WESTS PICTURES AND THE BRESCANS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10496, 24 October 1905, Page 2

WESTS PICTURES AND THE BRESCANS.

Few entertainments have been looked forward to with keener anticipation than that of the company now occupying His Majesty's Theatre, who have achieved v ; theatrical boom unprecedented m the stage annals of New iJealand and established for theniselvetf a hoiischold reputation that must make many of the caterers for the public amusement green ; with envy. After five or 6ix years' experience, people were beginning to say that the kinematograph, like tne magic lantern ol old, as a means of entertainment, was played out. The ground had ' been worked thoroughly m New Zealand. Companies large and small had travelled through cities and hamlets from the North Capo to the Bluff, showing by \ means of the revolving lantern moving pictured of flood and field, of bloody battle scenes and wonderful illusions, until [ people's eyes tired with the flicker, and they longed for some new discovery of science to come and tickle their fancy. Suddenly there arrived upon the scene, coining a journey of 13,000 miles from tlie 1 Edinburgh of the North to the Edin--1 buaigh of the Southern Hemisphere, a ' man named West, whose modest unheralded entertainment immediately caught 1 on. For three weeks m Dunedki he played to crowded lrauves ; m Welling- ' ton a five weeks' season with people scrambling all the time to find seats m the monster Town Hall; m every city the same story of overflowing audiences, ! culminating with a 37 nights' appearance at Auckland to record business. There must be some rear-on for such an instan- \ taneous capture of popular approval, and : the large audience that thronged His Ma- ■ jesty's last evening were not slow to dis- : cover it. It is not iv the films, for Mr i West works probably on the same little i celluloid pictures that anybody can buy ' by the yard m the open market. He . has, however, not -'pared m expense m the purchase and production — for he himself photographs and manufactures m a 1, lange way — and wisdom lias guided him m the selection of his subjects. A little bit of travel, a few scenic splendors, a '■ heap of humor absolutely free from the ( taint of vulgarity, and some marveht of mystification make up a picture programme that must suit all tastes. * " We 1 have seen filn*<s as good as some of those shown last night, but there were a nuimber of superior excellence, and generally I the exhibition m length and quality of pictures and choice of subjects wa6 far above the average. It was, however, ! not m the films, but m the maimer m which they were shown that the superiority of the entertainment lay, and the > secret of success was the light. A brilliant electric light enabled larger and ' clearer pictures to be projected on tlie L screen than have heretofore been given, 1 and thir*, with the stereoscopic effects in--1 troduced m, a number of the subjects, ' enabled a display of detail tliat made the ' pictures exceedingly realistic, and quite > captivated the audience. The perform- ' ance was given with a rapidity of motion : that pleased everybody. Tliere were ■ no 'trying waits, no intervals for refreshment, but from 8 o'clock to close ou 11 7 the audience were held attentive and j amused, and -when the programme had 5 been run through it was hard to believe . the time liad so quickly slipped away. , The most striking pictures were those . showing recent appearances of the King . and Queen, which brought many m the audience into closer touch with tlieir Majesties than ever they had been before; a series of beautiful scenes m Italy, inchuding a magnificent view of Vesuvius ; • a beautiful set of micro-photograplis depicting various stages of bee culture; stereoscopic views of Barcelona Park; and a marvellously quaint and ingenious ' cinematograph conception, fancifully deL picting the strange voyage of fourteen ' members of tlie Eccentric Club to the ' Sun. The humorous subjects were all 1 good, and provoked unbounded merriL ment. Allied with the picture eriter- ' tainment is a musical performance by a company of seven, styling themselves the • Brescians, who succeeded m thoroughly " pleamng tlieir audience with a capital programme of orchestral and vocal melody. Two orchestral items were artisti- ! cally played — a Cloches des Gornvilles fantasia and Herbert Carre's hunting r scene, "A Morning Canter." Tlie plan- > tation melody, "The Old Folios at Home," . by the company, without accompaniment, i was harmoniously sung. Miss Domencia ; Martinengo, m a velvety contralto voice, sang devotionally "Sweet Spirit, Hear , My Prayer," and, ap an encore, "Love, I i am Lonely." Miss Antonia, the soprano, , gave a good interpretation of "II Bacio," • for which she received an encore. Miss t Adelina proved herself a capable violinist, \ playing brilliantly Polliakina's "Canary," I which gained her a most insistent recall. [ Mr Rudall Hayward sang m an inimitable manner "Simon the Cellarer," and > "Four and Twenty Skippers" as his en- ! core number. Misp S-ira Hendy sang j sweetly a version of "Vanity Fair," • and "It's Jest Her Way" by way of extra number. Mr Fred. Mills delighted his audience with a series of musical ' sketches, "To be Continued," "The Bassoon," and "The Parrot," being twice recalled. The audience went home so well '. pleased with the whole entertainment that the company may be assured of crowded houses for the remainder of the week.