Jean Collen's Blog, page 12

ANNE ZIEGLER ON HER OWN (1990 – 1995)

After I met Webster and Anne again in 1973 we kept in touch
with each other. After Webster’s death, Anne began writing to
me regularly and when I told her that I planned to visit the UK
in 1990 she asked me to visit her for a few days in Penrhyn
Bay. We spent a very happy time together and we wrote to one
another and spoke on the telephone until shortly before her
death.

The fifty year copyright on some of Webster’s recordings had come to an end, so a CD was soon to be issued under the Flapper label, entitled Moonlight and You.

[image error]As Anne didn’t have a CD player – and I had only bought one when this CD came out, I made a tape of the recordings to take to Wales when I visited her.



[image error]Jean Buckley and Anne in Penrhyn Bay, about to set out to attend the RNCM award concert in Manchester.




[image error]April 1990 – the productions in which Peter and Jackie Firmani were featured, including Memories of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth.

Anne turned 80 in June but did not want a party on that day as her birthday fell on the day after the first anniversary of Webster’s death. Instead, her friend Joan Tapper arranged for a late birthday picnic in the grounds of Erddig Hall.

[image error]Jean Buckley and Anne at Erdigg.




[image error]Anne’s birthday cake at Erddig Hall – 14 August 1990.



[image error]Cutting the cake.



[image error]Champagne at Erddig. A photo appeared in the local paper.



[image error]Anne with Joan Tapper (right) and a friend (left), not to mention Bonnie, Anne’s tiny Yorkie.



[image error]The picnic at Erddig for Anne’s late birthday.

After Webster’s death, Anne and I had written to one another regularly and with increasing frequency. The rift between us which had arisen during the nineteen-sixties had been gradually healed and we never ever discussed the reasons for it. When I told Anne of my plans to visit the UK she immediately suggested that I should visit her in Penrhyn Bay. Despite my sadness at the death of my father, I looked forward to the trip. It would be wonderful to see Anne once again.

On a day in mid-October I
arrived at the bungalow at the appointed time to find Anne already in
the driveway waiting for me. We greeted one another with pleasure.
She was as beautiful as ever, but she appeared more delicate and
fragile than I remembered her from seventeen years before.

The house was small but very comfortable with some of the lovely pieces of furniture and ornaments, remnants of the ”good old days”, together with the familiar pictures, and the cherished certificate from the Victory Royal Command Performance of 1945, signed by King George VI, in pride of place on the wall above the upright piano. The Chappell grand piano had been left behind in South Africa.

Anne
said, “Sit yourself down”, the way Webster used to. Bonnie was a
sweet little dog who insisted on sitting on my lap, despite her bad
leg, to be fed titbits of scones, fruit cake and chocolate cake
provided by Anne’s friends for our first tea together.

Anne
was kind and friendly. I soon felt as though I had seen her last only
the week before. After tea and a preliminary chat she took me round
to the hotel to introduce me to Mrs Hall, the proprietor of the
Orotava, and to see my pleasant room, which was decorated with a
pretty floral bedspread and matching curtains, with a view over the
grey Irish Sea.

[image error]The Orotava Hotel, round the corner from Anne’s bungalow.

Before
Anne left me to bathe and prepare for our evening ahead, she remarked
that she could hardly believe I was there and that we were going to
spend some time together at last.

“The
years are drawing in so quickly now. We’ll probably never have a time
together like this again,” she told me before she left me.

[image error]The bungalow, Penrhyn Bay.



[image error]We spent a wonderful few days together. While I was there I took a few photos of Anne and she took a few photos of me. Bonnie was in all the photos! I shall write a shortened version of my visit taken from my book and post it in the blog.





[image error]On Sunday we had lunch in the Queen’s Head.

Before I had gone to the UK I had been feeling rather depressed after my father’s death. My stay with Anne had built up my self-confidence as she had encouraged me to do more with my musical and academic gifts. I asked her whether she would update the testimonials she and Webster had given me when I went to the UK in the mid-sixties. She agreed at once, and not long after I returned to South Africa I received the testimonial she had written for me. I will always treasure it, just as I will always treasure the hundreds of letters she and Webster wrote to me over the years.

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[image error]3 January 1991.



[image error]The awards continued for some time. Unfortunately, Esso withdrew its sponsorship in the mid-nineties and the last award in Webster’s name was made in 2002. Anne’s award continued for some time although it was no longer the lavish presentation it had been. It too was discontinued a few years ago. Read more about the awards at: WEBSTER BOOTH/ANNE ZIEGLER AWARDS



[image error]1991 birthday party at Joan Tapper’s home in Mold. Anne with Allun Davies (centre) and Joan Tapper (right) 22 June 1991



[image error]Allun Davies and Anne – birthday lunch for Anne’s 81st birthday.




[image error]Babs Wilson-Hill and Anne at Jean Buckley’s house (circa early nineties)




[image error]16 October 1991. Anne on The Seven Ages (BBC Radio 2)



[image error]December 1993 – An article about Anne in Evergreen.



[image error]Anne kindly sent me a copy of this cassette.



[image error]Anne, Joan, Jean and her husband Maurice.

In 1994 Anne had some pleasure when a BBC team came to the bungalow to record her part of The Webster Booth Story, a radio tribute to Webster on the tenth anniversary of his death. She told me that the bookof cuttings I had presented to her in 1990 had been a great help in jogging her memory for the interview. She became friendly with the script writer, Stephen Pattinson and his father, as well as Robin Gregory, the narrator, and Tony Wills, the producer. The programme was broadcast on 26 June 1994 on Radio Two, and not long afterwards Anne sent me a recording of the programme.

[image error]This programme was presented 10 years after Webster’s death. It is an excellent programme. I was pleased to get to know the presenter, Robin Gregory and the writer, Stephen Pattinson some years later.



[image error]Circa 1995. Anne accompanied Jean when she sang at a concert in Llandudno. Anne is on the right, Jean extreme left.



