BOOTH-ZIEGLER YAHOO GROUP

Notes

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Webster Booth had always hoped to sing in Grand Opera despite Malcolm Sargent's advice to him that unless he had a private income it would be best to leave opera alone. In 1938 he was asked by Sir Thomas Beecham to go to Covent Garden and sing for him. By that time he was already an established singer on the radio, on record, in oratorio and lighter forms of entertainment and was rather affronted that he should have to audition at all. Sir Thomas and Lady Emerald Cunard were seated in the middle of the empty auditorium and chatted to one another while he sang Your Tiny Hand is Frozen from La Bohème and The Flower Song from Carmen. To add insult to injury Sir Thomas offered him two small parts - one in The Magic Flute, the other as the tenor singer in Rosenkavalier at the princely sum of £10 per performance and nothing for rehearsals.

Unlike Sir Thomas's disdainful attitude towards Webster, Erich Kleiber, who was conducting Der Rosenkavalier was most impressed with his voice and congratulated him on his performance of the aria before the whole company. It was during the first performance of Rosenkavalier that the famous soprano, Lotte Lehmann, who was playing the role of the Marschallein, stopped singing in the middle of the performance and walked off the stage. She had been informed before the performance that her husband had been arrested by the Nazis.

Although Webster was offered the part of Lohengrin and other roles at Covent Garden in 1951 during the Festival of Britain, he turned it down. People often question why he "wasted so much time" singing duets in Variety, but one of the reasons he did this was because Variety paid a great deal more than Opera and required far less hard work.

HOME: WEBSTER BOOTH-ANNE ZIEGLER YAHOO GROUP

2011-05-19T19:32:00.001+01:00

WEBSTER BOOTH FAN PAGE ON FACEBOOK

ANNE ZIEGLER-WEBSTER BOOTH FAN PAGE ON FACEBOOK

Anne Ziegler-Webster Booth

Webster Booth-Anne Ziegler Yahoo Group

Rare Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth's solo and duet recordings have been uploaded there, as well as rare photographs, members' discussions, and links to sites related to Anne and Webster.

I have created this blog to act as an overflow, where more files and photographs can be added.

I have an extensive blog about Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler, which you can read at:
ANNE ZIEGLER-WEBSTER BOOTH

Provided by website-hit-counters.com site.

NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIAN TOUR (1948)

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Click to join booth-ziegler

Pamela Davies who collaborated with me in writing Do You Remember Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth? at the same time as my own book, Sweethearts of Song: A Personal Memoir of Anne Ziegler & Webster Booth (published at the same time by LULU ) was given a scrapbook of Australian and New Zealand press cuttings related to Anne and Webster's tour there in 1948. Here is the list she compiled for Clare Gleeson, who wrote a book about the Charles Begg company that arranged their tour of New Zealand. With the aid of this list Clare was able to find some of the original articles in the New Zealand Newspaper Archive and kindly sent me copies of a few of these.

New Zealand list compiled by

Mrs Pamela Davies,

Pershore,

England.

On the trip to Australia aboard the maiden voyage of the Imperial Star the ship called at various South African ports, so Anne and Webster managed to do two broadcasts each in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban. They picked up the ship again in Durban to sail on to Melbourne to meet their Australian accompanist from Adelaide, Clarence Black. Unfortunately their regular accompanist, Charles Forwood, was not in the best of health at this time, so chose not to travel with them on the tour.
Clarence Black studied piano and organ at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, Adelaide. When he graduated he became the organist at the Regent Theatre and gave organ recitals each Sunday afternoon. In 1951 he accompanied Peter Dawson (aged 69, but undiminished in voice and personality by advancing age) on his concert tour of Australia.

Broadcasting in Johannesburg.

Arrival in New Zealand 1948

Preliminary articles,some excessively laudatory (and not always accurate) designed to whet NZ audiences' appetites

Timaru Herald/10/2/48

Wanganui Herald/11/2/48

NZ Truth 5/5/48 + photo, leaving Liverpool

New Zealand

Truth

5 May1948

WORLDFAME: Attractive looking pair Ann Ziegler and herhusband Webster Booth are known by their voices in every home possessing aradio. New Zealanders will shortly have the opportunity of seeing them in theflesh, for they are already headed for a tour of the Dominion. They are aboutto set sail from Liverpool with South Africa astheir first port of call.

Dominion (Wellington)/19/5/48

The Dominion

19 May1948

TWOENGLISH SINGERS DUE NEXT MONTH

Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler shortly due inNew Zealandwill make their first appearance at the Town Hall on June 1 and 2. These twostars who have achieved popularity through their contributions to light opera, musicalcomedy, screen and radio entertainment are assured of a warm welcome in thiscountry as apart from their value as entertainers there is always a certaincuriosity as to their personalities.
Booth after leaving school was a clerk in a firm of Birmingham accountants. Before this he had sung in the choir ofLincoln Cathedral. His pleasing altovoice changed to tenor and after seeing the possibilities at the professionalstage he applied for an audition, was given one and passed through the ranks asa tenor in Englandand Canada.
Miss Ziegler has been known to the public sinceearly childhood. She actually gave arecital in Londonwhile still in her teens*. At one stage she was one of the best known ofprincipal “boys” in pantomime in the provinces and crossed the Atlantic to play a leading part in the musical comedy Virginia.

*This section is completely inaccurate. She was not known to the public in her childhood and gave a singing recital at the Wigmore Hall, London when she was twenty-three years of age.

Webster went on to oratoriounder Dr Malcolm Sargent with the Huddersfield Choir and the LiverpoolPhilharmonic Orchestra. His career has been almost meteoric.

NZ Tablet 26/5/48 + LaughingLady photo

Otago Daily Times/26/5/48 + Laughing Lady photo

Otago Daily Times

26 May1948

SINGINGDUO

TOUR OFNEW ZEALAND

ANNEZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH

Two of the most popular British singers, AnneZiegler and Webster Booth, are to make a tour of New Zealand in the near future.Established favourites with a world audience through the medium of theirbroadcasts and recordings, they are also well known on the British stage andhave made appearances in several films, the most recent of which The Laughing Lady has still to bereleased in this country. Although ranked high as singers of more seriousmusical forms both artists are equally well known in the realm of musicalcomedy.

Their partnershipcommenced with the film version of Faust andtheir recent stage successes have included a revival of The Vagabond King and a new musical Sweet Yesterday. Oratorio, opera and the concert platform have allbeen covered by this versatile duo.

NZ Listener 28.5.48 +photo

Nelson Mail 29.5.48+Laughing Lady photo

Oamaru Mail/31.5.48 +Laughing Lady photo

Auckland Herald/29/5/48Arrival from Sydney

Weekly News/2/6/48+Photo of arrival inAuckland, + list of towns to be visited: Nelson, New Plymouth, PalmerstonNorth, Wanganui, Hastings, Napier, Gisborne, Rotorua, Hamilton, Whangarei,Timaru, Dunedin, Invercargill, Gore, Oamaru, Christchurch, Blenheim, Cold Lakesdistrict

B Articles and critson their concerts

Newspaper	Dated	Date and place of concert
Southern Cross (Wellington)	2/6/48	Concert in Town Hall the previous night, and another that night (1st,2nd June)
Dominion (Wellington) Wellington Town Hall	2/6/48	Concert in Town Hall the previous night, and another that night (1st, 2nd June) *The Dominion* 2 June 1948 Last Night’s Audience Were Enthralled Finally Tonight TOWN HALL 8PM THIS IS YOUR LAST OPPORTUNITY TO HEAR WEBSTER BOOTH (Tenor) And ANNE ZIEGLER (Soprano) England’s King and Queen OF SONG With CLARENCE BLACK At the Piano Ballads and Operatic Arias blend- Ed with Gems from Musical Comedy by Artists who “sing and act superbly” and who bring to the Concert Platform the romance and glamour of the Stage and Screen. RESERVES STILL AVAILABLE At Begg’s Today, 8/- and 6/- plus Tax Also DAY SALES AT 8/- plus Tax, And at the Town Hall tonight From 7pm Direction: Begg’s Celebrity Artists Co.
Evening Post	2/6/48	Concert in Town Hall the previous night, and another that night (1st,2nd June) (1st,2nd June) *Evening Post* 2 June 1948 ENGLISH SINGERS DOMINION OPENING CONCERT A reception as enthusiastic as any seen recently in the Town Hall was accorded the English singers Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth, and the Australian pianist Clarence Black when they opened a tour of the Dominion last night. A large audience was present. The programme, though light in its nature, took added significance and depth from the high standard of the singers, who showed that they have not been acknowledged as experts in the field of musical comedy and light opera for nothing. Their performance was superb, and owed its quality as much to the personality of the artists as to their singing. Mr Booth has a voice with a range and power which is a rarity indeed for tenors. His control and inflexion were perfect, even in the extreme registers of his range. Miss Ziegler revealed herself to be a soprano of high quality. Her voice was not that of the usual operatic soprano. At no time did she lose any control over her voice, even in the highest registers, and just as important, at no time did her articulation appear to be any effort to her. Although good individually, the singers reached the heights of achievement in their duets. Their perfect co-operation is perhaps the secret of their success. This co-operation extended further than time or tone into the more difficult field of mood. There was always a sympathy which led to a most entrancing result in the music. This quality was most noticeable in the singers’ signature tune Only a Rose from The Vagabond King a lovely melody which was perhaps as well known as anything else on the programme. The traditional duet The Keys of Heaven was a remarkably good performance and gained its success from the charm and personality of Miss Ziegler and the insouciant humour of Mr Booth. Other singers might have managed the rest of the programme but it was The Keys of Heaven which showed that these came from the top rank of entertainers. *Miss Ziegler’s best solo was Huntingdon Woodman’s song A Birthday. Mr Booth’s solos served to impress one further with the quality of his voice and his powers of expression.* Mr Black, who showed himself to be a very good accompanist, also played a number of piano items. A further concert will be given tonight.
Dominion (Wellington)	3/6/48	Re cocktail party the previous day, given at 33 Club in their honour attended by WB alone; AZ “indisposed”. *The Dominion* 3 June 1948 Anne Ziegler Taken Ill : Last Night’s Concert Postponed Because of the sudden illness of Anne Ziegler the Webster Booth-Anne Ziegler concert did not take place last night. Practically every seat in the Town Hall was filled when Mr C A Rendle representing the promoters announced the postponement. Miss Ziegler became ill between 5 and 6 pm. At first it was hoped that the sickness would prove to be a passing one and even the doctor in attendance thought that such might be the case, but after 7pm it was seen that Miss Ziegler was still suffering, and in no condition to make a public appearance. In these circumstances there was no option but to cancel the concert. Those present were informed that it was hoped the concert would be held on Saturday night next, and all tickets and reserves would be good for that date. The audience took the announcement in good part. This arrangement has been made possible by the cancellation of the Nelson concert.
Southland Daily News Southland Daily Times	5/6/48	An introductory article.
Evening Post (Wellington)	7/6/48	*Re second Wellington concert on Saturday night* in the Town Hall. Evening Post 7 June 1948 CAPTIVATING PAIR Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth** Of all the celebrity artists to visit New Zealand over the past few years possibly none have had the captivating stage manner so typical of the English singers Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth. At their second Wellington concert presented in the Town Hall on Saturday night, this popular couple shared all their songs with the audience rather than sung to them. Their unselfconscious miming and acting throughout both solos and duets won for them a staunch following among even the more staid concertgoers accustomed to the dignified impersonality of other artists. They opened the programme with the duet Stay, Frederick Stay from The Pirates of Penzance (Sullivan) in which their voices blended perfectly. There was not one false note among their choice of numbers, every item being of the type for which they are best known. Solos and duets were both received enthusiastically by the audience, but it was in the duets that they were accorded the greatest storm of applause. One of the most popular duets was Deep in My Heart (from The Student Prince) and We’ll Gather Lilacs (from Novello’s Perchance to Dream) as an encore was another success. Their duo programme included The Love Duet (Madame Butterfly), Coward’s I’ll See You Again, Life Begins Anew (Sweet Yesterday) and Laugh at Life from their latest film The Laughing Lady. A medley of ballads which warmed the hearts of older members of the audience comprised Until (Sanderson), Love’s Old Sweet Song (Molloy) I Hear You Calling Me (Marshall) and Two Little Words (Brahe). *Miss Ziegler’s first solo was her own arrangement Strauss’s Tales from the Vienna Woods* which was superbly sung and she also sang One Fine Day from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Webster Booth sang The English Rose (German) his recording of which is considered one of his best, The Lord’s Prayer and Break of Day from the film Waltz Time. As a climax to their programme and by popular request the two artists presented their own arrangement of the traditional Keys of Heaven. They burlesqued it delightfully and the audience loved it. As accompanist Clarence Black was sympathetic and never intrusive and his solo items proved so popular that he was recalled to play several encores.**
Nelson Evening Mail Nelson School of Music	8/6/48	*At the School of Music, last night.*
Wanganui Chronicle	10/6/48	Re booking for the forthcoming concert.
Taranaki Daily News Taranaki Herald	11/6/48 11/6/48	*Opera House, New Plymouth last night.* *Opera House, New Plymouth last night.*
Manawatu Evening Standard Palmerston North Opera House	14/6/48	*Palmerston North Opera House on Saturday night. Their second and final concert in Palmerston North to be on Tuesday evening.*
Manawatu Daily Times	14/6/48	*PN Opera House on Saturday night. Their second and final concert in PN to be on Tuesday evening.*
Wanganui Herald Wanganui Chronicle Wanganui Opera House	15/6/48 15/6/48	*Wanganui Opera House last night.* *Wanganui Opera House last night.*
Hawkes Bay Herald Tribune, Hastings	18/6/48	*Municipal Theatre, Hastings last night. To appear in Napier tomorrow night.*
Daily Telegraph, Napier Napier Municipal Theatre	21/6/48	*Napier Municipal Theatre on Saturday night.*
Gisborne Herald	21/6/48	*Re talk given today* by WB to members of Gisborne Rotary Club, where he complained about the lack of back-stage heating in NZ theatres.**
Gisborne Herald	22/6/48	*Gisborne Opera House last night.*
Rotorua Post Rotorua Post	24/6/48 24/6/48	*Municipal Theatre, Rotorua last night.* *Interview given by WB today. The eleventh concert of their tour, the first concert with back-stage heating at Municipal Theatre, Rotorua.*
Waikatu Times, Hamilton	25/6/48	*Theatre Royal, Hamilton, last night.*
Northern Advocate, Whangarei Town Hall	29/6/48	*Whangarei Town Hall, last night.*
Auckland Star	30/6/48	*Town Hall, last evening.*
Auckland Herald AucklandTown Hall	30/6/48	*Town Hall last night, the first of two Auckland concerts.*
Auckland Star	2/7/48	*Town Hall last evening.*
Timaru Herald Theatre Royal, Timaru	6/7/48	*Theatre Royal, Timaru, last night.*
Invercargill Civic Theatre, Invercargill	6/7/48	Re great demand for tickets for recital on Wednesday, July 14th at Civic Theatre: followed by one at St James Theatre, Gore on Thursday July 15th.
Otago Daily Times	7/7/48	*Arrived Dunedin yesterday, an interview on their arrival, and photo of AZ&WB in their hotel lounge.*

