"ALL THE WINNERS"

Evening Post, Volume CXX, Issue 7, 8 July 1935, Page 3

"ALL THE WINNERS"

CLEM DAWE REVUE

Will the flesh-and-blood stage come into its own again? That section of the old flesh-and-blood entertainment which was called vaudeville has a more than equal successor in the modern revue company, and when one looks at successive programmes of the Clem Dawe Company one has to admit that the people are getting much more for their money than they got in the vaudeville days. The comedy is as good as it was then; the musical and vocal side is better; the variety is greater; and superior lighting, dressing, and ballet-training have made the stage pictures and ensembles- more brilliant and attractive, as compared with the high-grade vaudeville and variety of "the good old days." And as the vaudeville of that period had its devoted Saturday night following, it is only fit that the Clem Dawe Saturday nights in the New Opera House should be entertainments that create similar enthusiasm, performers and audience being mutually held in that human accord which is not possible where the human element is absent from the stage. On Saturday night there were 28 frolics, and quite a number of these were sketchlets written with wit and acted and spoken with equal ability. Consider, for instance, the little drama ('The Inflluece of The Saurus") done in dialogue as if by experts in crossword puzzles, the actors and actresses speaking not only the word required by the situation, but every synonym attaching to it; this rapid fire of synonymous words is a tax on elocution, and the cast (Edna Luscombe, Clem Dawe, Dorothy White, and Eric Edgley) came out with flying colours. "Cooking His Goose" (a tragedy in which a talkative man talks about the amorous adventures of his friend to an interested female, not knowing the female to be his friend's wife) was played, with a due regard to suspense,' by Clem Dawe (the talker), Les White (the friend), and Dorothy White (the wife). Clem Dawe and Dorothy White also appeared, with Joe Shriner, in "The Elopement," and the whole company appeared (in relays) in "The One Woman in the World."" In contrast with these piquant sketches was the vocal contribution by six male members of the company, "Military Memories," the violin playing of the always popular Gregory Ivanoff, and the singing of Misses O'Malley and Luciano. Dancing claimed the third and the thirteen frolics, "the two Ednas" leading the sun-tanned ballet. Frolics of an unusual character were "The Boy from Sheffield" and, "The Meeting of Dictators" (Hit and Miss). Most of the members. of the company had a share in "The Old and the New" (picturesque and melodious) and in "Rhythm King's," which latter exhibited the versatile Clem Dawe as conductor. Dorothy White's solo comedy turn is always popular, and on Saturday night the audience clamoured for more. Halliday and Watson gave two of their best dancing specialties, "The Merry Widow" and "The Intermezzo."

The second part of the programme opened with the ballet in golfing kit, and concluded with one of the company's best finales, "An Indian Idea." Between these two were offerings by the violinist, ; th6 singers, and the ballet, along with a group of ■ sketchlets, among which the ■"Advertisement Drama" was perhaps the most original. "The Last Shot" gave good scope for Clem Dawe's buffooning, and most of the company took part in "After Dinner Topics" (stage was divided for this into two, representing simultaneous "confidential talks" by the ladies and by the gentlemen). Clem Dawe and Joe Shriner kept the audience amused with the eccentric dialogue, "Excuse Me." One of the most notable "frolics in this part oi.the programme was the song-sketch, "Mad About the Boy"—a parade of "man-mad" females, beginning hopefully with the love-story of the schoolgirls (the two Ednas), changing to melodrama with the street woman (Muriel O'Malley) and the pathos with the slave (splendidly acted by Dorothy White). The above are only some of the highlights of the Clem Dawe Revue Company. It is- a company of great talent with a wide range of subject matter, and plays as if its heart is in its work.