"IRENE"

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 16, 19 January 1921, Page 9

"IRENE"

A MUSICAL COMEDY.

It is rather difficult to place "Irene," first performed in New Zealand by the J,. and N. Tait Comedy Co. at the Opera House last, night. It ia not quite musical comedy, and yet there are some delijrhtful musical episodes in it; and it is not .quite straight comedy, because of the music'; farce it is not, although there .'arc bright farcical. flashes nil through iti There are suggestions of pathos in-it, too, and these,-by the way, are most delicately treated. "Irene" is just an American novelty not easy to class, but, on the-face of it.' a sure money-maker and giving splendid value for money, 100. Irene O'Dare is a shop girl, living in the Bowery, New York. Out> of a subsistence wage she somehow manages to keep her widowed mother, her brother, and herself going. The family lives in the usual tenement house with'which cinema theatre habitues are now fully familiar. Irene had also worked in a Philadelphia store. In tho Quaker city she had had an adventure in which .rich food, tine clothes,_ a motor-car, and a man were the salient features. Although she then skated on remarkably thin ice, she was providentially brought out of the danger zone by news of her father's death; so back she went to New York and a job in another store. Connected with that job was the inspection of some cushions made for a rich woman's porch furniture, and not quite satisfactory. While looking into this matter she. attracts the notice of the customer's son. lie has an idea that all one has to do is to clotlfe nicelookin? girls in fine raiment (no matter how illiterate they may be) and introduce them into gullible Society as ladies, where they will be accepted at their face value. The, opportunity of putting this theory to the test occurs in this wise: the rich young man's English friend is anxiotis to solicit his help in getting " Madam Lucy," a male dressmaker, established in New York. Why not, tho rich young man argues, try li;eno as a mannequin? 'So she is dressed by Madam Lucy, is introduced into society, makes conquests by her beauty and bearing, and at the same time stimulates feminine curiosity and profitable interest in her dressmaker-employer. The Philadelphia episode, as was only to be expected, is revived, with some complications;- and, besides, Irene's typically fictional mother has to be convinced that her daughter is coming by her money honestly, a fact of which' the audience is never in doubt for a moment.

In the "book" there are rather more than hints of indebtedness to 0. Henry in the way the poverty of the Bowery is contrasted with the great wealth of New York society. There is where the pathetic element is to be discerned; this yearning of the poor for the pleasures, luxury, rich food, and exhilarating drinks of the wealthy, and .tlie recognition of the very narrow margin between starvation and Hying which store wages provide.

Irene O'Dare was tha role assumed by Miss Dorothy South, a pretty, 'sprightly, temperamental artiste with a graceful lissom figure and'a. soprano voice of rare quality and groat culture. Miss South was a favourite from the instant of her appearance. Her swift transitions in speech from the argot of the Bowery to the supposed drawl of New York society were exceedingly clever. She imparted to her role the quality of champagnefroth, its fragrance, and its indefinable colour, not quite pink, yet not to sa.y golden. The rich young man. Dtmald Marshall, was admirably played by Mr. Robert Jewett. The liart fitted him like a glove, and when ho sang he displayed a baritone voice of rare beautiy, admirably controlled. In Mr. Thomas Paunceforte the company possesses a comedian of rare parts. This was obvious, although, as Robert Harrison he had but little to do. It was the way in which that little was done that told. Tlie part of "Madam Lucy" was taken by Mr. Chester Cluto,. the personification of dapperness, a trim little man just out of the bandbox and the wrapping of tissue paper. Mr. Clute thoroughly identified himself with the part, danced with neatness, and was, in short, an altogether original artist. The oiher parts were suitably cast. Misses Velma Hinkle and Marion Saile and Pe^ey Malonoy (two mannequins) proving particularly strong members of the combination in the song and dance section; The scenery is very pretty, and the set of a bilck wall of a tenement dwelling, with its fire escapes, was used with great effect.

"Irene" is remarkable, too, for the beauty of its dresses. and the grace- of its ballet dancing. It is easy to predict for it.a repetition of crowded houses nightl*r~as was the case everywhere in Australia. ' .. * .