Evening Star, Dunedin Town Hall, Dunedin	7/7/48	*Another interview this morning* apparently when WB&AZ were at the Town Hall, inspecting the stage.**
Otago Daily Times	8/7/48	*Otago Daily Times* 8 July 1948 COMMUNITY SING A special attraction at the Sing to be held tomorrow in the Strand Theatre in aid of the Food for Britain campaign will be Mr Clarence Black, pianist and accompanist for Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth. Donations may be sent to Mr J F Himburg, Charles Begg, who with Mr A J Pettitt will assist Mr M P Desmoulins to lead the singing. *Town Hall last night* (Dunedin) Otago Daily Times 8 July 1948 CHARMING VOICES ANNE ZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH EXCELLENT COLLABORATION** On the concert stage Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth are a law unto themselves. Their programme at the Town Hall last night could hardly be described as a vocal recital for their stage technique was a combination of musical comedy and film art. That it had charm and musical qualities was undeniable, for the large audience was attentive and enthusiastic throughout. Anne Ziegler has a pleasant soprano voice which she used without effort, or forcing and she moves about the stage with an easy grace and charm born of habit. Webster Booth has a fine tenor voice with excellent quality and carrying power in his high register and in his singing of The Flower Song from Carmen and The English Rose from Merrie England: *FLOWER SONG (CARMEN)* he gave a glimpse of what he might do with such a voice had he chosen a more serious musical career. Anne Ziegler’s most serious contribution was They Call Me Mimi from La Bohème. It was, however in the duets that the audience found their greatest pleasure. The collaboration was excellent and though I found their gestures and movements on the stage somewhat meaningless there was a sophisticated charm about their deportment that disarmed criticism. They chatted informally, made jokes with a local flavor and took the audience into their confidence. The response was all that could be expected and the artists frequently expressed their gratitude for the reception they received. The pianist, Mr Clarence Black, was a sympathetic accompanist even to lending a hand with dramatic gestures in the duet The Keys of Heaven: KEYS OF HEAVEN He also played two groups of solos with competence and musical feeling.
Evening Star, Dunedin	8.7.48	*Town Hall last night* (Dunedin)**
Invercargill	7/7/48	Article on demand for tickets for “next Wednesday night’s concert”.
Otago Daily Times	9/7/48	Town Hall (Dunedin) last night *Otago Daily Times* 9 July 1948 FINAL PERFORMANCE OVERSEAS SINGERS AUDIENCE CAPTIVATED Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth captivated the large audience in their appearance at the Town Hall last night. Once again their duets revealed their greatest audience appeal and their musical comedy numbers, in particular, were received with a spontaneous and enthusiastic applause which compelled them to return to the stage again and again. The Love Duet from Puccini’s Butterfly was their most delightful number in the first half of the programme, the pure tenor and pleasing soprano voices blending perfectly. In One Fine Day after the interval Anne Ziegler again thrilled the listeners. To finish their programme the artist sang a medley of popular ballads. This started a clamour for encores which engaged the singers for some 15 minutes longer than the scheduled programme and the audience persisted in its attempts to recall them even after they had prepared to leave. The pianist, Clarence Black, again proved a sympathetic accompanist and a talented solo performer. .
Evening Star, Dunedin	9/7/48	*Town Hall (Dunedin) last night.*
The Southend Times	15/7/48	Civic Theatre last night
Southland News	15/7/48	*Civic Theatre last night* (part of concert broadcast by 4YZ)**
Nataura Ensign	16/7/48	*St James Theatre last night* at Gore.**
Christchurch Press	22/7/48	*Civic Theatre last evening* with 2 further concerts “tonight and tomorrow night”.**
Dominium, Wellington	29/7/48	at Wellington Town Hall “farewell recital”.
Evening Post	29/7/48	*Re signing autographs for a good cause and handing over a sizeable cheque at their final concert last night.*

New Zealand song recorded by Anne and Webster in 1948:

BLUE SMOKE (RURU KARAITIANA)

TOUR OF AUSTRALIA

Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth were received in Australia with just as much enthusiasm as in New Zealand. Clarence Black, the Australian pianist from Adelaide was their accompanist in Australia. They were guests of honour at countless civic and mayoral receptions throughout the country and Tasmania. Unfortunately Anne lost a valuable diamond ring worth £900 in their suite of Hotel Australia, Sydney. The police were called in and someone sifted through the bags of the vacuum cleaners, but I am not sure whether this ring was ever found. There were several newspaper photographs of Anne and Webster looking (in vain) for this ring.

Anne and Webster go through their music for one of their Australian performances.

Sydney Town Hall

One of the criticisms in a Sydney newspaper read as follows:

"CONCERT OF SHY KISSES, RAPT GAZES

Love was comprehensively examined in the second programme given by the English singers, Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth, at the Town Hall on Saturday night.
It was a programme of pretty bon-bons, the musical equivalents of pink ribbons and silver paper and St Valentine cards.
The audience was delighted. One difference between this sort of concert and a concert of serious music is that the audience listening to serious music is always deep in frowns and scowls and anguish of soul. The audience for these singers is all smiles - dreamy smiles, sentimental smiles, bitter-sweet smiles, nostalgic smiles. The singers make love sound as if it is made up entirely of honey and roses.
While most Australian critics agreed that their concerts were well-received and every auditorium was filled to capacity, they felt that the lighter show music was more suitable to their light voices than the operatic excerpts and solos.
Mr Booth and Miss Ziegler, in their duets, gazed raptly upon each other, held hands, dated about in conventional operetta poses, and with all sang so sweetly that it seemed inevitable that a pink little Cupid should leap up from the piano and fire silver arrows at them.

ROSE FOR USHER

Miss Ziegler, who looked as pretty as a portrait, even went to far as to present an usher with a red, red rose and to bless his prosaic life with a shy, shy kiss when he brought her the first beautiful bouquet of flowers. Yet he slunk away from this enviable moment of rapture, as though unaware of a moment in paradise.
The voices are not outstanding, but they are better than most that have been heard in Australian musical comedy and operetta for some years. The singers know how to control the sweet natural tone in a way that will extract the last drop of sentimental unction from it.
Notable illustrations of this were their duets - Stay Frederick, Stay from The Pirate of Penzance, the waggishly comic presentation of The Keys of Heaven and the medley of ballads which included Until, Love's Old Sweet Song and I Hear You Calling Me.
Clarence Black, their accompanist, played several well-worn solos in the certain knowledge that his choice of items would make his audience sigh with pleasure."

Webster and Anne meet the mayor of Adelaide's daughter, Barbara McLeay at a civic reception in their honour:

Webster offers Anne a savoury at another mayoral reception.

A less favourable Sydney criticism.

Anne and Webster arrived back in the UK after seven months away, on board The Strathaird on their tenth wedding anniversary, 5 November, just in time to do a broadcast on In Town Tonight.

Their film The Laughing Lady opened in Australia shortly after they left the country. Unfortunately Australian critics were almost universal in their scathing comments about this film. It occurred to me that after being acclaimed and treated like Royalty on their extended tour of New Zealand and Australia in 1948, only ten years later they were living in South Africa in very much reduced circumstances.

Jeannie C©
May 2011

Bibliography:
Booth, W, Ziegler, A, Duet, Stanley Paul, 1951
Davies, P, List of New Zealand cuttings (1948)
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA
New Zealand Newspaper Archive

WEBSTER BOOTH: WAFT HER ANGELS THROUGH THE SKIES

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Click to join booth-ziegler

"Jephtha" Recit: Deeper and deeper still

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"Jephtha" Recit: Deeper and deeper still by duettists-1

WEBSTER BOOTH: Porgy and Bess: It aint necessarily so, I got plenty of...

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WEBSTER BOOTH - The Voice of Romance

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Webster Booth: "O dry those tears" by Teresa del Riego

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WEBSTER BOOTH - MEMORIAL SERVICE AT ST PAUL'S COVENT GARDEN - OCTOBER 1984

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Photo: Whysall Studios, Durban

MEMORIAL SERVICE AT ST PAUL'S COVENT GARDEN - OCTOBER 1984.

A memorial service was held at St Paul's Covent Garden for Webster Booth in October 1984. Before the service his ashes were buried in the grounds and a memorial plaque erected in commemoration to him. In 1991 Pamela Davies, who collaborated with me in writing one of the books on Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth, visited the churchyard in the early 1990s and found Webster's memorial plaque under a hawthorn tree. The plaque was made of brass and in the seven years since it had been erected it was tarnished and blackened, although she could still read the plain inscription:

LESLIE

WEBSTER BOOTH

1902-1984

St Paul's, Covent Garden - All photographs by Charles S. P. Jenkins (November 2010)

South side of St Paul's churchyard

Pamela returned to the churchyard in 2005 only to find that the hawthorn tree had been cut down and Webster's plaque could no longer be seen. She wrote to make enquiries as to what had happened to the plaque. I quote from our book, Do You Remember Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth?

"The administrator, in the rector's absence, kindly instituted another search, equally fruitless. He suggested it could be hidden under a large plant or simply have disintegrated in the adverse weather, as had happened to the plaque to the actor Michael Williams, which had been in place only four years.

"In my letter I had enquired also about the possibility of a plaque to Webster Booth's wife, the singer Anne Ziegler, but I was informed that no more plaques are being accepted. The only answer would be an inscribed garden bench, or obtaining permission for a name in a memorial book in the church...."

Evelyn Laye had read the lesson at Webster's memorial service. Her life is commemorated by an inscription on a garden bench in the churchyard:

It seems a shame that this plaque, which marked the burial place of Webster's ashes, and was erected in memory of a great British tenor who was also dearly beloved by his family, friends and fans, should have vanished without trace. As one can see from the above photographs, the churchyard is very overgrown, so many other plaques are probably obscured or hidden in the undergrowth.

Apparently no record is kept of those whose memorial services are held at the church.

If the plaques commemorating theatrical musical and theatrical personalities have disintegrated or disappeared in the thick undergrowth within such a short time, valuable pieces of theatrical history are lost forever to future generations.

Jeannie C (copyright)

November 2010

UPDATE - 19 FEBRUARY 2011

I received an e-mail from St Paul's Covent Garden yesterday and I will outline what was said, below, and also part of my reply. I fear that the matter now rests there as far as I am concerned.

"The main problem for those of us administrating this church now is that burial in all central London graveyards was stopped by Act of Parliament in the mid 19th century. Therefore burial of ashes with plaque, of anyone since then, has been illegal. However discreet internment without ceremony, plaque or shrub can be considered.

A number of plaques are placed in the garden illegally but these can disintegrate, disappear, or even, get stolen and in foliage can simply wither.

The Parochial Church Council was instructed by the Diocese to stop putting Memorial Plaques on the church's interior walls. Since then the PCC have accepted inscribed benches for use in the burial ground at £1000 each. A name inscribed in the Actors' Church Union Book of Remembrance costs £100. The PCC has recently decided to consider plaques on the interior wainscotting again, for those artistes honoured by Her Majesty, at a premium of £3000. The proposal to be made by the nearest member of the family."

My reply was as follows:

"Thank you for responding so promptly to my query and for explaining the situation to me. As far as I know the ashes of Webster Booth were interned in the Churchyard prior to the memorial service. I know that his widow, the late Anne Ziegler, who was living in Llandudno, North Wales, did not return to the Church after this service, so I'm not sure at what juncture the plaque was placed in the Churchyard.

I shall pass on the information you have given me to Webster Booth's next of kin...."

I omitted the name of the person who wrote and also the name of Webster's next of kin. I would add that there would have been no question of Anne arranging to have an illegal plaque placed in the Churchyard! If you look at the photographs again, you will see that there are many plaques there, erected many years after the mid-nineteenth century. I think that it is a rather snobbish practice to consider placing plaques in the central wainscotting only for artistes "honoured by Her Majesty".

A few years after Webster Booth's death, Anne Ziegler was granted a special pension by the Queen in recognition of Anne and Webster's contribution to music in the United Kingdom - a very much more practical "honour" than an OBE.

Jeannie C

TOM HOWELL'S OPIEROS

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Tom Howell (top), Anita Edwards (right top)

Tom Howell (standing left), Anita Edwards (seated right)

Anita Edwards (soprano)

Tom Howell (top), Anita Edwards (top right)

Thanks to Professor Morgan for giving me access to these photographs.

In the nineteen-twenties there were Pierrot shows and concert parties at nearly every British seaside resort during the summer season from May to September. These shows had started in the late nineteenth century when a small troupe of male minstrels took up a pitch on the beach front, and the only payment they received after entertaining the gathered crowd was the money collected by a bottler, who went round the crowd to make a collection. These early minstrels were usually “blacked up” men in the style of the famous George Eliot, but by the turn of the century entertainers abandoned the practice of blacking up, were clad in Pierrot costumes and there were women included in some of the troupes of Pierrots.