[image error]Maurice, Jean and Anne – on holiday together (mid-nineties).


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ANNE ZIEGLER ON HER OWN (1985 – 1989)

Anne lived on alone in the bungalow in Penrhyn Bay, North Wales for another 19 years until her own death in October of 2003. Obituary notices appeared in the Star and Rand Daily Mail, Johannesburg shortly after Webster’s death – I had not included these previously, so will do so now. The Rand Daily Mail’s obituary contained a few errors, like We’ll Gather VIOLETS, and several wrong dates!

[image error]25 June 1984 Rand Daily Mail.

Anne was still teaching a few pupils and had been booked to play the Fairy Godmother in Jack and the Beanstalk in Bromley at the end of the year. She decided to have a break in South Africa before she was due to go into the pantomime. It would do her good to get away from Penrhyn Bay, which was full of reminders of Webster’s illness and death. (Extract from my book: Sweethearts of Song: A Personal Memoir of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth (2006) (All additional information from the same book.)

[image error]Going to South Africa – September 1985.



[image error]Visiting Doris Boulton in South Africa.

Jean
Buckley, their fan and friend of forty-two years, who had been very
kind and supportive during Webster’s last illness, was working to
raise money for the Webster
Booth Memorial Fund
in order to award a scholarship to a tenor at the Royal Northern
College of Music in Manchester.

[image error]Webster, Jean Buckley and Anne visiting the Buckleys shortly after the Booths had returned to the UK in 1978.



[image error]Anne and Bonnie 1985 (Photo by fan and friend: Pamela Davies)



[image error]This message from Jean Buckley appeared in The Stage and Opera in September 1985.

Anne went to Bromley in November to play the Fairy Godmother in Jack and the Beanstalk. Contrary to what had been agreed with her agent, she discovered that she was to play a minimal part in the show. She had been promised a solo of her own choice, but when she arrived all that was required of her was thirty-six lines of dialogue and four bars of Only a Rose with “another character”. She was hurt and annoyed. (Extract from my book)

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[image error]Bromley Pantomime. December 1985.

That was Anne’s last venture on to the stage. Although she was offered a decent part in panto at Plymouth the following year to make up for the poor one in Bromley, and was asked to take the part of an elderly actress who had once been a star of Operetta in Stephen Sondheim’s West End production of Follies, she turned both offers down. ( I believe Adele Leigh took the part Anne had been offered. I wonder if Adele Leigh knew that she had not been the first choice for the role!)

In April 1986 she received an Award from the Queen for services to music. This award took the form of a pension from the Civil List. It was made in both their names and Anne was saddened that Webster had not lived long enough to enjoy the honour and see the monetary benefit of it.

After her bad experience in Bromley, Anne remarked, “Theatre as I knew it doesn’t exist any longer and now that I’ve had the award, I don’t need to work.”

On
9 June 1986 Jean Buckley was able to take a cheque for £3250.00 to
the RNCM, and on 10 December Anne presented an interim award of £500
for that year. The Duchess of Kent, the President of the College,
presented the Diplomas to graduating students at the same ceremony.

[image error]Alan Keith had attended Webster’s memorial service in 1984 and was a great admirer of Anne and Webster.



[image error]New Year’s party (circa 1986) with Penrhyn Bay neighbours – Les and Peggy Williams, Anne, ?, Jean and Maurice Buckley at the Buckley home.



[image error]Anne with her friend and fan, Joan Tapper (from Mold) and Jean and Maurice Buckley.





[image error]Anne with tenor, Allun Davies (1987) after one of his concerts.



[image error]Jean, Anne and Babs with their pets outside Jean’s house in Rhos on Sea. (late 1980s)




[image error]14 October 1987 It’s a Funny Business.



[image error]January 1989 – Peter Firmani doing a tour of Memories of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth.




[image error]Anne, Jean and Joan Tapper at Joan Tapper’s home to celebrate Anne’s birthday (circa 1989).

Jean Collen 28 May 2019.

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BACK HOME AGAIN (1980 – 1984)

The early 1980s were still busy years for the Booths. They appeared in several TV talk shows. The studio audiences were made up of many of their old fans who were delighted to see their favourites still looking very glamorous indeed. Anne turned 70 in 1980, while Webster was 78. It looked as though they were as much in love then as the day they married in 1938. In late 1981 Webster’s health began to fail. He had to wait until January before he could have surgery done at the Royal Liverpool Hospital on 15 January 1982. He was not looking forward to spending his eightieth birthday in hospital.

[image error]At home. 1980.



[image error]10 February 1980 – with Jess Yates and his girlfriend, Katie Brooks.



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[image error]May 1980



[image error]3 to 10 May 1980. 35th anniversary of Victory in Europe.



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[image error]This was a popular presentation which Anne and Webster presented around the country. Each took a turn to tell their individual life story and sang a few songs together to round the evening off.



[image error]19 September 1980 – Anne and Webster had coached Peter and Jackie while they were appearing in a summer show in Llandudno.



[image error]29 January 1981 on the Russell Harty show. Webster had just had his 78th birthday a week earlier.



[image error]Some of the elderly fans in the studio audience.




[image error]5 March 1981 – another appearance on Russell Harty’s TV show.



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[image error]29 May 1981. Royal Variety Performance, Blackpool.



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[image error]After the performance. Webster can be seen in the far left of the photo. When they were presented to Prince Charles he asked whether they were married!




[image error]13 August 1981. The Time of Your Life.



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[image error]At the twenty-fifth wedding anniversary party for Jean and Maurice Buckley – 1981. I used this photo for the cover of my book, Sweethearts of Song.



[image error]Webster at the Buckley’s Silver Anniversary party, North Wales.



[image error]September 1981



[image error]1983 Border Television



[image error]Only a Rose TV interview 1983 Penrhyn Bay and Llandudno.



[image error]1983 Only a Rose TV interview



[image error]With the Firmanis – Only a Rose TV interview 1983.



[image error]Visiting the Buckleys. 1983.



[image error]25 June 1984. Obituary. Times



[image error]28 June 1984 The Stage.



[image error]21 July 1984 – Only a Rose repeated.



[image error]Memorial Service. St Paul’s Covent Garden.




[image error]30 October 1984 – Memorial Service, St Paul’s -Anne and Evelyn Laye.



[image error] 30 October 1984 – Memorial Service, St Paul’s -Anne and Evelyn Laye.

Jean Collen 27 May 2019.

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BACK HOME AGAIN (1978 – 1979)

1978 and 1979 were good years for the Booths just after they returned to the UK. Many of their fans from the pinnacle of their careers were still alive and only too happy to attend concerts presented by the couple. After a number of quiet years in Knysna and Somerset West they were now in great demand once again.

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[image error]1978



[image error]Portraits for the “third” career – as Anne termed their return to the UK.



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[image error]15 August 1978 – In North Wales with Penny.



[image error]15 August 1978 – with Penny.



[image error]1978 – On TV with Jess Yates.



[image error]On TV with Jess Yates 1978 It’s a Grand Night for Singing.



[image error] In the dressing room preparing for a TV appearance 1978.




[image error]Afternoon 7 December 1978 – Interview on Thames TV



[image error]21 December 1978 Looks Familiar on Thames TV with Denis Norden and Arthur Askey.



[image error]1 March 1979 Musical Memories of the Theatre (Thursdays) Arcadia Theatre, Llandudno.



[image error]23 May 1979 Radio BBC Radio 4



[image error]June 1979



[image error]Llandudno June 1979



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[image error]Llandudno Lunch.



[image error]29 August 1979 – Jess Yates with BBC Wales’ It’s a Grand Night for Singing.



[image error]16 August 1979 New Brighton’s Floral Pavilion




[image error]11 November 1979 Tameside Theatre, Ashton



[image error]Odeon Twickenham



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[image error]December 1979 Lovers Come Back.



[image error]At the BBC for a broadcast of “Lovers Come Back” – December 1979.




[image error]21 December 1979


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BOOTHS IN SOUTH AFRICA (1970 – 1976)

[image error]22 February 1970 Letter from Webster to Mabel Perkin in the UK.

6 May 1970 Anne and Webster appear on BBC2 in an interview with Sue MacGregor on Women’s Hour.

[image error]April 1970



[image error]27 April 1970



[image error]27 April 1970 (cintinued)



[image error]Poor photo accompanying the interview.

26 June 1970 I get married to Errol Collen at St James’ Presbyterian Church, Mars Street Malvern.

[image error]Jean and Errol with the Rev Nicol Binnie




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[image error]24 August 1972 – Durban.




[image error]24 August 1972 – Durban.



[image error]24 August 1972 – Durban.



[image error]Birthday dinner for Fred Cropper (He and his daughter Freda lived on the top floor of the Booth’s house in Knysna, 1972)



[image error]Imperial Hotel, Knysna



[image error]Rent receipt book R75 per month for top flat at 18 Graham Street.



[image error]Dick Whittington for the Port Elizabeth Musical and Dramatic Society in Port Elizabeth 7 December 1972



[image error]Port Elizabeth 5 November 1972 – Thirty-fourth wedding anniversary.



[image error]March 1973. Mikado in East London. Shirley Smith interviews Webster.



[image error]4 to 14 April 1973. The Mikado at Guild Theatre, East London.



[image error]Webster directing the Mikado; Jean Fowler conducting. March, April 1973.



[image error]Webster in the wings.



[image error]Webster – close-up




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[image error]Webster stayed at the King’s Hotel. I wrote the letter (right) to the Daily Dispatch under the pseudonym of J. McIntyre.



[image error]Scene from the Mikado – Bernie Lee, Jimmy Nicholas, Colin Carney, Pamela Emslie



[image error]I visit Webster in Knysna in May 1973.



[image error]Postcard from Anne to Freda Boyce and Fred Cropper, 2 May 1973.



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[image error]Anne visits Jean Buckley during her holiday in the UK.




[image error]Webster and I go to the Lookout Steak House in Plett while I am in Knysna.



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[image error]Beacon Island, Plett.



[image error]18 Graham Street, Knysna.



[image error]From Webster to me.



[image error]Christmas card from the Booths. We returned from East London to Johannesburg. My baby, Michael was born on 12 March 1974.



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[image error]Anne in the garden of the house in Somerset West (photo: Dudley Holmes)



[image error]October 1975 – Farewell Performance in Somerset West.



[image error]Anne and Webster sing “We’ll Gather Lilacs” at the British Ambassador’s residence to the accompaniment of Brian Kay after the King’s Singers’ Concert in Cape Town – 1976 or 1977 – shortly before they returned to the UK.


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BOOTHS IN SOUTH AFRICA (1964 – 1969)

1964 was a very sad year as my dear friend Ruth Ormond died in Cape Town at the age of 19. I managed to pass the LTCL singing exam and Webster and Anne starred in Noel Coward’s Tonight at 8.30 in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth in June and July. I continued accompanying for Webster when he returned from PE.

[image error]10 April 1964 The New Moon at The Springs Operatic Society. Anne directs the show.



[image error]29 March 1964 The Crucifixion.



[image error]March/April – accompanying for the Booth’s pupils at the National Eisteddfod. – “G” rather than “J” Campbell!



[image error]May 1964, My best friend, Ruth Ormond died suddenly in Cape Town. I was heart-broken.



[image error]29 June 1964 Cape Town, The play went to other cities in the province.



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[image error]8 July 1964 from Sea Point, Cape Town.



[image error]Anne and Webster stayed at the Grand Hotel in Port Elizabeth when they were appearing in Tonight at 8.30.




[image error]10 July 1964 from Port Elizabeth. I had managed to pass my Licentiate singing exam!



[image error]19 September 1964 Pietermaritzburg. The Creation.



[image error]1 February 1965 – Reference for Kingsmead College.



[image error]A photo from an article written in 1965. Anne, Webster and Lemon. I started teaching at Kingsmead College, Rosebank but continued with my singing lessons and taught in their studio every Wednesday.



[image error]Another photo from the 1965 article.



[image error]Webster played the small part of British Ambassador in King Hendrik.



[image error]The British Ambassador – complete with monocle. On the night he was filming this small scene I was in Nabucco. Anne attended the performance with Dudley Holmes’ mother and a friend. They returned to Anne’s for drinks after the show. I was dropped off at Kingsmead College. I decided to go to the UK after that incident.





[image error]Anne directed The Merry Widow in Bloemfontein. I think this was her leading lady. (circa October 1965) I went to the UK in January of 1966.




[image error]15 January 1966 I went to the UK with this reference.



[image error]Merry Widow, Irene 1966. Doris Boulton directed the production and played the leading role. Anne and Webster were the guests of honour at the opening night.



[image error]Doris Boulton as the Merry Widow in Irené production.



[image error]2 October 1966 Johannesburg 80th birthday concert.



[image error]2 October 1966 Programme for concert.



[image error]10 October 1966 Artice about forthcoming productions – with Lemon and Silva.



[image error]Opened on 22 October 1966 – it was not a success.



[image error]Webster as the Circus Barker in The Bartered Bride – a non-singing role.



[image error]14 December 1966.



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[image error]7 April 1967 in Parktown North



[image error]April 1967 SABC programmes. Webster had told me about them in one of the last letters I received from him before he went to Knysna.



[image error]May 1967.



[image error]2 September 1967. The Rococo Canada LP briefly reviewed!



[image error]15 September 1967. The first concert in Knysna 15 September 1967.



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11 July 1968



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[image error]Knysna 1967/68




[image error]24 August 1968 I found this edition of the paper in the shop on the SA Oranje when I was returning to South Africa from the UK in August 1968. It was surprising to see that they were trying to sell their house not very long after they had settled in Knysna.



[image error]Excerpts from Messiah and Elijah 1969.



[image error]Elijah (1969)




[image error]1969 Knysna



[image error]Ena van den Vyver and Anne – two principal boys in the Knysna Pantomime!




[image error]Anne and Webster in Knysna.

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BOOTHS IN SOUTH AFRICA (1962 – 1963)

[image error]Anne and Webster 29 January 1962 in Lower Houghton.



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[image error]Gilbert and Sullivan programme 7 January 1962 SABC Bulletin



[image error]The Andersonville Trial February 1962.



[image error]February 1962. The Andersonville Trial. Webster played a very small part indeed!



[image error]9 March 1962



[image error]Hymn competition winners. March 1962



[image error]17 March 1962 Drawing Room on the English Service of the SABC.



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17 March 1962 Drawing Room on the English Service of the SABC. Article by Webster in the SABC Bulletin.



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17 March 1962 Drawing Room on the English Service of the SABC.



[image error]Gary Allighan, March 1962




[image error]Showing some antiques to the press. 1962.



[image error]Anne choosing wallpaper – 1962.



[image error]April 1962 Olivet to Calvary, St George’s Presbyterian Church, Noord Street.



[image error]4 May 1962 The Vagabond King



[image error]June 1962. Music for Romance.




[image error]Arriving in Bulawayo, July 1962. He was ill.




[image error]July 1962 Bulawayo Eisteddfod



[image error]21 July 1962 Bulawayo



[image error]July 1962 Bulawayo

July 1962 –
Leslie Green broadcasts from the UK.

Leslie Green was in the UK on holiday and Anne and I listened to Tea with Mr Green (broadcast from the UK) when she was in the studio on her own and Webster was very ill. By this time Paddy O’Byrne was reading Webster’s scripts on the Gilbert and Sullivan programme as he was too ill and weak to record the programmes. He visited Anne’s great friend, Babs Wilson Hill and did a broadcast from her home. He said she had the most beautiful garden in England.

Webster was very ill indeed when he returned from Rhodesia and had to spend some time in the Fever Hospital in Johannesburg.

[image error]Fever Hospital.

August 1962 – Music for Romance. Anne presented a series of programmes of recordings and reminisces about her life and career in England. It received adverse criticism from various radio critics and only ran until December.

[image error]August 1962 – Anne Ziegler



[image error]28 August 1962 Round the Christian Year, St Mark’s, Yeoville.



[image error]28 August 1962 St Mark’s Yeoville, Round the Christian Year.



[image error]At the wedding of Margaret Inglis and Robert Langford in the garden of Petrina Fry (pictured) and her husband, Brian Brooke. October 1962

October 1962 – The
Pirates of Penzance.
Bloemfontein .
Webster directed this production. As a gimmick, he had a chimpanzee
to accompany the pirates on stage, but the chimpanzee was not without
problems. She disgraced herself during Webster’s opening night
speech. He quipped, “You naughty girl. I won’t take you out in a
hurry again.”

[image error]August 1962 – Webster Booth




[image error]Lord Oom Piet. Guest artists, eventually furious to have their singing disrupted by the antics of Jamie Uys. I always thought that was a terrible film and couldn’t understand why Anne and Webster had any part of it.



[image error]November 1962 Lord Oom Piet.



[image error]November 1962. Elijah.

November 1962 – Port Elizabeth Oratorio Festival. Elijah and Messiah, Webster, Monica Hunter, Joyce Scotcher, and Graham Burns, conducted by Robert Selley. The complete oratorios were broadcast locally in the Eastern Cape as usual. Later, excerpts were broadcast nationally but, for some unexplained reason, none of Webster’s solos were used in the national broadcast. Two older members of the SABC choir (Gill and Iris) took delight in cattily telling Ruth and me that it was because Webster’s singing was not up to standard and that was why he was not included in the broadcast. That was the last year that Webster sang at the PE Oratorio Festival.

1963

[image error]Great Voices – January 1963.



