OPENING SESSIONS.

Colonist, Volume LXII, Issue 15307, 21 February 1920, Page 5

OPENING SESSIONS.

The Chautauqua season opened in the large marquee next to the Post Office yesterday afternoon. After a few introductory remarks by' Miss MeGilliyray, the' superintendent, the Lyric Quartette entertained the audience for an hour with solos, duets, and quartettes, each item meeting with hearty appreciation. The party comprises Messrs Arthur Ripley tfirst tenor), 11. Richards (second tenor), Alan JVlcElwainf (bafitone), and John Ryan (bass). Their quartettes were sung unaccompanied, with artistic effect, the voices blending most harmoniously. The numbers presented included "The Mulligan Musketeers," "The Perfect Day,r"They Kiss," "Simple Simon/, "The Soldier's Farewell," and several others in lighter vein. Mr John Ryan has v splendid bass voice, and Tils contributions suited him admirably. He gave a fine rendering of "The .Ringers" and "The Little Irish Girl," infusing the requisite amount of humour in each item. He -was'also associated with Mr H. Richards (tenor) in the duet, "The Battle Eve," which was sung vrith fine expression. Mr Richards has a tenor voice of excellent quality, and employs it well. