WELLINGTON WING WHISPERS

Otago Witness, Issue 3239, 12 April 1916, Page 63

WELLINGTON WING WHISPERS

Bt Pbteb Pait.

April 7. Dear “ Pasquin,”—The smile on the fact, of the tiger is as nothing to the smile Frank Talbot has been wearing all this week. Frederic Coleman, the man who tolls about the doings on the Western front, whom Frank Talbot is piloting through New Zealand, has made a great impression on the public of Wellington. His. first lecture last Saturday evening drew a packed house, and “ hundreds were turned away.” It was the same for the second and third lectures. Why wonder at Talbot’s smile 1 So good have been the lectures that Mr Coleman has been asked to give a fourth, and it takes place to-morrow. This afternoon Mr Coleman meets the pressmen ot Wellington, and will tell them of incidents of war that he cannot include in his public discourses.

Aehmead Bartlett, the war correspondent, is due hero next week. Ho will be entertained by the local journalists next Wednesday. The company of Dandies selected by Edward Bransoombe to carry out the usual winter tour of New Zealand is "The Pinks," which have been running in Adelaide for the past five months. They remain there for another two months before crossing, over to the Dominion.

Mr John Fuller, sen., left for Auckland this week, making the journey per motor car.

Quite a bunch of new artists are at His Majesty's this week, including Do Baker's living models (a capable band of Belgian poseurs), Alf. Holt (mimic), Harrison-Stuart Duo (coloured comedians), Eddio Burns (dancer), Kipp and Kippy (jugglers), and May and June (dancers). Business has been booming. Mr 1. O'Brien, manager of the Empress Picture Theatre, has taken up a position in the head office of the N.Z. Pictures Supplies Company. Mr Harold Ctrr succeeds him at the Empress. PRINCES iHEAIrtE. A line programme of vaudeville items was presented at tne Princess Theatre on Monday evening, and there was not a dull moment from the rise of the curtain to its fall. Three new turns were provided, each of outstanding distinctive merit, and the artists remaining over from the previous week were seen in new business. Of the newcomers, Armitage and Hine made a modest beginning, and went on from success to success until the audience practically held up the entertainment, demanding more, and the duo had to admit that they had exhausted their repertoire. The lady was very clever in her Yorkshire dialect songs and patter, the male member gave a stirring rendering of "The Deathless Army," and in their patriotic morceaus they simply brought down the house. Monseigneur Neckelsonn proved himself a clean and clever sleight-of-hand performer, and excited the wonderment of the audience by the manner in which he extracted coins from the ears, noses, etc.. of various members thereof, and multifarious articles, including six clocks, from a hat borrowed from the auditorium. He climaxed his turn with a pretty flag effect. The Littlejohns, a juggling duo, had the stage nicely set for their performance. They work with clubs, plates, and other properties, which are. numerously set with valuable stones—in fact, it is stated that no less than 68,000 stones arc used throughout the act, and as they scintillate in the footlights a brilliant effect is obtained. This effect, however, is only secondary to the merit of the turn itself. The difficulty of the task they set themselves is accentuated by both performers doing a, considerable amount of their juggling—both individual and concerted—while balancing themselves on large white spheres, which they manoeuvred over the stage with their feet with the greatest ease. Further the male performer went through a difficult bit of juggling while balancing himself on one foot on a slack wire. Large sharp axes are thrown in the air and caught with the utmost sang froid at a rapid pace, and there was not lacking an element of danger as the weapons whirled over and round the performers. The turn, too, is worthy of mention on account of the gracefulness of the lady. Brown and Sorlie continue prime favourites, and their turn was probably responsible for the heartiest and most spontaneous laughter of the evening, and Maximo met with as much success as ever in his thrilling slack-wire performance. Victor Prince's Revue Company occupied the stage in the first half, and presented a new burlesque, "La Bella Napoh." The fun principally revolved round the < uort of an orpan-grinder, who assumes the title of a count, to win the daughter of an Australian millionaire. Charles Zoh, as the pseudo count, made a particular success of his part, and was ably assisted in his effort's by Miss Lillian Colenso, Miss Ruby Esdailo, and Victor Princo. MiJB Colenso. as the wife of the millionaire, was seen in a wonderful make-up, anil while she and Mr Zoli were on the stage the audience was hugely delighted. The burles.-ruc. in fact, went with vervo from start to finish, and the part singing- Introduced lent "added enjoyment to the performance.