ENTERTAINMENTS

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 137, 11 June 1909, Page 2

ENTERTAINMENTS

OPERA HOUSE. In "A King of Crime" Mr. Allan Hamilton has presented to us more than a melodrama bristling throughout with sensation. It has a distinctly French flavour. The plot is sufficiently convincing, revolving round a giil orphan, whose guardian plots a marriage with his rascally son, in order to secure the erirl's monc^y, left to her under her father's will However, the plotter eventually falls a victim to his own false cupidity in another direction. The will which causes much rascality passes through many strange adventures. As Gaslon Lemoine, alias Captain Hercules, Mr. George Cross gives a fine portrayal of the man who is at once the fearless chief of a robber gang, the faithful partner of a band whom he fervently hates, and the tender lover of his A very sweet character is Gaston's wife, the blind Henrietta, as played by .Miss Ada Guildford. Her prescience of clanger to her husband and her grief and death' on discovery of his crimes and arrest are well simulated. Mr. J. L. Laurence, as Simon Gandelu, the proposed husband of the heiress, gives us an excimple of villainy unrelieved by any glimpse of the finer nature so evident in Gaston. As the heiress, Mathilde, and her 'lover, Lieutenant Louis Mascarot, Miss Rosemary Rees and Mr. vVilton Power play well enough their somewhat characterless parts. Mr. Mlison, in the part of an Irish mesmerist, is amusing. Miss Maud Chetwynd in the soubrette part of Clarisse, the innkeeper's* daughter, is piquant. A smart little song and dance, given by her, proved a very acceptable item. The Toto Chupin of Mr. Wilton Welch, a .übiquitous member of -the gang, is worthy of praise. He is a very amusing scoundrel. The scenic effects of the play are excellent. "A King, of Crime" will be repeated this evening. To-morrow, the last night of the season, Mr. , -Hamilton will stage "A Message from Mars." FUL-I/ER'S PICTURES. The picture entertainment, which & drawing such large audiences to the Theatre Royal this week, is undoubtedly a first-clasG show, in keeping with the reputation for enterprise so justly earned by the Messrs. Fuller. There are pictures to euit every taste — grave, gay,, and broadly hunforous; all interesting, many instructive. In" fact, any person who attended one of these entertainments and came away without <feeßß|; that he had had a good time, would either be very, very hard to please, or need medical attention. The cinephone records aro of high order, and receive the interested attention that their merit entitles them to. To-night will be the last of the present programme, and tht weekly change will take place to-morrow evening, when a programme equal to anything that has yet been produced at the Theatre Royal will be submitted. THE ROYAL PICTURES. The new programme' of pictures at Hie Majesty's Theatre is undoubtedly one of the finest the Royal Picture management has presented for some time. There was a very large audience last night, and it thoroughly enjoyed the pictorial feast. The selection of dramatic subjects is very fine, the most notable being an adaptation of 'Sir Walter Scott's "Kenilworth." The "Church Robbers," "Parted, but United Again," "The Poor Musician," and "Count Ugolino," 'all point the good moral, and "How the Drummer 'Boy saved the Stars and Stripes" is a stirring incident of the American War. The scenic pictures and the industrial ones are also well-^hosen, while* the comic section is particularly good, especially "Bertie- Buys a Bulldog," ' which kept the audience in screams of laughter. "Aviation has its Surprises," "Foolshead Wrestling," and "Married in Haste," are also laughtermukers of the first order. There will be a matinee to-morrow, when the children of one of the local benevolent homes will be invited. BOYS' INSTITUTE. Last night a mock Parliamentary election was held at the 'Boys' Institute. Four candidates— N. Brown, J. Howitt, G. Woston, and W. S- Poynton— offered themselves for election. Master Poynton was chosen by a majority of thirtyfour votes, sixty-eight votes being recorded. The judges, Messrs. Poarson and Thompson, awarded 'Poynton the first prize for speech-making. WELLINGTON LIEDERTAFEL. The Wellington Liedertafel occupies a, place entirely its own in the musical world of the city, and any pleasanter entertainment than one of .its concerts on a "ladies' night" could not easily be iound. Under the inspiring leadership of Mr. .Robert Parker, and guided by his artistic taste, the society's performances are such as evidence more than ordinarily conscientious study and close attention to the details which make for success. Last night's recital in the concert chamber of the Town Hall was the first of the sixteenth season, and the audience was large. On this occasion the society was, assisted by Mrs. E. B. Buckeridge (contralto), who sang three ballads, and by Aliss Kennedy, Miss Grace Kennedy, Miss Hoby, and Mr. Leon Cohen, who supplied the string parts in some delightful quintets, Mr. Parker at the piano. Part-songs, of course, constituted the greater part of the piogramme, and there were many of these old favourites which are ever new. But perhaps the most effective was one which does not come under this category — Tennyson's Bugle Song, "The Splendour Falls on Castle Walls," from "The Princess," composed by Dudley Buck. In this example, the harmonies were enriched by accompaniment of piano and reed organ. The composition is powerful and striking, and was given with fine declamatory force, in strong contrast to tho soft effects of the "echoes, dying, dying, dying." Of all the part-songs, this was most applauded. The others wero : "Evening" (Abt), the solo part by Mr. Queree; "When Shadows Flee Away" (Schwarenka) ; glee, "Come let us join the Roundelay" (Beale); "When Evening's Twilight" (Hatton); "The Beleaguered" (Sullivan); and, by way of close, Truehn -, humorous "The Chafers," the solo by Mr. F. V. Waters. Mrs. E. B. Buckeridge is already a favourite with Wellington audiences, and the appreciation her ballads received would, in ordinary circumstances, have been interpreted as an encore. Musicians, however, generally hold that such repetition is not desirable in the interests of art, and Mr. Parker is one who acts accordingly — wherefore encores are barred. Mrs. Buckeridge sang an air from "Sanson et Dalilah" (St. Saens), "What is Life?" (Herron-Maxwell), and Molloy's - dramatic "Herrings are in the Bay." The other solos were : Rev. A. W. H. Compton, "May Dew" (Sterndale Bennett) ; Mr. W. 'Warren, "The Cavalier's Song" (Mallinson) ; and Mr. H. Bannister, ''Where'er yon Walk" (Handel). The accompanists were Miss Ethel wyn Kirk, Miss Warren, and Mr. Eric Waters. The quintets, piano and strings, introduced a very pleasant variety into the programme. Five selections, affording v wide variety of musical expression, were taken from Handel's "Water Music," and no less charming were Cowen's "Stately Dance" and Coleridge Taylor's "Waltz in E-minor." The quintctn wove veally finished pieceo of work, graceful in execution and expression.