after lunch at the Groes Inn in 1999.




[image error]Anne and Joan 2000



[image error]Anne and some fans celebrating her birthday (circa 2000)



[image error]Anne sends a birthday greeting to me (2001)



[image error]



[image error]Joan and Anne (2002)

Extract from my book Sweethearts of Song: A Personal Memoir of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth:

I phoned Anne on 3 August 2003. By this time her carer was coming in three times a day. Anne could still joke, “Once in the morning to see I am still alive, next at lunchtime, and then at 6pm to see I’m having supper and set for the night.”

We
spoke of the days in Johannesburg when I was young – and she much
younger – when everything had been happy and carefree. She could
not believe that I was nearly sixty as she always thought of me as a
young woman. It was forty years since I had first started playing for
Webster when she went away on the trip with Leslie Green.

She
had not seen Babs for over a year and did not know if she was alive
or dead. We decided that it was a pity that things had worked out so
badly with Babs, as it could have been a very happy arrangement.

She
remarked, “That’s life – or should I say – death?” I told
her that she still sounded wonderful, not like an old person at all,
with her beautiful speaking voice and her alert mind. I said that I
would phone again in a few months. We said, “God bless you,” to
one another, and her last words to me were, “Take care, darling.”

Five days after that phone call Anne had another dreadful fall. She was taken to the Llewellyn Ward at Llandudno Hospital, where Dudley Holmes found her in September. She was pleased to see Dudley, but he was deeply shocked at the change in her physical appearance. Dudley spoke to Sally Rayner, who told him that Anne could never return to the bungalow and that they were looking round to find a suitable frail care home for her. Although she would probably never be able to write to us again, we vowed that we would write to her regularly as long as she lived.

On
27 September I wrote a letter to Anne and enclosed a cutting about
Kathleen Ferrier on the fiftieth anniversary of her death, and sent
it care of Sally Rayner. On the morning of the 13 October there was a
message from Sally to tell me that Anne was unlikely to last for more
than a day or two.

I
phoned Sally immediately and she told me that she was going in to sit
with her that morning. Later that day Sally phoned again to let me
know that Anne had died peacefully. She had sat with her, and later
in the morning had been joined by Anne’s great-nephew, Michael,
Jinnie’s son, from Liverpool. They remained with her, holding her
hand until she passed away peacefully at 1.30 pm.

Sally
had taken my letter in that morning to read out bits of interest to
her – about Kathleen Ferrier, the records my actor friend Bill
Curry had given me, and Love’s
Philosophy,
the song she had sung at her Wigmore Hall recital all those years
ago. Sally said that some parts of the letter made her smile,
although she had not opened her eyes for a long time.

Anne’s
funeral took place on 21 October at 2.00 pm. The organist played
We’ll
Gather Lilacs
at the beginning and their recording of Now
is the Hour was
played at the end of the service as the coffin disappeared behind the
curtain. One of Sally’s friends, Stanley, a member of the Rhos
on Sea Savoyards,
sang their signature tune, Only
a Rose,
during the service.

About forty people, including Webster’s grandson, Nicholas Webster Booth, and the Meals on Wheels ladies, attended the service on a rainy afternoon. Most of the people present had some firm connection with Anne, although there were a few curious “hangers-on”. Forty people did not seem a large number considering who she was and how many friends she had made over the years.

A
week or so later I was surprised to hear from Anne’s solicitors in
Rhos on Sea that she had left me a legacy in her Will.

There
were obituaries for Anne in papers all over the world, but I was
saddened that little notice was paid to her death in South Africa,
where she and Webster had lived and worked for twenty-two years.
Errol sent an e-mail to the Afrikaans newspaper Die
Beeld
to inform them of Anne’s death but the paper made no mention of it.

I contacted the actress and broadcaster, Clare Marshall at Radio Today to let her know that Anne had died. She was the only broadcaster in South Africa to pay a fitting tribute to Anne on the radio. Later I sent her copies of a number of their CDs and she continued to play them frequently on her Sunday morning programme, Morning Star. Sadly, Radio Today has changed direction and Clare’s programme is no longer featured on that station.

Ironically, Anne’s friend Babs, who was two years older than her, had died two weeks before Anne, leaving all her money – nearly £1,000,000 – to various charities.

I had known, admired and loved Anne and Webster, and had been deeply influenced by them for forty-three years, and Anne’s death was the end of an era for me. But I am left with a few sad, but many happy memories of them, some of which I have shared in this personal memoir. If they had never been able to sing a note, I would have loved them for their warm, generous and kind hearts, and as long as I live they will never be forgotten.

Jean Collen 6 June 2019

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[image error]Sweethearts of Song: A Personal Memoir of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth