MAN OF MANY PARTS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 23 September 1927, Page 9

MAN OF MANY PARTS.

“THE ARCADIANS” PRODUCER INCIDENTS OF HIS CAREER, It was in the years just preceding the Great War that Theodore Tresize, tiien known in Wellington as a successful amateur, was persuaded to proceed to London to try liiis skill as a theatrical entertainer before the audiences of the metropolis, and the first London offer he received was the part of Strephon. This singular coincidence in the career of the present producer of “The Arcadians,’’ which is being repeated on Monday and Tuesday by the Hawera amateurs, was among many interesting features gleaned by a “Hawera Star” reporter during the course of an interview with Mr. Tresize.

Though lM!r. Tresize did not accept that engagement, the fantastic musical play became one of his favourite studies, and evidence of the keen interest Mr. Tresize has taken in the production is given in the enchanting dawn scene which he employs to introduce “the Arcadians’’ instead of the chorus which, in the original score, bursts on the audience with the first curtain. His intimate knowledge of the production also allowed him at a few days’ notice during the Hawera season, to step into a breach and interpret, with outstanding success, the important and difficult xole of the jockey, Peter Doody, upon whose showing the element of comedy is largely dependent. COSTUME BY LEON BAKST. In the coming performances at Hawera, Mr. Tresize has also been able to incorporate an attractive dancing feature in which, harmonising with the theme of sylvan beauty, he will appear as a faun, with Miss Maida Meuli as his partner in the role of a woodland nymph and the support of a graceful ballet of elves. The costume to be worn by Mr. Tresize is similar to one designed for him by the designer of costumes and scenery for the Imperial Russian ballet Leon Bakst, when Mr. Tresize appeared in a London revue.

During his first two seasons in London Mr. Tresize was given useful training in the ground work of his profession in the chorus and small parts at Covent Garden, the home of grand opera. He next went on p. tour of the (provinces (with “Eloradora” taking the light comedy lead and featuring the “tubanola glide” and an apache dance. His success in this led to his being partnered with Ethel Levy' in “Hullo Ragtime,” probably the greatest revue success London lias ever had. Among liis other engagements in Great Britain were the parts of Danilo in the “Merry Widow,” a part in the Adelphi production of the “Girl from Utah,” and. parts in various costume comedy and vaudeville. DIGGERS’ “ACHI BABA.” On the outbreak of war Mr. Tresize enlisted in London, and in December of 1914 he proceeded with the British section of New Zealanders to Egypt to join the main body of the N.Z.E.F. As a -sapper in the First Field Engineers he took part in the historic landing which made the name •Anzac famous, and saw continuous service in the arduous Gallipoli campaign till, at the end of August, he was evacuated owing to wounds and sickness. After many months of hospital treatment he was classed as permanently unfit. He could have then taken his discharge, and in London he received the tempting offer of taking the juvenile lead with Violet Lorraine in “The Bing Boys,” but declined this in order to proceed" to France, where he acted as producer to the New Zealand divisional entertainers. The success he made of that company is well known to all ex-dig-gers, -and culminated in the cleverly ceonceived “Aclii Baba” pantomime, which Mi*, Tresize wrote and produced. Subsequently invalided from France, lie was farewelled by the G.O.C. and given a- presentation, among others, from the division —a distinction which was probably unique.

Since his return to New Zealand on the conclusion of the war, Mr. Tresize has had various trips to Europe, America, and Australia, including a voyage on the Renown as the guest of the Prince of Wales. After the final performances of “The Arcadians” in Hawera next week he proceeds north to play the lead in “A Little Bit of Fluff,” to be staged by the Whangarei amateurs. He will later on go to Nelson to produce “The Arcadians” there, and in January will leave for Sydney to fulfil a dancing engagement of twenty weeks at the Tivoli.