The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 8

Th Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday, Nov 6. .1980 ADVERTISEMENT THE ARTS NSW PUBLIC SERVANTS! WILL YOU TAKE A MOMENT TO READ THIS? Thrilling despite wrong notes Playwright hopes to antagonise By FRED BLANKS it. -1? Sydney Symphony Orchestra Conductor! Cluutlio Sclmost Solistt Claude HelH'er, pluiyM.f AHC Red series concert Music by ClemenU, Puccini and Beethoven Opera House Concert Halt Boulevarde, reached a tenuous compromise which allowed the tour to continue. Mr Whitburn has set his play in a suite on the 22nd floor of the Boulevarde, one floor below the scene of the protracted Hawke-Sinatra negotiations. His two central characters are journalists assigned to get to Mr Sinatra no matter what.

The older journalist, played by Max Cullen, is a veteran showbiz writer-desperate for an exclusive, and his younger colleague, played by Lou Brown, is less than enthusiastic about both his assignment and his chosen career. The third character of the play is a young model with page three aspirations, played by Penny Cook. Mr Whitburn, who abandoned a career in advertising a few years ago to take on full-time writing, says the main, themes of his play are the misuse of union and media power, and the more familiar theme of a man whose future is behind him having one more shot at the top. Mr Whitburn thought of the play 2i years ago while trying to write a magazine article about the farcical aspects of Mr Sinatra's last Australian tour. The incident annoyed him more than it amused him.

By RICHARD COLEMAN, Arts Correspondent Denis Whitburn has his own foolproof litmus test for new plays. "A good new play should annoy a few people," he says. "After the performance there should be at least some members of the audience who walk outside and feel like bashing a few heads together." Mr Whitburn will be anxiously searching the streets of Kings Cross for a few bashed heads tonight after his first play, The Siege of Frank Sinatra, plays to the critics at the Stables Theatre. The play concerns the incident in 1974 when Frank Sinatra, who had referred to Australian journalists as "parasites' (male) and "broads and hookers" (female) during a Melbourne concert, was blockaded in his Boulevarde Hotel suite until he apologised to the Australian Journalists' Association. Airport workers were refusing to touch any plane carrying Mr Sinatra out or the country, and the press was having a field day.

The then ACTU president, Mr Hawke, intervened and, after an all-night session with Mr Sinatra's entourage at the IF YOy WERE TOLD, THAT YOUR CAREER AND YOUR JOB WERE ON THE LINE WOULD YOU BE PREPARED TO LODGE A STRONG PROTEST? WELL, READ ON PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE ACT WILL OPEN THE FLOODGATES TO OUTSIDE APPOINTMENTS SECTION 63 CURRENTLY HOLDS THEM IN CHECK: UNDER STAFF CEILINGS, FOR EVERY OUTSIDER APPOINTED SOMEONE INSIDE RISKS BEING FORCED OUT. PEOPLE ARE BEING MADE SURPLUS- NOW! PEOPLE ARE BEING REDUCED IN SALARY- NOW! FORCED TRANSFERS ARE TAKING PLACE- NOW! DISCIPLINARY CHARGES FOR MINOR MISTAKES ARE ON -NOW! SHOW YOU CARE ATTEND A MEETING 12.30pm FRIDAY 7 NOVEMBER 1980 SYDNEY TOWN HALL AND ALSO AT NEWCASTLE, W0LL0NG0NG, BATHURSTORANGE, GOSFORD, TAMWORTH, WAGGA GOULBURN, BROKEN HILL, DUBBO, GRAFTON, TAREE, MAITLAND, INVERELL, KEMPSEY, NOWRA, PARRAMATTA, LIVERPOOL HORNSBY. TELEPHONE (02) 2901555 FOR FULL DETAILS Denis Whitburn foolproof litmus test. It was "an example of the And who is Mr Whitburn ex-complete misuse of media and pecting to annoy? union power." he savs. "Well, I'm hoping to amuse a lot of people, but suspect a few of the older-style unionists who were involved in the siege will not be amused." The Siege of Frank Sinatra, "It was the perfect case of 'anything to sell a of journalists creating news instead of reporting it.

