CLEVER AND BRIGHT

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 8, 10 July 1939, Page 4

CLEVER AND BRIGHT

"FUNZ-A-POPPIN"'! ■;

VARIETY AT OPERA HOUSE

For all the elaborate mounting' of vaudeville for the pictures, there is still a public demand for what. may be called the vital show, entertainment in which the audience plays its part. This was proved beyond doubt', when the "Funz-a-P6ppin'" season' opened at the Opera House on Saturday. After all it is understandable that the artists like to know on the spot what their public think and say of them. The-title of the show might "shoo off" many people who like genuinely artistic entertainment, just as some cinema picture titles do. But "Funz-a-Poppin"' is a first-class show with seriotjsly artistic features, and its marionette section is essentially so, appealing with force to intellect no less than to eye and ear. The curtain went up to a ballet of peche Melba girls, specially selected for their pretty faces and fine figures, and they did know how to dance, moving with the precision of a piece of delicate machinery, using every limb ahd every muscle of their bodies— especially hip muscles—and smiling all the time in captivating style. They were on many times during the show, (and yet every time they somehow seemed to be different girls in different dances. ', Coming to the comedians. There was Bobby Morris, who consolidated the success he achieved when he appeared recently in "Hollywood Revue." Many of the greatest comedians have been little men, and so is Bobby Morris; but what Nature denied him in inches she balanced with an acute sense of humour, original, spontaneous, and clean. This was apparent in his sparring, footwork, and chat in a burlesque boxing match. Here 'delicious comedy set the house in a roar. Harry Ross and Eiddie Edwards, a brace of clever American comedians with much screen experience, displayed a fund of slick American rapidfire chat and back-chat. They had a lot to say (said with speed and skill), about "after, the honeymoon." They were briskly funny, too, as a pair of Toreadors in a Cuban setting* Delicious miming by Bozo Snyder in a cafe garden setting stood out boldly in the second part. This clever pantomime artist was an education to watch. The scene was that of a siren, played^ by the comely Norma Richter, the tall girl in the ballet. Her job was to dope the men she charmed, but Bozo, playing a seeming silly ass, was too much for her. This just outlines the scene, but it is difficult to describe adequately the witty and silent foolery of Bozo. Dainty twin dancers, the Vans, June and Trudell, girls from Omaha, also greatly pleased by the neatness of their art. They danced as one, and in one act they danced fettered together. A petite operatic soprano was introduced in Elsa Lang, an artist of mature experience, charming personality. She is blessed with a voice of exceeding sweetness and great range used with sound judgment and in good taste. She had fine support in her partner, Murray Greene, in the songs they sang together. Jn' Jack Bickle the audience recognised on the instant a rubber-boned dancer and contortionist out of the ordinary, one able to tie himself up in knots and gambol about the,stage like a feather in a breeze, walking as easily and firmly on. his hands as on his feet—an exceedingly fine artist of his kind. A pair of daring, nimble, and neat acrobats were the Carr brothers. Their act was one of the most brilliant gems in the show, calling for strength and agility, which the humorous turn given to their acts only made the more apparent. They made a great hit. Loretta Grey, a vivacious little song-and-dance specialist, Ayas introduced as a "pepper pot," and, indeed, was filled with the genuine tobasco of fun and frivolity. Special reference is due to Salici's marionettes. They are. a show in themselves, a strikingly artistic show, having the audience spellbound, wondering "how it was done." At the end they were shown how, by five clever manipulators of strings seen away up in the flies. Being shown, the audience was left wondering. This delightful show opened with- a scene of the Bay of Naples, by night, its shore scintillant with lights, the moon rising, the sea a-shimmer. navigation lights burning brightly, and a steamer all lit up, passing to her berth. In front of this exquisitely pretty scene, the stage was occupied by Neapolitan puppets, twanging guitars or singing "O Sole Mio," "Santa Lucia," or "Finicule, Finicula." The guitarists played their instruments to the life, and the gestures of the singers were such as would be seen in real life. It was hard indeed to realise that the figures were inanimate, so cleverly were they handled, and the strings actuating them not always visible. After this, came a circus in which clowns and a lady artist made play with a huge globe and see-saw; a bicycle race in which the competition was made as keen as in real life; a ballroom, with a full jazz band, circular bass and all, and a trombonist who kept hitting the musician in front of him when he shot out the slide. A pianist appeared in another scene, with all the little affectations and attitudes of some star performer. He played, and it was astonishing to mark how this puppet's fingers, even in rapid passages, synchronised with the piece as piayed somewhere in the wings and therefore unseen. A prima donna I joined the pianist. She was a coloI ratura with the airs and graces of a living singer, achieving top notes and 1 all those embellishments and "little [flowers" that never fail to win terrific applause, and she was supported by | a flute obbligato, the flautist being as to the life. This scene was not only refreshing in its humour, but a remarkable example of the marionettist's art. The next wonder was a gentleman marionette in evening dress, producing a lighter, lighting a cigarette, and smoking it, real smoke, as if he enjoyed it. When the Salicis themselves appeared (the adroit pullers of strings) they were given a great reception and recalled again and again. A powerful orchestra, mainly brass and percussion, was directed by Joseph Clauser, and the musical director of the marionettes was Victor Rodriguez, "Funz-a-Pop-pin'" is" a good show in every particu* far. It will be repeated this evening.