MR. CLEMENT MAY

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 127, 25 November 1929, Page 5

MR. CLEMENT MAY

AND MISS HILDA CHUDLEY

As an elocutionist and entertainer, Mr. Clement May is well known in Dickens characterisation, but he gave the appreciative audience in the Concert Chamber Uown Hall) on -Saturday evening other samples of his art. Hi, first effort was «ohn DrinkwaterV -The Crowning of fci°^ , "asnificeut bit of the hnf- f ?rOU, y < Je Pictine -he man of to ie T DS hls, sh»»ns' silver shilling L\c url? T' y t0 Ule King's Coronation, of 1 ll ' hV etu">s» "a -the leafy lanes winds t " l 1 i" S hill flints, wliere v ev P ' 1' ? d fi°Wers aColaim him > a"4 ihere is a difference in thWouuVl^ CO|,T °f "WhatTpool You „; fV! T ?.e> and Stephen Leacock's "Hoodoo MHfigan s Christmas" (a curse upon ! 1U'™ a f nf and Mr. May made fei r I' ?/ LOth> th°"Sh One mi §ht Pre" !f m tll. e '*"?>■; for, after this lapse of .irne (and change) Spurr without Spurr seems to lack something. Other Spurr )^f s «;<=«* '"What is a Gentleman?" l h= f,?™' Very Well Then," and ! -mnuiakes. lhe piano accompaniment to the redtinst was at times a trifle loud. Un the other hand,-111 two of the Dickens rSerooge--The Christmas nun a' ld o? ell>s Grandfather-The Old Curiosity Shop' ") the off-stage carols and (, n the second case) hymns contributed powerfully to the charm of appeali"° ?n d artistic .performances. Mr. May's • •vi",? h Hee P—'David . Copperfield'," and Wilkms Mieawber—'David Copperfield'," are -well known, and never fail to please. Alice Began Price's '"The Denominational Garden" was reci'.ed with tolerance, and Mr.. May's portion of the, programme concluded with another Moil B. Spurr composition, a musical sketch and characteristion in which, the toasts of Army, Navy, Volunteers, and Ladies are rendered from their several humorou3 ' angles. Altogether Mr. May's choice was. varied and effective. Miss Hilda Chudley's fine voice was heard to much advantage,1 in Landon llonald's "Sylvan," Cyril Scott's "Lullaby," ' and Tschaikowsky'i ; iMone But a Lonely Heart." Her contribution to the second part ■of the pro' - gramme was the negro spirituals "Dee)' p River" and "I Got a Robe," and into these she infused a. beautiful depth t jf feeling. Her songs at the piano are il adeed quite a feature in a programo.ie which, considering it rests on the shos ilders of only two artists, is worthy of much praise. ,