"Unionism seems to me to have veered away from its original concepts and to have directed by Lex Marinos, is the become another tool to be picK cl im whcnRver snmenne takes King O'Malley Theatre a fancy to wielding power." Company's third production. A friendly sort of horror story By MEAGHAN MORRIS A truly formidable pjfrnjst is Claude Helller. Provided you were willing to forgive him a wrong note hero and there, and a tendency tq'ltat the Sydney Symphony Orchestra to the end of a semiquaver or more, there was no denying that his performance of Beethoven's Emperor, in the Opera House Concert Hall last night conveyed, an imperial thrill. It had virility, individtrality, and sheer size. The very first proclaimed these attributes, 'fushing their way into prominence, with a mettlesome spirit; a sense -of urgency forced the pace throughout the opening allegro.

That the conducting of Clalidio Scimone might have preferred a more relaxed approach had' there been less pressure from, the soloist was hinted at quito.aifew times in this movement; hints turned to certainty with the of the adagio which, with the piano silent, began in a very soulful manner. The rondo found Claude HeltTer back in full domination, playing with that crisp rhythmic, verve lie had applied a few days earlier to Milhaud's Le Carnaval d'Aix, music as colourful as a palette left out in the rain. Beethoven demanded more classical discipline, but the effect here also was refreshing and indeed exciting wrong notes and impatience apart. The first half of this ABC Red series concert showed, if nothing else, that musical historv did not err in causing the Great National Symphony by Clcmenti, and the Capriccio Sinfonico by Puccini, to be left out in the cold. The Clementi work makes lot of pseudo-Beelhovenish noise, but lacks both distinction and distinctiveness, and must have sounded old-fashioned when it appeared in 1824.

It makes much play with the National Anthem, but this quickly wears thin. The Puccini work of 1883 is hot-blooded and heavily scored; part of its limited appeal lies in its, unintentional offering of a game for identifying snippets of melody that later found their way into La Boheme, Edgar and Tosca. For that, at least, it was worth hearing once. Gallery time extended The NSW Art Gallery has extended its hours because of public response to the current exhibition The Revolutionary Decades. On Wednesdays the gallery will remain open until 8 pm.

Opening hours on all other days will be 10 am to 5 pm. The Awakening, M. Barclay. BRIEFLY: The mummy's comeback. MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD! Issued in the interests of your future career by the mi) 'H4 While they do so, Corbeck's neglected wife (Jill Townsend) is afflicted with the agonies of a premature birth which follows blow by blow the opening of the mummy's tomb.

Eighteen years later Corbeck's daughter (Stephanie Zim-balist) looks just like Queen Kara only nobody notices except the audience. One of the friendliest things about the film is that it's hard not to side with the mummy. After all, she'd been forced to marry a father she disliked; and all the poor girl did in revenge was to squash him under a falling slab and kill everyone who ever talked to him. The photography by Jack Cardiff, veteran cameraman and director of Sons and Lovers, may well be too pretty for today's tastes in horror. Like his previous feature Death on the Nile, The Awakening is a glorious travelogue which gives us grisly acts in gorgeous and softly lit settings.

Charlton Heston and Susannah York ham it up delightfully, but the real star is Stephanio Zimbalist as the sweet young girl with the personality ITS quite a while since someone made a film about an Egyptian mummy rampaging around, but the current vogue for horror films makes the time just right for a revival. After the string of films we've seen lately about ecological or genetic mutations, the idea of a nice old-fashioned evil spirit seems positively soothing. Mike Newell's The Awakening is a tasteful, glossy and mildly amusing study of the reincarnation pains of a long-dead Egyptian queen. The archeologist Matt Cor-beck (Charlton Heston) and his assistant (Susannah York) are obsessed with discovering the tomb of Kara, a pharaoh whose name has been struck from the books. Public Service Association of New South Wales 160 Clarence Street, Sydney 2000 Telephone 290.1555 Authorised by B.

