AMUSEMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 193, 16 August 1922, Page 8

AMUSEMENTS.

: ■ I NICOLA. THE MAGICIAN. c (--.injuring aiiu ■■niagif" are so oid, and , conjurers alld people who make """W^ ' are so numerous, thai oue would ™*f™ j ■• mc lime had arrived «uen the only way o f dniw v crowd to a theatre would be io t -Blve the -how away." ami let the peop.e In fore :lie footlights really 11110 the secret. s you tnira- that every real performed n> I* Nlcvla is either a trick or one o£ tuose r twists of tin* hand which the eye oaun«.t ■ follow luit how many people are there in 1 the lininlnlon who really know how the 1 cabinet trick, for example, is done: or how i lie make* those beautiful ladies float in air.' We have all read tuuse strong-headed but ; weak-hodtcd magazine articles that profess 1 in expose tricks that have mystified eonnti less generations, hut when you come to the I , end you Hurt the whole thing, is just about as clear and helpful as ane of. those fasetaat- • inn articles in an "Kvery man his own t whflt-not" series—"How to make au organ 4 wllh a jack-knife." for instance. Truly . i these wlin follow the cult of the oonjiuer 1 ate members of the only real secret society • that civilised soriejy possesses. Nli-ola. who opened a short season at His . Majesty's Theatre last night, is one of the few ■"uiagielans" coming out this way that ' can Rive the" old tricks an appearance of ■ novel! v. He h so vivacious: so obviously ■ anxious thai the public should not lie taken In: so neat-handed; and so (apparentlyi frank j ' al.out the whole business that he seems i mere like a friend that has come rountl to . spend the evening with you. The people he h:is with him on the stage also seem to ivl>h in make the time pass pleasantly for you—in fact the funny man. who is always r getting in the way of the magician he is . supposed to assist, would seem ta be deriving us much amusement from the pro- ■ gramme as the man who has paid for his i sem. True the urrtaestra ami conjurer hail . not apparently hit on a very good uiulerstand- | ins as to when music should be played and j when it should not. but that is a matter jithnt can easily he remedied by rehearsal. Tlie only improvement one <wild suggest in , a really entertaining entertainment would be to rut down the second half of the bill, and slightly rearrange It. Otherwise the show is one of the best of Its kind and Xi.iJa stands hi the front row of hi* peculiar prolii the tirst half of the programme he Is (Tactically soli:" in keeping his audience amused, mystified mil astonished at hi , * wonderful mastery over matter, animate ar.d inanimate. Ynu may have seen many of the things done before. Inn Xicnla has such a linlahed style, dues his work with such tonKimimutn art. that you very soon come to tl'e c- nclusion thai he is a genius, lie is equally at home in thr evening-dress style of conjuring, the srrt that demands Chinese costume (generally a big bowl of water full cf goldfish goes with this dressi. in the rrle of magician who like the geni in the Arabian Sights story can wander in and out or locked boxes, or in the role of the mysterious individual who enn make females ignore the laws of pravity and flnat gracefully off couches and repose suspended in thin air. In all these departments Nicola is .) past master. Another role he adds to :i lons list is an imitation of an eccentric tramp In South America, who in the garb of "Dusty lthodes" performs some amusing and ciccidedlv clever stunts. lii his cabinet trii-ks Xi.-ola is particularly good in the way he fools the audience in I regard m himself. To see him hop into a box and be lacked up on the stage, and thc-n a lew seconds Liter call out "Here I am!" at the hack of the stalls, robs you of any confidence whatever in that usual climber jin an argument —•but I saw it with my own ! eyes." Then again there is Nicola's spirit- • ualistic seance rappings, and the devil's I tattoo in an obviously (<o you thinkl empty i cabinet: and further there is the man who I gels in and mit of a box which a second or Iso before ynii saw Nicola line with solid 1 pi.iss. All tricks, of criirse but Ximia do»s ■ tihem with a skill aud a zest that will roti-e γ-vpii the most lil.ii? rather who has been • ! hiillied into taking his son to see the show. I Helping Nicola are Ihex. who makes up I shadow pantomimes with his fingers: the ' j liainty Hares ism>g and dailcei. and R-in- 1 i diMph Wagnar. the lightning sketch artist. The programme will be repeated nightly. ! with a matinee on Saturday. i ■ AI'CKI.AND KISTEDDFOn. j Tnder the auspices of the Auckland City "< i Band the season ~f musical competitions 1 ■ known as the Auckland Kisteddfod was commenceil last evening at the Town Hall. i The programme included four half-hour ' ■ entertainments and also contributions liv ' ! local artists, and altogether offered a good ■ I variety of musical and vocal Items pre- •' I seiited in a most effective manner Last ■ , night's entertainment indeed set a worth v ! standard for the Kisteddfod season and it : ■ was regrettable that the attendance was so ! small. Miss May Bain's Party provided voi-n! items entitled "Barney O'Hay" (Miss ' May Balm, and "I Don't Want to" Play in ' Your Var<l" (Miss Mny (tuln and Miss Billie ! ! (iracei. Mr. Morphys lMrty offered enter ' 1 taimuent In song, pianoforte anil monologue ' to which Mr. I". Morphys cornet solo was I a very acccptaine addition. Mr l> li ' ! navies' Party provided diverting humour I. lin "The Artists Studio." and Mr. Jack- j . 1 son's Tarty Hie programme with I " : a vaudeville emertnlnment. The fudges' ] ' ; dVeisiuus will lie announced on Tbursdav i evening. ' | ITALIAN COXCKKT COMPANY. I Following upon tlic sm, pss that attended ■ J the visit her,- last year ..f ihe Italian operjtl.- 1 ' i te:iur. Antonio Xotarie-ilo. Huron Nicola ' - Tnidii divided |.i bring over three otlie:- out- I ' standing ar;Ks. They include Moore Ma. - , , Mahon. pupil, of .losk.i s'zlgeii ol' Geneva. as en!,) violinist: Carlton Kay. late or I.c psi.- j suc.-essfiil tour of Amerl.a as'soln |i:anist: ami Miss Paulino liawson. dramatic supn'i o. Miss Dawson w,i< selected three years ato by I.ame >1,-:ba a, U,,- most prcniMuu Alls- j srent thrpe years studying under the most ' eminent Fretuh icaiiier Itociia;. n; ilie 1 Kiiyal Conservatorium if Music. Naples. The [ Iki'.l on Aii«u*e -S.l AMUSEMENT GUIDE. I 1 HIS MAJESTY'S— At ?. Nicnla. Mafrlrian TOWN HftLL —Musical Cnnipptltlnns TOWN HALL CONCERT CHAMBER, at 8— ' "Vict- rtc-srals" Costume Comerly Co OPERA HOUSE—Pullers' Vaudeville. PICTURE THEATRFS. ; NATIONAL AND EVERYBODY'S—'■The !< Four Horsemen <ir the Apocalypse " :> STRAND—.larklc Cnnjran In "Mv'rtOV." r PRINCESS--F.laine llammerstcin 'in "Heckles- Youth." » TiyOLl—"Ho.-iincrnnc RiU" anil "The s nonny Hilar Husti." i HIPPODROME—Mary Carr In "Over mc , mil." r NEW LYRlC—nm.g-ias Fairbanks In "The Three Musketeers." QUEEN'S —Knot Gihson in "Heartlr.' West " , GRAND --c.nrinnc (Jrifflth In "The Slriffic BROADWAY—"The Home. Ptrmrh '• WEST END—"The Oreat \rlventure " BRITANNIA—"The Roof Tree •• 1 EMPRESS—"Jinx." ' ,