PRINCESS THEATRE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2565, 13 May 1903, Page 57

PRINCESS THEATRE.

MR EICKAEDS'S NEW VAUDEVILLE COMPANY. Mr Harry Rickards's New English, American, and Continental Vaudeville Company commenced a 12-night Beason lit the Princess Theatre on Wednesday night under fairly favourable auspices. There waa an excellent audience as far as the lowerpriced seats were concerned, and the dress -ircle was liberally patronised. Mr rtickards's intimate association with the world of vaudeville has achieved for him a celebrity thvouglioat the colonies, aud Dunedin, incommou with other New Zealand cities, is ndebted to him for any acquaintance it may have had the opportunity of making with the principal " variety " artists who have visited Australasia. Of his more recent ventures, the companies headed by tho marvellous Cir.queva'.li and the mighty Sandow will still be fresh in the memory of theatre-goers, ar.d the success achieved by them dcubtles3 influenced Mr Rickards in sending the present combination on a tour through New Zealand. Comparisons, although as a rule undesirable, are difficult to avoid, and the impression left with the audience after last night's entertainment could scarcely be other than favourable to the present company as compared with its predecessors under the same management, and this may be said without disparaging in any way the' efforts of the members of the earlier oombinations. There is a greater variety of talent employed, some reaching a very high level, while none of it can be accused of mediocrity. Interest naturally centred in the appearance of M. Jacques Ir.andi, billed as the most celebrated lightning calculator of the vorid. While we are scarcely in a position ♦o make so free a. use of the superlative qualification in describing his powers, no one can help admitting they are remarkable, and his facility in mentaJ arithmetic came as a revelation to the audience. In order to disabuse the public mind of any suggestion of trickery in respect to his extraordinary mental feata, Mr Marcus, on behalf of Mr Rickards, arranged that M. Inaudi should give a private exhibition of his powers in the afternoon before some 200 gentlemen well known in business and educational circles. M. Inaudi, in their preser.ee. proceeded to attack n, sum in subtraction (the figures having been called out by the gentlemen present) comprising two rows of 18 figures each. Facing the rudience, and with grea-t celerity, M. Inaudi not only gave the correct solution, involving the memorising oi 54 figures, but ran over the whole in their proper order. Problems in addition (running iiito five figures), multiplication, division, square root, cube root, etc., were worked out not only simultaneously, but apparently while M. Inaudi was engaged in telling the audience the day of the week upon which any given date fell. After completing the respective problems , he then went over the whole of them and their < solutions correctly and. in their proper order, involving the use of several hundreds of figures. The performance given in the evening was practically a repetition of that given in the afternoon, acd on both occasions elicited the i warmest of applause. Mr Wallace Brownlow, ; favourably known on the operatic stage both here and in Australia, is also included in Mr Rickards's company, and his reappearance here after an absence of several years was cordially welcomed by the audience. His fine baritone voice is still a pleasure to listen to. He sang the " Toreador " song (from " Carmen "), " Skylark," " Mandalay," and " Gunga Din." The first of the=;e was the best, but all were caually well received. Miss Gracie Einmett,

supported by her own specially imported company, produced a comedietta in the first part of the programme. The piece, which waa funny enough in parts, borders on the farcical, and, thanks rather to Miss Emmett than its own intrinsic merit, succeeds in giving the audience a good laugh for their money. In the character of Mrs Honora Murphy Miss Emmett disturbs her household by introducing to it a second husband, and the complications which followed appeared to afford the audience unlimited amusement. The " Great Ciive " ia the conjurer of the company, and performs feats in ledgerdemain in keeping with the best traditions of such forms of entertainment, juggling with billiard balls and other articles, which aro made to do all sorts of impossible things, till the audience gives up believing in things seen. Mr Hunter," a comedian of repute and no little versatility, was in great request, and, after putting on four turns, lef^ ihe audience clamouring for more. Their somewhat unreasonable request went unheeded, for the comedian declined to Teturn to the stage, and for some minutes a section of the audience succeeded by their noise in preventing the entertainment from proceeding. Other members of the company are Miss Msdge Thomas (soprano). Mr Sam Holdsworth (tenor), and a child artist in Eileen Capel. Thi3 clever littla dancer proved a great favourite with ths audience, and was repeatedly recalled.