By the twenties the Pierrots had given way to the seaside concert party, and some of these performers even wore evening dress rather than traditional Pierrot costume. Some entertained the holiday crowds on a pitch on the beach, while others frequented pier pavilions and theatres. Bigger seaside resorts, like Blackpool, offered a variety of entertainment with top performers from the Music Hall circuit and by the thirties this line-up included popular radio and screen personalities. At smaller resorts entertainment was more modest.

A concert party, usually run by a performing manager, would consist of a pianist, a comedian, a dancer, a soubrette and several straight singers. These performers were competent professionals who spent the colder months of the year at company, livery and Masonic dinners, in cabaret at large restaurants to the accompaniment of clattering plates and loud conversation, and, as Christmas approached, in provincial pantomimes. Most of them were unknown to the wider UK public, but became firm local favourites with holiday-makers who spent their week or fortnight’s annual holiday at the same resort, year after year. Straight singers would sing popular ballads and songs of the day and sometimes take part in skits with the comedian and other members of their party.

Professor Kenneth Morgan of Swansea contacted me recently to let me know that he had photographs of the Opieros Concert Party and individual photographs of Anita Edwards, the daughter of his great-grandmother’s sister, who had been a member of the Opieros in the nineteen-twenties. I was delighted to receive copies of these photographs, unfortunately, taken before Webster Booth joined the party in 1927, but Anita is featured in each one. It seems that she joined the Opieros in 1925 and remained with them until 1927.

Tom Howell’s Opieros was different from the majority of concert parties for although he employed light entertainers, he combined his strong baritone voice with a good tenor, contralto and soprano to present scenes from the opera, hence the name of his group – Opieros – a hitherto unlikely combination of opera and pier. The group also appeared in municipal parks providing entertainment for those who had not ventured to the coast.

Like the leader of the Opieros, Tom Howell from Swansea, and tenor Lucas Bassett from Pontypridd, Anita Edwards was also Welsh, born in Llanelli on 14 November 1900. Anita Edwards was a soprano, who trained at the Royal Academy of Music with Dr Charles Phillips. While she was a student she won many prizes, including the Rutson Memorial Prize and the Westmoreland Prize. While at the Academy she sang the principal roles of Manon in Massenet’s “Manon” opposite Welsh tenor, Manuel Jones and Nedda in Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci”.In 1924 she sang at a concert on Mumbles Pier, which also featured Frank Mullings, one of the foremost tenors of the day, and Idris Daniels of Pencader, a popular baritone. Critics praised Anita particularly for her fine singing of “One Fine Day” from “Madame Butterfly” by Puccini. On Christmas night 1925, while on holiday from her tour with the Opieros, she sang in a concert at the Llewellyn Hall, Swansea. This concert comprised selections from various oratorios and featured Frank Mullings and the Australian baritone, Harold Williams, who was considered to be one of the greatest exponents of Elijah in Mendelssohn’s oratorio,” Elijah”.

During her time with the Opieros Concert Party she sang soprano solos and featured in the various operatic ensembles presented by the Opieros. So far we have not found out what Anita Edwards did after she left the Opieros. She married Lionel Beaumont in Wandsworth, Surrey in 1949, and died in Carmarthen in mid-1986.

Webster Booth worked with Tom Howell’s brother, Henry (stage name, Henry Blain) in the D’Oyly Carte company from 1923 – 1927. When Henry heard that Webster was planning to leave D’Oyly Carte, fearing that he might remain in the chorus forever, waiting vainly to fill “dead men’s shoes”, he suggested that Webster should contact Tom, whose tenor had been taken ill. Tom employed Webster as a replacement and he remained with the Opieros until 1930, and also appeared in two Brixton pantomimes with Tom in 1927 and 1928.Webster’s first appearance with the Opieros was in the Glasgow park pavilions where his salary in 1927 was £6.10s a week.

Judging by notices in The Stage the party was very popular and the performers and their excellent accompanist, H Baynton-Power always received good notices. Peggy Rhodes, a promising contralto, was a member of the party for some time, as well as Walter Badham the humorist and Doris Godfrey, a child mimic.Tom Howell died in the early nineteen-fifties.

If anyone can tell me more about Tom Howell, Anita Edwards and any other members of the Opieros, please contact me.

JEANNIE C 2009 (copyright)Updated December 2010

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ANNE ZIEGLER-WEBSTER BOOTH: LONDON THEATRES WHERE ANNE ZIEGLER & WEBSTER BOOTH APPEARED

2010-09-05T14:00:00.000+02:00

ANNE ZIEGLER-WEBSTER BOOTH: LONDON THEATRES WHERE ANNE ZIEGLER & WEBSTER BOOTH APPEARED

ANNE ZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH ON YOUTUBE

2010-08-19T20:28:00.014+01:00

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AZ/WB RECORDINGS ON YOUTUBE

Most of the videos featuring Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth have been uploaded by me. I have included the user-names of those who have also posted videos featuring Anne and Webster. My channel is at http://www.youtube.com/duettists

One of my friends at http://www.youtube.com/kadoguy2066

has uploaded a number of AZ/WB recordings in medleys. I have added a number of them below.

WEBSTER BOOTH
Ah, moon of my delight, A Persian garden (Liza Lehmann)

Ah, sweet mystery of life, Naughty Marietta (Victor Herbert)

All hail thou dwelling, pure and holy, Faust (Gounod)

Always, A Puritan lullaby (Kenneth Leslie-Smith)

Always, as I close my eyes in sleep (Eric Coates)
And God created man/In Native worth, Creation (Haydn)

Ay-ay-ay..! A Spanish serenade (Osman Perez Freire)

Beauty's Eyes (Tosti)

Be Thou Faithful unto Death, St Paul (Mendelssohn)

The bells of St Mary’s, posted by gramophoneshane

Bird Songs at Eventide ( Eric Coates) posted by kadoguy 2006

Bless this house (Brahe), posted by ytm95
A brown bird singing (Haydn Wood) posted by gramophoneshane

Gems from Carmen (Bizet) with Dennis Noble, Nancy Evans, Noel Eadie posted by kadoguy 2006

Changing guard at Buckingham palace (A A Milne/Fraser-Simpson)
Christopher Robin songs - Fishing, Sneezles, Vespers (A A Milne/Fraser Simpson)
Comfort ye/Ev'ry Valley shall be exalted (Messiah) Handel
Dance Away the Night from Married in Hollywood (Stamper/Thompson)
Danny Boy, posted by ytm95
Devotion (Schumann)

Drinking Song (Sullivan) from The Rose of Persia

Drink to me only with thine eyes (trad) posted by kadoguy2006 Duet from Madame Butterfly (Puccini) with Joan Hammond, posted by kadoguy2006
English Rose from Merrie England (German)
Evening Song (Blumenthal)

Faery Song, The, from The Immortal Hour (Rutland Boughton)

Faust trio with Joan Cross, Webster Booth and Norman Walker posted by kadoguy2006 Flower song from Carmen (Bizet posted by kadoguy2006
For you alone (Geehl)

Giannina Mia from The Firefly (Friml)

Greensleeves (trad)
Selection from the film, Heart’s Desire

Heavenly Aida, Aida posted by kadoguy2006 He was cut off/But thou didst not leave from Messiah (Handel)

The Holy City (Adams)

Homing (del Riego)

How lovely are thy dwellings (Gounod)

I bless the day (di Jongh)

I hear you calling me posted by lrh1966

If with all your hearts, Elijah, Mendelssohn

If you are there (Michael North)

If You Had But Known (Denza) posted by kadoguy2006 I'll walk beside you, (Alan Murray)

I love thee, (Grieg)

I love the moon (Rubens)

Impatience/Ungeduld (Franz Schubert) posted by kadoguy2006 Indian Summer ( Victor Herbert) posted by kadoguy2006
A Kiss in the Dark (Victor Herbert) posted by kadoguy2006
The Kashmiri song, Four Indian love lyrics (Amy Woodforde-Finden)
The Lavender Lass (Murray)
Let me dream in your arms again (Horatio Nicholls)

A lttle love, a little kiss, posted by gramophoneshane

Selection from the film, Land without music

The Little Road to Bethlehem (Michael Head)Lost Chord (Arthur Sullivan) posted by BigTezza12

Love Could I Only Tell Thee (Capell)/Serenade in the Night (Cesare Bixio) Ideale(Tosti)posted by kadoguy2006

Love is my song (Alan Murray)

Macushla posted by lrh1966
Vocal gems from Merrie England (German) HMV Light Opera Company

The message (Jacques Blumenthal)

Mifanwy, Dorothy Foster

Morgen, (R Strauss) posted by merrihew

Morning (Oley Speaks)

Morning Glory, Sweet Yesterday (Kenneth Leslie-Smith)

Mountains of Mourne (Percy French)
Mozart (Don Giovanni) Two arias posted by kadoguy2006

Mozart Dies Bildnis (Magic Flute) and Il mio tesoro (Don Giovanni) posted by kadoguy2006
My Dreams (Tosti)

Nazareth (Gounod)

Nirvana (Stephen Adams)

O, Dry those Tears (Teresa del Riego)

O, Loss of Sight/Total Eclipse, Samson (GF Handel)

Oh Maiden, My Maiden (Franz Lehar )

One Alone (Romberg) posted by kadoguy2006
On Wings of Song (Mendelssohn) posted by kadoguy2006
Onaway, awake beloved, Hiawatha, (Samuel Coleridge-Taylor)

One day when we were young, The Great Waltz (Strauss II)

One Alone (Romberg)/Sweethearts (Herbert)/Deep in my Heart, Dear (Romberg) with Anne Ziegler posted by kadoguy2006

On with the motley Pagliacci (Leoncavallo)

Parted (Tosti) posted by gramophoneshane

Parted (Tosti) (DUPLICATION)

A Perfect Day (Jacobs-Bond) posted by kadoguy2006
Prize Song from Die Meistersinger posted by kadoguy2006
Porgy and Bess (Gershwin) It aint necessarily so, I got plenty of nothing.

Phil, the Fluter's Ball (Percy French)

Queen of June from The Earl and the Girl (Caryll)

Rigoletto This one or that one and Woman is fickle posted by kadoguy2006 Rigoletto quartet with Noel Eadie, Edith Coates, Webster Booth, Arnold Matters (Verdi)/Final trio from Faust with Joan Cross, Webster Booth and Norman Walker (Gounod) posted by kadoguy2006

The Robber Symphony, Italian song (Frederick Feher)
Scottish medley: Comin' through the Rye (Unknown contralto) My Love is like a Red, Red Rose (WB)

Serenade from Frasquita (Lehar)

Sound an Alarm, Judas Maccabeus (Handel)

The snowy-breasted pearl, (arranged by Stanford Robinson)

Song of Songs (Moya) posted by kadoguy2006

Song of the Vagabonds, The Vagabond King (Friml)
Speak to me of love (Jean Renoir, Bruce Sievier)
The Star of Bethlehem (Adams)

Stay with me forever (Lehar)

Strange harmony of colours, Tosca,( Puccini) posted by kadoguy2006
Sweethearts (Herbert) posted by kadoguy2006
Sweethearts (Herbert) DUPLICATION

The Sweetest Flower that Blows (Charles B Hawley)

Take a pair of sparkling eyes, The Gondoliers (Sullivan) posted by gramophoneshane
Tell me tonight (Spoliansky)

The Temple Bells (Woodford-Finden) from Four Indian Love Lyrics

There's a land, a dear land (Frances Allitsen)

‘Tis the day/Mattinata (Leoncavallo)

To Mary (Maude Valerie White)

Total Eclipse, Samson (Handel)

Trees (Oscar Harbach)

Unmindful of the Roses/Life and death (Coleridge-Taylor)

The Voice of Romance radio broadcast, 1938, with Fred Hartley sextet, James Dyrenforth, Anne Ziegler.

Waft her, angels, through the skies, Jephtha (Handel)

A wand’ring minstrel, Mikado (Sullivan) posted by gramophoneshane

When the stars are brightly shining, Tosca, Puccini posted by kadoguy2006
Where e'er you walk, Semele (Handel)

Why does the God of Israel sleep? Samson (Handel)

Wooden Shoes, The Firefly (Friml) with unnamed soprano

The world is mine tonight (Posford) posted by jozefsterkens

Your tiny hand is frozen La Boheme/Lovely maid in the moonlight (with Joan Cross) (Puccini) posted by kadoguy2006

ANNE ZIEGLER
Down in the forest from A Cycle of Life (Ronald)

Slumber song (Schumann)

A song in the night (Loughborough)

Sweet Yesterday from Sweet Yesterday/Kenneth Leslie-Smith

Tales from the Vienna Woods, (Strauss, arr Charles Forwood)

The Joy of Life (Iosif Ivanovici)

ANNE ZIEGLER and WEBSTER BOOTH

Blue Smoke ( Ruru Karaitiana)

Dearest of all (Vernon Latham Sharp)

Deep in my Heart, Dear (Romberg) posted by kadoguy2006 Deep in the heart of a rose (Horatio Nicholls)

Dit is verby (Afrikaans) (One day when we were young) from The Great Waltz (Strauss)

Fold Your Wings ( Novello) posted by kadoguy2006 Hear my song, Violetta posted by patrickdcyau
The Golden Song from Lilac Time (Schubert/Clutsam)

If You Were the Only Girl in the World (Ayer & Grey)/Ah Sweet Mystery of Life (Victor Herbert)/I'll See You Again (Noel Coward) posted by kadoguy2006

Laat ons nie van liefde praat nie (Love's last word is spoken, cherie in Afrikaans) (Bixio)

Land of Mine from Waltz Time (May) posted by TAUBERFANLEHAR

Liebestraum (Liszt) arranged by Maurice Besly

Life begins anew from Sweet Yesterday (Leslie-Smith)

Love calling me home (Parr Davies)

Love is the key to all glory, The Laughing Lady (May)

Love's garden of roses (Haydn Wood)

Love's Old Sweet Song ( Molloy ) posted by kadoguy2006 Waltz from The Merry Widow (Lehar)

Nocturne (Chopin, arranged by Maurice Besley)

Only a Rose, Vagabond King (Friml)

O, lovely night (Landon Ronald)
The Second Minuet (Maurice Besly)
Silent Night (Gruber)

So deep as the night (Chopin) from the Palladium show, Gangway, 1941

Still as the night (Bohm)

Take the sun (Rota)

Too tired to sleep (Alan Murray)

Wanting you, The New Moon, (Sigmund Romberg) 100th upload on the 100th anniversary of Anne Ziegler's birth, 22 June 2010

We'll gather lilacs, Perchance to Dream (Ivor Novello) posted byBarndog44

You, just you, Wild Violets (Stolz)

You will return to Vienna, Waltz Time (May)

DENNIS NOBLE and WEBSTER BOOTH
In a coupé, duet, Act 4, from La Bohème (Puccini)

Watchman, what of the night? (Sarjeant)

WEBSTER BOOTH, DOROTHY CLARKE, FOSTER RICHARDSON

Songs that have sold a million (part 1)

Songs that have sold a million (part 2)

WEBSTER BOOTH & OLIVE GROVES

Songs from Goodnight Vienna (part 1) (Posford)

Songs from Goodnight Vienna (part 2) (Posford)

WEBSTER BOOTH & GARDA HALL
Medley featuring: If the world was mine, The Night is young & you're so beautiful, At the Balalaika

WEBSTER BOOTH, MAGDA NEELD, JANET LIND
Songs from Cochrane's Coronation Revue - 1937
Home and Beauty

WEBSTER BOOTH, NORA SAVAGE, GEORGE SCOTT-WOOD & HIS MERRY MEN

Gems from Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs (Morey)

DUDLEY HOLMES
Ole Man River from Showboat (Kern/Hammerstein II)

The Way We Were

Dudley Holmes with Anne Ziegler (1968)

THE SONG IS ENDED & OTHER STORIES

2010-08-14T17:47:00.002+01:00

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Price: £9.00

Ships in 3–5 business days

Although this collection of fifteen short stories is fictional, it reflects my wide experience of life, as I have always been told to “write about what you know”. Thus there are stories about singers and accompanists, teachers and pupils, and older people trying to adjust to inevitable changes in their lives. Settings are South African or British, and stories take place onboard ship, in schools, homes, studios or theatres. Several stories are loosely based on particular incidents in my life, but are still fiction rather than fact, such as “Dux Scholar”, “Wise Words in the Chippy”, “Michelle”, “By Appointment”, and “The Song is Ended”.

REVIEW

By mjpotenza

Any fan of short stories will enjoy this selection of entertaining tales by Jean Collen. The author presents women's viewpoints, emotions, and experiences accurately and uniquely. The women characters are interesting, complex, and sympathetic (the men are mostly cads). One wonders how much is autobiographical. The writing is descriptive and precise. The style flows nicely, making for easy and pleasant reading. "The Wedding Singer", "Miss Stratton Disappears", and "The Sunset Gleams", to name a few, all have the right combination of humour and sadness. In short, these well written stories are very enjoyable.

THE SONG IS ENDED & OTHER STORIES by JEAN COLLEN

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My posts and questions on Booth-Ziegler Yahoo Group

2010-08-01T16:03:00.005+01:00

In reply to a member, I wrote:

I posted most of the recordings by Anne and Webster on You Tube on my Duettists Channel, and another member of this group has posted quite a number also. I am always pleased to hear comments from people on You Tube who discover Anne and Webster for the first time through the videos posted there, but few of those who comment ever join the group or "like" the pages on Facebook. I am reaching the end of suitable recordings to upload there as I do not want to post anything which was reissued and restored by small companies in the 1990s when the original HMV copyrights lapsed after fifty years. I have added other recordings to my Sky Drive and your e-mail address has been included so if you click on the following link, you should be able to access these recordings without any trouble. (If you join the Booth-Ziegler Yahoo Group you will be able to gain access to these recordings also.)

I suppose some think I am foolish to promote Anne and Webster on Facebook, Twitter and on my blogs, as there are not so many people left who remember them when they were at the top of the musical tree. Webster, in particular, had an exceptional voice and it is unfortunate that if he is remembered at all today, he is thought of as a "romantic duettist" with Anne, and his exceptional work as one of the foremost oratorio soloists of his day, is forgotten by the general public and present-day critics alike. He and Anne were very much more than singing teachers to me and I was privileged to be his studio accompanist for several years. Although I didn't realise then how lucky I was to be chosen to do this when I was a teenager, I certainly realise it now.

WEBSTER BOOTH & GARDA HALL

Recently I included a "homemade" medley featuring Webster Booth and Garda Hall on You Tube. The songs came from the 78rpm recording entitled Theatreland at Coronation Time (1937). Garda Hall went to the UK from Pietermaritzburg in the early 1920s, and despite being banned from joining her school choir because the music teacher said she sang out of tune, she seemed to do quite well for herself in the UK. She was still living there towards the end of the 1940s, and although she was acclaimed when she returned to South Africa to give a series of concerts in Natal in 1925, the same year of the visit of the then Prince of Wales, nobody remembers her there today.

Unfortunately I do not think she made further recordings with Webster, but they did appear in concerts together several times in the late twenties and thirties, including one at the Finsbury Town Hall on 6 March 1930. In October 1933 they sang at the London Palladium with Debroy Somers and his band. On the same bill was talented South African pianist, Raie de Costa, who died tragically young. Others on that bill were Leonard Henry as compère and Stainless Stephen.

Their last joint appearance was in 1935:

"5 December 1935: Galashiels Choral Concert, Playhouse, Galashiels - Galashiels Choral Society, conducted by Robert Barrow. Concert versions of Gounod's FAUST and THE BEGGAR'S OPERA Garda Hall (soprano), Webster Booth (tenor), George Baker (baritone), orchestra conducted by Herbert More." (from my book: "A Scattered Garland: Gleanings from the lives of Webster Booth & Anne Ziegler").
WEBSTER BOOTH MEDLEY, WITH GARDA HALL

FAVOURITE RECORDINGS OF WEBSTER BOOTH and ANNE ZIEGLER

I don't think Anne and Webster ever made a bad recording either as duettists or
soloists. Webster's voice is as recognisable in his early recordings in the late
1920s to the broadcasts he made at the end of his singing career in the early
1980s when his voice was past its best.

I have many recordings in my collection so it is difficult to choose my absolute
favourites, but I really like the following:

Duets: Too tired to sleep by Alan Murray;
Love's garden of roses by Haydn Wood
Anne: A song in the night by Loughborough
Webster: Why does the God of Israel sleep? from Samson by Handel; Ah, moon
of my delight by Liza Lehmann; Morgen by Richard Strauss.

I would be interested to know what your favourite recordings are.

CHARLES FORWOOD (ACCOMPANIST)

Charles Forwood was Anne and Webster's accompanist during the 1940s. By the late
forties his health was suffering so he did not go on their tour to Australia and
New Zealand in 1948. I know he was a good accompanist but I wonder if anyone in
the group knows anything more about him?

WEBSTER BOOTH - AN UNDER-RATED TENOR?

It has always saddened me that Webster Booth is largely forgotten today and, if he is
remembered, his voice is not revered in the same way as those of some of his
contemporaries. But it seems that the voice of Webster Booth was always underrated even when he was at the peak of his vocal ability. Why else did the powers-that-be at HMV not issue his serious recordings on the Red and Gold label rather than the Plum?

A gentleman who joined the group said flatly that Webster is underrated and disregarded today because he wasted his time singing duets with Anne. But despite "going on the halls", he never neglected his more serious work and remained one of the foremost oratorio singers of his day.

Gerald Zwirn wrote in the South African magazine Scenaria (November 1987) in an article entitled Collecting Rare Records:

"Curiously enough, one of the best recordings ever made of Che gelida manina was on an old HMV 78 plum label record, later re-issued on LP.

I say 'curiously enough' because plum label records were among the cheapest in the catalogue. They were usually reserved for domestic artists or those considered of less importance than their international counterparts, whose records bore the prestigious red-and-gold labels.

In this case, the record was made by Webster Booth, and although sung in English as Your tiny hand is frozen, it still remains a model interpretation. Booth's outstanding musicianship, his shaping of the musical phrase, his style, diction, feeling and observance of the composer's markings, all combine to put this record in a class by itself.

Yet I doubt whether any serious record collector would even deign to consider including a plum label in his precious collection. After all, its commercial value would be calculated in cents."

Why was the voice of Webster Booth always underrated even when he was at the peak of his vocal ability? Why did the powers-that-be at HMV not issue his serious recordings on the Red and Gold label rather than the Plum? A gentleman who joined the AZ-WB Ning network said flatly that Webster is underrated and disregarded today because he wasted his time singing duets with Anne.

I suppose he is under-rated by some people today because he formed a duet
partnership with Anne Ziegler, and they became a very popular act on the Variety
circuit in the 1940s. Despite "going on the halls", he never neglected his more
serious work and remained one of the foremost oratorio singers of his day.

The popularity of variety was waning in the UK in the 1950s, but in 1955, the
year before the Booths moved to South Africa, Webster still had many oratorio
engagements and sang in "Hiawatha's Wedding Feast" at a Prom concert, following
this with Quilter's song cycle "To Julia" after the interval.

I am glad that, in a small way, we can keep memories of Anne and Webster alive
in this group.

**Recordings: No More, Wayside Road, Sympathy 1 September 2010**

My record of Wayside Rose (Lehar) has a crack in it and I'm afraid I'm not very good at editing sound files. No More (Yradier) came from a reel-to-reel tape which Webster made of his 78 rpm records in the early 1960s. I copied it (via microphone) onto my own reel-to-reel recorder and later to cassette tape, so it has probably lost a good deal of its original sound quality as a result.

I have often wondered why Webster and Anne's recording contracts with HMV/EMI were cancelled in 1951. I notice from Dennis Noble's discography on the Internet that his 78rpm recordings end in 1951 also. LPs were being produced and it is possible that the company was concentrating on making LPs of complete works rather than 78s. Perhaps someone else has an idea or firm information about why contracts were cancelled at this time? I know Webster was very upset to have his contract cancelled and he was further offended about the billing he received in the film, The Gilbert and Sullivan Story. There is even a scene in The Yeomen of the Guard towards the end of the film where his voice was dubbed for the character who sang, "All thoughts of Leonard Merryll (sp!) put aside..."

I don't think his style of singing became dated as he had a good voice, few vocal idiosyncrasies and was capable of singing more serious music with the best of them. Radio shows like "Friday Night is Music Night" were always popular, as was Eric Robinson's show on TV in the sixties. I was given American baritone, Thomas Hampson's EMI CD of "An Old Song Re-Sung" for a recent birthday. It was recorded in 1990 and included songs like "Danny Deever", "On the Road to Mandalay", "At Dawning", "Roses of Picardy" and "Long Ago in Alcala", even "Will You Remember?", so there is always a place for such songs even if the audience for them is more limited than it was in 1951.

WEBSTER BOOTH and ANNE ZIEGLER MOVE TO SOUTH AFRICA (1956)

Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth moved to South Africa in the middle of 1956 when I was 12 years old. My parents remembered them as popular singers in the UK but I didn't know anything about them. They were given a great welcome in South Africa. Nobody could believe that such well-known singers would settle here! Their records were played many times each day on the SABC and newspapers included photographs and news items about them on a regular basis.

I first saw them and heard them sing in a performance of Messiah at St James' Presbyterian Church, Mars Street, Malvern in October 1957. I wish I could say that their singing was imprinted in my mind for all time, but I remember very little about the performance! My most enduring memories are that Webster looked rather cross - perhaps he was wondering what he was doing at a suburban Church hall rather than at the Royal Albert Hall - and Anne was sporting a distinctive Italian boy haircut and was very charming to the tea ladies at the interval!

WEBSTER BOOTH AND TOMMY HANDLEY

A group member mentioned that he had heard that Webster Booth played the Tommy Handley part in ITMA scripts on South African radio. I wrote the following in reply:

I have the record of the "Tommy Handley Memorial Choir" you mentioned. The items
were sung at Tommy Handley's funeral service by a group of fellow Savages,
including Webster. Some time after the Memorial Service at St Paul's the choir
made the recording and the record was sold in aid of boys and girls clubs in
which Tommy had always taken a keen interest. In fact, the recordings (along
with several others of Webster) are available at the following link, which I
will add to the group links if I haven't already done so:

http://www.mp3hunting.com/?q=Webster+Booth

Unfortunately I never heard Webster playing Tommy Handley's part on Springbok
Radio in South Africa. The 13 week series was called Light up and Laugh and
began in December 1956, not long after Anne and Webster arrived in the country.
It was recorded before an audience at the Brooke Theatre in De Villiers Street,
Johannesburg.

Webster told me that he and other members of the cast had a few drinks before
making one of these recordings. He said this was a big mistake when it came to
delivering Tommy Handley's quick-fire lines and he vowed never to drink before
the show again.

MEMORIAL SERVICE AT ST PAUL'S COVENT GARDEN - OCTOBER 1984.

A memorial service was held at St Paul's Covent Garden for Webster Booth in October 1984. Before the service his ashes were buried in the grounds and a memorial plaque erected in commemoration to him. In 1991 Pamela Davies, who collaborated with me in writing one of the books on Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth, visited the churchyard and found Webster's memorial plaque under a hawthorn tree. The plaque was made of brass and in the seven years since it had been erected it was blackened, although she could still read the plain inscription, which read:

LESLIE

WEBSTER BOOTH

1902-1984

It seems a shame that this plaque, which marked the burial place of his ashes, and was erected in memory of a great British tenor who was also dearly beloved by his family, friends and fans, should have vanished without trace.

Apparently no record is kept of those whose memorial services are held at the church. If these plaques disintegrate and disappear within such a short time, valuable pieces of theatrical history are lost to future generations.

WEBSTER BOOTH and ANNE ZIEGLER AS DUETTISTS

I have the greatest admiration for Webster's serious solo singing but alos enjoy the duets. Whether Webster was singing oratorio in the Albert Hall or musical comedy duets with Anne or other singers, he always committed himself to whatever song he happened to be singing at the time. Although Anne had a lighter voice, their voices blended beautifully as they were both excellent musicians and never tried to out-sing one another as so many other duettists seem to do. Perhaps the artistry of their singing was why they were the most popular duettists of their day. They sang in many concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, the London Palladium and most concert halls and theatres throughout the UK and abroad, and never made use of a microphone. Harold Fielding kept them very busy for years.

I first saw their variety act when I was 16 at the local Methodist Church Hall in Kensington, Johannesburg in 1960 - a far cry from the London Palladium. I thought they were wonderful - not only in singing the well-loved duets but in the way they connected with the audience. They lit up the hall with their presence and everyone adored them instantly.

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My new novel: I CAN'T FORGET YOU, and THE SONG IS ENDED & OTHER STORIES

2010-07-16T23:44:00.003+01:00

FOR A LIMITED PERIOD ONLY THERE IS 10 TO 20 PER CENT DISCOUNT ON ALL MY BOOKS. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OFFER.

I CAN'T FORGET YOU by JEAN COLLEN

Although this collection of fifteen short stories is fictional, it reflects my wide experience of life, as I have always been told to “write about what you know”. Thus there are stories about singers and accompanists, teachers and pupils, and older people trying to adjust to inevitable changes in their lives. Settings are South African or British, and stories take place onboard ship, in schools, homes, studios or theatres. Several stories are loosely based on particular incidents in my life, but are still fiction rather than fact, such as Dux Scholar, Wise Words in the Chippy, Michelle, By Appointment, and The Song is Ended.

THE SONG IS ENDED & OTHER STORIES by JEAN COLLEN

Search results (Webster Booth) - NLA Newspapers

2010-06-29T22:14:00.000+01:00

Search results - NLA Newspapers

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LONG PLAYING RECORDS FEATURING ANNE ZIEGLER AND/OR WEBSTER BOOTH

2010-06-29T19:56:00.002+01:00

Once Anne and Webster's recording contract with HMV was cancelled in 1951 they made a few recordings for Decca and gradually their 78s were deleted from the record catalogues.

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But in the late fifties several long playing records were issued, comprising their popular duet recordings. Love Duets from Theatreland was issued by EMI in the UK, while, in South Africa, a similar record, entitled Sweethearts of Song was issued, with sleeve notes by their friend, Leslie Green.

In 1959 they made an LP of their popular duets. The words had been translated into Afrikaans and, instead of the orchestral accompaniment on the 78s, there was organ and piano accompaniment by Jack Dowle and John Massey. This record was entitled Net Maar 'n Roos (Only a Rose).

In 1963 they made Nursery School Sing-Along (No 2). This time Heinz Alexander was the accompanist and the Nazareth House Children's Chorus was conducted by my piano teacher, Sylvia Sullivan. Webster thought highly of Mrs Sullivan's conducting and insisted that she conducted all the songs for the record.

A recording of Webster's was included in Famous British Tenors issued in 1972. The aria was O, Vision Entrancing from the opera, Esmeralda by Arthur Goring Thomas. He was rather put out about this as he thought the powers-that-be might have chosen a more popular aria for the recording. Perhaps recording techniques had not been very advanced for some of the other tenors on the recording as many of the singers sounded rather thin, but Webster's recording is certainly one of the best.

Meanwhile, a solo recording called simply Webster Booth was issued by Rococo, Canada at the same time. All the recordings had been taken from the collection of Scott Sheldon. Webster played me this record when I visited the Booth home in Knysna in 1973 and I was delighted to hear some songs I had not heard before.

He told me that EMI would never issue an LP of his more serious work until he was dead, but in 1977, just such a recording was issued. He was very pleased that he was alive to see it, but was rather put out because it was recommended that the record should be filed under the historical section of the catalogue!

The Booths returned to England in 1978 and EMI issued two duet LPs in the late seventies and early eighties. Sweethearts in Song included the same recordings as those from the late fifties, while the other, Music for Romance was a more interesting collection of their lesser-known duets.

Webster Booth died on Anne Ziegler's birthday, 21 June 1984 in Penrhyn Bay, North Wales.

A year or so later EMI issued The Golden Age of Webster Booth.

At about the same time the LP entitled The Golden Age of Ballads and Parlour Songs, featuring Webster and some of his contemporaries was issued. Webster sang Tosti's Parted on this LP.

He was also featured in the Irving Berlin Centenary Celebration by the great British dance bands, singing two songs in a Waltz Medley, with Ray Noble conducting the New Mayfair Orchestra.

By 1989 Webster's earlier recordings were coming out of their fifty-year copyright and solo and duet CD compilations were issued by EMI and independent companies during the nineties. Because these recordings were out of copyright, Anne did not receive any royalties from their sale.

Jeannie C
2010

Tribute to Anne Ziegler on the hundredth anniversary of her birth 22 June 2010

2010-06-20T21:35:00.000+01:00

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Anne in early 1960s.

My long association with Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth began nearly fifty years ago on the 8 December 1960, when I went for an audition with Anne at their School of Singing and Stagecraft on the eighth floor of Polliacks Corner, 169 Pritchard Street, Johannesburg. I had recently turned 17 and had finished writing matriculation examinations at Jeppe High School for Girls. Webster Booth was in Port Elizabeth on the day of my audition as he was singing in Messiah at the Port Elizabeth Oratorio Festival under the direction of Robert Selley.

I knew Anne and Webster as singing teachers for several years, but at the beginning of 1963 they asked if I would like to act as Webster’s studio accompanist when Anne, who was accompanist as well as teacher, had other commitments. I did my Associate and Licentiate singing diplomas under their guidance and we remained friends until their deaths. Webster died on 21 June 1984, 26 years ago, while Anne lived on in the little bungalow in Penrhyn Bay, Llandudno, North Wales until her death on 13 October 2003.

I was too young to have seen them performing at the height of their fame in the 1940s. Unless they were doing a radio programme when it was expected that they would reminiscence about their illustrious careers, they were surprisingly modest. Their autobiography Duet was published by Stanley Paul in the United Kingdom in 1951, five years before they immigrated to South Africa. Each wrote alternate chapters, culminating in a final one, written jointly. They lent me a copy and I collected a number of their solo and duet recordings over the years, but it was only after their deaths, when I was writing my book about my association with them, that I found out a great deal more about their achievements and realised how very popular they had been with the British public from the 1930s until they left for South Africa in 1956.

Anne and Bonnie (1990s)

Anne was born in Liverpool and was blessed with a charming light soprano voice and exceptional good looks. She arrived in London to make a career on the stage in 1934 and changed her name from Irené Frances Eastwood to Anne Ziegler when she made her West End debut in the octet of By Appointment with Maggie Teyte as the star. Unfortunately this musical play by Kennedy Russell was not a success and closed after three weeks, but Anne remained in London and managed to earn a rather stressful living singing in various Lyons restaurants and the Cumberland Hotel. By the end of the year she had been selected from two hundred sopranos to sing the part of Marguerite in a colour film, The Faust Fantasy, with Webster Booth in the role of Faust.

She soon became very popular on radio and was principal boy in pantomimes in Liverpool, Edinburgh and Golders Green in the thirties and appeared in the musical, Virginia at the Center Theatre, New York in 1937. In 1940 she and Webster formed a double act on the Variety Circuit in the UK. They presented an essentially romantic and glamorous image in their variety act, but they were also excellent musicians, and created a unique blend of voices.

Although in great demand with their double act, Webster continued to sing in oratorios on the concert platform. He was one of the finest British lyric tenors of the twentieth century, a fact often overlooked by today’s critics, because he could sing lighter music just as well as he sang the more serious tenor repertoire.

I was pleased to discover a number of up and coming young singers from the Royal Northern College of Music who won the Webster Booth or Anne Ziegler awards during their studies there. These awards were instituted several years after Webster’s death, thanks to their friend, Jean Buckley who worked hard to raise money for them. Anne was one of the judges at some of the earlier competitions. Unfortunately Webster’s award was discontinued after 2002 due to lack of sponsorship, but Anne’s award is still presented each year, although without sponsorship and donations this award will probably be discontinued soon. Last year’s recipient was the promising tenor Sipho Fubise from South Africa.

I corresponded with them over the years and spent a happy holiday with Anne at her home in Penrhyn Bay in 1990. I last spoke to her on the telephone at the beginning of August 2003. A week later, she had a bad fall and remained in hospital until her death. I was surprised and pleased to receive a legacy in her will. It is hard to credit that, had she lived, she would have celebrated her hundredth birthday on 22 June 2010.

Anne and Webster were a wonderful couple, completely without side, who were kindness itself to me and to many others. They are ever remembered by those who, like me, knew and loved them.

JEAN COLLEN

Books about Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth

2010-05-17T20:52:00.003+01:00

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Recording Repertoire of Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler

2010-05-17T03:40:00.002+01:00

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Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth were versatile singers so it is difficult to name just one duet or solo as an all-time favourite. Webster recorded far more solo recordings than he did duets with Anne, although he is largely remembered today because of the duets.

In Webster's case there are light songs with British Dance Bands led by Jack Hylton, Carroll Gibbons, Debroy Somers, Ray Noble, as the anonymous “with vocal refrain” with the accordion band of Carlos Santana (one of the many pseudonyms adopted by the equally versatile musician, Harry Bidgood), and the popular Fred Hartley's Quintet or Sextet. He also sang in medleys, sometimes on his own or with singers like Janet Lind, Garda Hall, Magda Neeld, Marjorie Stedeford, Stuart Robertson, Sam Costa, Olive Groves, and Nora Savage.

As his singing career progressed he began recording more serious songs, and arias from opera and oratorio. In operatic ensembles he was partnered with singers like Norman Walker, Dennis Noble, Joan Hammond, Joan Cross, Noel Eadie, Nancy Evans, Arnold Matters and Edith Coates. Conductors of these recordings included Warwick Braithwaite, Laurance Collingwood and Malcolm Sargent, and accompanists included Gerald Moore, Herbert Dawson (organ), and John Cockerill (harp).

The duets recordings were generally of musical comedy, operetta and popular songs of the day arranged as duets such as "Dearest of all" by Vernon Latham Sharp and "Too tired to sleep" by Alan Murray. There were also duet arrangements of instrumental pieces by Chopin and Liszt, and a charming duet of Mendelssohn's lied "On Wings of Song".

What are my favourite recordings? “Why does the God of Israel sleep?” from “Samson” by Handel is one of my favourites as it illustrates Webster’s amazing vocal technique and dramatic power. He was a prolific recording solo artist and a highly regarded oratorio soloist.

Excerpt from an Australian newspaper - March 11 1950

Shortly after he began recording in 1929, critics in Gramophone magazine praised his voice but thought he should be singing songs more worthy of it. In April 1937, a critic wrote, “Gradually Webster Booth is finding his rightful place as a member of the solo quartet in our concert halls, when the choral masterpieces are given. Only the other day a severe critic of English singing singled out Mr Booth as one of the very few elect.”

Most people remember Webster Booth for the romantic duets he sang with Anne Ziegler on record, stage, screen and radio but several derogatory comments have been made about his duet partnership with Anne, most people claiming that he would be better regarded as a serious singer today had he not formed the Variety Act with Anne in 1940. Anne was the first to admit that she had a “ten-a-penny” soprano voice while his voice was in a different category from hers. She was aware that many people thought she had “brought.him down”.

They went into variety because it paid far better than more serious forms of entertainment and they had expensive family financial commitments. Within a very short time they became very popular with the section of the public who enjoyed hearing the operetta and musical comedy duets sung by a very handsome and charming couple who took their minds off the daily grind of war for an hour or two. While Anne’s voice might not have been in the same class as Webster’s, one cannot deny that they sang the duets musically and their voices complemented one another. Webster did not drop his oratorio singing and it was while he and Anne were singing in Variety and Harold Fielding concerts that he made some of his finest serious oratorio recordings. He was one of Sir Malcolm Sargent’s favourite tenors and was chosen by Sir Malcolm to sing at his sixtieth birthday celebration concert in 1955.

Webster was a lyric tenor with excellent diction and a wide vocal range. Although his voice was light it filled the Albert Hall, a hall with a notoriously difficult acoustic for singers. He had a pleasing baritonal quality in the lower range of his voice and, in later years, fulfilled a long-held ambition to sing the baritone solos in a performance of Elijah in Knysna, South Africa.

If one listens to his recordings of Mozart operatic arias and the operatic duets with baritone, Dennis Noble in Puccini’s La Bohème and Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, and the extracts from Bizet’s Carmen with Dennis Noble, Nancy Evans, Noel Eadie and the Sadlers Wells chorus, he more than held his own among the operatic singers. Perhaps he would not have managed heavier operatic roles on stage but he had a voice ideal for Mozart, Rossini, Gounod, and Handel opera.

At that time it was the convention to record everything in English on the HMV plum label, but I have a recording of him singing in an Italian which sounds quite acceptable to me, so I don’t think singing in a foreign language would have presented a problem to him. He was also a highly competent musician, so he would have had no difficulty learning an operatic role. As a young man he was keen to sing in opera, but opera did not pay as well as lighter forms of entertainment. In 1926 Sir Malcolm Sargent told him that if he did not have a private income he should leave opera alone. Webster’s sister, Doris (known as Nellie) was very disappointed that he did not make a career in opera.

I have an LP recording called Famous British Tenors in my collection. Webster sings the rather obscure aria, O vision entrancing from Esmeralda by Goring Thomas, while his peers are heard in more popular arias. Despite this he still sounds very much better than most of those who are spoken off in hallowed tones, while Webster is dismissed as a light-weight, a mere duettist!

Webster managed to set the exact mood for each song he sang, whether it was a light ballad or a profound aria. One only has to contrast Total Eclipse from Handel’s Samson with Percy French’s Phil the Fluter’s ball to see a complete change of mood. He certainly was a versatile singer, but far from being “A jack of all trades, master of none,” I suggest that he a master in command of every song he sang.

Records to find before I die!

2010-05-16T22:28:00.011+01:00

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I have accumulated a large collection of recordings featuring Anne and Webster over the years - 78rpms, LPs, CDs and tape recordings. Recently I compiled as complete a discography of their recordings as possible and discovered that I still need to add the following records to my collection.I would like to find the following recordings, particularly the ones marked with an asterisk. I would be glad to hear from anyone who could let me have an MP3 of any of one of the following recordings. I would be happy to send them one of my MP3s in exchange:

Webster Booth

All soul’s day/Bernhoff/Richard Strauss Moore, Memory Island/Askew/Harrison/Moore September 1946 B9502

As I sit here/Sanderson/Love passes by/VictorSchertzinger B8360

A Ballynure Ballad/arr Hughes,/Trottin’ to theFair/Stanford Gerald Moore, B9164
Chu Chin Chow/Asche/Norton/Vocal Gems/Light Opera Company, including Stuart Robertson, WB 17 March 1931 C2260
Come back my love/Miller/Rubinstein/arr Grün/ Will you go with me?/Brandon-Park/Murray Moore B9264

Co-optimists Medley/Gideon/Olive Groves, Effie Atherton, WB, Stuart Robertson, conductor George Scott Wood, 1 October 1935C2800

I know of two bright eyes/Clutsam/ Somewhere a voice is calling/Tate / New Mayfair Orchestra/ Ray Noble April1931 B3735
I’ll wait for you/May B8476Just for today/Partridge/Seaver/Moore B9458
Mikado vocal gems/Sullivan/Light Opera Company C3128Memories of Tosti/La Scala Singers C2827
Napoli Bay/Kynoch Show me the way/O’Connor/Morgan /Melachrino B9640
Neapolitan Nights/ C2814
O come all ye faithful/Bertram L Harrison B9507

Pinocchio/When you wish upon astar/HarlineRosita/Kennedy B9030

Rosemarie Vocal Selection/Friml Victor Conway, Anne Welch, WB 12 December 1930 Decca K628
Sylvia, Oley Speaks, Gerald Moore B9071 1941

Sweet melody of night/Give us this night/KorngoldB8442
There is no death/Johnson/O’Hara/Moore/B9458Undivided/Sievier/Thayer B8545
Where’er you go/O’Keefe Eric Robinson, 18 May 1951 B10092

Decca recordings:Webster Booth

*Castles in the air/Lincke /The white dove/Léhar Decca F9942

*He bought my heart at Calvary/Hamblen/ Sanctuary of the heart/Ketelby with choir of St Stephen’s Church Dulwich, Fela Sowande (organ) Decca F9921

My posts and questions on Booth-Ziegler Yahoo Group

2010-05-02T19:05:00.052+01:00

FAVOURITE RECORDINGS OF WEBSTER BOOTH & ANNE ZIEGLER

I don't think Anne and Webster ever made a bad recording either as duettists or soloists. Webster's voice is as recognisable in his early recordings in the late 1920s to the broadcasts he made at the end of his singing career in the early 1980s when his voice was past its best.

I have many recordings in my collection so it is difficult to choose my absolute favourites, but I really like the following:

Duets: Too tired to sleep by Alan Murray;
Love's garden of roses by Haydn Wood
Anne: A song in the night by Loughborough
Webster: Why does the God of Israel sleep? from Samson by Handel; Ah, moon
of my delight by Liza Lehmann;
Morgen by Richard Strauss.

I would be interested to know what your favourite recordings are.

CHARLES FORWOOD (ACCOMPANIST)

Charles Forwood was Anne and Webster's accompanist during the 1940s. By the late forties his health was suffering so he did not go on their tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1948. I know he was a good accompanist but I wonder if anyone in the group knows anything more about him?

WEBSTER BOOTH - AN UNDER-RATED TENOR?

It has always saddened me that Webster Booth is largely forgotten today and, if he is remembered, his voice is not revered in the same way as those of some of his contemporaries. But it seems that the voice of Webster Booth was always underrated even when he was at the peak of his vocal ability. Why else did the powers-that-be at HMV not issue his serious recordings on the Red and Gold label rather than the Plum?

A gentleman who joined the AZ-WB Ning network said flatly that Webster is underrated and disregarded today because he wasted his time singing duets with Anne. But despite "going on the halls", Webster never neglected his more serious work and remained one of the foremost oratorio singers of his day.

Gerald Zwirn wrote in the South African magazine Scenaria (November 1987) in an article entitled Collecting Rare Records:

"Curiously enough, one of the best recordings ever made of Che gelida manina was on an old HMV 78 plum label record, later re-issued on LP.

I say 'curiously enough' because plum label records were among the cheapest in the catalogue. They were usually reserved for domestic artists or those considered of less importance than their international counterparts, whose records bore the prestigious red-and-gold labels.

In this case, the record was made by Webster Booth, and although sung in English as Your tiny hand is frozen, it still remains a model interpretation. Booth's outstanding musicianship, his shaping of the musical phrase, his style, diction, feeling and observance of the composer's markings, all combine to put this record in a class by itself.

Yet I doubt whether any serious record collector would even deign to consider including a plum label in his precious collection. After all, its commercial value would be calculated in cents."

Webster always said that he enjoyed broadcasting and recording more than anything else, and he certainly made a fine art of it with a beautiful voice, excellent diction, observing the composer's expression marks to the letter, musicality and his ability to interpret every aria or song he sang.

As early as 1935 when Webster was only 33 years old, WS Meadmore said in an article about him in Gramophone, "Webster Booth prefers broadcasting and recording to any other type of work. He likes the atmosphere and good fellowship of the studios, but does not feel so happy when facing an audience. He says that in a concert hall there is always a percentage of the audience who is bored with him, but, perforce, have to listen, while, if they listen-in to him, they can turn off. And if they buy one of his records - well, they must like his voice! Booth is most modest, and has little opinion of his own powers to please."

I wonder how many tenors who convey passion via a powerful pair of lungs would be as self-effacing! As someone else remarked recently, there is a difference between showing off and making music.

WEBSTER BOOTH AND ANNE ZIEGLER MOVE TO SOUTH AFRICA (1956)

The popularity of variety was waning in the UK in the 1950s, but in 1955, the year before the Booths moved to South Africa, Webster still had many oratorio engagements and sang in Hiawatha's Wedding Feast at a Prom concert, following this with Quilter's song cycle To Julia after the interval.

Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth moved to South Africa in the middle of 1956 when I was 12 years old. My parents remembered them as popular singers in the UK but I didn't know anything about them. They were given a great welcome in South Africa. Nobody could believe that such well-known singers would settle here! Their records were played many times each day on the SABC and newspapers included photographs and news items about them on a regular basis.

I first saw them and heard them sing in a performance of Messiah at St James' Presbyterian Church, Mars Street, Malvern in October 1957. I wish I could say that their singing was imprinted in my mind for all time, but I remember very little about the performance! My most enduring memories are that Webster looked rather cross - perhaps he was wondering what he was doing at a suburban Church hall rather than at the Royal Albert Hall - and Anne was sporting a distinctive Italian boy haircut and was very charming to the tea ladies at the interval!

WEBSTER BOOTH AND TOMMY HANDLEY

A group member mentioned that he had heard that Webster Booth played the Tommy Handley part in ITMA scripts on South African radio. I wrote the following in reply:

I have the record of the Tommy Handley Memorial Choir you mentioned. The items were sung at Tommy Handley's funeral service by a group of fellow Savages, including Webster. Some time after the Memorial Service at St Paul's the choir made the recording and the record was sold in aid of boys and girls clubs in which Tommy had always taken a keen interest. In fact, the recordings (along with several others of Webster) are available at the following link:

http://www.mp3hunting.com/?q=Webster+Booth

Unfortunately I never heard Webster playing Tommy Handley's part on Springbok Radio in South Africa. The 13 week series was called Light up and Laugh and began in December 1956, not long after Anne and Webster arrived in the country. It was recorded before an audience at the Brooke Theatre in De Villiers Street, Johannesburg.

Webster told me that he and other members of the cast had a few drinks before making one of these recordings. He said this was a big mistake when it came to delivering Tommy Handley's quick-fire lines and he vowed never to drink before the show again.

WEBSTER BOOTH & ANNE ZIEGLER AS DUETTISTS

I have the greatest admiration for Webster's serious solo singing, but I also enjoy the duets. Whether Webster was singing oratorio or musical comedy duets with Anne or other singers, he always committed himself to whatever song he happened to be singing at the time. Although Anne had a lighter voice than Webster, their voices blended beautifully as they were both good musicians and never tried to out-sing each other as so many other duettists seem to do. Perhaps the artistry of their singing was why they were so popular on stage, screen radio and TV. They sang in many light concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, not to mention most other concert halls and theatres throughout the UK, and never made use of a microphone. Harold Fielding kept them very busy for years.Unfortunately I was too young to see them when they were at the top of the tree in the UK. I first saw their variety act at the local Methodist Church Hall in Kensington, Johannesburg in 1960 when I was 16 - a far cry from the London Palladium! I thought they were wonderful - not only in singing the well-loved duets but in the way they connected with the audience. They lit up the hall with their presence and everyone adored them.

Jeannie C
2010

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MY COMMENTS ON MY YOU TUBE CHANNEL

2010-04-30T20:51:00.003+01:00

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ALWAYS (Kenneth Leslie-Smith)

Always comes from The Puritan Lullaby by Kenneth Leslie-Smith. Webster Booth took part in the broadcast of this show on BBC radio in September 1935. The cast included baritones George Baker and Stuart Robertson. BBC Theatre Orchestra and the Revue Chorus was conducted by Stanford Robinson.

COMFORT YE/ EV’RY VALLEY (Handel)

He was very well known in his day. Although his voice was light it could still fill the Albert Hall without the aid of a microphone.

HEART’S DESIRE selection

In response to a remark about Alan Keith’s Hundred Best Tunes: Towards the end of the eighties Alan Keith presented The Golden Years in which he also played many of their recordings. Although they had never met, Alan Keith attended Webster's memorial service at St Paul's, Covent Garden, in 1984.

In response to a comment that the person was sorry to have missed a concert in 1978: They had just arrived back in the UK after 22 years in South Africa and were surprised to find that people remembered them after their absence. They embarked on their short "third career" in the UK until Webster's health failed and he died in June1984.

LAND WITHOUT MUSIC selection

Webster once told me that when he went to a recording date at HMV he was given about six items to record on each particular occasion, so the choice of what he would record was made by the powers-that-be rather than the singer. I know that he admired Richard Tauber's voice, which was a lyric tenor much like his own.

LOVE'S GARDEN OF ROSES (Haydn Wood)

I love the song and think this is one of Anne and Webster's best duet recordings.

MERRY WIDOW WALTZ (Lehar)

2009 Webster Booth died 25 years ago on 21 June 1984 in Llandudno, North Wales. This duet comes from a radio programme in the 1940s when he and Anne Ziegler were at the height of their popularity as duettists.

MORNING (Oley Speaks)

The only other songs by Oley Speaks I can recall offhand are Sylvia, which begins, "Sylvia's hair is like the night..." and his most famous song, The Road to Mandalay, recorded by many baritones. Webster recorded Sylvia, but sadly I do not have it in my collection.

MORNING GLORY (Kenneth Leslie-Smith)

In answer to a query about the photographs I used in the video: Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth lived in Penrhyn Bay, North Wales when they returned to the UK in 1978, so instead of a series of photographs of WB himself, I decidedto use photographs associated with their time in Llandudno.

NOCTURNE (Chopin, arranged by Maurice Besly)

I'm afraid I don't know the exact date of the recording. I imagine it was recorded some time in the late forties. The recordnumber of this 12" 78rpm is HMV C3460. I have since found out that it was recorded in 1945.

(In reply to a comment by Selwyn Lotzof) I also had lessons with Anne and Webster at the same time as you and was Webster's accompanist when Anne was away. I remember playing for you! Happy memories!

ONAWAY, AWAKE, BELOVED by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

Webster Booth sang the tenor solos in Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast many times before and after WWII. Sir Malcolm Sargent chose him especially to sing the part for his sixtieth birthday concert in 1955.

ROMANCE from THE ROBBER SYMPHONY (Feher)

I have Webster Booth’s recording of Celeste Aida, sungin English as are all his other operatic recordings. When Webster Booth was in South Africa he and Anne Ziegler made an LP of their popular duets in Afrikaans entitled Net maar ‘n Roos, but Romance from the film, The Robber Symphony is the only other WB recording I know in a language other than English.

SERENADE from FRASQUITA (Lehar)

I see that in 1948 he also recorded Break of Day, Wayside Rose, and My Heart and I, all closely associated with Richard Tauber. I know he had no say in what he recorded but was given a selection of songs to record on particular recording dates. I can only think that the powers-that-be at HMV decided he should record these songs because Tauber had recently died.

SOUND AN ALARM (Handel)

At the age of 61 he sang the tenor part in Elijah in Pietermaritzburg. The MD told everyone that the organ was pitched a semitone higher than concert pitch so the orchestra would have to tune up accordingly. When asked whether the higher pitch would be a problem for Webster at his advanced singing age, he replied that he would just put on a second jockstrap and all would be well! As far as I know, it was!

WAFT HER, ANGELS, THROUGH THE SKIES (Handel)

Webster Booth was one of Britain's finest oratorio singers of his generation and was knownfor the clarity of his diction and runs, and for his excellent musicianship. He recorded for HMV for over 20 years, and was Sir Malcolm Sargent's personal choice as soloist at his 60th birthday concert in 1955.

I have never understood why Webster is underrated as a singer today as I think he deserves a place amongst the best. Most people think all he ever did was sing light duets with Anne Ziegler on the variety circuit. He told me that oratorio singing meant more to him than any other branch of his singing career.

Why is Webster Booth underrated today?

2010-04-28T15:11:00.006+01:00

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I have posted about 80 recordings on You Tube featuring Webster as soloist and as a duettist with Anne Ziegler. These recordings cover a wide variety of musical genres from light ballads to oratorio, certainly illustrating that Webster was a versatile singer.

Most comments have been complimentary about his voice. Many younger people had not heard of him until they came across the recordings on You Tube, but were delighted to discover his voice. Others have said that Webster is an underrated tenor. I would like to know why he is underrated by today's critics, who speak of singers like John McCormack, Richard Tauber and Heddle Nash in reverential tones, but don't consider him in the same class. Is it because he is only remembered today (if at all!) as being part of a Sweethearts of Song variety act?

I would be interested to hear your views on why he is underrated by so many people.

29 May 2010

There have been some comments on this question in the group. So far most comments have been giving Webster Booth a real pasting! Why not join the group and add your comments - for or against - to the discussion. I will add my comments to the group discussion and post them here, but my breath has been taken away, so I'll have to wait until I feel more composed!

31 May 2010

An edited version of my comment on the WB-AZ Yahoo group:

Judging by comments on my You Tube Channel, heseems to appeal to the majority of listeners, and his solo recordings are morepopular than the duets.

He was extremelyhandsome, a fine singer and actor, andwas hugely popular and successful duringhis career in the UK from the late twenties to 1956, whether he was singingduets with Anne Ziegler on the Variety Circuit or singing the tenor solos atthe Good Friday performance of Messiah atthe Royal Albert Hall.

A critic remarked ofhis performance as Villon in The VagabondKing (1943) that he was “the most dynamic leading man since Dennis King". Webster hadmade his West End debut in The ThreeMusketeers with Dennis King as D’Artagnan (1930) and was flattered to becompared to him.

He sang operatic arias inEnglish on the HMV recordings because that was the convention at the time.Everyone who recorded on the Plum label sang opera in English, and only the Redlabel artistes recorded in the original language. It is to Dennis Noble andWebster Booth’s credit that they still manage to do well with the La Bohèmeduet with words like, “This pen is too awful!” “This infamous paint brush!” Youmight prefer the operatic aria, lied or chanson sung in the original language(provided you understand all these languages and do not want the original language merely because of snobbery) but if it is sung in English withWebster’s excellent diction, at least you know what it is all about!

(An aside) In Germany Italian operas are usually sung in German and, at one time, at Covent Garden, soloists sometimes sang in the language in which they had learnt the opera!

The singer did not have a choice about what he would record. He did the best with the material he was given. I would not necessarily havechosen Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth to sing vocal gems from Porgy and Bess, although I was quite impressed with the way Websterhandled the jazzy rhythms. Nobody can denythat Webster was versatile and all his recordings are of a consistently highstandard.

Unlike the group member who is not “carried away on the wings ofimagination” by Webster’s singing, I am, and have been for nearly fifty years.

Places associated with Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler (1956-2003)

2010-04-04T20:19:00.004+01:00

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Webster Booth & Anne Ziegler emigrated to South Africa in July 1956. While they were looking for a suitable home they lived at Dawson's Hotel, Johannesburg. This photograph shows the hotel at the corner of Von Brandis and President Street as it is today. I believe that the building has been abandoned, hence the poor state of the exterior. It was considered one of the best hotels in Johannesburg after the Carlton and the Langham hotels in 1956.

The found a flat at Waverley, Highlands North, just off Louis Botha Avenue, where they lived for several years. They also rented a studio in the centre of the city on the eighth floor of Polliacks Building, corner of Eloff and Pritchard Street. It was advertised as the Anne Ziegler & Webster Booth School of Singing and Stagecraft.

The studio was on the eighth floor above Record Corner, which was Polliacks Corner in the days when Anne and Webster were there. It had a large balcony facing the OK Bazaars (now called Shoprite). On the OK Bazaars corner of Eloff and Pritchard Street, little 12-year old boys gathered each morning to play melodious Kwela music, using a penny whistle, and a bass made of a tea-chest. The studio was beyond John Orr's, the upmarket department store in Pritchard Street. This store was closed many years ago.

About 1958 Anne and Webster bought a house at 121 Buckingham Avenue, Craighall Park in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. Anne said they paid R4000 (GBP2000) for the house and thought they did very well when they sold it for R8000 (GBP4000) five years later.

On Wednesday afternoons Webster went to Zoo Lake Bowling Club where he played bowls in "the most beautiful setting in the world". I was sorry to hear that this bowling club's lease has not been renewed and is to be closed in February 2011. I hope that it may be saved as it has been on this site for over fifty years.

Their second home in Johannesburg was at 31 Second Avenue, Parktown North, where they lived until 1967 when they moved to Knysna in the Cape.

The first house in Knysna was at 4 Azalea Street, Paradise, Knysna. They planned to leave Knysna and move to Port Elizabeth when they discovered their second home in Knysna and stayed on until 1974 at a Settler Cottage at 18 Graham Street.

The Beacon Isle Hotel was built at Plettenberg Bay, the adjoining town to Knysna and attracted visitors from other parts of the country. Anne and Webster sang at its opening around 1970.

The new Crowhurst in Picardy Avenue, Somerset West. Anne is standing next to the cars. (1975) Photo: Dudley Holmes

In 1974 they moved to Somerset West near Cape Town where the cost of living was less than in Knysna, hoping to obtain more work in broadcasting and teaching but there were few pupils and few broadcasting engagements. Webster conducted the Somerset and District Choral Society but he was not offered a fee for doing this! After a time they moved into a maisonette and prepared to return to the United Kingdom in 1978 as Anne's friend, Babs Wilson-Hill (Marie Thompson) offered to purchase a small bungalow in Penrhyn Bay, Llandudno, North Wales and agreed that they could live there rent-free for the rest of their lives. Webster died on 21 June 1984 after a long illness at the age of 82. Anne lived on in the bungalow until her death on 13 October 2003 at the age of 93.

The bungalow in Penrhyn Bay.

Jeannie C

July 2010

Places associated with Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler

2010-04-03T13:47:00.011+02:00

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A member of the Booth-Ziegler Yahoo Group suggested that it would be interesting to see various places associated with Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler. Here are places they stayed during their lifetimes, and photographs of the buildings.
Arbury Road, Nuneaton

Webster Booth's parents, Edwin Booth and Sarah Webster were married in 1889. Sarah came from Chilvers Coton, Nuneaton and the address on the wedding certificate was Arbury Road, Nuneaton.

Their first home as a married couple was at 33 Nineveh Road, Handsworth, and it was there that their eldest son, Edgar John Booth was born in 1890.

It is the house with the blue door and is situated round the corner from Soho Road, Handsworth, where Edwin Booth ran a Ladies and Girls hairdressers at 157 Soho Road. The family moved to 157 Soho Road about 1895 and it was there that Webster Booth was born in 1902. It is now the site of a multi-purpose store.

33 Nineveh Road, Handsworth

Below: 157 Soho Road, Handsworth

Anne Ziegler was born Irene Frances Eastwood of 22 June 1910 at Marmion Road, Sefton Park, Liverpool.

Marmion Road, Sefton Park

When Webster Booth was 9 years old he was accepted as a chorister at Lincoln Cathedral.
Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln (below)

Collage and photos: Charles S.P. Jenkins

After Webster's voice broke, he returned home to Handsworth and attended Aston Commercial School which had opened in 1915, with the idea of becoming an accountant like his older brother, Edwin Norman. Edgar Keey, the father of his first wife, Winifred, was the headmaster there.

Webster Booth married Winifred Keey at the Fulham Registry Office in 1924. They made their home in Prospect Road Moseley, where their son Keith was born on 12th June 1925. In 1927, after Webster's return from a tour of Canada with D'Oyly Carte, Winifred deserted Webster and they were divorced in 1931.

43 Prospect Road, Moseley, Birmingham (below) Photo: Michael Collen

Webster Booth left the D'Oyly Carte after the tour of Canada, changed his name from Leslie W. Booth, as he had been known in the D'oyly Carte Company to Webster Booth and went to live in London to try his luck as a freelance singer.
He lived in Streatham Hill, the old home of Tom Howell, leader of the Opieros Concert Party with whom he sang for several seasons, and - at the time of his divorce from Winifred Keey - he was living in Biggin Hill.

Streatham Hill (1927 on)

Biggin Hill, 1931 (below)

5 Crescent Court, Golders Green Crescent NW11

In 1932 Webster Booth married his second wife, Dorothy Annie Alice Prior, stage name Paddy Prior. Paddy Prior was a soubrette, dancer and comedienne who had been on the stage since her late teens. She was born in Chandos Road, Fulham on 4 December 1904. During their marriage - 1932-1938 they lived at 5 Crescent Court, Golders Green Crescent.

In 1934 Irene Frances Eastwood moved to London and changed her name to Anne Ziegler to appear as the top voice in the octet of By Appointment, starring Maggie Teyte. She lived at 72 Lauderdale Mansions, Lauderdale Road, Maida Vale.

Anne and Webster were married on 5 November 1938, first at Paddington Registry Office, then had their wedding blessed in a special service for divorced persons at St Ethelburga's Church, Bishopsgate.

Photo: Charles S.P Jenkins

Anne and Webster lived at the same address before and after his divorce from Paddy Prior in 1938 and in 1939 they moved into a bigger flat in the same building.

In 1941 they purchased a big house with a big garden from the theatrical couple, Ernest Butcher and Muriel George. This house was called Crowhurst at 98 Torrington Park, Friern Barnet N12.

Anne and Webster in the garden at Crowhurst, early 1940s.

Photos of Crowhurst today: Pamela Davies

Crowhurst sitting room today.

When they returned from their concert tour to New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in 1948, they realised that Crowhurst was too big for them to manage at a time when it was difficult to find suitable domestic staff. They decided to buy a smaller house at Frognal Cottage, 102 Frognal, Hampstead NW3.

Listening to one of their new recordings in the sitting room at Frognal Cottage, with Smokey (1950)

Photos of Frognal Cottage today: Pamela Davies.

Music room at Frognal Cottage (1950)

They sold Frognal Cottage in 1952 and moved to a house nearby at 9 Ellerdale Road, Hampstead, where they remained until they left to settle in South Africa in 1956.

I have created a similar post of the South African and UK residences where Anne and Webster lived from 1956 to 1978.
Jeannie C July 2010.

Snippets from A Scattered Garland: Gleanings from the lives of Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler, (1930-1934)

2010-03-27T20:44:00.001+02:00

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Snippets from A Scattered Garland: Gleanings from the lives of Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler, (1930-1934) by Jean Collen

http://www.lulu.com/duettists

3 April 1930 Drury Lane, The Three Musketeers - On Friday, March 28, 1930, was presented here a romantic musical play in two acts adapted from the novel of Alexander Dumas, music by Rudolf Friml, lyrics by Clifford Grey,
book by William Anthony McGuire…the whole under the direction of Sir Alfred
Butt.

.. Much of Rudolf Friml’s music is rendered ably by Miss Lillian Davies, a stately Anne, with studied vocalisation in a somewhat elaborate solo My dreams, and in a melodious trio Love is the sun, with the sprightly and
charming Constance de Bonacieux of Miss Adrienne Brune and the romantic
Buckingham of Mr Webster Booth, singing suavely also in a solo, Queen of my heart. (The Stage)

This was Webster’s debut on the West End stage. He played the Duke of Buckingham for only three months. because Sir Alfred Butt could not obtain his release from a previously signed Blackpool summer show contract with Ernest Butcher. His part was taken over by Yorkshire tenor, Robert Naylor.

18 April 1930 MESSIAH, Hackney Central Hall - Hackney Choral Society, Webster Booth (tenor) (From Webster’s score of Messiah)

12 June 1930to September 1930 - Muriel George and Ernest Butcher returned to the Central Pier,Blackpool, last Thursday with a new company
with the exception of their faithful and talented accompanist, Ethel Brigstock.
.. Webster Booth delights with his fine rendering of A Wand’ring Minstrel and Queen of My Heart, and Rosamund Belmore scores with her singing and dancing.

Webster continued singing Queen of My Heart, with which he had scored a success in The Three Musketeers, in the Blackpool summer show. He once mentioned that he was one of only a few singers allowed to perform Gilbert and Sullivan songs (before the end of Gilbert’s copyright) without the permission of the D’Oyly Cartes. Presumably he was taking advantage of this privilege in Butcher’s Blackpool summer show.

19 June 1930 Popular songs - Webster Booth is making a prominent feature of The World is Waiting for the Sunrise at his engagements.

21 December 1930 MESSIAH - Blackheath Methodist Church, Webster Booth (tenor) (Webster’s score of Messiah)

22 January 1931 – Advert in The Stage -

PADDY PRIOR, SOUBRETTE-ENTERTAINER

Offers invited for summer, First class Resident or Touring

CP.37 Arundel Mansions, Fulham SW6 Fulham 6026

1931 Address: Webster Booth, 151 Biggin Hill, Upper Norwood, London

February 1931

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE PROBATE DIVORCE

AND ADMIRALTY DIVISION (DIVORCE)

Between Leslie Webster Booth (Petitioner) and Winifred Dorothy Booth
(Respondent) and Trevor Davey (Co-respondent)

TAKE NOTICE that a Petition has been filed in this Division endorsed with Notice to you to appear and answer the charges in the Petition of Leslie Webster Booth of 151 Biggin Hill, Upper Norwood, in the County of London, praying for a dissolution of marriage. In default of your so appearing, you will not be allowed to address the Court, and the Court will proceed and hear the said Petition proved and pronounce sentence. AND TAKE FURTHER NOTICE THAT for the purpose of the aforesaid within one month after the date of this Publication an appearance must be entered at the Divorce Registry, Somerset in respect thereof AND TAKE FURTHER NOTICE THAT House, Strand, London. W INDERWICK, Registrar, Solicitors for the Petitioner:-W H Speed & Co., 18 Sackville Street, London, W1 (Times archive)

May to September 1931-1932, 1934 SUNSHINE CONCERT PARTY Summer Theatre, Shanklin. Powis Pinder

25 June 1931, At Shanklin - Sunshine are again in possession of the Summer Theatre on Shanklin esplanade, and are entertaining audiences drawn from all parts of the island with a show in keeping with their title. Security of tenure is a factor in the success achieved by Powis Pinder. No company in the island appears in a better stage setting, no show is brighter dressed, and the natural consequence is that the ensemble is always pleasing to the eye. This is one of the advantages of being able to produce on the same expansive stage with an accumulation of properties year after year. Of course, there are other things equally important to success. There is much good humour from Arthur Askey, a live wire, who seems to bubble over with fun...

