ENTERTAINMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13490, 17 May 1907, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS.

HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

THE ANDREW MACK COMPANY. ■:.... '.■' ' ■" ■■ ■"■' ■■■.-' -r I *" \ ■ " " :'• f ARRAH-NA-POGUE." Plating 1o a crowded house, the; Andrew Mack Company presented -at His Majesty's „ Theatre last evening ' that evergreen gem ' amongst Irish plays," Arrab-na-Poguo," a f pi»co'of which Irishmen never seem; to r tire. Last evening the; play was received { with demonstrative enthusiasm, the curtain 3 | being called up again and again, while the i i audience paid tribute to the actor who has won the hearts of all playgoers by his \ representations of Irish life and character. * '• Arrah-na-Pogue" is so familiar the < world over that it secures audiences by the; v very reason of its old '.associations, and;, Dion Boucicault, when he wrote it, ; created, ! something that will live as long as there is J 1 a community of Irishmen left. Many well- ' i known name's in the stage world have been U ibracketed with the-part- of Shaun, the lost, in Auckland, but, • while not detracting mil I the least 'from the others,, it is safe: to say L the character has not been played hero {before as it was last evening, for it had j undergone a change in the hands of Mr. ! Andrew Mack. He invests it with a new I and distinct* personality, gives it a. broader, i and freer interpretation, and while not do- , ! parting from the general details of the ira- • personation, he has, in fact, recreated it. ( , j The result was a signal triumph. The | pathos was brought out more tenderly, tho ! pathetio passages became stronger, and tho humour wa3 richer, crisper, and characteristic not only of the type of play, but also ] of the player himself. Mr. Mack played ( throughout with that intense feeling, and ; that inborn natural power of application - which has raised him to tho eminent posi- ' tion ho occupies, and from first to last his j , audience followed every word and every , action with ■ the . closest attention and tho ] , keenest sympathy. , His singing of the ever . 1 popular "Wearing of tho Green" was in i itself worth going to hoar, and Mr. Mack ■ ! was applauded to tho echo. Ho also sang [ 1 "My Own Acushla Machree," "Joys of , i an Irish Dance," and "Good-night, My Love" (written and composed by „ himself ; I for the play), and his delightful rendering ' ; of each of the items called forth enthusi- i ' astio plaudits. Mr. Martin Alsop, while' his brogue was- j Ma little out at times, made a very fine i 'Colonel O'Grady, playing with a thoroughly ; II sound conception of the oall upon him for a ' \ strong repre- ontation, and his work in tho [ ; last scene with Fanny Power was an excellent performance. Mr. Charles Aveling • j contributed a fairly good interpretation of '[the part of Beamish MoCoul,'and.lMr.;William Townshend as Michael Foehey, tho detested "process server," observed all the 3 i traditions of this difficult part, putting for!jward a truly good character study. Miss Jane Kelton played the sweet part: of Ar- ' i rah Meelish, and invested it with a charmMing naturalness, while Miss Mao Stevenson '[was seen to advantage in a somewhat freer 1 i interpretation of the charaotor of Fanny 3 j Power. The other parts wore well filled, 7 and the scenic setting was admirable in 31 every respect, ; the view of -the Abbey of St. Kerin, with the moonlight shining on i the water, and the representation of the - rustic glen near Larrah being beautiful i I specimens of the sceno painter's art. -j" Arrah-na-Pogue" will bo repeated this > evening and to-morrow and Monday nights, giving . place on Tuesday to the comedydrama, " The Way to Kenmarc." OPERA HOUSE. _ ' The programme submitted by , Fuller's => Vaudeville Company last night drew a ''-, large , audience. Mr. J. E. - Ward's act, " The ,f Robing of the Gods," was well received, and Mr. Victor appeared in a clover ven- '* triloquial act. Shaw and Gilbert, in their •" boxing act, caused great laughter, while e Mr. Val. Newton and Miss Amy Blackio 0 sang some fine ballads,, some of them being , illustrated. Pearl Livingstone, Lucy La- ? vinia, Bob Lloyd, Will' Gilbert, and others e also appeared. On Saturday Manton and 1 Morton, sketch artists, will make their first i appearance, and ' Miss Nelly Power will re- , appear. . ■■■-■■ -. • 3 '.'-.-■■.■■■'■' — - 'm '■ '■ BLANCHE ARRAL. "i To-night lovers of , operatic music will : have their final opportunity of hearing Blanche Arral sing her selections irorp, some . r " of . tho '■• world's - '' greatest - ; masterpieces.' Madame Arral .leaves : for tho South immediately, and there is no likelihood of her returning to Auckland. Those who have j' not yet heard her should not lot the occa,f sion pass without doing so. So far as ~ range; and' technical ""ability "are"concerned, .. this ~ artiste occupies '*' very high position ' in the world of music. To-night Madame. - Arral's (programme- will), ha , drawn * from ~ "Faust,"' "Carmen," and "Les Huguenots," » together, with a number of individual , items. ■: ■ . :":'■;■■.'.. - >'-*

"APPROACHING END OF THE AGE." In response to . numerous requests, ■■" the Rev. Dr. H. Grattan Guinness, F.R.A.S., lectured to a large company last evening at the Auckland Tabernacle upon " The Approaching End of the Age." . The lecturer alluded to the rejection by the Jews, of Jesus Christ as Messiah and their :'na-s tional unbeliof, followed to a • large extent: by unbelief and apostasy in the Gentile world to-day. . He spoke of the present decadence of belief in prophecy, ' and, in . fact, in the supernatural altogether. Consequently - the great, utterances of the Old' Testament prophets were discounted ; and ignored, though in the days of the early fathers and the later Puritans their sayings • were faithfully hold to, and intelligently understood. The place and influence of early Pagan and modern Papal Rome, the restoration of the * Jews >to their own land'in the, millennial period, with Satan enchained, and the heavenly state of the redeemed and glorified Church were all outlined and reviewed. The historic testimony to the truth of prophecy was emphasised, the doctor contending that both Scriptural words and modern conditions pointed to the end of the dispensation and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