PRINCESS THEATRE

Evening Star, Issue 18833, 6 January 1925, Page 5

PRINCESS THEATRE

BRILLIANT revue company. They stormed the portals of the Princess Jtadel at an early hour last evening, and pnsequently those who tarried on the Wayside had to seek their night of gladness elsewhere. The magnet no doubt was the. Jim Gerald Musical Comedy Company, which opened its Dunedin season with a high-geared festive piece, ‘ A Millionaire for a Night,’ and incidentally demonstrated that revue may be a thing of infinite zest and rapturous audacity. This form of entertainment long ago found the bull's-eye of popular approval with such a whack that it is almost an essenlial_ ingredient to-day of any variety concoction. As it is, then, the horse-power of tho applause, chuckles, and broad gVins that Keep the good ship Vaudeville on its way rejoicing, purveyors of this class of entertainment have naturally been in keen demand. and a multitude of them have wooed us ardently in the past. None came, however, with better credentials and a more festive cargo than Jim Gerald, and if the wares unloaded last evening are a sample of what we are to expect in future weeks, then the name of Gerald should be twice blessed amongst the box office staff and equally revered by amusement-seekers. A striking feature of last night’s show, after Gerald’s own delightful whimsical bubbling, was the obvious versatility and competence of his associates and accomplices. Revues too frequently degenerate into one-man affairs for tho obvious lack of the aforementioned qualities amongst the lesser lights; but, although J.G. is producer, librettist, author, and comcdian-m-chief, he is never diffident about sharing the calcium glare with the other principals. Gerald himself is obviously not all-the-eggs-in-one-basket man, and be.looks destined to become one of the most popular of revue funsters. He is at his best jn an impish, puckish mood; but there is a periodical outbreak of boistcrousness, but nothing more disorderly happens than tome tempestuous whirling by the ballerinas and an occasional somersault by the Comedian himself. He scores heavily as the night clerk in the lounge of the Hotel Metropolitan, where he carries on a delightful flirtation, simultaneously with some exhilarating conversation with tho guests and the other extraordinary customers who flocked in at sundry intervals to be unmercifully peppered in crossfire pleasantries. He has an excellent voice, and along with Reg. Hawthorne was heard in one of the most nimblo-witted- and sparkling vocal items of the evening, ‘Gallagher and Shean.’ Hawthorne is a droll fellow, and was a huge success as the doleful engineer—an apparition that flitted in and out of the picture and always created a gentle titter of merriment that rose, however, crescendo fashion with each visit. Ho presented himself as a rawking, lumbering fellow with a decided flair for the slough of despond and the funereal. It was a delicious piece of lugubrious persiflage. His voice still finds many a responsive chord, and so do the ringing accents of Ernest Crawford. The latter has been this way times before, but rs long as he brings that vocal outfit of his he will always find a hearty welcome. ‘Three o’Clock in the Morning’ was the burden of his first outbreak into melody, and then he divided the honors with Mona Thomas. ‘ Linger a Little Longer ’ they twittered, and if the applause was any indication it was almost the unanimous wish that they would. Howard Hall played with considerable gusto a couple of minor parts. The leading lady, Essie Jennings, was suffering from a cold, and was contented with a few minor doings. Mona Thomas had dress and address, and sang with sculptural dignity ‘The Market,’ and then with the aid of some ornamentation that looked like a piece of toitoi settled down to portray one Lady Irene. Polly M'Laren, who will be remembered with the Waller George Company, gave evidence of considerable development in her art since then, and'she flurried and fluttered about as charmingly as ever. Sophie Vivian, a Dunedin-born lassie, had a small part in which she was stared at for most of the evening, and which she held down with meritorious aplomb. And then last, but not least, the Merry Twiuklers. They nearly kicked themselves off the stage at times, but their wild prancings and dancings Lad method in them, and altogether they added considerably to a wonderful little show. The producing and staging were excellent, and ,the dressing can truthfully be described .os gorgeous. Altogether the company made a striking debut. Claude Dampier is garbed out this week in a bathing suit affair, a monocle, and (unnecessary to add) a perfectly idiotic countenance. The latter is so constructed that it can automatically assume a vondrous variety of alarmingly absurd expressions. Last night he sat back on a piano stool, and a whole panorama of them flitted across that marvellously accommodating face, whilst the audience sat back in their seats and threatened themselves with apoplexy. Hilda Attenboro again ably assisted. Little Lorna and Lance, those two juvenile performers who mate such an impression last week, are as bewitching and as mettlesome as before. They dance, fiddle, and sing with all the assertiveness of those twice their ratin'!' tender years. Brother Lance exercises himself on the piano, and he plays it with all the self-assurance and the bounce of Paderewski himself. Then the audience let loose the flood-gates of applause, and Mister Lance and Missie Loma come l ack and take curtain after curtain as gracefully and neatly as any veteran of the boards. There are no fireworks about tho efforts of J. E. Sutton, but there is sufficient “fizz” about his monologues rod stories to find J.E. as heartily applauded as anyone on the bill. Carlton and JKoslyn have a whole budget of fresh mummeries this week, and they also received a full share of the plaudits. The Mullanoy Brothers’ frolics and ebullitions, .v! ich took the form of some intoxicating patter and simultaneous terpsichore, were equally successful. Praise is due to the hard-working little orchestra under Mr E. H. Stokes. The programme will be repeated this evening.