[image error]15 January 1963 At Alexander Theatre, Braamfontein



[image error]Mr and Mrs Fordyce and their stage family 15 January 1963.



[image error]Mrs Puffin (Jane Fenn) and Mr Fordyce (Webster) January 1963



[image error]Anne holds a tea party in Goodnight Mrs Puffin.



[image error]Photo in the programme of Goodnight Mrs Puffin.



[image error]Lewis Sowden crit.



[image error]Oliver Walker crit.



[image error]Dora Sowden’s crit?



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[image error]7 January 1963 Great Voices




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Accompanying for Webster. Shortly after Goodnight Mrs Puffin ended its run at the Alexander Theatre my father heard a recording I had made of myself singing Father of Heav’n from Judas Maccabeus on my recently-acquired reel-to-reel tape recorder. He passed several disparaging remarks about the quality of my singing and I was feeling extremely despondent when I went for my lesson. Anne and Webster were kind and sympathetic when I told them what he had said.

“My
family never praised me for my singing either,” Webster growled.
“If it had been up to them I would never have become a singer.
Bring the recording along next time and let’s see what it’s
like.”

They listened in silence the following week – perhaps my father had been right and it was awful – but afterwards, Anne asked rather sharply as to who my accompanist had been. They were surprised when I admitted to accompanying myself.

Nothing more was said. In the fullness of time, I recovered from the hurt my father’s criticism had caused me and I plodded on regardless. A few weeks later Anne phoned my mother to ask whether I’d like to play for Webster in the studio for a few weeks in April as she was going on a tour round the country with Leslie Green, the broadcaster of Tea With Mr Green fame on Springbok Radio, a great friend of theirs.

I have told about this wonderful period of my life in my book, Sweethearts of Song. Indeed, the whole pattern of my life changed from that time on. Webster has been dead for many years now but he will always remain one of the strongest influences of my life and I will always remember him with love.

[image error]Accompanying for Webster (April 1963)



[image error]Anne sent me a postcard when I was playing for Webster and she was away on holiday with Leslie Green.



[image error]Anne advertising a facial cream for “mature” women! I’m sure most mature women would have been delighted to look as perfect as Anne did at the age of 53!




[image error]Colonel Fairfax in The Yeomen of the Guard. 6 June 1963.



[image error]The Yeomen of the Guard.



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[image error]6 June 1963 various cuttings including crits for The Yeomen of the Guard at the Alexander.



[image error]Kimberley Jim. Webster plays a bit part – the Inn Keeper – in that silly film. 1963,



[image error]9 August 1963 for the opening night of The Sound of Music.




[image error]September 1963 Jon Sylvester, radio critic The Star



[image error]A nasty comment – probably from “Jon Sylvester” (the pseudonym for the Star’s radio critic, about Webster’s programme.



[image error]I was Pooh Bah in this instance. I met Webster in the street one day and he asked me if I had written this note to beastly “Jon Sylvester”. I asked him how he knew that, and he said I was the only person in Johannesburg who could have done so!




[image error]They presented a children’s programme on the SABC, produced by Kathleen Davydd. At the same time they made an LP called The Nursery School Sing-along with the children from Nazareth House, conducted by my piano teacher, Sylvia Sullivan, and Heinz Alexander accompanying them.




[image error]21 September 1963 at Pietermaritzburg City Hall.



[image error]Michaelhouse, Balgowan.



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[image error]Pietermaritzburg City Hall.



[image error]October 1963 – Ballads Old and New.



[image error]November 1963. Fauré Requiem.



[image error]Saturday Night at the Palace on the radio in November 1963, Anne, Webster, Jeanette James and Bruce Anderson.


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BOOTHS IN SOUTH AFRICA – (1960 – 1961)

3 February 1960 –
Mabel Fenney

When I was in my
final year at Jeppe High
School for Girls in
1960, the permanent music mistress, Miss Diane Heller, went on long
leave, and Mrs Mabel Fenney took her place for a term. Mabel was born
Mabel Greenwood on Shakespeare’s birthday in Lytham St Anne’s,
Lancashire in 1919. Her mother was a true contralto and had sung in
several professional productions. The Greenwoods moved to East London
in the Eastern Cape when Mabel was quite young.

She showed
singing talent from an early age and did her initial singing diplomas
in East London, trained by a gentleman she referred to as “Pop
Lee”, and sang and acted in many local musicals, plays and
recitals. Her favourite role was as Elsie Maynard in The
Yeomen of the Guard. She
married fellow Lancastrian, Eric Fenney, and instead of pursuing a
singing career, she helped him run his plumbing business in East
London. 

 When the
Dramatic Society of East London invited Webster Booth and Anne
Ziegler to star in the 1958 production of Merrie
England,
she and Eric stood surety for their salaries.  It was
in this production where she first met them, playing their roles of
Bessie Throckmorton and Sir Walter Raleigh. She played the part of
Jill-All-Alone in the production. The following year the society put
on Waltz
Time,
again with Anne and Webster in the leading roles, but, for some
reason, she did not take part in this production. Instead she went to
Johannesburg to have lessons with Anne and Webster in preparation for
several advanced diploma singing examinations. By the time she
arrived at Jeppe High School for Girls she had already won the
University of South Africa’s overseas teaching bursary and was due
to leave for Berlin to study at the Hochschule there
for two years.

We schoolgirls looked
on Mabel as a very glamorous figure in comparison with some of our
staid academic teachers. She was lively and enthusiastic and took us
on various outings to the opera.

 Towards the end of her term at Jeppe, Mabel gave a memorable recital in the school hall one afternoon. The event had not been widely publicised, so there were not many people present, but I was there with singing school friends, Margaret Plevin (née Masterton) and Valerie Vogt (née Figgins). We were impressed by her performance. The Booths had decided that she was a mezzo soprano rather than soprano, so she had sung a mezzo repertoire for her diploma exams. I will always remember her singing of the Habanera and Seguidilla from Carmen.

