ALHAMBRA THEATRE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13206, 13 February 1905, Page 5

ALHAMBRA THEATRE.

FULLER'S NEW VAUDEVILLE : COMPANY. Messrs John Fuller and Sons' latest venturs at the Alhambra Theatre promises to bo an ; unqualified success, tlio initial performance on , Saturday evening meeting with support of the most gratifying description. It is some time since the Messrs Fuller's last Vaudeville company made their final, appearance, and during the interval the appetite of patrons for enter" 1 tainment of a, light, amusing character, interspersed with bits of higher class material— i for the Messrs Fuller endeavour to cater for all tastes,—seems to have been gathering strength. The great attraction on Saturday evening was no doubt the appearance in public for the first time here of Professbr Grossi, of whose wonderful achievements something has already been written;'but even without the professor the programme put forward by the Messrs Fuller would have been sufficient to eneure a-full house. It was late in the evening when Professor Grossi was introduced to the audience by his representative, Mr H. Wilson, who marie a number of apologies and explanations which proved rather tedious. He mentioned that in future these explanations would appear on the programme, an idea that must commend itself to all. The first few exhibitions given by Professor Grossi were made by the communication of the thoughts of one of the audience to the professor while he was blindfolded in such a manner as to make it impossible for him to see. A gentleman from fho audience drew an irregmar chalk line over the stage, down tho stops to the body of tiie theatre, continued it among the audience, and hack to the stage, and along this the professor, in his blindfolded condition, walked without hesitation, guided by the transmitted , thoughts of the gentleman from the audience, who walked close behind him. In tho next exhibition, given under similar conditions, 1 rofessor Grossi quickly found pins which had been secreted upon persons or in some part of the building, tho person hiding the pins acting as the directing influence. The, third display of the professor's -powers to receive tie thoughts of others consisted ia taking somowi" g fr ? m tbe pookct of one ot tbe audience. What the professor was desired to do was written down on a piece of paper by a gentleman in the audience, the paper being placed in the gentleman's pocket unseen by anyone beyond himself. The blindfolded professor, closely followed by the writer, did precisely as he was desired, walking from tho stage upstairs, and along to the back of tho circle, where he. selected another gentleman from the audience and returned with hiin to the etage. Thero he drew from the gentleman's pocket hia watch, 'the paper being afterwards produced as evidence of what the original thought was. Professor Grossi next introduced to tho notica of tiie audienco a trunk jußt large enough to hold a fnll-grown man. In the presence of a committee of two, an assistant was placed in a sack (examined by tho committee), and was securely tied in. Tho suck was then placed in the trunk, which was mßdo fast with threo locks (the key being handed to one of the committee), and lashed all over with rope. A light framework, from which curtains were hung, was placed round the trunk, and within threo or four seconds after the curtains wera drawn, the assistant omerged from the cabinet, and on the trunk being unlashed and unlocked, and the bag taken out and opened, Professor Grossi himself was found to bo its' occupant. The professor, it may be mentioned, was on tho stage up to within a second or two of the assistant's emerging from the cabinet, when ho vanished in such a way as not to be noticed, the attention of the audience being riveted on the closed curtains of tho cabinet. Professor Grossi also did somo clever sleight-of-hand work with some coloured paper, from which he turned out numberless flags o£ various nationalities. The remainder of the company, good in their way, do not call for, any special reference, their method of entertainment being similar to what the public has been accustomed to see at the Alhambra Theatre pretty well continuously for a good many years. It is a class of entertainment the public never secras to tire of, and ahvays-enjoys, and the same enthusiastic applause the artists previously under engagement to the Messrs Puller received was ready at the close of each' appearance on Saturday evening. In Miaa Levinia. Tyson tho company possesses a young lady with a nice sweet mezzo-soprano voice, which'she manages well, and, besides, Miss Tyson sings good muiic. Mr Sam WilEon, ono of the comic men of the company, is evidently well •up to his work, and provides lots of amusement; and Mr Frank King sings descriptive and couiic songs equally well. The other members of tho company are Miss Florence Calculi, Misß Plorrie Leigh (serios i and dancers), tho Madclls (two young ladies whose specially is double song and dance), and Messrs G. Scott and G. Wallace (who, besides filling the part of corner men, gave a coon double on Saturday evening). -The. performance, which will be repeated this evening, concluded with the comedietta "The Coal-heaver's Eevengc."