PRINCESS THEATRE.

Evening Star, Issue 18263, 1 May 1923, Page 7

PRINCESS THEATRE.

A GOOD BILL. No newcomers in the bill at the Princess this week, but plenty of fresh offerings by the fivo stop-overs and the revue company. The Mackinnon boys were again the popular choice in the first part oi the programme, and because of the cleanness and neatness of their turn they deserve the distinction.' Beginning in their Coleman tartan with bagpipe and concertina, they work through to evening dress and step-dancing, and the applause increases as they go on. The quadrille stepdance with which they finished had again to be repeated. Marvel and Daring s chair-balancing act was the same as last week, but it is so clover that it will easily bear repetition. Kearns and Hunt bad a fresh set of comicalities to present, and were certainly very funny In their crosstalk. Jack Kearns’s long experience enables him to score points all along the line, while his partner provides just the right kind of help. Her “Dago fruitseller” song suited her peculiar vocal style, while Jack’s “burlesque opera” was a star item. The Junoesque soubrette, Violet Elliott, ogled and warbled in Mane Lloydish style. Her song, ‘Ain’t We Got Fun?’ was especially “fetching. Francis Thome, thus time in Italian make-up, played a number of selections on the violin. , The revue was entitled Fuzzy Wuzzy, but had nothing to do with Kipling _ or with anything at all except the American national game of “ bunco. ” The big scene ia a bank swindle in which Morris Levi seta up a bank, and is duly swindled by lice Cohn and General Steele (or Steal). The next most prominent scene is a game of poker, in which Morris is again the victim, the swjndlers this time being Ike and Lady Grafter. There is also in the cast a Mr Cheatcm, a Miss Fleeoera, a Mbs Eobem, a Miss Stingem, and so on It must bo confessed that the operation of robbing and fleecing is carried - out in hilarious style. Take the banking stunt, for instance. To anyone with business experience the explanations and interpretations are screamingly funny. “A trust,’ explains Ike, “is everything but what the name implies.” A “joint note is something signed by three people, making, them unreliable for the whole amount. After twelve months the deposits hear ‘ confounded interest,” and so on. Interspersed with' the “ crook ” games were a number of musical items, many of which were of a highly attractive nature. Marjorie Daw sang ‘I Want a Daddy’ and another rollicking thing very nicely. Mark Erickson’s ‘ American Billionaire was sufficiently “boasty,” and the selections of the Harmony Four brought forth the usual burst of applause. Sophie Vivian, the wellknown Dunedin girl, made her first appearance with the company, _and_ was warmly received. Her strong point is her excellent enunciation—the result of thorough training. She sang a couple of songs quite well, and should prove a very useful acquisition to the ranks of the Travesty Stars.