JOHN CHARLES THOMAS

Press, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25249, 30 July 1947, Page 9

JOHN CHARLES THOMAS

WARM RECEPTION BY AUDIENCES

The world-wide popularity df the American baritone, John Charles Thomas, has been amply demonstrated during his tour of New Zealand, and if .his reception in other centres is any guide, many of his admirers in Christr church will be unable to get seats for either of his two concerts to be given Lt the Theatre Royal on August 2 and 4. “Mr Thomas is both a singer and an entertainer,” said the “New Zealand Herald’s” musical critic, reviewing his first concert. “He has a personality

that appears most strongly in the type of song that chiefly has endeared him io the man in the street, who likes his music simple and with a sentimental flavour.

“He is also a raconteur with a pretty wit who can introduce his song in a light-hearted manner that delights his audience; and in the matter of encores he is generous to a degree.” In Wellington the Town Hall was packed, patrons even being arranged in close rows on the stage on either side of the grand piano. Here a widely-varied programme was offered. First came a sequence of little-known operatic arias of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and then some more familiar operatic selections. Mr Thomas next turned to a wholly French bracket. To conclude he sang numbers from his popular recorded repertoire, which earned a “torrential ovation.” Generous encores were given.