NEW MUSICAL COMEDY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21273, 29 August 1932, Page 11

NEW MUSICAL COMEDY

STAGE FAVOURITES RETURN WELCOME FOR "BLUE ROSES" 1 MISS ELLIOTT AND MR. RITCHARD There was not a vacant seat in His Majesty's Theatre on Saturday evening t when Miss Madge Elliott and Mr. Cyril { Ritchard, the ever-popular dancing stars, < received an almost rapturous welcome back | to Auckland after nearly eight years of ( brilliant success in musical comedy on the j other side of the world. Auckland playgoers share .with those of Australia a personal pride and interest in Miss Elliott and Mr. Ritchard, whose art they saw develop from humble under the J. C. Williamson management iu a long series of the older favourite musical shows. It was an added delight to hundreds on Saturday evening to se© that art matured still further by experience in ' the home and centre of musical comedy, the London Gaiety. Although they expect 1 to return to England next autumn, the 1 two stars have already raised hopes that ' they may be persuaded to revisit Aus- 1 tralia and New Zealand at regular and i not-too-long intervals. Chorus and Ballet Work In "Blue Roses," the piece chosen for their reappearance, Miss Elliott and Mr. ( Ritchard are supported by an excellent company, and the chorus and ballet work are fully equal to anything that J. C. Wil- , liamson, Limited, has presented in the past. The stage settings are lavish and the performance goes with such a swing that in the whole three hours of it there is not a single dull moment. If "Blue Roses" really heralds a revival of musical comedy 1 . in New Zealand, and Saturday s audience is a criterion, the new movement is as- j sured of a hearty welcome and strong public support. Of English origin, "Blue Roses" strings melodious lyrics, rollicking comedy and delightful dances upon a plot that is no more than a fine tissue of absurdities. It is an excellent vehicle for Mr. Ritchard, who has nurtured his gift for comedy into - a fine healthy plant. He has very capable • help from Mr. Frank Leighton, a young Englishman who sings welL and has an : attractive stage presence, and from two well-established favourites, Mr. Cecil Kellaway and Mr. Leo Franklyn, both always welcome in comic roles. Mr. Ritchard and Mr. Leighton are introduced as a couple of aristocratic assistants in a fashionable florist's shop, who are sent to get at any cost a famous blue rose that a wealthy horticulturist has just succeeded in raising. They are mistaken for detectives who have been sent for to guard the rose, and naturally they fall in love with the old gentleman's daughter (Miss Elliott) and her girl friend (Miss Dulcie Davenport). The rose has been entrusted to an utterly vacuous pseudo-de-tective, played by Mr. Kellaway, who carries it about, in a pot, with a small revolver dangling round his neck like a monocle. The Detective Tricked An eccentric American (Mr. Franklyn) steals the plant and substitutes a dyed fake, whereupon the two bright lads steal the fake by putting blue spectacles on the detective and giving him a white rose instpad. Being found out, they pursue the American on (o an Atlantic liner, recover the real plant from inside his speciallyconstructed golf-bag, and win father's blessing. Naturally, Miss Elliott and Mr. Ritchard have soma delightful numbers allotted to them. "Let's Be Sentimental," a duet with a really haunting and beautiful refrain, is followed by a dance in four or five successive styles This is so exquisitely done that the first-night audience could not help interrupting with applause as each phase ended. "Dancing In Your Sleep" is a ballet divertissement after a ridiculous sleep-walking interlude by Mr. Ritchard, clad in red-and-white striped pyjamas much too big for him. Clever cross-lights upon a partly-darkened stage, with huge shadows of the dancers upon a wall, make a novel effect. Electric lights upon the toes of the ballet and wild aerial swoops by Mr. Ritchard, suspended from a wire, are other quaint ingredients. Later, in "I Saw the Moon Through the Window," Miss Elliott and Mr. Ritchard give a revelation of modern soft-shoe tapdancing. The episode de ballet, near the close of the second act, is a little masterpiece of real choreographic art. Originated by Mr. Ritchard, it is brief allegory of passionate love, and the dancers have with them eight young girls in flowing draperies, who hover about like attendant spirits, finally wrapping the couple round with the man s cloak and ropes of flowers. There is novelty in the idea of burlesquing the ballet immediately the lights go up, with Mr. Kellaway, in a short' Roman tunic and wreath of roses, playing the part of (he lady. Comedy Scenes Mr. Kellaway and Miss Davenport have a. very funny "vamping" duet, "Practice on Me." and Mr. Leighton shows ability as a dancer in "Where Have You Been Hiding?" with Miss Davenport and the ballet. The comedy scene on the liner, in which Messrs. Ritchard, Leighton and Kellaway, dressed as stewards, persuade Mr. Franklyn to undergo treatment for sea-sickness, is a piece of uproarious fun. So is a scene in the florist's shop, when Mr. Kellaway is given a shave with hedge-clippers, a bug-syringe and whatever happens to be at hand. In another interlude chorus girls throw posies of real flowers to the audience. The dances and ensembles gain very much by the adaptation of graceful modern evening frocks to stage uses. Extremely beautiful effects, such as were impossible in the short-skirt era, are obtained with the swirl of draperies. There is also an added suggestion of romanco with which the melodious yet gay music perfectly accords. At the final curtain, Miss Elliott, who was presented with several beautiful bouquets, stepped forward and thanked the audience for its warm welcome. Mr. Ritchard, in an amusing little speech, said he was convinced that New Zealanders wanted flesh and blood on the stage. He pointed to the rotund Mr. Ivellaway as representing the former and confessed that he himself could not represent the latter, as he had always been anaemic. (Laughter. ) The present company had been "carrying the baby" in New Zealand, but he could assure the public that many excellent shows were to follow, including grand opera. "Blue Roses" will be presented again this evening and there will be matinee and evening performances on Wednesday. It will be succeeded later by " Follow Through."