S. Jardine, President G. B. Hammond, General Secretary. Stop the clock! Plays for Sydney perienced young actors aged 17 to 24, have been performing during this year in high schools throughout NSW and at carnivals and festivals.

The season will be held at the Cell Block Theatre from December 9 to 20. The Shopfront Theatre Touring Company will end its 1980 season with two weeks in Sydney in December. The company will perform The Tempest and a group-created play, Childmyth. The company, a group of ex Stephanie Zimbalist in The Awakening. OBITUARY Life-long Labor supporter '4 When youVe just gotta go-go for Rent-A-Loo! 6380311 cipal Council.

He held the position until 1937. He remained a member of the council until 1944, when he came to Sydney. Mr Watson's wife died soon after and he moved to Caring-bah where he joined the Senior Citizens Association. He was made a life member and awarded the premier's award for community service. Mr Watson remained a staunch and financial member of the ALP until his death.

The party was to have given a dinner in his honour in December to acknowledge his support. He was buried in Woronora Joseph Patrick Watson was born in Boorowa in 1881 and was educated at the Boorowa Public School, which he left at the age of thirteen. Mr Watson, who was believed to have been the longest serving member of the Australian Labor Party, having been active in it since its conception, died in hospital on October 30. After leaving school he held many jobs, including bullocky's offsider, tar boy, gravel scrat-cher v.ith a road gang and shop assistant. In 1897 he joined a magic lantern show and travelled New South Wales and Victoria in a horse-drawn waggon for 22 years.

After World War I he became a door-to-door salesman and then at the age of 40 he married Bridget Conroy, also from Boorowa. Mr Watson bought a farm and raised sheep and six children. Shortly after buying the farm he was placed in charge of the administration of Crown land between the Lach-lan and Murrumbidgee Rivers. Tn 1928 he was elected mayor by the Boorowa Muni 1 Also all types of site sheds and accommodation ML editor, serviceman development for the Greater Newcastle Council. He served with the AIF in France in World War I and with the RAAF in World War II.

While a member of State Parliament he served as chairman of the Parliamentary Labor Caucus. Mr Frederick Joseph Cahill, who died yesterday aged 82, was the Labor MLA for Young from 1941 to 1959. Mr Cahill, who was born in Ballina, was editor of the Young Daily Witness and later director of publicity and PERSIAN CARPET SALE Gas locomotive plan engines could be run more cheaply on compressed natural gas. The cost would be a fraction of electrification, he said. With its resources of coal, gas and uranium, Australia was fortunate in terms of energy, and had problems in one area only that of liquid fuels.

While Australia had the same per capita share of crude oil as the world average, it was, in common with the rest of the world, using it too quickly. CANBERRA. A plan for gas-powered locomotives was put forward yesterday at a Canberra conference. The general manager of the metropolitan division of the Australian Gas Light Company, Mr G. O'Mcally, was criticising S600 million proposals to electrify the Sydney-Melbourne railway.

Mr O'Mcally told the 1980 conference of the Institute of Quarrying that WE MUST CLEAR LARGE STOCKS OF' CARPETS AND RUGS TO MAKE ROOM FOR NEW SHIPMENTS ARRIVING. GENEROUS DISCOUNTS ON ALL PURCHASES! COME IN AND SELECT NOW FROM i OUR COMPREHENSIVE RANGE. FRANK'S PERSIAN BAZAAR, 317 Pacific Highway CROWS NEST Va Phone 922 3608 Parking at Country may get solar power Thousands of men and women are growing old before their time. But the ageing process can be stopped. In this week's Woman's Day we show how, by a combination of mental and physical exercises plus diet, you can stop the clock.

Woman's Day. The health magazine. today, that the solar power station at White Cliffs would be in operation by mid-1981. The power station was being built under contract to the Government by the Australian National University. This would bring sonte of the comforts taken for granted by city people to the inhabitants of isolated areas of the Stale.

The State Government will establish a series of solar power stations throughout country NSW if a prototype at White Cliffs in the far west of the State is successful, the Premier Mr Wran, said last night. Mr Wran told an ALP dinner In Wagga, where State Cubinct will meet i.