POLLARD OPERA COMPANY

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 105, 27 January 1908, Page 8

POLLARD OPERA COMPANY

",fHK ISLE OF BOiNG BONG."

'J lie Opera Housojivas filled- to its, utmost I capacity on' Saturday evening, l : when the Pol-.i lard Juvemlo Opora ~Company, produced for I the.', .first',,'time: .'in' tlvisV.^Rart r ; of'.i, t-lip %'■ globe another example of American musical comedy entitled "The islo ofi/Bong Bong," the book and lvrics of which , are attributed to Will M. Hough' and Frank :R. V Adams, 1 and i tho music to Joseph :E;.v-Howard.; Jt «locs'i not do look for anything', very tangible I or reasonably .logicah-nr. Jattcrrday musical.| enmedv, and when 1 exaggerated irresponsi-1 bilitv is required American writors havi 1 tho | flexiblo iniagmation to.'supply .it at any timo. | Tho "book" of "The; Isle ;of -Bong Bong" id not up to tho average! of'..finish; musical comedy, and the wit is'of* v ttio:flimsi<!st ordfer, but ..there -is' a certain..vorve and prettiness about the music -.that, will he-done. even greater justice .to by. the company- when tfio tenso ' strain of fi mgllts.Vr isj ; <iver. 'and Ct'h® ; play is -running l smoothly. .1!-What pleases most is the- gorgeous sotting given • the. play. "The Islo of Bong Bong!!;: has ..really- little to .do with what happens,) as tho scones lire .set on the island of Mindoro; in : the 'Philippines;-..ihte\tie ;r,epresentation or which, tho artist; Mr. Leadfcr -WlUiams, has put some , really excellent- work. The' first scene represents m ■ glowing colours a vista of palm trees, gloaming sands;- and the ocean blue stretching .away,into:;.the-;?infinite, .as ,'sOen from tho: front iof a ; -.bim[jalow that-has a dash of old' Seville ..'about... i|s.; shaded en-; trance. 1 Not: picture, ..depicting in a tropical 1 jungle, in tho .centre ' of., which .is ; an Indian encampment., It iS. framed' with,.the opulent- vegetation- of:, equatorial-latitudes, and in the oxtent: are tho ,camp little too: vivid: ; ;ba'nks, of tho jungle driver; • . v.ln;f keeping',.-with -.the scenery, which admirably..su£gqstod..tho still languor of the' tropics,-) 'the; dresses, which-are really ■;a riot-or.vrich colouring,! reminiscent, rin , their composition,, of: "Floradora," but .even, brighter, and ; mbre; harmoniously blended.-'; Therefore .."stripey".; Fill-, pinos,Spanish fruit-girls,.; ..with ;■ tasselled headgear; gay dancers;?, With toreador- hats, be-sashed hips,-, anfl lips with ..the cherries: thoy'toyed, with tip-, toeing on-.'the;:. apexV.of.'f.tho fashion ..of . to-, day; and a . few .swarthjv'rt/^^Sirlsi.-to-rre-present >the country.-.: But .t-hefmpst delight-, ful feature' is-tho wbrk/U-hat..;has ■ ished,on- tho playrixi-She-.Rro^iifccr...- ..The. kaleidoscope -of. colour. is .even :%celled A by the kinematographic : action ; every choral' number,: ,/and-. Mr. Pollard m this respect is to be in Teaching the top. of ■ his 'form/;. There were two or three slight hitches /during, ,tlie .-performance, 1 but, for- a first -thoT were oxnusable, -indeed, remarkable., for,'.their trifling character.! The "conductor,; Mr: "A. Brahms, vrho bears r a heavy burden, of rssponsibility in a production,shares: the. credit for the excellent result.achieved. ; . ".The- Isle vt Bong Bong " makes no] boast as to plot; An estate,lias changed hands qn. the island of\ Mindoro-rra--place, typified on the'lid. of most cigar-boxes—falling into the hands of' Lord Percy. Fitzmaurice, ;-who is due to arrive. On his appsjiraiice..be is mis,taken' by the. secretaryVoL iMar- ; jorie Grey,- for. his ]prdship?s i;; senraht,. and 'being ..smitten i ,df ;the 'American typiste, ho: resolves,, to remain the •servant, and instructs bis.-inan,:Gprdon; ,St. Bernard■ (his cookney ■ kcopov pf; tho. hounds) :to impersonate *.him.j•.Tbo^.-qoolwoy s fares.ill,, for, the iiland; haying bqen taken oyer by the United States', it is considered essential that something; truly American: .should lie done, so they resolve, on the motion of G. Raftre Saunders, an- American . politician, who is running the affairs, of, Mindoro, .to. " tar and feather " someohei''and the cockney happens, to: come along at the. right (or :'wrong) time. ; The coining of the new, owner of the estate is. distasteful ;to the widow' of the lato owner, one Dolores, a fierce Filipino, who roains about, flashing tf.'stilptto, seeking . r-revenge for the slight, she by- her' lato husband leaving' th'e v estate to' another. It 7 *!