COMEDY COME-BACK

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 42, 18 August 1930, Page 5

COMEDY COME-BACK

"SO THIS IS LOVE"

The revival of musical comedy now taking place in Wellington is o£ a quality to attract public attention. It is not merely a revival o£ the > sort of musical comedy that came to an untimely end a year or two ago. These new comedies are better and brighter comedies, and they are more expertly presented than were some of those taat preceded the "decline and full." In fact, both play and presentation are so good that if any of the old comedylovers have failed to pay their usual trip to the Grand Opera House they should make good the omission without delay—in theiv own interest primarily, and secondarily in support of a revival so meritorious that it has every claim on the loyalty of the public. The first staging of "So This is Love," at the Grand Opera House on Saturday evening, proved that the success of its predecessor was no flash in the pan. The new piece is, if possible, funnier than "Love Lies," and gives no indication at all of being a second string— in fact, both play and players are worth a crowded house anywhere. When a company contains two comedians of the quality of Mr. Clem Dawe and Mr. Bobby Gordon they are bound to be in the thick of it, and this time Miss Katherine Stewart shares the honours, giving a comedienne exhibition even better than she gave in the first play. Mr. Gordon is a "smart Yank" (Hap. J. Hazzard.), which fact gives his rimmed spectacles more relevancy than they might otherwise have; and Mr. Dawe is a stage stockbroker, but more particularly a stage bridegroom. He is the sort of bridegroom whom fate continually separates from his bride, the winsome Miss Stewart, so that the lady is forced to confess "this is not a honeymoon, it is a man-hunt." Along with the incomplete felicity of the elusive Potty (Mr. Dawe) is the un-begun felicity of Hap (Mr. Gordon), whose many marriage proposals meet with the contemptuous refusal of Kitty (Miss Marie Eaton) even when he baits them with the alluring suggestion that as a husband he will not be home much. But Kitty condescends when at last she finds that it is hopeless to further pursue the millionaire Peter Maiden (Mr. Michael Cole), and to wean him from his love of his pretty secretary (Miss Betty Eley). Miss Eley's temporising reluctance to accept Peter, because of Peter's millions, is one of those Victorian conceits that never gain a place anywhere now except in comedy, which is evidently their proper place; but the old tale sounds so convincing to Potty and Hap that they invent a story of Peter's bankruptcy so that the course of true love may be surrounded by appropriate humbug. Then in Act 11. Miss Eley and Mr. Cole are heard singing "Sweetheart" to everybody's delight, and that part of the romance, after one or two more jolts,' is finished. But it is on the comedians that the drive of the piece depends, and if anyone wishes to see two men hold an audience for minutes in bubbling amusement, he is referred to the typewriter scene Between Mr. Dawe and Mr. Gordon.' It is a fair sample of the comedians at their best, and as they j are frequently at their best the laugh I never lets up unless a lyric is being sung or unless the excellent ballet takes the boards. Reinforcing the antics of Mr. Dawe and the "swank" of Mr. Gordon are injured dignity (paraded by Mr. Dan Agar) and the peculiar whimsicality of Mr. Compton Coutts—making up a quartet of comedians that any company might be proud of. Mr. Dawe was recalled again and again for his singing of "Hats Off to Edgar Wallace"; other popular nmnI bars were "I'm .a Little Bit Shy" (Mr. Dawe and Miss Stewart), "I'll See to It" (Mr. Gordon and Miss Stewart), and "Keep Cool" (in which nearly everybody participated). The choruses and ballets were uniformly successful; a good sample is the kick-off after the interval—as bright \i lift-of-curtain as could be wished for. The pretty little dancer, Miss Mona Zeppel, with Mr. John Robertson, gave another charming specialty dance. The or chestrn did good work under Mr. Gregory Ivanoff, whose--violin solo at the interval won applause. The audience could not have been more appreciative, and the pel-formers well deserved their approval. "So This is Love" will be repeated this evening.