ENTERTAINMENTS.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 283, 24 August 1908, Page 2

ENTERTAINMENTS.

"HUMPTY DUMPTY." • ' IThe gorgeous scenery,' brilliant groupings, clever dances, quips, mid songs of "Huinpty Dumpty" drew a crowded audience to >.the Opera Houso on Saturday night". The pantoinimo went with a great swing from start' to finish. Sir Joseph Ward' and family wero aniongst the audience. The pantomime will be repeated to-night, and the vj ? st matinee performance will be given on Wednesday. . THEATRE ROYAL. The Theatro Royal was crowdcd on Saturday night, when Messrs. Fuller's new . programme was submitted. The proprietary continues to choose an entertainment well calculated to meet with the. approval of - the audiences, and. the demonstrations of applause showed that the items put forward were quite up to .standard. .The programme opened with an entertaining biograph sketch, entitled "The Rivals," in which-the familiar story of the failuro of true love to run smooth'was pourtrayed. ' The first performer was Miss Dorothy Swift, the clever spubrotto; she sang "Yo San" and "I'll take her to Jamaica." ' The favourite tenor, Mr. Hugh Huxham, was well received for his rendering of the illustrated ballads, "When the Applo Blossoms Bloom": aiid "Monterey.", . Bob Lloyd was seen on good torms with; the audience; and for his sketches, "Sugar on the Top"- and "Father's Corporation/' bo was given: a good hearing. Miss H. Lorraine Tansley, contralto,-made her reappearance, and alio sang "Dearie" acceptably. The first half.-concluded with an amusing comedy sketch, "Riley's . Mistake." After ..the. interval the Dieppe motor-car race was run off on the screen. A good reception was given Master Freddy Byron, the boy soprano, for "Hymns of the Old Church Choir" and "Farewell, Soldier _ Boy_ The Swifts, Denis Carney, and Miss Nellie Power wore also well received for their interpretation of their parts. HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE.; Tho average 'attendance's at His Majesty's Theatro of late have been flattering to the management of this prosperous picture show, bufc Saturday must have been something like a record. There was a large audience at the matinee performance in the afternoon, and the theatro had hardly been eleared of its gathering before patrons of tho evening entertainment were on tho doorstep. Long hoforo 8 o'clock the theatre was crowded, and besides having to turn a considerable'.number of people away, the management had to endorse the tickets of several who could not get seats, so as to tho make the tickets available for this evening. The pictures wero perfectly shown, and tho selection of the films screened indicated the hand of the judgo of what the public required: Every film was above the average scenery, humour and instruction being blended in a manner that held the large audience from- start-to' finish. Ono moment tho. house would be following a dramatic incident with rapt attention, and in the next a comic • slide would convulse the audience. Tho latest addition to tho list, entitled "A Night of Terror" was loudly and deservedly applauded. Of tha other pictures "The Chauffeur's' Dream," "His I'irst Frock Coat," and "The Gipsy Model" wero tho most popular. ORGAN RECITAL. _ Mr. Maughan Barnett's weekly 'organ recital will bo given on Wednesday evening next, at 8 p.m., instead of on Tuesday evening. The two special items of tho programme are "Prelude in C Sharp Minor, i by Rachmaninoff, which is probably the best known of t-lip works of this Russian composer, and the overture to " William Tell," By Rossini. Out of Rossini's opqratic preludes none equals the to ."William Tell," in its picturesque delineation. The tranquillity of the opening andante ahd.'the furious storm succeeding it, the charming pastoral movement introducing the "Ranz ties Yaches," and' the joyous and exhilarating finale are all expressed with such rare ana consummate power "as to stamp the overture as a masterpiece in the department of purely instrumental" music. The prices are sixpence and-one shilling. Tho Ist Wellington R.V. Battalion Band played at the Botanical Gardens vesterday afternoon, and must be commended for tho manner in which it rendered tho very varied programme. Tile items were as follow .March, "Hie ct Übiquo," by J. A. M'Alister; overture, "Impetus," by Thomas Bidgood; waltz, " "Wedding of the Winds," by John T. Hall (arranged by M. Retfijrd); Ethiopian selection "By tho Mississ'n'm "....by W. W. Knowles; march, "The Pat.!. t,"'.- by ' A. Marncclli; overture, " Com.que," Kela Beler (arranged by M. Retford); overture, "Lust-spiel" (comedy), Kela Bclc-r (arranged by M. Retford).