At the end of one of the arias she threw a rose coquettishly to her schoolgirl audience. We were completely captivated. Someone asked me recently whether I went to study with Anne and Webster because of their duet singing, but it had nothing to do with that at all. It was entirely due to Mabel Fenney that decided me to study singing with Anne and Webster and to make music my career.

[image error]Mabel Fenney (later Perkin)





[image error]February 1960.



[image error]2 March 1960. Webster’s reference for Mabel.

27, 28 May 1960 –
Grand
Variety Show,
Methodist
Church Hall, Roberts Avenue, Kensington. Anne and Webster and other
artistes. Anne and Webster sang just before the interval.

I (aged sixteen)
asked them for their autographs before they left, the only one to do
so.

[image error]27 May 1960.



[image error]Variety Concert at Methodist Church, Roberts Avenue, Kensington 1960.



[image error]Kensington Methodist Church – as it is today.



[image error]Anne appears in various adverts!

October 1960 – A Country Girl. Springs Civic Theatre. Anne produced this show for the Springs Operatic Society.

1960 – Mikado,
Bloemfontein.
I am not sure whether Webster sang in it, directed it, or both.

[image error]Webster in Bloemfontein to do The Mikado.

1, 2, December 3
1960
– Christmas
Capers,
Civic
Theatre, Bloemfontein. Anne and Webster and local artistes in a
variety show presented by Rotary Club.

December, 1960 –
The
Christmas Oratorio,
Kimberley. Webster sang the tenor solos, although he was not as fond
of Bach as he was of Handel.

8 December 1960 – I had an interview with Anne Ziegler at the studio on the eighth floor of Polliack’s Corner, Pritchard Street and started lessons with Anne and Webster two weeks later. Webster was singing at the Port Elizabeth Oratorio when I had my audition. Anne was being interviewed by a newspaper reporter when I went for my first lesson. Here is the photo taken at that interview.

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[image error]Lock Up Your Daughters – December 1960. Anne plays Mrs Squeezum!



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[image error]Anne and Valerie Miller in Lock Up Your Daughters. The play was not a success.





[image error]March 1961 – advertising Skol Beer.

April 1961 SABC
Bulletin – Wednesday at 8.30 pm. Webster
Booth, who presents a programme of Opera, Operetta and Oratorio at
8.30 on Wednesday nights, began singing at the age of seven. That
makes his career 52 years “and I hope it goes on a little further,
but not too long,” he told announcer Robert Kirby in an interview.

This is how the
conversation continued:

If you started singing when you were seven, how did you manage to fit in your education? – Well, I began in Lincoln Cathedral as a choir boy and was educated at the cathedral school. This was run by the Dean and Chapter. That took me up to the Oxford and Cambridge junior examination which was roughly equivalent to our Junior Certificate. After that I had to stop musical training as my voice was breaking and completed my schooling at a commercial school studying accountancy.

[image error]Broaadcasting at the SABC.

I know your fields
of endeavour have been in Opera, Oratorio and Operetta. Do you have
any preferences among these three?
– Oratorio, definitely!

Why?
– I suppose it was my first love and I certainly get much more
satisfaction from singing in Oratorio, musically that is; I am trying
to say that to do it properly and to do it well you have to work at
it so hard that the feeling of achievement is that much greater. With
Opera and Operetta one has stage clothing, and scenery and movement
to register to an audience, whereas in Oratorio one has nothing
except one’s own interpretation as a medium of reaching the
audience.

Do you prefer
working “live” with an audience, recording or broadcasting?
– I certainly prefer working without an audience. In front of one
that is. Usually in a broadcast one has a much larger audience but
because they are unseen one can concentrate much more, also because
of their quantity it makes me want to give much more than I would on
a stage. If it would be possible to sing before an audience of
perhaps fifty thousand people it would be much more awe-inspiring
than singing to them via a microphone. I can always have a broadcast
recorded and that is invaluable to me as I am my own greatest critic.
One can always learn from one’s mistakes.

Do you suffer from
stage fright?
– Yes. The older I get the worse I get. I think the reason being
that one always wants to be that one per cent better than the last
time. The suffering comes from the fear of being one per cent worse.
Stage fright should only happen before a performance. To go on being
frightened during the performance is fatal.

Do you find that
one person alone in an audience can affect you?
– Very much so. Someone who is restive will invariably catch your
eye and distract you. None of us are perfect and if one knows the
position in the audience of a somewhat severe critic one is apt to
wonder what he or she may be thinking and this can be most
disturbing.

How do you react
to severe criticism? –
If you mean destructive criticism I am like anyone else. I react very
unfavourably. But if it is constructive criticism then I try to
swallow my pride and read into the criticism something from which I
should benefit.

What was the worst critique you ever had? – I deliberately forget the bad ones.
The best?
– The finest write up I ever received, from my point of view, was
for a show that only ran for two and a half weeks. “Here is the
answer to a producer’s prayer.’

Which would you
call the most fulfilling moment of your career?
– The first night of the 1938 Covent Garden Festival of Opera. I
sang the tenor role in Rosenkavelier
with Erich Kleiber conducting and Lotte Lehmann as the soprano lead.
To see a pre-war full house at Covent Garden from the stage with
evening dress and tiaras is a sight one could never forget.

Which role was your favourite? – Definitely Francois Villon in The Vagabond King. It has everything an artist could wish for. Comedy, romance, glorious costumes, pathos and good solid music to sing.

Are you satisfied with what you have achieved? – Yes. If I had my life over again I doubt whether I would change much of it. I have been very lucky. I was given a voice, a figure, and my marriage with Anne Ziegler – something which has been successful and happy, and I have adopted what I think to be about the finest country in the world.

[image error]Webster’s programme is extended and is now called On Wings of Song, with the duet by Anne and Webster as the introductory music.



[image error]1 May 1961 Opening night of La Traviata at Empire Theatre.