# she who siiEgests t-hafc'' tord_' Percy ■should be riiatlo'Chief'Game Commissioner,, a. particularly - fatal'.'position,; a.i' whenever, a tiger is' found 'guilty""of >hyUiihg*;particularly tigerish,'it is'his prerogative to go' out and meet it iii ! single" combats-all of which is American I bunkum,' of the; silliest' order.' Thon there' is Mrs: ; Rensaeller,' V wealthy widow with a ' three-husband past, 'who . i 3 looking for a gilt-edged fourth,' aiid 'finds liini in the' Sultan of : Bong Bong,"' fwhose' floating island is niobred off Mindoro: the. :Sultan himself, and' hjs 'daughter Paquita: a .whiskev-sodden patriot in. the persou : of General fcarnmbo,' and ■ an'; effectively' made-' up wizard (Dolores' 1 After a potpourri of love, laugbler;' dancing and singiiigj tho cockney lord,is-called übon to slay, the tiger, which is accoinplish'ed : by the 1 ' real lord's six-shooter, aftef'iwhich identities: are revealed' and" Lord'•Percy'; seen res his; Marjorie. : A sidc-story affects , the learning of ilraW-poker by the Sultan of Bong' Bong. He loses his money/ his'- ; floating island,-., his clothes',' and- his. self-r.ospcct,; ;roams round in a suit- of ■;newspapers,;', until 'his da lighter, the plump Paquita, .by impersonating'. a despera'doj '.fbrces 'Saunders.:to .dis-f, gorge, leaving /the Snltaii "rich oriough to'-bef como ; .th6 gay.iridow's'.foiiifth'r-'.'- - Master -Bert Nicholson'/■ as the -cockney lard,- was ; -tho' life' 'of '.the' piece-; from the comedy view point,; but .was ;handicapped, fo some extent by.-his ; .extreme youth. . liicir dentally,'the play : was never' written for juveniles, and' all the- charriclers;-'are well-, matured people, who'; talk flipp.niifc.ly of adultsubjects. -But yo.nng;.Nicholsbii: is a' borii comedian, and. ho got.in-:most,.of the points that were possible. Hi's soiig, !.lf;I were the man.in the niooii," was'one-of tlie most de-cided-successes of the-evening, being assisted' by clever lighting-nud grouping' effects'.: Miss' Minnie Topping looked charming,-and actedwith refinement as-Mrs. Rensaeller, and lie'r ■ song, "Jljv Illinois,"is likely .to-be' popular. She was not so well ;'suitcd in tjie flippant •'What's the Use" sonte'apj Her duet, with Master Nicholson, "Asu' thc Man," -missed the fnap' that no. doubt ■'exi'jtV'.johiQwhere in. its broken-timed refrain.': /Mr.;. Chade?'Albert as Saunders, : tho : jjplitician*' was.; bright and breezy, and made a picture'squo savage' as Chief Tie-bbn-Yata in the' Indian interlude of the second act, wheii lie: sang'of. ".Laiigh-. irig Water," and dniiccd fiendishly up. to an effective Indian tableau., The, pri?'tty ca'no'p duet bot.-ween two little dots, 11 was. also well doije, but could be fuHher ~imprbyed;lf ' lovo' businnss were introduced betwooti tiie tiriy mites. Mr. Bert Williamson' was fairly satisfactory as Lord Percy, aiid Miss Cissio;o'Koefe made .Marjori©.'Grey a young lady o.f yerj--decided character. Her' fine contralto voice was; heard to advantage in. the ballads "Love Has Come", and "While Thou-Art, Mine," Together Mr;'. .Williamson' and;-Miss O'Keefo sang: "The Light;' that Lies- in' Women's Eyes" only fairly l well. - Master Willie pollard failed to realise tho. humoUr that, might bo • extracted'- from the ''.Sultan .of Bong Bong, . and Mr:- Harry Qucaly gave. ' a. rather' exaggerated; interpretation -of-' the.-- brandy • sot-'Caramba Paquita was nicely. ,played '• by ; Miss:. May Topping, who was successful in her one song, "I'm Lonesome.;", in whicli littlq' Hubert Carter repeated the refraih. sweetly.- Miss' Lily Thompson, . as- Dolores,- the " tiger lady." who feels a longing to go a-roaming in the mountains with the tigers, was as satisfactory as the part would'admit, and her song, "The Gaol Bird arid the Tiger," was one of the catchiest in the bill.; Tile solo dancing of Mirs Ida Lacey was'-exdellent, and a clog danee in the forest scene was skilfully pattered on a tree stump. A new. font-lire'in the programme is that the ''characters' are. arranged in (he order' thoy appear on the 1 stage.- ' ' ■■■■ ;'■ -•" '- . "The. Islo of Bong Bong" ; will- 'run throughout the week. . ; ' '-.