"BRITANNIA"

Press, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23132, 23 September 1940, Page 2 (Supplement)

"BRITANNIA"

PATRIOTIC REVUE

VARIETY OF ENTERTAINMENT

Spectacular, entertaining, and admirably produced, the patriotic revue Britannia, presented by the ChristSfSJ eturned Soldiers’ Association, attracted a capacity house at the Theatre Royal on Saturday, the first night of its week’s season. The public support given the revue is well merited, °P ! -V because it is a patriotic ef<4 ,H ut because it is a good show. .tJritannia is an unusually varied entertainment. Colourful and well planned ballets, varied with a number of imposing tableaux, are its main features, Besides these, however, there are many dramatic and humorous vaudeville, interludes, specialty dances and songs. The revue is remarkable for the number of its performers, and for the number of separate items—more than 50 making up the night’s programme. It is the greatest tribute to the production of the show that there was never a hitch in the quick changes between one item and the next Everything was planned and carrietl out in professional style, so that ballet scenes requiring the whole stage alternated with vaudeville items on the front of the stage. With so many separate items, each one was given just enough time to enable it to be appreciated, and none was so prolonged as to tire the audience.

The talent for spectacle of the producer (Mr W. Lints) was well shown in the opening “Britannia” scene, in "There’ll Always be an England,” which opened the second half, and in the final “Wear a Great Big Smile” scene, in which 250 performers took part. In the first of these, with 130 performers, the music was bv the Woolston, Derry’s, and Municipal Bands as well as the orchestra. These were tableaux, but the many ballet scenes also included a very large number of performers. The ballets all looked and moved well, and covered a wide variety of themes, all lending themselves to attractive Locking. Some of them, like “Polish Mazurka.” were remarkable for their precision and zest. Eddie Hegan, a real vaudeville comedian, was invaltiable in keeping the ball rolling during the short interludes, and was well backed up by Reg Lamb. In the dramatic sketches Audrey Cotterill and Mavis Ritchie were outstanding, and among the solo dancers Peggy Holmes contributed a special quality of skill. The singers and dancers who took solo parts included Claude O’Hagan, Esme Pedder. Ray Gibbard, Trevor Ritchie, Betty Rutherford, Gertrude Ardagh, Catherine Simpson. Daphne Judgon, Nola Moir, Audrey McNish, Valda Brown, Judith Barker, Jean Dickson, Grace Nixon, Peggy Holmes, Beryl Stacey, Ailsa Crompton, lan Ainsley, Reg. Thompson, Joan Hughes, Ray Gibbard, and G. Torkington. Parts in the entertaining dramatic sketches were taken by Eddie Hegan, Audrey Cotterill, Reg Lamb, Mavis- Ritchie, Harold Shaw, and Cyril Collins. But among the host of performers, individuals cannot fairly be picked out; Members of the ballets, tap dancers, specialty dancers, singers (including a good male quartet), actors, comedians, and musicians (including the bandsmen) all contributecTTo an entertainment that was thoroughly enjoyed. That enjoyment was in very large measure made possible by the skill of the producer.