THE MARCUS SHOW

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23213, 10 June 1937, Page 7

THE MARCUS SHOW

WHIRLWIND VAUDEVILLE FOR HIS MAJESTY'S New Zealand has seen revues before, scores of them, but never anything so colourful, nothing so daring, so smoothly presented or so satisfying to the eye as the Marcus Show. It is the type of entertainment over which even the most stoical member of the audience will wax enthusiastic; he will be carried along at a furious pace on the crest of a wave of spectacle, fun and music. Dancing is its main component. Not only are there accomplished individual dancers, but there is a ballet with the most rhythmicallyefficient legs and feet that have been seen here for many years. The dancing rajiges from the intricacies of flying steps, through the comic postures of the eccentric, to the sweeping langour of the waltz. All of it is marked by an ir comparable precision and deftness. Included in the various acts that are interspersed in each of the three programmes are acrobatics, comedy scenes, knifethrowing exhibitions by exponents from the Folies Bergere, and adagio dancers. Ballroom dancers, balladists and prima donnas are among the members of the company, while there are also several clever instrumentalists and a ballet of 30 beautiful American girls. A number of the last-mentioned have appeared ir productions of Samuel Goldwyn. Quality in every phase of modern revue, exploited on a scale of magnificence in spectacle and specialty previously not attempted on the local stage, is the keynote of the entertainment. "La Vie Paree " will provide an introduction, a very pleasant one, to American stage production methods. Every item, every turn, is blended by fast, smooth. presentation against glittering, changing backgrounds. The most effective full-stage presentations include "Palais d'Argent," in which Ha Cha San, a particularly shapely dancer, poses and performs with athletic grace clad almost solely in a coat of silver paint amid a setting of revue grandeur, and Birdland, in which an entire ballet takes to the air and performs rhythmic trapeze work above a changing scene of show girls and dancers festooned with brilliant feathers. The purity of "Black and White Fantasy," the warm colourings of "Andalusian Moon," and the alluring pastel shades of "Forest of Dreams" contrast strikingly with the pretentious but gorgeous "Parisian Fantasy." The individual members of the company, as always, are mainly responsible for the success of the show. In Ben A'Atee, the Marcus Show has a comedian who can raise a higher pressure of fun per square minute than many other artists of his particular type. There is also Les Sechrist, a brilliant and immensely popular accordionist or " squeeze box virtuoso" as he is billed, and virtuoso is the right word. Another clever artist is Fid Gordon, a trick violinist, who uses his teeth to pluck the strings pizzicato, and so extracts music from the instrument* by unorthodox and, possibly, unpleasant means. A dancer "whose legs run away with him," is Al Ricker, while Art Stanley, a superb tap dancer, rivals Al for popularity in this art. Sofia Alvarex, a Mexican soubrette, stands out in the show as a great artist. She sings in Spanish, as well as halting English, and she could appear on any stage in the world with the certainty of success, for she is not only an alluring actress, but also a talented soprano. The Marcus Show will open its Dunedin season at His Majesty's Theatre on Saturday, June 19. Preferential bookings will open at the D.I.C. to-morrow. The tour is being undertaken by Sir Benjamin Fuller, in association with Messrs L. S. Snider and G. B. Deam