ENTERTAINMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18170, 16 August 1922, Page 6

ENTERTAINMENTS.

NICOLA.

Only a very bold man would challenge Nicola's claim to be the world's greatest magician. The programme he presented before a large and thoroughly mystified audience at His Majesty's Theatre last evening must have represented the outcome of years of study and practice, and the latest handbook on magic would explain only a moderate proportion of his illusions. They could only have been achieved by a traveller acquainted with practically every quarter of the globe where the "black art" is specialised in. Included among them were the feats performed by Chinese, Indian, Egyptian, and South American mystery workers, in addition to which he performed tricks originated by himself, some of them almost pertaining to sorcery, so completely was the explanation of them hidden from the curious onlookers. What Nicola himself declared to be his greatest feat was an act in which a girl, apparently lying in a hypnotic sleep upon a couch, was raised by some unknown means into the air, where she rested at the will of the master-conjuror. This illusion of levitation differed from similar ones previously presented on the stage in one or two important respects. Chief of these differences was the evidence which Nicola provided, or seemed to provide, that the girl was not supported, nor suspended by wires. This he did by first passing a stick above and beneath her as she lay in the air, and later passing a hoop over the -entire length of her body. It was not difficult to believe that this feat had taken the performer 15 years to perfect, as he stated that it had. The only difficulty the spectators experienced was how to find a rational explanation of it. In handsome and appropriate settings and costumes Nicola impersonated magicians of various countries, his tricks and illusions in this part of the entertainment being deftly carried out and amazing in character. Many of them were new, and all proved interesting to a degree. Included in a bewildering list was the Indian trick in which a sword was used to pierce a basket into which a girl had been thrust while tied up in a net. Another wns the total disappearance of the same girl while apparently suspended in the air. The Egyptian scena introduced a silver ball which tapped out answers" to questions as the result of clever manipulation; the "creation" of a real girl from a rag, and a bone, and a hank of hair, and some "materialisations" of a striking nature. The Argentine scena was in _ the nature of burlesque, but very skilful withal. There followed dexterous feats of sleight-of-hand, to say nothing of strange disappearances of various assistants. A little fun with some eggs led on to a demonstration with the "spooks" on. familiar lines, and next came, an exposition of Nicola's ability to escape from fetters. In this connection he issues a challenge. The entertainment closed with his substitution mystery, claimed to be the quickest act of transformation ever seen. Artistu also contributing to the programme were Ibex, a clever shadowgraphist; the Dainty Daves, singers and dancers; and Kandolph Wagnar, a lightning artist iiii crayons. An enjoyable i and novel entertainment such as this was worthy of a better orchestra. The work i of the" latter was marred by discords and a lack of co-operation which should bo remedied. The magician and his company will appear again this evening, and each evening for a brief season. There will be a matinee on Saturday afternoon.

I AUCKLAND EISTEDDFOD. - The first night of tho Auckland Eisteddfod competitions was held last evening in the Town Ha 11.,., Four halfhour entertainments were given. Miss May Bain's party gave a fine drawing room entertainment, in which Miss May Bain's rendering of "Barney O'Hay" received a well-deserved encore, as did Miss May Bain and Miss Billie Grace's duet, "I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard." A talented musical family, the Morphy party, provided an excellent entertainment in song, monologue, and instrumental numbers, features being P. Morphy's rendering of a cornet solo and the particularly fine accompaniment of Mrs. Morphy. A sketch by Mr. Davies' party, entitled "The Artist's Studio," and a vaudeville entertainment by Mr. ■ Jackson's party, completed this part of .the programme. The Thames Choir, the Imperial Quartette,. and, Mr. Dan.. Flood contributed interim items. The competitions will be continued throughout the Week."

TIVOLI THEATRE. The very enjoyable Scottish picture, "The Bonnie Briar Bush," has met with the cordial approval of numerous patrons of the Tivoli Theatre. This delightful, film, in which the chief parts arc capably played by Donald Crisp and Mary Gfynn, is -an admirable screen version of lan MacLaren's book. On the same programme is a strong picture of the underworld, "Boomerang Bill," in which the accomplished actor, Lionel B;irrymore, gives a forceful portrayal of a reformed criminal. Another attractive biili is to be presented on Friday and for tho following week. One of. the two leading films will' introduce the favourite j«tor, Wallace Beid, in a new type of part. The picture is called, "The World's Champion." It tells how young William Burroughs, son of a rich Englishman, has a disappointment in love and goes to America. There he becomes a prizefighter and wins the title of middleweight champion. Returning to Britain he is made a social "lion" and in the end, after administering a thrashing to his cousin, Lord Brockington, who had been the cause of his former disappointment, he attains happiness in the arms of the girl he loves. The second feature of the new programme will be "All Soul's Eve," a Realart film starring Mary Miles Minter. This has been adapted from a play by Anne Crawford Flexne. It has a mystic atmosphere, being based on the theory that death is rot the end of life. A young artist is married to a beautiful girl under whose influence he works toward the goal of his ambition. Suddenly she is snatched from him, banished from the world by the hand of a madman. He drifts along seeking forgetfulness, and in his hour of greatest need the spirit of his dead wife appears to him and brings him peace.

NEW LYRIC THEATRE. The undoubted excellence of "The Three Musketeers," the United Artists' soreen version of Alexander Dumas' famous classic, is attracting large audiences at each' session at the New Lyrio Theatre. This remarkablo film,' featuring Douglas Fairbanks in one of the finest portrayals of his career, can only be presented again to-day and to-morrow. • The adventures of D'Artagnan, the young swordsman from Gascony, in the court of the King of France, and his romance with Constance, the lady seamstress to the Queen, create both exciting and sentimental interest. The lavish manner in which the picture is staged and the handsome costuming, assist in making it a noteworthy example of what is being done nowadays i in the motion-picture world.

GRAND THEATRE. The last two days of the current programme at the Grand Theatre are now announced. Heading the bill is "The Single Track," a Vitagraph film featuring Corrine Griffith. A second strong attraction is, "The Man Who Wouldn't Tell," and also screened is the Sherlock Holmes drama, "The Solitary Cyclist." One of the special films secured for presentation on the next programme, commencing on Friday, is "Where Men are Men." This is a Vitagraph Western drama concerning a lost mine, which provides the stars, William Duncan and Edith Johnson, with roles similar to thoso which they have made their specialties. There is much hard riding VoA ehootuig in the. course of Jhe actios*

SHAKESPEABE F.OGDETy. 1 The first reading of th» Ponsonby Shakespeare Society was heldS ~ ; the Leys Institute last evening, the gnV iect being Oscar Wilde's comedy "tW Importance of Being Earnest." The £*£;. of characters was a3 follows:—J/Sf! Worthing, J.P., Mr. Thomas fifi! ' Algernon Moncrieff, Professor' 'MaxwfcJ "Walker; Rev. Canon Chasuble, D.D., Jft W. T. Cowley; Iferrimnn, butler, Mr. i' Sturt; Lane, manservant, Mr. S. E..o:\nett; Lady Bracknell, Mrs. MaxweH ; Walker; Hon. Gwendoline Fairfax, Mim U. Dawson; Cecily Corden, Miss I.'Gnlr. . riej Miss Prism, Miss M. E. Cowley, The various parts were capably filled, and tn« reading provided much excellent enter, tainment, which was much appreciated by the audience, and the performers weri warmly applauded. >,'*