A GRAND SHOW

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXIII, Issue 103, 12 April 1933, Page 9

A GRAND SHOW

WALLACE REVUE COMPANY OPENING PERFORMANCE CROWDED. NIGHT OF RABE ENJOYMENT. We take our hats off to the ballet in the George Wallace-Ella Shields Revue Company, who staged their first performance in Hastings last evening. It is the crispest, neatest, and jolliest ballet that we have ever seen in any variety show in New Zealand, and we can remember nothing that excelled it even in the heydey of the revue in England. The girls arc on and off the stage almost endlessly, but never for a moment did their appearances seem too long or too frequent. Ono could well have enjoyed oven more of such lively and supremely engaging dancing. Their dressing was exquisitely dainty and pretty and thoroughly original. Their dancing was most marvellously varied, and of all their many dances there was none that was not entirely distinct from the others. They danced as though every moment of their doing so was a joy, and there was not a girl, and not a step, in which there was the slightest faltering. Apart from their virtues in artistic grace, it is a matter of wonderment that so many various dances could be remembered even roughly. Of a large number of thoroughly delicious items, their Irish danco and their military parade dance were perhaps the loveliest. If the ballet had been the whole show, instead of only a part of it, even then it would have been an evening of the rarest enjoyment. The girl are all young and pretty, and they dance as though they loved being so. The ballet ,is a complete triumph, and especially so is the exquisitely dainty little lady who is their solo dancer. Never was anyone born with more grace and loveliness. And what was next in order of merit? It is ififlicult to make a fair choice of any individual. The whole of the entertainment was so good that it is . impossible to choose any one item that was at all markedly better than another. Perhaps it had better be Miss Ella Shields, for she is the most notable person in the company, and certainly not tho least delightful. We had never heard “Burlington Bertie” until we heard her sing it'in a London musical hall more years ago than it would be polite to mention, and we had an uneasy feeling that it was going to pall; for many hundreds of times since then we have had the experience of hearing people come on to the stage and announce that they would “now give a little impersonation of Miss Ella ■Shields singing “Burlington Bertie from Bow.” But it can’t be done. Nobody but Miss Shields can do it. And very far from palling, it is a delightful experience to hear it again, and the old, old song becomes entirely new, and is given a complete freshness and a new character, on her lips. She is the same charming, debonair Ella Shields, and still has that little way with her that has kept her in her place as one of England’s favourites on the music-hall stage. She sang a number of songs, and every one of them was a gem. George Wallace comes next. He is the leader in all the delightful nonsense that goes on through the evening, and just to hear his little voice piping up off-stage was enough to set the audience laughing. And a large audience it was, by the way. There were few seats that w-erc not filled, and it was good to listen just to the audience’s laughter. It was hearty and lusty and unrestrained, and was itself a complete tonic. But to return to George Wallace. Ho is a wonderfully engaging ass, and nothing ever goes right with him. He gets his words and his thoughts mixed up in the most entertaining way, and is generally the life

and soul of whatever party lie happens to be a member of at the moment. Miss Miriam Lester certainly deserves special mention next, for her singing is one of the outstanding features of an outstanding show. Her voice is rich and clear and lively, and she sings as though she loved singing just for its own sake. She is a performer of really uncommon ability, and of really uncommon charm of manner and appearance. It is only because limits must be set to the length of this criticism that it is impossible to mention a dozen others in detail, but the Diabolos, for their marvellous aerobatic dancing, and Murray and Walton for their step-dancing, must be given at least a little paragraph. Tlicir turns are absolutely tiptop, and by no means an unimportant part of the entertainment. One or two things apart from the performances of the artists on the stage deserve especial praise. One is tho work of the orchestra, which is of a standard of ability quite unusual in a touring company, and another is the splendid work of the-lighting mechanicians and the manipulators of the scenery. The lights were used with highly ingenious effect and with real art, especially in the ballet where the girls sat at the back of the stage and did a wonderful dance just with their hands and feet. The scenery, all of which is of first-rate quality, was shifted about with the utmost speed and skill, and the stage-manager kept the turns following one another with breathless speed; so much so, in fact, that a corpse lying on the stage had not quite time to come to life again before the lights caught him in the process of reincarnation. To-night there will be an entire change of programme, with new scenes, new dances, new dresses, and new everything. It is an entertainment that one would be foolish to miss, and of that rare quality that makes one feel that half-a-dozen times would not be too often to see it. “HELLO, HAPPINESS!” TO-NIGHT This evening at 8 o’clock at the Hastings Municipal Theatre, J. C. Williamson, Ltd., will present Frank Neil’s remarkably fine vaudeville revue company for the final occasion here in the big spectacular revue, “Hello Happiness,” which has everywhere proved even more successful than “Pleasure Bound,” in which the company achieved an outstanding success when they previously appeared here. Infectious gaiety, genuinely humorous comedy, clever and original ballets, some really sensational acrobatic features, a number of the latest song successes, and Ella Shields and George Wallace at their best are the factors which have helped to make “Hello Happiness” the best and most successful revue ever staged in New Zealand. George Wallace conjures up gales of laughter throughout the performance of “Hello Happiness.” In “I’ll Take Her Back” an! “A Hectic Night” he presents two of the best sketches yet enjoyed in New Zealand. Ella Shields will again delight playgoers in a budget of her latest song successes, including “Sitting on top of the World.” aii excellent depression chaser, and “Life-is just a bowi of Cherries,” which is accompanied by a beautiful tableau, one of the most beautiful effects ever presented on a New Zealand stage. The Four Daring Diabolos will appear in some sensational acrobatic specialties; and the introduction to their turn called “Romance,” with a song by Miriam Lester, and the help of the ballet is most effective. Maurice Diamond’s beauty ballet will be seen this evening in some of their most brilliant dances, of which “The Military Parade” is probably the most spectacular. Messrs Murray and Walton, it is said, work at express speed in several clever tap dances. An outstanding item in “ Hello Happiness,” is the singing of the famous trio from “Faust” by Miriam Lester and David McGill. Others who greatly assist to make “Hello Happiness” an outstanding success are Maida Jones, Billy Maloney, Maurice Barling, Lily Molloy and William Liddle. Seats in central positions may be selected at Fail’s.