SPARKLING REVUE

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 30, 6 February 1933, Page 3

SPARKLING REVUE

'HELLO HAPPINESS"—

I Audiences that completely filled the Grand Opera House ■witnessed the second i programme p£ the SVank Neil-J. C. Wiljliamson Revue Company on Saturday afternoon and'evening, and 'acclaimed the second "of the series as even better than the first excellent production. From the | overture, by Wally Keynolds and his capable players .to the final beach scena .in which Miss Ella Shields appeared as herself against a background o£ bathiny belles and tumbling surf, the show went with-a snap and swing that was as much a tribute to stagecraft as to the versatilo£ tsle performers. Again, George Wallace, the diminutive comedian, and Miss Ella Shields \vere the principals, but the company is also fortunate in having a ballet of shapely girls whose work is faultless in synchronisation, and a coterie of colleagues who complete the cycle of enjoyment. Scene followed scene in breathless sequence, and many of the tablt au? m were real] 5r beautiful, particularly the Bowl of Cherries" number, in which Miss Shields was the soloist; the "Eomance scena, in which Miss Miriam Lester as vocalist had the assistance of the ballet girls; and "Memory of an ,'Old Bouquet," also by Miss Lester and two exquisite waltzers who stepped from a frame to continue the illusion. "The Garden of Roses" scena was another spectacular ensemble, a rose-covered screen descending from the roof, with the ballet girls adding a touch of charm. Miss Lester was also associated with, Messrs Bay Trewern and William Liddle in- the-final trio from '.Taint," .slightly marred for the audience by too-loud orchestral accompaniment. The-arrival af George Wallace in whatever sketch he figured was the signal i for loud applause. Burlesques, irrelevaneies, and a naive sense of humour combined to keep his popularity at high pitchy while his very appearance (slack trousers, plaid jacket, and crushed felt hat; schoolboy shorts and college cap; or untidilyI fcttmg "tails"), made the audience howl with laughter. If his humour was broad in places,' well, the audience liked it and ! a "Sn. ed immoderately. A burlesque on White Cargo" was capitally done, Mr. Wallace as the Englishman having the support of Lily Molloy as Fond of Meno, Maurice Barling, and Billy Maloney. "A Quiet Game of Cards" ended in a riot with wholesale slaughter of wife and guests, and finally an engagement with a I cruiser whose picture on < the wall suddenly began to fire broadsides at the murderer and to a good shot from Mr. Wallaces revolver, sinking in its own pic<S c jsea> n w^at '"'as announced as a 1 blood-curdling melodrama in two acts" a. neat-if naughty contrast was provided between husband and wife's treatment of ■m *w nif' Take Her Back." Mr. Wallace discoursed on cricket; was a bad-minded boy in a laughable school scena witn. Mis 3 Buckley; improvised on the piano m a scene with Miss Maida Jones; was a dame in a railway station episode- a reporter with premature news in a newspaper comedy; was a convincing drunk in .(MM or two sketches (in one leading a primus life on methylated spirits); and generally provided the maximum of fun with his railleries and inconsequential rel'' Miss Ella Shields had a flatterin" reception; she was natty and debonair in male attire, and utterly adorable in feminine fripperies: her deep-throated songs were rapturously applauded, her contributions, mclud ng "What a tfight!"; "Sit- '^ PretA y W^ h m W'> 'liable*; and When the Bloom is on the Heather," and her always-popular revival of "Burlington, Bertie" Miss Shields's artistry is fascinating; she alternates roguishness with sophistication and soliloquises on such Sar/rarfaS ■ taWU«"B- Bnd a^ wm-t 6 A? a+ir el w US PS? tn. rin S acrobatic work of the Four Daring Diabolos again caused gasps, the three stalwart men and the dainty, slim girl accomplishing some hair-r als .ng feats in which the gill was tossed about carelessly, swung nonchalantly irom one partner to the other by ankles arms, and body, and finally took a header" tlnough a paper-covered hoop. The girl also figured m solo dances during the evening. Their act had a pretty Chinese setting, and was followed by a hilarious burlesque by Mr. Wallace and two colleagues, in which a loose-limbed dummy w<"?an was tossed about alarmingly. The graceful ballet girls (trained by Maurice Diamond) figured in school acrobatics, and danced nimbly in many numbers with the company, two of their number, Mercia George and Mercia Elliott contributing a simultaneous song-and-dance act in the "Bathing in the Sunshine" nnale; and went through military evolutions with the precision of soldiers. Murray and Walton astonished with their foot agility in simultaneous dancing, one of them doing a boneless solo dance that won unstinted reward. Misses Maida Jones (singer and dancer), Lily Molloy (sketch artist), Maggie Buckley (singer and comedienne), . and Messrs. • Maurice Barling. Billy Maloney, and William Liddle did excellent work as well. The programme will be repeated every afternoon and evening this week.