COLOURFUL REVUE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21468, 17 April 1933, Page 12

COLOURFUL REVUE

ELLA. SHIELDS AGAIN GEORGE WALLACE RETURNS WARM WELCOME GIVEN Audience and players had every reason to be gratified with tho entertainment provided at His Majesty's Theatre on Saturday evening, when the Frank Neil revue company, headed by Miss Ella Shields and Mr. George Wallace, commenced a welcome return season. For the audience there was a fast-moving spectacle of colour, an abundance of wit and many ear-tick-ling melodies, and for tho performers there was that joy of tho showman, a packed house which extended that warm, friendly reception which evokes from them their best. The show was given the title of "The Laugh Parade" and .it followed the conventional lines of a Georgo Wallace revue, one which Aucklanders will say was ono of its chief merits. There was the same George Wallace whoso very appearance provokes laughter and his gagging was fresh from his first whimsical comment concerning an apparent loss of unwanted girth right up to the last, nearly three hours later, when, in a moment of seriousness, he expressed the company's appreciation of tho reception the members had been accorded. For Miss Shields there was an equally warm greeting. On Saturday sho showed one side of her art with her impersonation of "Archie, P. 0.," and of a young man-about-town, and, later, another side as a charming bride in tho finale. When one sees and hears Miss Shields one finds easily tho reason for her stz - ong hold on the aifections of English audiences. A new turn in this show was provided by the "Five Whirlwind Cleveres," a fast moving troup who defied the laws of gravity as they tossed and tumbled themselves through the air. The construction of their final tableau, as depicted in Saturday's Herald, was alone worth going a long way to see. Not to be overlooked were the drolleries of a diminutive clown in the team. Tho "Four Daring Diabolos," who established themselves as firm favourites in their appearance here at Christmas time, are making a farewell appearanco with a dancing-cum acrobatic display that was not only very daring, but very artistic. The three men threw their lady partner overhead and underarm in every possible fashion, each throw terminating in a perfect pose. Jack Spooner's London Savoy band provided a turn and there were the two excellent dancers, Murray and Walton. Billy Maloney, Maurice Barling and David McGill were responsible for a lot of fun and Fred Webber added a touch of novelty on the piano and with a cornet, For Miss Maida Jones and Miss Miriam Lester there was a warm welcome as they joked and sang. Finally, although they are a show in themselves, there was Maurice Diamond's beauty ballet, a really wonderful team of pretty girls whose versatility in tho matter of dancing and ballets was equalled only by their remarkably quick changing from one effective costume into another. The performance will be repeated this afternoon and to-night.