[image error]Old Folks’ concert Durban May 1961

May/June 1961 – The Desert Song, Springs Civic Theatre –
Anne directed this
show for the Springs Operatic Society. She
vowed she would never produce another show for them, but she did!

June 1961. Webster
adjudicated at the Salisbury eisteddfod.

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[image error]5 July 1961 – Concert in Salisbury.

5 July 1961 – Concert.8.15 pm Allan Wilson School, Beit Hall, Salisbury, Rhodesia – Anne and Webster appeared in a concert after Webster had adjudicated at the Vocal Festival for the Rhodesia Institute of Allied Arts.

17 July 1961 –
Advert for pupils.

[image error]Advert for pupils. 17 July 1961 – Star.





[image error]August/September 1961. Mabel Fenney back in SA for holiday.



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5 September to
October 30 1961 –The
Amorous Prawn,Alexander
Theatre (previously the Reps Theatre); National Theatre, Pretoria, 31
October to November 12; Alhambra Theatre, Durban, November.

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

[image error]Anne and Leslie Green Opening night of The Amorous Prawn 1961



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[image error]A reference for my first job in the bank! 6 October 1961.

November 1961 – The Stage.
Johannesburg Theatre by Evelyn Leveson. The evening attraction at the
Alexander – acclaimed with delight by both critics and public – was
The Amorous Prawn,
directed by Victor Melleney and starring Joan Blake, one of our most
versatile actresses, who, for the past two years, has been touring
the country in Adam Leslie’s witty intimate revue Two’s
Company.

Excellent notices were also received by
Webster Booth who, with his wife Anne Ziegler, has been living here
for the past five years. As the Prawn,
Mr Booth is appearing on the South African stage in his first
non-singing role.

[image error]1 November 1961 (from my teenage diary)



[image error]1 November 1961 (from diary)



[image error]1 November 1961 (diary)



[image error]November 1961 Durban.



[image error]Anne as Mrs Siddons 31 October 1961.



[image error]1 November 1961 from diary – the story continues in the diary itself (1961)



[image error]27 November 1961 Dream of Gerontius.


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BOOTHS IN SOUTH AFRICA (1958 – 1959)

21 January 1958 – At Home with Anne. Anne presented this series on Springbok Radio. The programme was still running in July 1959.

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[image error]A poor newspaper cutting photocopied by microfiche. 1 February 1958.

1 February 1958 –
Jennifer Vyvyan recital

A photograph of the Booths appeared in the Rand Daily Mail. They had attended the recital given by English soprano Jennifer Vyvyan in the Selborne Hall. Webster had appeared with Jennifer Vyvyan in performances of Hiawatha and Messiah in 1955 before he left the UK.

[image error]7 March 1958 with Harry Stanton.





[image error]7 March 1958. Outdoor theatre at Joubert Park.





[image error]14 March 1958. Little Theatre, Springs.





[image error]17 May 1958 Elijah at the City Hall.



[image error]20 May 1958.





[image error]16 June 1958



[image error]16 June 1958





[image error]Merrie England 16 June 1958 with Mabel Fenney, Jimmy Nicholas and Pam Emslie



[image error]Anne and Webster in Merrie England, East London 1958.



[image error]Anne and Webster in Cape Town.



[image error]1 August 1958 Vagabond King, Durban.



[image error]22 July 1958.



[image error]July 1958

October 1958 –
Wedding Anniversary – Merrie motoring.

Our charming stage
celebrities, Anne Ziegler and her husband, Webster Booth, will spend
the night of their 20th wedding anniversary, which takes place early
next month, rehearsing until 1 am for Merrie
England
for the Johannesburg Operatic and Dramatic Society. It opens in the
Reps Theatre with a gala performance in aid of Santa on November 12.

When the Booths
came to see me recently about this they were worried about their car
parking situation. “Double parked – oh, dear – we must be
quick,” they said.

Cars loom large in
the lives of the couple. Anne’s husband said, “I once followed
her in my car from Maritzburg to Durban. I won’t tell you the speed
at which she was travelling.”

Mr Booth may have
endorsed the remark, but the driving licence remains unendorsed!

[image error]November 1958 JODS





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[image error]l January 1959





[image error]8 January, 12 March 1959 Variety under the stars.



[image error]17 February 1959.



[image error]February 1959.



[image error]7 March 1959 – A bed for Zandile.



[image error]12 March 1959 Merrie England – Dora Sowden.



[image error]11 April 1959 SABC Pavilion Rand Easter Show.



[image error]May 1959.



[image error]Waltz Time, East London 18 May 1959.



[image error]Anne and Lemon. Anne opens flower show at the City Hall. 1959.





[image error]At the old Carlton Hotel – the Press Club party for the All Blacks.



[image error]At home in Craighall Park.





[image error]With Lemon and Spinach.





[image error]With Lemon.





[image error]Advertising Lourenco Marques Radio.





[image error]Anne and Webster launch their Afrikaans LP – Net Maar ‘n Roos.





[image error]The Glass Slipper December 1959.





[image error]Anne plays the Fairy Godmother.

Jean Collen 30 April 2019.

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BOOTHS IN SOUTH AFRICA (1956 – 1957)

[image error]Signing autographs in South Africa – 1956.



[image error]16 August 1956 Anne and Webster appeared in Spring Quartet in Cape Town shortly after they arrived in South Africa.





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17 September 1956
Hofmeyr Theatre, Cape Town. Cockpit
Players present Spring
Quartet
with Anne and Webster, Joyce Bradley, Cynthia Coller, Jane Fenn,
Gavin Houghton, Sydney Welch, directed by Leonard Schach.

17 October 1956 –
Beethoven
Ninth Symphony.
City
Hall, Johannesburg. Webster, Betsy de la Porte, Mimi Coertse,
Frederick Dalberg, SABC Orchestra, Festival Choir, conducted by Sir
Malcolm Sargent.

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A very poor newspaper cutting (taken by microfiche) showing Webster, Betsy de la Porte, Sir Malcolm Sargent, Mimi Coertse and Frederick Dalberg,



[image error]12 November 1956 – Night in Venice for JODS



[image error]14 November 1956 – Night in Venice for JODs.





