"WHOOPEE"
A WILLIAMSON SUCCESS
It was amply demonstrated at the Grand Opera House on Saturday night that the legitimate stage has lost none of its appeal." The "talkies" have come and have tasted the fruits of conquest, but it has yet to be proved' that they can entirely replace the stage in the field of entertainment. The packed audience which greeted, the iirst presentation 01 the musical comedy success "Whoopee" on Saturday night thoroughly enjoyed itself —that -was .evident from the spontaneous outbursts of laughter., and the frequent rounds of..- enthusiastic applause—and it appears certain that the talented company -which J. C. Williamson's have organised for the New Zealand,tour will enjoy a . highly successful season. "Whoopee" is not only rich in humour, and tuneful music, but is a colourful spectacic rivalling anything that has been seen in T\ rew Zealand previously. If the firm can 'maintain the standard which it has set in "Whoopee" is will have nothing to' fear on the score of patronage. The plot of "Whoopee" is flimsy, but in musical ; comedies the. plot is a minor consideration. ■ The story centres round Sally Morgan, the daughter of a Californiaii rancher, and Wan-en-is, a foundling who , has been brought up in , the belief that there is Indian blood in his veins. Sally is affianced to Sheriff Bob Wells,, but secretly she loves Wan-en-is, and on-the day of her wedding ..slie enlists the sympathy of . Henry Williams, a
hypochondriac who .is visiting California for the sake of his health, accompanied by a distractingly pretty nurse, and a portmanteau packed with pills. ' The Sheriff is naturally annoyed over the sudden disappearance" of his bride, especially when ■he-learns that.she has eloped with ,the much-despjsed Henry, and ho and a posse set out in'pursuit. Sully and Henry.are ■travelling in ;a car which has seen 'better days and half-way, up the mountain-side 'they run out of petrol. Henry gets over this 'difficulty by holding up. a wealthy ranch-owner, Jerome Underwood, who is proceeding with his family to Bar. M Eanch, and extracting five gallons of petrol,at the point of a revolver. Ultimately the runaway pair are forced to take shelter at the ranch, and with the arrival of the. Underwood party, followed by the Sheriff, Wan-en-is, and the pretty nurse, complications set in in approved musical comedy, style. Henry has a very lively time in avoiding the wrath of Bob Wells, and'takes shelter, with an Indian ' tribe in the mountains, whither Sally, with few protestations, has been carried by her supposedly Indian lover. The. determined Bob follows and succeeds in recovering- his recalcitrant bride. Then Wan-en-is makes the discovery that he is all white, and he loses no time-in claiming Sally, who is Landed over.by the Sheriff with a surprising show of magnanimity. And so all ends on an appropriately happy | note. - . -~.; '
The east which interprets "Whoopee" is a very capable one, and on Saturday night every member was, very quickly on the best of terms with the audience. Lilian Crisp, who took the part'of Sally Morgan, made a very attractive leading lady. Shehas a pleasant personality and pleasing voice, which was heard to, advantage in several songs. William Perryman, the juvenile lead, is no stranger to Wellington audiences, and "Ms performance, in the role of Wan-en-is won him further friends and admirers. His solos. "Here's to the Girl of My Heart," "Indian Dawn," and "The Song of the Setting Sim" won warm approval, and his\duets~ with Miss Crisp, "Red, Red Rose" and "Red Skin," were outstanding successes.- The role of chief fun-maker was admirably filled by Don Nicol, a newcomer to Wellington, who can look forward to high popularity in the. Dominion. He played his part with refreshing«enthusiasm, and kept his audience thoroughly amused all the time he was on\ the stage, (and that was for the greater part of three hours). Some of his jokes might have been toned down a -little without losing anything of thqir"
humour, but there was no doubt^about the success which he achieved. He was highly amusing iv his two songs, "Making Whoopee," . and "The Singing Waiter," and with Miss Crisp he scored another success with "Until You Get Somebody. Else." As 'his pretty nurse, Laurel Streeter.-- proved herself a very capable comedienne. Her numbers, "Gypsy Joe and "Stetsoii," won all-round approval. Other parts were capably taken by Fred Deal (Judson' Morgan), Hilton Porter (Sheriff Bob), Fred Bonner (Black Eagle). Harry Taylor (the Padre), John Byrne (Jerome Underwood), Roy Tovey (Chester Underwood), Muriel Lee Patty (Harriet Underwood), and Ivan Squirrel (Timothy Sloan). : Pat and. Terry Kendall were seen in twp' specialty dance numbers, and their brief appearances did nothing more than whet 'the appetite of the audience. They .are certainly two very accomplished dangers,' and 'Wellington : people will want to see a lot more of them. From a production point of view "Whoopee" leaves little to be .desired, and the mounting of several of the scenes was on such a lavish scale that the audience literally gasped. There, will be few who will.readily forget the splendour of the sceiie,'depicting the invocation to the mountain god by Black Eagle and J»s tribe. In addition to the strong cast ot principals, there is a capable chorus and a very efficiently-trained ballet. The'incidental musip' is supplied by a well-bal-anced orchestra under the , direction of Mr. Harry Burton. • " ,' i • "Whoopee" will be repeated to-night and following nights. '
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19300203.2.24
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 28, 3 February 1930, Page 5
Word Count
897"WHOOPEE" Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 28, 3 February 1930, Page 5
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Evening Post. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.