SOMETHING UNUSUAL

Northern Advocate, 23 June 1925, Page 4

SOMETHING UNUSUAL

A. CHARMING ENTERTAINMENT.

MISS EDNA THOMAS' SONGS.

Miss Edna Thomas thoroughly charmed a Whangarei audience at the j Town Hall last night. Her recital was of a quite unusual type, for though some of the songs were familiar, the manner of their delivery was new, and therein, no doubt, is tho eecret of Miss Thomas' success. This lady from Louisiana, born and brought up in New Orleans, has a style that is easily identifiable by those who have read of the Southern States, and a very graceful and appealing style •it is. Dressed in a sweetly pretty crinoline dress of the Victorian -age, Miss Thomas on the stage has a quaintness that is all her own. Whether she moves, or speaks, or poses, she fills lier role consistently and convincingly. Her programme consists entirely of negro "spirituals" and Creole songs, with a few negro minstrel songs, as she quite frankly describes them. The negro spirituals are the songs that she learnt in her childhood days from her Mammy Ninna, an old servant, and j other negroes. They are songs that have no composers, as Miss Thomas J savs, other than the slaves who sang spontaneously at their work, and they have to do mainly with the themes that their authors knew best, culled from their knowledge of the Bible. The Creole sengs, in the Franco-' Spanish patois of these aristocrats of che South, are principally little love ballads and humorous conceptions. It is easy to realise that Miss Thomas has grown up in the atmosphere that she depicts so faithfully. She knows the history of her songs, and she tells it to the audience in a most captivating way, with here and there a delightful little touch of humour. With this introduction, it is possible to grasp the meaning of the singer's interpretation, which is aided by a skilful use of facial gesture and pose. Moreover, Miss Thomas possesses a clear mezzo-soprano voice, of considerable range, and she controls it admirably. Sympathy is the outstanding feature of her work; she feels what she is singing and unerringly conveys to the audience the inner meaning* of words and music. On her first appearance Miss j Thomas sang "I wanna be ready," explaining that it was a negro washer- | . woman's outpouring of her spiritual desire as she went about her work. One could just imagine the old woman singing away as she r.ubbed the clothes. Then came "Dere's a little wheel a-turnin' in mah heart,"

a real outburst of fervour, and by way of contrast the plaintive minstrel song, "Old Black Joe," given with dignity aud sympathetic charm. "Hurry Angel" was another of the glad " spirituals," and "I got shoes and will walk over God's Heaven" was sung with telling vivacity > and strength. Each number evoked loud applause, and Miss Thomas acknowledged the persistent clapping at the end of the group with a most artistic rendering of an old favourite, "Carry me back to ole Virginny." The next group began with "Nobody knows de trouble I see," another fervent '' spiritual." "All mah sins are tak- j en away" and "I've bin in de storm so long'' were two more of the same class, the second especially illustrating the flexibility of the singer's voice. A very notable number in this group was "Pray on, ma seekin' soul," which Miss Thomas sang unaccompanied, explaining that her J negro teacher had told her just to j stand up and sing it as the negroes j did, without troubling about the { piano. "Water boy," illustrating the i call of the negro worker to the lazy boy whose duty it was to carry drinking water, formed a contrast to the rest, and the old "Swanee River" was one of the sweetest and most artistic numbers of the whole programme. Tll the second part of the evening Miss Thomas gave the Creole melodies, with harp accompaniment, and her performance was entrancing. These are mostly very short songslittle scraps of the quaintest melody, telling., of love, children singing in the nursery, and humorous incidents. "Ai Suzettc" and "Chere mo lemme toi," love songs which, as Miss Thomas said, needed little explanation, were full of spirit and tenderness. "Bon Dieu" afforded an example of the Creole in more spiritual mood, and was succeeded.by the capricious little "Toucoutu," a brilliant gem! The encore which followed the group, jifew from the singer a fascinating repetition of "Chere ,• mo lemma toi." The next group of j

Crtflrtcr'mclodies was given to the accompaniment of the piano. The first of these, "Donse Codaine" proved to be a fantastic morsel. "De . d.e Solange" was treated ■with breadth and improssivenCss, and, '' Danso, conni, connain'' was. just the patter of the pleased child. The charming old' was given with rare feeling, and "Ca qui to mo dit." the chatter of a couple of women, rounded off a wonderful performance, the singer's interpretation, being most artlessly artistic. The repetition of this number was most welcome. Miss Thomas is assisted by Miss Lucile Lawrence, a young lady who is an accomplished harpist, and Miss Constance Piper, a very capable pianist. Miss Lawrence opened the entertainment wHh four solo numbers,

of which "Volga Boat Song," & Russian folk tune, was the mosfi familiar, and perhaps the most pleas* ing on that account. Miss Lawrenc# ■ . controls her instrument well, obtain* ' ing a rich tone and displaying a. wealth of technical equipment. He® • work is always clean and clear and she plays a simple melody with finef feeling, while the heavier passagesare managed with graceful skill. Ijt the second half of the programme* Miss Lawrence was associated with* Miss Piper in two' very pleasingr numbers, "Deep River" and a transcription , of "My Old Kentucky Home." Miss Piper is an excellent accompanist. Miss Thomas' songs require unusual treatment on the part ofthe accompanist, but Miss Piper never at a loss, an >apt sense of' rhythm being her great virtue. Many new numbers, among them# the street cries which Miss has niiade famous, are to be included? in tonight's programme. The recital fully merits a packed audience, ancli y it is safe to predict that all whflh ' attend will be charmed and dolightecfc with this quite new form of enter» tainment.