[image error]NIGHT IN VENICE





[image error]15 November 1956 – Star “crit” by Oliver Walker.





[image error]Booths in convertible Hillman Minx outside their flat at Waverley, Highlands North.



[image error]December 1956





[image error]16 April 1957. Webster has cartoon drawn at Rand Easter Show by Roy Sumner.

21 April 1957 – Easter Sunday morning, The Crucifixion. St George’s Presbyterian Church, Noord Street, Webster, Wilfred Hutchings, Choir augmented with Johannesburg Operatic Society chorus, conducted by Drummond Bell.

[image error]Polliack’s Corner – eighth floor balcony Booth studio Singing and Stagecraft. (Photo: Gail Wilson)



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[image error]Anne’s new hairstyle – July 1957.

July
1957 – Keith Jewell and The Dream of Gerontius

At Cape
Town – and this is almost unbelievable (but it is true) – young
organist, Keith Jewell (only 27) put on the St
Matthew Passion in the City
Hall. But more than that he has another three oratorios scheduled
before the end of the year, one of which is Elgar’s gigantic work
The Dream of Gerontius,
which has never before been performed in South Africa. Webster Booth,
who has sung in a number of Dreams
under Malcolm Sargent at the Albert Hall will be taking a leading
role.

I
know for a fact – he told me a day or two ago – that Edgar Cree
is itching to put it on here. While we have the orchestra, the choirs
and singers like Booth right on our doorstep, my reaction is an
exasperated: WHY NOT?

[image error]1 August 1957 – Anne in her first straight play in South Africa as Dearest in Angels in Love.



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[image error]September 1957. The Reps did not take up the option on this play.



[image error]Advert for Adrenaline!





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20 November 1957 –
Scots Eisteddfod.

Anne Hamblin was
awarded 95% in the Scots Eisteddfod. Webster Booth was the
adjudicator.

23 November 1957 –
Messiah,
St
George’s Presbyterian Church and St James’ Presbyterian Church,
Malvern. Anne, Webster, Joy Hillier and Wilfred Hutchings, conducted
by Drummond Bell.

My parents and I (aged 13) attended the performance at St James’ Presbyterian Church, Mars Street, Malvern. It was the first time I had seen Anne and Webster, although I had already heard many of their recordings on the radio.

We arrived in Johannesburg in October of 1957. My father had been offered a job in the same firm as a former Scottish colleague from ISCOR in Vanderbijl Park and we were living in the Valmeidere Hotel in Roberts Avenue, Kensington until we found a suitable flat. We witnessed the lights of Sputnik flying over our heads at night and wondered whether this was a sign that we had made the right move to the big city.

  The
boarding house proprietors were fellow Scots, Mr and Mrs Jimmy
Murdoch. They were friendly with a couple called Mr and Mrs
McDonald-Rouse. Mrs McDonald-Rouse ran a flourishing amateur concert
party and was the accompanist to all the singers in the group. Her
daughter Heather, a theatrical costumier, had recently married and
sometimes dined with her parents and her new husband at the
Valmeidere. In due course we were introduced to the McDonald-Rouses,
Heather and her husband.

Through her work, Heather had met Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth shortly after their arrival in South Africa the year before and had become very friendly with them. Through the grapevine, we heard that Webster had sung the aria from Mendelssohn’s oratorio, St Paul at Heather’s wedding, entitled Be Thou Faithful unto Death. Later I learnt that this aria was one of his favourite choices when requested to sing a solo at a wedding. Another of his wedding favourites was the ballad, My Prayer.

John Corrigan, my father’s colleague, was an elder at St James’ Presbyterian Church, then situated in Mars Street, Malvern. He invited us to a performance of Messiah to be held in the Church Hall, conducted by Drummond Bell, organist and choirmaster at the Central Presbyterian Church, St George’s. Coincidentally, the tenor and soprano soloists were to be Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth. This was the first time I ever attended a performance of Messiah, and the first time I ever saw Anne and Webster. I did not know then that Webster had been one of the foremost oratorio tenors in Britain, but I had heard a number of their duet recordings, which were often played on the radio. It now seems rather incongruous that they should be singing Messiah in a suburban Church Hall when only two years before Webster’s oratorio stamping ground had been the Royal Albert Hall, with the Royal Choral Society, with Sir Malcolm Sargent as conductor and other foremost oratorio soloists.

Since their arrival in South Africa, Anne and Webster had received a great deal of publicity on the radio and in the newspapers. As I have mentioned, their records were featured on South African radio a number of times each day. South Africans could not quite believe that such an illustrious theatrical couple had willingly chosen to exchange their successful careers and lives in the UK as the best-known duettists in Britain – possibly the world – to become immigrants in the colonial backwater of Johannesburg. My parents remembered them fondly from their frequent broadcasts in the UK, and seeing them in Variety and in the musical play, Sweet Yesterday at Glasgow theatres.

We sat fairly near the front of the hall on the right-hand side. I wish I could say that I remember every moment of that performance nearly sixty years ago. But sadly. I only remember snatches of it. Webster looked rather stern during the whole proceeding and I am sorry to admit that I was not immediately struck with the exquisite beauty of his voice. I did not know every aria from the Messiah then as I do now. In fact, the only piece I had heard before was the Halleluiah Chorus.

My most enduring memory of the occasion was the tea break when Anne, her hair recently cut in a rather startling Italian Boy hairstyle, drank tea and chatted animatedly with the star-struck tea ladies a few feet away from where we were seated.
Little
did I know then what a great influence they would exert on the rest
of my life. JEAN COLLEN.

25 November 1957 – Messiah, Johannesburg Town Hall, Webster Booth(tenor)

December 1957 – The Dream of Gerontius, City Hall, Cape Town. Webster, conducted by Keith Jewell, aged 27. This was the first performance of Gerontius in South Africa.

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