"THE ARCADIANS."

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 193, 15 August 1911, Page 2

"THE ARCADIANS."

A POPULAR PRODUCTION. Originally an. attractive and clever I musical comedy, Messrs. Clarke and Meynell's Comic Opera Company produced '" The Arcadians" at His Majesty's Theatre last evening in a manner creditable to any stage or country. That the per- ! formance was appreciated, the genuine | applause—and laughter heartier tuan has | been heard in the theatre for many a I day—amply attested. •'The Arcadians" I completed hmt month a continuous season of more than two years at the Shaftesbury Theatre, and during that time was evolved a very polished and improved version of the "fantastio musical play," as its authors term it, first presented to a London audience in l'JOo by Mr. Robert C ourtenidge. it is tiiis perfected version that we saw at the local theatre last and in cast, mounting and orchestration there was little to cavil at in the presentation. When the highly commercial and dis-tini-tlv gay Mr- Smith, London's mammoth" caterer, tumbles unceremoniously out of his aeroplane into the heart of Arcadia, a vista of lnhnite possibility immediately opens up. His immersion in the well of truth, and rechristening as Simplicitas, does not carry with it any conviction that his nature -will be so radically altered as to make him a great acquisition to the two Arcadian shepherdesses who suddenly are inspired with it mission to convert London Society to Arcadian wins. Their descent on the , most fashionable of English racecourses | is nppropriuti-. Her., one encounters the rather threadbare pl-U of the nice young man who is squandering his patrimony on the turf, and who fulls desperately in love with the equally nice young lady who, further, is the object of the villain's airections. In helping the desirable it somewhat foolish young man to win a race on which he hns plunged injudiciously, and hi bringing 'he lovers together, the Arcadians achieve something; but they are quickly sickened with the sham of their surroundings, and their ultimate discovery that they are being exploited by Simpiicitas to boom a restaurant where the rimple life is played at, completes their digust, and they return to Arcadia. It was inevitable that the injunction on Pi.nplicitas that he should not tell a lie should, in the end, b e broken, and we find him making the slip in the last act. and being retransformed into Smith of London, caterer, once more, to the evident satisfaction of his wife Maria. The musical accompaniment to this story is tuneful, if without | any particular distinction; but it is more | to the really beautiful scenes, amusing . contretemps and sumptuous dressing that | "The Arcadians" owes its steady popular- | ity. The dialogue is entirely without ; offence, and jokes and humour are in- i cidental to the development of the play. | As Sombra, the principal Arcadian missionary, Miss Alice Moffat acted effec- | tively. In "The Pipes of Pan Are Calling" her voice appeared a trifle overtaxed by the chorus and orchestra; but later, in "Arcady is Ever Young." she achieved quite a triumph. Principal of tho worldlings. Miss Gertrude Gilliam was a very winsome Eileen Cavanagh. Occasionally there were lapses in her Irish brogue, but they were usually compensated for at the time of their occurrence by glimpses of an ability to net superior to what we have gTown acsustomed to expect in musical comedy. The song "The Girl With the Brogue" was one of the brightest numbers. Miss Nellie Kavanngh was wholly admirable as the warm-hearted —if illiterate and a trifle vulgar—Mrs. Smith. She invested the author's Mrs. Smith with a very distinct individuality. While not so depen dent as many plays of its class on its comedians. "The Arcadians" owes its success perhaps as much as anything to the work of Mr. Smith and Doody the jocky. The latter character was originally evolved from a part with only a few speaking lines by the ability of an exceptional comedian. It is now an entirely distinctive study, and quite a gem in comedy. Mr. Tom Wnlls last night was practically perfect, sustaining without a break a decidedly difficult study. A more miserably comical figure has not dragged its weary length across the boards of the theatre. Doody the jockey will be remembered when much of "The Arcadians" has passed to the oblivion that eventually swallows all musical comedies. "I've Gotter Motter" is a humorous song that is worth while, and the audience confirmed this verdict by their applause. Mr. I Fred Winn's Mr. Smith and Simplicitas were bright and amusing, fre c from excess or exaggeration, and always sustaining the interest when to the fore. Harold Thorley, who is one eJf the few principals not entirely a stranger to Auckland, was a dashing Jack Meadows, and he had admirable support from a band of young men headed by Charles I Stone. incidentally there was some | artistic dancing, notably by Miss Mar- | guerite Lc-oy and Dutton Nicbolls, and | the costume's worn by the extremely , handsome bevy of show girls were a feature that interested if it did not pro- ' mote absolute envy among the feminine ! section of the audience. All the three i scenes are pretty, and the stage group- ' ing, especially in'the first and second act, 1 was as near perfection as it is possible j to <*et; in the third act, either conditions were unfavourable or some other factor ' militated against such effective stage , pictures. While the music was well interpreted, the chorus singing—more especially in one or two of the earlier songs with chorus —was not wholly harmonious But. taken altogether, "The Arcadians" is a good show, for the piece itself is one of th e most successful of modern musical comedies; and we have seldom seen here more effective I starring and acting. "The Arcadians" will be played eaoh evening.