Fantasy and Folly: the lost world of New Zealand musicals 1880-1940 Peter Harcourt Steele Roberts, $39.95, ISBN 1877228656 The dearth of published research on the history of entertainment in New Zealand would be reason enough to welcome the late Peter…
The Book of Fame Lloyd Jones Penguin, $29.95, ISBN 0140296948 New Zealanders love sport. The truth of this frequently-heard comment is daily demonstrated by the amount of space our newspapers allocate to sporting activities. Success on the cricket pitch, putting…
Strangers in Paradise Jonathan Eisen and Katherine Joyce Smith (eds), Random Century/Vintage, Auckland, 1991, $24.95 There can be no better antidote to hubris than to see ourselves as others see us. A dispassionate observer can pinpoint our foibles and frailties,…
Southern Voices; international singers of New Zealand Adrienne Simpson and Peter Downes, Reed Books, Auckland, 1992, $45 The timing of Adrienne Simpson’s and Peter Downes’s admirable Southern Voices could hardly be more propitious. With opera in New Zealand once again approaching the level…
Opera in New Zealand: Aspects of History and Performance, Adrienne Simpson (ed), Witham Press (PO Box 28-074), Wellington, 1990, $24.95 Since her recent return to New Zealand, Wellington musical historian Adrienne Simpson has made a strong impact with regular talks…