"THE RED MILL."

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 433, 16 February 1909, Page 7

"THE RED MILL."

:::;''.The>Eed Mi 11 ,, ,, a musical-farce in'two. acts by Henry ;Blossom and Victor Herbert; ' ' "Con" Kidder■-„.....'........... ■Mγ. John.Ford. : ' ""Kid".C0nn0r;z> , ....;........... Mr. Fred leslie. : .' ;.Jah.Van Borken .........;.vMr.- Percy Donton..., ;;]?ranz.:' ..,..........,„;........ Mr. Pat Bathurst..;; V Willom ......r.-..-.;.....;...' ;Mr. CharlesLodor.. Doris Van Damm;';; ..,.;'• v ' v ':,;'/'.: V-\ .-. v .J-,., ■-■■■: Mr. Eoland Hogue. ■ ■The Governprv.of Zeeland. ■; ; , ■. . : : .■■;■,■:.:■ Edmund .Sherras.' .. ':''. Joshua;,Pennefeather... Mr. ArthurXissant.;;: ■":' Gretohen , - , ;..„■.;...'....'...." Miss Marie Eatpri; -.: ' ; : Bertha ! '" i..;;.... , .. , ....... Miss : Olive Godwin.' v : :~'£m&^ : Misslvy'Scott., :'j'•Countess de la Fere ...v , ..' . Miss Ada Stirling..,;. 'if the public likes-.theatrical"sna]>,". allied, to.' extraordinarily, clever. fboling,': and bright (and it-must be, confessed somewhat meaningless) music, scattered- through !»i'rollicking farce,yit.must .enjoy. "The,-,. lied Mill," ■pre- , sented at : the.Opera, House 'last evening -by .Williamsbn'B-Musical Comedy Company. .The musical'coinedyi with tits'; (aggressive, theatricalism'iand' airy -flippancy, '.has long since ceased-tb be;taken'in a serious mood by those who'.'yearn, .not-altogether some bases, , .for. a, return to.logitima'to comic, opera.' /.Nothing- is farther from that mark ' .than '-'The KcdMill, ,, yet it/pleases by ;.rea-" son;, of; its .lively action; its charming scehorj;,; pretty girls,. and. cleyer.imen,/and will be voted "a;very.'good show."; by; nine-tenths of ■the'/Wellington ■'. public..' Lika most /of .its. class,- "The Rod Mill" .has-lib. ambition as to' plot. .-It. chiefly .'concerns, the doings of two smart' Americans, Con ; Kidder; and Kid Connor, who'are doing Katwyk-aan-Zeo -.; (Holland),. ;beloycd. of x yelveVcoated , . artists, .'in. more sense's than .one;; Tlie is; a'ponderous/burgomastorj: trimmed ■ \with , . ' impossible; whiskers,: with a-daughter/who/ .will; not /'marry a governor'; in', preference -to : her'Bailor : .boy', and a fractious innkeeper with a: daughter/determined to marry, anyone.but .her , father's.choice, aro.mado light of by !.the monopoly of any. fun ./that is , going by, the •'two.irrepressibly-agila'-'Yankees, \yho dance their joyous way through .the pieco'with such: cbntortibnistic- deftness:,and comical ccceni.tricity, that the stage without .them becomes perceptibly, duller .during. such -time, as; they.are' gaining'breath. l .;Tho. business/of these, ; two characters, so cleverly played by "-llr. John Ford and Mr.■!Fred.Leslie,, is pure vau-' dfiville , thrpughout;' ,'.; Their .feet j say .more than : their' tongues . (which- are. smart - acces- ■ sories),', and: their : .lithe;figures '■■. are ahvirre-, argument agaiiist taking.life-too seriously. .'.'Con" and "Kid"■ are'loud Ameriicans at :.one time, Italian organ .grinders at another; and .surpass.themselves•• when<' imI personating -Sherlock Holmes'and; Dr! Wat-, son. ,lt would be.invidious to express a preference for; "eithor.artist as cpmeSiaris or dancers; when both are so capitally equipped, ;byt-as/far! as/.Wellmgton .is concerned, , they are , ;;)'.'"tlie" ;■•.!• last/■''/thing , -!••■;;■.■ as'■'■■'•occen'tridj comedians and dancers, and all their business is glaringly new. Apart from: the performance bf^Messrs.!Fbrd and Leslie-,;"The Red-Mill" dependsvoii/a;; score ' without any genuine musical/significance,; which; is better- in ; the i second.,than the first act, and a "book'■ iri keoping,:but'there is/much to commend'in the two scenes—the' Red an interibri decorated after the manner of blue delf, both v,ery beautifully painted. j \, .!""■■■"'■ ■Among' the.. characters ■ stand out from the ruok, none/is more'prominent .than ■the'-TVillem of Mr. Charles-.Loder, who.is a strong character actor,' who .makes a- delightfully, quaint personality..-of. the old Dutch innkeeper. ':'Heiwas ;;aanpciated with Mr. Percy. Denten, as the: stout and bumptious .burgomaster,', in',the duct "You; Can Never Tell About "a Woman," to which some clover, business' was', attached..; Miss' Ivy Scott, who is;always, acceptable, made a chic.Tina,,pnd twinkled.a..pretty pair, of feet in a variety, of dances.> Her solos were "Mignonette" and ."If You Love But Me;!' Miss Marie Eaton, jasGrctchen, tho,burgomaster's daughter, has a strong-soprano voice-which'at times.becomes, strident, and which did not-blend perfectly' with the baritone,'. Mr. - ißoland Hogue, who: played her; loybr Captain Van Damm rather loosely. Messrs. .Ford an'd Leslie, and Miss Scott were quitoi successful in the : bomio trio andVdanco ''Whistle It," and the'two firstnamed mado-a popular Ijit in. "The Streets of New York,"witha ballet obbligato. Miss Olive Godwin"looked and sang.well as Bertha, and -her solo, about,the legend of theiinill,. was one of.tho best'from a/musical point of j view. '■Mr. Edward Sherras made, quite a ; pood'character-study of - the • Governor of Zealand, and earned.a.deserved encore in his' solo "Every.'Day-is Lady's Day With : Me." Ho was also associated with Miss; Godwin in the somewliat commonplace, duet "Because You're.You.'! Other parts woro well filled by Miss.Ada Stirling, Mr. Arthur Lissant, and Mr. Pat Bathurst, The band did good work under the conscientious conductorshin 'of-Mr. Alf.Moultfln. : \ . 1 "The Red : Mill" should attract large ■audiences.fprthe'rest of tho week. ■;"-". ' ■