SPECTACULAR REVUE

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 111, 13 May 1939, Page 14

SPECTACULAR REVUE

"HOLLYWOOD HOTEL" SHOW

Brilliant and colourful stage spectacles, attractive ballets, and a note of originality difficult to strike in entei--tainment of its type are features of the good show offered by the "Hollywood Hotel" revue which commenced a Wellington season at the Grand Opera House last night. There is also little doubt that the visit of this company to Wellington will be remembered for the extreme scantiness as well as the loveliness of the costumes worn by some of the 40 beautiful girls who frequently adorn the stage. The theatre was crowded last night and the good reception given all sections of the programme indicates that the company should have a very successful season in Wellington. The girls comprising the ballet proper and those • classified as models who appear in the large number of striking costumes designed for the big scenes exhibit an unusually high standard of good looks, even for a theatrical company. Girls in bizarre and brilliantly-coloured costumes, unusual lighting effects, and impressive settings form the decorative material for several major scenes, and that material is employed with an artistic skill, at times amounting to genius. Mention should be made of a dance scene, "The Temptation of Eve," in which, on a dimly-lit stage, a shadowy Eve dances with a glowing, writhing serpent. "The Feather Ballet," in which the ballet, posed on a wide staircase, make clever use of huge ostrich plume fans to weave a changing pattern under the play of multi-coloured light is very beautiful. By a clever piece of stage ingenuity two of the big scenes run one into the other. After a parade of models representing many of the productions associated with the name of Florenz Ziegfeld the stage is taken by the ballet dressed as musketeers. Drawing their rapiers they fight a rhythmic series of dance duels at the foot of the huge staircase Avhich is the principal feature of the set. The staircase then divides in two, each half being swung round to form an integral part of a "Show Boat" scene. It is here that the coloured troupe of "Big Apple" dancers make an appropriate appearance and give a strenuous exposition of this modern outcome of negro dancing. No one will dispute their claim to be America's fastest dancers.

The comedy side of the entertainment is in the hands of Bobbie Morris, who is responsible for some hilarious moments, but the audience showed marked preference for the quieter and more subtly humorous patter of Marty May., and one can well understand the claim that he has a Broadway reputation. He has an endless string of clever and original stories and a way of telling them that is irresistibly infectious. The principal share of the vocal solos is undertaken by Magda Neeld, who formerly sang with Jack Hylton's band. She has a fine soprano voice and the programme was held up for minutes last night while the audience clamoured in vain for her recall. Another outstanding item which drew well-deserved applause was the neatly-executed and skilful acrobatic performance of Frank Park and Robert Clifford. Miss Wilma Homer shows herself to be a capable comedienne in several sketches. The star solo male dancer of the company is Jack Whitnejr. This clever and versatile company will be in Wellington for a fortnight, and the opportunity of seeing a production that appeals so strongly to the sense of beauty should be welcomed by Wellington theatregoers. The originality which characterises the whole programme was indicated in front of the theatre before the show commenced when members of the company, wearing masks in the likeness of well-known screen players, arrived at the theatre after the manner of the Hollywood premieres. The large crowd attracted by this: event threatened to block traffic in that part of Manners Street for a time, and would have undoubtedly done so but for the friendly assistance of traffic officers and policemen.