AMUSEMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 230, 28 September 1929, Page 13

AMUSEMENTS.

MAGIC AT ST. JAMES , . RETURN OF NICOLA. For over two and a-hali hours last evening a delighted house at St. James' Theatre lived in a world of unreal things, under the spell of Nicola the magician. There is a fascination abouc magic that is all its own, and when provided by so gifted an entertainer as Nicola the audience is seemingly carried away to another sphere where the impossible is made possible, and wnerts one wonders at nothing. Undoubtedly the performance was one of the linesL of its kind that it has ever been the privilege of Auckland to witness. Watched by a large and appreciative house, Nicola did all the tricks that every boy at some stage of his young life yearns to do. He produced pinkeyed and .very much alive rabbits from nowhere, caught from the atmosphere above the audience wriggling goldfish, which swam about gleefully when dropped into a bowl of water, heartlessly cut pretty females into sections (although he was always kind enough to rejoin them again as the finale to the illusion), and whisked fully-grown men away into space with as much ease as one blows out a candle. Many of the tricks and illusions presented by Nicola had never been seen in Auckland before, and their effect was little less than startling, while those which were not entirely new were given a refreshing something by Nicola's perfect execution and novel presentation that made them as acceptable as ever. A capable showman, as well as one of the world's foremost magicians, Nicola has his audience mystified from the rise of opening curtain, and at no time more so than when he generously ofl'ers to explain '"how it is done." On his recent world tour, made with the express purpose of learning some of the magic of other lands, Nicola was successful in probing secrets which had remained hidden for many thousands of years, and it was with this knowledge that he was able to present so splendid a programme last evening. With Nicola, the audience embarked on a trip round the globe, visiting countries in which the art of the magician is as old as the soil itself. In his impersonation of Ching Ling Foo, of China, Nicola placed a girl in a rack and to all appearances stretched her neck and every limb in her body to four times its natural proportions, while, as Hassan Bux, a Hindu fakir, he presented the famous Indian basket trick, in which a girl is forced into a basket which looks ridiculously small to allow her entry, and then apparently cut to pieces by a score of swords thrust through at every angle. Almost needless to say the girl rises from the. basket smiling and unharmed when the illusion is over, but the presentation of the trick gives not a whisper of a suggestion of "how it is accomplished. From India Nicola transported his audience to the strange land of Egypt, where, as Prince Rameses Abass, he figured in one of the most amazing acts ever seen on an Auckland stage.- To detail this! very excellent illusion would be fair neither to Nicola nor to those who have yet to see it, but it may be whispered that it provides a marvel in transformation that is not expected even when one is under the spell of a magician. Nicola's impression of Bluey, an eccentric South American conjurer, brings in much of the best humour- of the programme, and incidentally introduces a °pocket handkerchief that dances lightly about the stage on one corner, floats horizontally in the air, and is even too elusive for Nicola himself to lay his hands on. Back in his own theatre in America, Nicola performs a splendid series of illusions, outstanding among which is his "gaol breaking mystery," claimed to be "the absolute limit of magical ingenuity." Nicola has brought with him many vivid and striking costumes obtained in the.countries where he learnt his new magic, and the wearing of these by his capable assistants lends a strange sense of reality to all the acts. Ably supporting N*-ola are Mr. Herman Holmberg, on his own confession the "world's worst juggler," and Ibex, aptly termed the ShadVrarjh King. A master of his profession, Nicola will continue to amuse and mystify for another week. CRYSTAL PALACE. At the Crystal Palace Theatre, Mount Eden Road,"the popular talking picture "Interference" will be screened this evenin". The voices of William Powell, Evelyn Brent, Dorie Kenyon and Uive Brook will be 'heard with emphatic distinctness and marvellous dramatic appeal. The remainder of the cast carefully chosen for their dramatic training, also give inspiring performances. For pure drama, "Interference stands head and shoulders above most widely heralded dramatic "sensations. The picture is a faithful representation .of the stage-play of the same name which enjoved healthy runs in both London and New York. Roy J. Pomeroy, a man who has worked untiringly for the past three years in developing sound motion pictures, directed this version ot the Lothar Mendes production. The four principal players have equally important parts. William Powell portrays the role of a carefree gentleman; Evelyn Brent that of his cast-off love; Clive Brook the famous English surgeon, and JJori* Kenyon, the surgeon's wife. There is a full supporting programme of .talking featurettes. REGENT THEATRE. "Madame X," an all-lalklng picture, will be presented at the Regent Theatre this evening. It is a screen version of the popular stage melodrama, and is the first picture directed by Lionel Barrymore. Ruth Chatterton and Lewis Stone head a distinguished cast. The film is a vivid drama of a woman of Paris who through her mistake, is It teas of her tragedy and her wanderings over the face of the earth. The great dramatic climax in the courtroom where she finds that the attorney defending her on a murder charge, is in reality her own son, is a powerful element in the story. Authentic replicas of famous spots in Paris, in Shanghai, in South America and other parts of t world were reproduced for the g aft action of the drama Miss plays several ages, through the use clever makeup, the play opening witli her as a young woman some twenty years later. The.great courtroom scene, an exact replica of a French trial with court officials gen darmes, and others all reproduced [horn actual photos of a real hearing, th vivid scene in the tropics, the co-ourfa adventure in China, all give vivid bits o colour and fantasy. to the grim .diama of mother love that underlies JJewhoh structure. There is a full programme ol supports. «A SCRAPE 0' THE PEN » . Graham Moffat's delightful Scot is* domestic comedy, "A Scrape o the Pen presented under the auspices of tJie, &t Andrew's Society, gratified anotit* go«> audience at the Town Hall Concert Chamber last evening. The season flil terminate to-night.