Here are some scans of early press images related to Sonnie Hale, from my collection:

Daily Mirror, Fri 4 Nov 1921, p9

Miss Evelyn Laye and Mr Alfred Lester in " Does it pay to be good? ", one of the items in the successful revue, " Fun of the Fayre," at the London Pavilion.

Young leading lady Evelyn Laye (whom nineteen-year-old Sonnie had already befriended backstage, and who would eventually consent to marry him five years later) here performs in a sketch from his first show, C.B.Cochran's "Fun of the Fayre", together with principal comedian Alfred Lester with whom Sonnie Hale was to share many scenes in the revue "The Punch Bowl".

The Weekly Dispatch, June 15 1924, p7

Miss Hermione Baddeley and " Sonnie " Hale in " The Punch-Bowl " at the Duke of York's Theatre.

The two youngsters scored a notable hit on the opening night of "The Punch Bowl" with their lively (and energetic) novelty number "Chili Bom-Bom". (It was at this time that actress 'Chili' Bouchier acquired her nickname as a teenager in 1924 on account of her supposed resemblance to Hermione Baddeley, indicating the widespread success of this number!)

Miss Baddeley left the revue a few months later, but Sonnie and "Chili Bom-Bom" remained a popular feature in "The Punch Bowl" until the song was finally replaced by the very similar "Kongo Kate", which he performed with his "Chili Bom-Bom" partner at that point, the diminutive Annie Kasmir.

Daily Mirror, 8 October 1925

LAST NIGHT'S PLAY. — June and Sonnie Hale in " Mercenary Mary," produced at the London Hippodrome. Miss Peggy O'Neil is another principal in this bright piece.

Sonnie's first experience in musical comedy had come in 1923, when he had graduated from the long-running tour of "Fun of the Fayre" into a minor named role in "Little Nellie Kelly". But after the success of "The Punch Bowl" he was recruited to take a leading part in the musical "Mercenary Mary" as the good-natured Jerry, who tries to help a friend arrange a divorce and inevitably becomes helplessly embroiled himself.

The cast recorded a number of the hit songs from the show for the Columbia record label, using the new electrical microphone technology, and Sonnie's contributions have fortunately survived: here is a contemporary advertisement published in the "Observer" (Nov 22 1925, p10).

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