"OUR MISS GIBBS."

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 14, 17 January 1913, Page 5

"OUR MISS GIBBS."

For some considerable time the I sensitive ears of ultra-musical people have been tortured by the more or less melodious strains of "Yip-i-addy," , and. the young lady responsible for ' its projection upon a long-suffering ■ populace made her tardy bow to a. Blenheim audience at His Majesty's Theatre last evening. A good many : Blenheimites made the acquaintance i of ''Miss Gibbs" during her tour of ! the larger centres, and some of these ; were so taken with the bright and piquant little lady that they were ; glad of resuming the acquaintance. I This factor, together with, her ! Dominion-wide reputation, was re- j sponsible for the large attendance at \ her Blenheim levee, and when the curtain dropped upon the final scene she i had made another batch of friends, ! who will look back upon her visit with pleasurable feelings. The ConiiorPollard combination is not overwhelmingly large numerically, nor does it possess anything phenomenal in the way of singing voices; but it strikes a happy medium which does not fail to please, and the dressing is a marked feature of the piece. There were some pretty and fashionable frocks worn by the lady members of the company last night, and these were presumably noted with interest by tiie feminine element in the audience. The orchestra was not a large one, four members only, but it made up for numbers in quality. In the opening choruses of the first act the accompaniments were rather too pronounced ; but they toned down afterwards, culminating in a beautifullysoftened accompaniment to Mr Ralston's song "Love Rules the World." This was the star item of the night Mr Ralston giving a splendid rendering of the lyric, especially in the mezzo-voce, helped out wonderfully by the orchestra, with the exception I that in the opening bars the cornet was disconcertingly sharp. Mr Ralston has a sympathetic voice of good timbre, and his enunication is excellent. The broad comedy "fat" of the piece certainly goes to Mr George Awards who was, recognised as an old friend. As Timothy Gibbs he lost ?° 1 opportunity of showing up Modelled on the style of Percy, he made the fun wa^ fast and furious and he certainly must be put down as a. success. Mr O'Connor (the Hon Hughm) made a hit with "Yip-i----addy and the interpolation "The Apple on the Tree." Mr O'Connor is as sprightly as of yore, but he-was sparing—rather too sparing for some -of his steps, the only thing in the jay of dancing given by him being a C °* a tui'^y-trot" with jfiss Moore A capital little study was that of Mr Streat as Lord St. Iv<? thfnJS 010/^ th 6 ™m« P^, made the most of her voice in the "Mary" Jsetty helped along the musical comedy admirably. A COU ple of 3" To-night the company will brin«r