ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3149, 30 July 1917, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

HIS MAJESTY'S THEATHIS. Theatregoers should have little difficulty in calling to mind those clever exponents o£ the. light, fantastic toe, the Daitos, who astonished Australian vaudeville patrons a decade ago. This net vas stueequcutly successfully emulated by a duo of Australian dancers, who v. ere introduced to Wellington by the Fullers, and who were known as "Tho Dancing M'Lcans." Tho new uvagrammo at His Majesty's Theatre to-night- will feature the third member of the Jl'Lean family, Mr. Boy M'Leau, who, with his partner, Miss liuby Drury, has iust completed.a successful American tour, in which country, it is said, the two clever young performers repeated the triumphs they experienced on tho Continent in ire-war times. As dancers of the whirlwind order, M'Loan and Drury are snitl to bo a.most without parallel. Another newcomer to Wellington will bo Laurent,- a mental telepathist, said to have remarkable powers of the mystic magnetic genre. The Bcylo Trio, Continental dancers, Uose and roll, the cycling acrobats. Tilton and West, in a new sketch, entitled "The Chauffeur, Jlaig and Haig, tho duo of Herculean powers, Baron, the ventriloquist; Jl'Quo.ijt end Taylor, musical comedy couple, and the Ibsons, in further selections from their rfpertoire, wil complete what promises to be an entertaining programme. The samo hill will be a nightly feature for one week, with tho usual Saturday matinee added. THE NEW DANDIES. The popular New Dandies continue to attract large audiences to the Concert Chamber, where their songs, sketches, musical and verbal quips, and very excellent solo and chorus singing, gives plenty of variety to tho evening's entertainment. There are times, perhaps, wlien the New Dandies might sustain tbeir title .by substituting tho new song for Ihe old, not that the latter songs are not welcomed by a largo section of the audience, but for the simple love of up-to-date-ness which is always proof of a'crt endeavour to keep pace with the times. On Saturday evening "Old King Cole." ( the mock oratorio. "Jimroio Law," and "Recipes," wore among tho most popular pi the ensemble numbers. Miss Ivy Davis, Miss Linda Bradford, and Miss Dorothy Manning have established themselves well in favour, and Harry Graham and Andrew TV>eo are oxcllent in their degree. The "Faust" chorale was quite as interesting as the "Carmen" number of tho previous programme. These ooerat.ic excerpts are the most popular on the bill. THE KING'S THEATRE. The final screenings of •'"lntolerance" were witnessed on Saturday by crowded attendances at both the afternoon and evening sessions in the King's Theatre. America's great national game, baseball, iB a strong feature of the clever Triangle play "The Pinch Hitter," at the Kings, matinee to-day. The star is Charles Bay, who takes tho part of a country lout who goes to college and is there, on account of his awkwardness, made the butt of the students. His self-confidence has been destroyed by a relentless father who thought him of no account from the first, and never hesitated to say so. Sylvia Bremer, a pretty Australian actress, makes a ercat impression. She is daintily pretty and acts with vim and charm. There are wonderful scenes of the turbulent American crowds at a great baseball match. The supporting cast is strong and even, and the photography provides some new ideas. •

"THE BIRTH OP A NATION." Mr. A. L. Grey, brother of Mr. D. W. Griffith, the maker of the mighty "Intolerance," is in Wellington arranging for a special presentation of "The Birth of a Nation." Mr. Grey produced the Griffith masterpiece at Drury Lane, and proposes to afford the Wellington public the opportunity of seeing the film with the unique effects and musical glories that surprised the English public at the great London theatre.

THE EMPRESS THEATRE. The feature liliu at the Empress Theatre this week is a World Film production entitled "Moral vjouragc." A new star, Hiss Muriel Ostriclie, appears in the part of Mary M'Clihtou, the acotch lassie with whom the mill-owuer's son (Arthur Ashley] falls in love. The story is full of fresh ideas, and a pleasing departure from the usual plot is made when the rich youngster'actually marries his sweetheart, instead of deserting her.in accordance with the old traditions. The strong part of the plot arrives when the mill-owner, furious at his sou's marriage, tries to entrap the girl and compromise her. She, however, succeeds in outwitting her enemies and 'escaping from the toils. Some of the incidents in the story are of a very unusual character, and the conduct of the heroine throughout is daring, to say the least, Muriel Ostriclie plays the role very finely, and unquestionably .justifies her elevation to leading star rank. The play gives every opportunity for the best of her graces, and she is lull of piquant charm and quaint and wayward humour. She is extraordinarily pretty, and looks very fresh and youthful. It is safe to predict that following productions in which she is starred will be looked forward to with delight by the picture-going public. EVERYBODY'S THEATRE. "War As It Really Is" is the title of the lending item on the programme this week. Among the live hundred scenes of the picture are incidents showing every type of present-day methods of making war. In it the truth about trench fighting is brought homo to the public for ihe first time. The production was carried out by Captain Donald 0. Thompson, the daring war photographer of Leslie's weekly, who was commissioned by the French Government to record every detail of the French offensive before Verdun, when tile Grown I'rinoo's army was driven back from tho point it had struggled so hard to win. Captain Thompson spent nine months in the front line in France, and the result was thirty reels of pictures covering every phase of tho Sighting. He cut down these thirty reels to sis, in which there was action in every moment, arid this iiual selection makes un tho fllni that is beforo the public of .Wellington now. Scenes of the work done by the Flying Corps are among tho thrills provided, Captain Thompson's camera having actually recorded a battle in the .clouds between a British and a German aviator. Hand-to-hand fighting and tho surrender of hundreds of Germanß in a bayonet charge are also portrayed. The picture is its own guarantee of genuineness, and tho fact that the photographer was severely wounded in securing it bears testimony to tho fact that he and his camera were right in the thick of the business. ORGAN RECITAL. Mr. Bernard P. Page's organ recital at thfc Town Hall on Saturday evening was a rich treat to those who find solace in music' that matters. The programme, which was a model in arrangement, included two works by modern I.'ussian composers, who are now units in tho most advanced school of musical thought in Europe. Their musio is as revolutionary as their politics, aod tho same diep feelings that stir a nation to overthrow Governments, and within a day or two transform the most absolutely autocratic monarchy in the world into a republic lias been stirring in Russian music for tho last decade. The new work; men-, tioned were an attractive "Prelude" by Scriabine, which is rich in strange harmonies, and Glazounov's "La Knit" (the night), a cool atmospheric sketch, that needs further study to develop a full appreciation. By request;, the "Concerto 'in E Flat" of William Felton, was repeated, and ils manifold beauties were once more brought out with force and du'icacy by the Citv Organist. The programme also included the finale from the Tschaikovsky's "Sixth Symphony" (the pathetinuc). which Mr. Page interprets with great skill, fluency, and feeling; the Karg-Elert "Sonata' in A Minor." and the over-wel-come "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" by Bach. SOLDIERS' CONCERT. A concert, under the patronage of Bis Excellency the Govoruor-General and tho Countess of Liverpool, will ho given in tho Town Hall to-morrow evening in aid of tho Red Cross an-i Returned Soldicrß' Club Funds, visiting FPrcnch soldiers will render several songs, and they will he assisted by the best, of local talent. Tho Trcntham band will also assist.