Webster Booth, a powerful tenor, sings with marked dramatic effect, and Margery Peck, soprano is heard to much advantage. The company include Michael Strong, a violin soloist, who is a master of technique, and is very happy in light descriptive pieces. Gladys Merredew, more vivacious than ever, makes a welcome return and is especially successful in smart duets in which she and Arthur Askey engage in repartee.

There is great fun in the many sketches and burlesques in which fine work is
put in by Bernard Lee. Unobtrusive work at the piano by Kathleen O’Hagan is
most helpful to the artistes, and her own arrangements of popular syncopated
melodies delight the audience.

19 March 1932 MESSIAH, Birmingham Town Hall, with Webster Booth (tenor) (Webster’s score of Messiah)

5 May 1932, Items - The Bellingham Club had a concert, arranged by Louis Richards, on April 30, the programme including: Frederica Little, Lena Copping, Paddy Prior, Webster Booth, Graham Diprose, and Eric Mason, with Emil Phillippe at the piano.

This is the first time Paddy Prior and Webster Booth were billed together. They had met earlier at a concert at the Concert Artistes’ Association. Paddy had been in the audience and Webster had impressed her with his singing of One Alone. They were introduced to one another after the concert.

10 October 1932 Remarriage - Webster Booth and former wife, Winifred Keey both married other partners in the last quarter of 1932. Webster married Dorothy Annie Alice (Paddy) Prior on 10 October 1932 at Fulham Registry Office, where he had married Winifred Keey in 1924, and Winifred married James L Haig.

The couple lived at 5 Crescent Court, Golders Green Crescent, NW11. They were listed separately in the telephone book as Webster Booth, tenor, Speedwell 6608; and Paddy Prior, soubrette-entertainer, Speedwell 6608 Although Webster eventually spent most of his time with Anne Ziegler at her flat in Lauderdale Mansions from 1937, Paddy and Webster remained listed in the telephone book at the same address until their divorce was made final in October 1938.

13 October 1932, Wedding Bells - Paddy Prior and Webster Booth were married at the Fulham Register Office last Monday. A reception followed before the bride and bridegroom left for a honeymoon at Newquay, and several professional friends were in attendance to toast the happy couple.

28 November 1932 - A grand musical matinee performance was held yesterday in aid of the League of Mercy and the Royal Free Hospital at the Palladium. Harry Hudson's Melody Men played and the following artistes appeared:-Miss Louise Londa, Miss Adela Verne, Miss Desiree Ellinger, Miss Esme Beringer, Mr. Thorpe Bates, Bratza, Mr. Webster Booth, the Gresham Singers, Mr. Edward Slaughter, Mr. Cyril Clency, and Flanagan and Allen. Lady Newnes arranged the performance and the stage direction was undertaken by Mr. Victor Marmont.

Webster Booth was a life governor of the Royal Free Hospital. (Who’s Who in Music ,1937)

23 March 1933 - The Crescent Chapter met at the Mitre Hotel, Hampton Court, on March 14, and was entertained by Betsy de la Porte, Lena Copping, and Webster Booth.

Betsy de la Porte was a South African soprano. Webster said she wasted no time as she always knitted while waiting her turn to sing at Masonic dinners.

18 May 1933, Pavilion (RM, LH Harker) - Murray Ashford’s Piccadilly Revels completely change their programme during their second week’s stay. A
novel feature is a topical quartet In Merrie England Now, presented by Webster Booth, George and Kenneth Western, and Edgar Sawyer, who are also heard in individual numbers of merits. The Euphan Maclaren Dancers, Marion Charles, and Isolde, Alexis and Carlo, are seen in pleasing dance numbers, and Paddy Prior and Violet Stevens are excellent entertainers… (The Stage)

21 September 1933 - Bills for the month of October at the Palladium are equally strong and are as follows: October 1: Debroy Somers and his Band, Garda Hall, Olive Tyson, Webster Booth, Leslie Jones, Leonard Henry (compère), Marriott Edgar, Raie da Costa, Stainless Stephen, Felgate King and Elsa Mayfair, Jane Carr.

NSL concerts at the Finsbury Park Empire will start on October 1, with the winning band of the Crystal Palace Band Contest, Webster Booth, Bertha Willmott, Fred Gwyn, and Edith Baldry.

The season at the Lewisham Town Hall will start on October 8; October 22: Callender’s Band, Olive Tyson, Webster Booth, Peter Barnard, Felgate King and Elsa Mayfair, Leonard Henry (compère), Bennett and Williams, and Geoffrey Dupree. (The Stage)

1934 Anne Ziegler was born, Irené Frances Eastwood, the youngest child of Liverpool cotton broker, Ernest Eastwood and his wife, Eliza Doyle. Her father lost money during the cotton slump of the early thirties so Irené went to London to find theatrical work to support herself and help her newly hard-up family. She took Anne Ziegler as a stage name when she signed a contract to appear in the musical play, By Appointment which starred the soprano, Maggie Teyte. The show was not successful and closed after three weeks.

May 1934 WEEK-END CONCERTS _ _ MR. CEDRIC CUNDELL – IRENÉ EASTWOOD. Miss Irené Eastwood, who gave a song recital at Wigmore Hall on Friday evening, has an attractive soprano voice with an extensive range, through which she can move with ease and control. She took some time to warm to her work, and through the whole of her first group - operatic arias from Mozart, Handel, and Beethoven, sung in English - her intonation was often seriously at fault, but this was, nevertheless, the part of the programme which gave the most favourable impression of her as a singer of taste, her performance of Gentle Morpheus from Handel's Alceste being particularly charming in its gentleness, while a song from Fidelio suggested some dramatic power. Ravel’s Scheherazade suite was beautifully sung except for an ugly portamento, but the latter part of a long programme inclined to monotony, partly through the lack of variety in her voice, partly through her sophisticated treatment of sophisticated matter in a number of songs by Berners, John Heath, Goossens, and Walton. She should guard against a trick of beginning nearly every note piano and increasing its volume after the start, irrespective of its position in a phrase. This gives a disturbing unevenness both to the texture of the music and the quality of her voice. Mr. Charlton Keith was at the piano, while Mr. John Tobin accompanied her in a number of his own songs… (Times archive)

22 May 1934 Midland Regional Programme - 21.15 PURITAN LULLABY, an Operetta; Book and Lyrics by James Dyrenforth; Music by Kenneth Leslie-Smith; with Natalie Hall, George Baker, Webster Booth, Renée de Vaux, Arabella Tulloch, Phoebe Hodgson, Charles Barrett, Dennis Hoey, Leslie Bradley, Vivienne Chatterton, and Peter Penrose (by permission of Sydney Carroll); the Revue Chorus and BBC Theatre Orchestra, conducted by Stanford Robinson. London Regional Programme

14 June 1934, At Shanklin - Motor cars from all over the Isle of Wight were maneuvering for position on Shanklin Esplanade on the opening night of Sunshine at the Summer Theatre. This was in itself a tribute to the attraction of a Powis Pinder’s show, and the audience, made up in about equal proportions of visitors and residents were appreciative of the high standard maintained in the entertainment…

The company is staging vocal music. Webster Booth had a great reception for his rendering of Love’s Wishes, and Molly Elvar was also very successful. With a pleasing stage presence, much vivacity, and a capacity for hard work, Paddy Prior should prove a popular comedienne. (The Stage)

Paddy Prior (soubrette, dancer and comedienne) obtained a job in the show in 1934, two years after her marriage to Webster Booth. Arthur Askey was in the same concert party for several seasons.

11 October 1934 - At Folkestone, at the Leas Cliff Hall, Folkestone, Vari Varieties evenings are proving successful. Last Saturday, October 6, the programme included Paddy Prior, Webster Booth, Teresa Watson, Arthur Askey, Kathleen O’Hagan and Eldridge Newman and the Municipal Orchestra.

CABARET 1934-1935 - As Webster had done before her in the late twenties, Anne sang at a variety of Joseph Lyons venues on and off for two years: Regent Palace Hotel, the Popular Café in Piccadilly, The Strand Corner House, the Trocadero, the Café de la Paix, and the Monico. One of her fellow cabaret artistes was Leslie Hutchinson (Hutch).

December, 1934 Shooting of the film, Faust Fantasy

Anne (Marguerite) and Webster (Faust) began filming the Faust Fantasy. Webster had been married to Paddy Prior for just over two years, but meeting Anne spelt the end of this marriage almost before it had begun. He had taken joint engagements with Paddy and these continued for some time after he met Anne. As late as 28 May 1936 he attended Vi Stevens’ and Bryan Courage’s wedding with Paddy. Soon after he met Anne he recommended her to the BBC, and less than a month later she sang in the broadcast of Kenneth Leslie-Smith’s Love Needs a Waltz.

BOOTH-ZIEGLER YAHOO GROUP

Notes

HOME: WEBSTER BOOTH-ANNE ZIEGLER YAHOO GROUP

NEW ZEALAND AND AUSTRALIAN TOUR (1948)

WEBSTER BOOTH: WAFT HER ANGELS THROUGH THE SKIES

"Jephtha" Recit: Deeper and deeper still

WEBSTER BOOTH: Porgy and Bess: It aint necessarily so, I got plenty of...

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WEBSTER BOOTH - The Voice of Romance

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Webster Booth: "O dry those tears" by Teresa del Riego

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WEBSTER BOOTH - MEMORIAL SERVICE AT ST PAUL'S COVENT GARDEN - OCTOBER 1984

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TOM HOWELL'S OPIEROS

ANNE ZIEGLER-WEBSTER BOOTH: LONDON THEATRES WHERE ANNE ZIEGLER & WEBSTER BOOTH APPEARED

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ANNE ZIEGLER AND WEBSTER BOOTH ON YOUTUBE

THE SONG IS ENDED & OTHER STORIES

My posts and questions on Booth-Ziegler Yahoo Group

RECENT COMMENT TO THE GROUP

In reply to a member, I wrote:

FAVOURITE RECORDINGS OF WEBSTER BOOTH and ANNE ZIEGLER

CHARLES FORWOOD (ACCOMPANIST)

Charles Forwood was Anne and Webster's accompanist during the 1940s. By the lateforties his health was suffering so he did not go on their tour to Australia andNew Zealand in 1948. I know he was a good accompanist but I wonder if anyone inthe group knows anything more about him?

WEBSTER BOOTH - AN UNDER-RATED TENOR?

A gentleman who joined the group said flatly that Webster is underrated and disregarded today because he wasted his time singing duets with Anne. But despite "going on the halls", he never neglected his more serious work and remained one of the foremost oratorio singers of his day.

Recordings: No More, Wayside Road, Sympathy 1 September 2010

WEBSTER BOOTH and ANNE ZIEGLER MOVE TO SOUTH AFRICA (1956)

WEBSTER BOOTH AND TOMMY HANDLEY

A group member mentioned that he had heard that Webster Booth played the Tommy Handley part in ITMA scripts on South African radio. I wrote the following in reply:

My new novel: I CAN'T FORGET YOU, and THE SONG IS ENDED & OTHER STORIES

Search results (Webster Booth) - NLA Newspapers

LONG PLAYING RECORDS FEATURING ANNE ZIEGLER AND/OR WEBSTER BOOTH

Tribute to Anne Ziegler on the hundredth anniversary of her birth 22 June 2010

Books about Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth

Recording Repertoire of Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler

Records to find before I die!

My posts and questions on Booth-Ziegler Yahoo Group

FAVOURITE RECORDINGS OF WEBSTER BOOTH & ANNE ZIEGLER

CHARLES FORWOOD (ACCOMPANIST)

Charles Forwood was Anne and Webster's accompanist during the 1940s. By the late forties his health was suffering so he did not go on their tour to Australia and New Zealand in 1948. I know he was a good accompanist but I wonder if anyone in the group knows anything more about him?

WEBSTER BOOTH - AN UNDER-RATED TENOR?

Gerald Zwirn wrote in the South African magazine Scenaria (November 1987) in an article entitled Collecting Rare Records: "Curiously enough, one of the best recordings ever made of Che gelida manina was on an old HMV 78 plum label record, later re-issued on LP.

WEBSTER BOOTH AND ANNE ZIEGLER MOVE TO SOUTH AFRICA (1956)

The popularity of variety was waning in the UK in the 1950s, but in 1955, the year before the Booths moved to South Africa, Webster still had many oratorio engagements and sang in Hiawatha's Wedding Feast at a Prom concert, following this with Quilter's song cycle To Julia after the interval.

WEBSTER BOOTH AND TOMMY HANDLEY

A group member mentioned that he had heard that Webster Booth played the Tommy Handley part in ITMA scripts on South African radio. I wrote the following in reply:

MY COMMENTS ON MY YOU TUBE CHANNEL

Why is Webster Booth underrated today?

Places associated with Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler (1956-2003)

Places associated with Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler

Snippets from A Scattered Garland: Gleanings from the lives of Webster Booth and Anne Ziegler, (1930-1934)

Charles Forwood was Anne and Webster's accompanist during the 1940s. By the late
forties his health was suffering so he did not go on their tour to Australia and
New Zealand in 1948. I know he was a good accompanist but I wonder if anyone in
the group knows anything more about him?

**Recordings: No More, Wayside Road, Sympathy 1 September 2010**

Gerald Zwirn wrote in the South African magazine Scenaria (November 1987) in an article entitled Collecting Rare Records:

"Curiously enough, one of the best recordings ever made of Che gelida manina was on an old HMV 78 plum label record, later re-issued on LP.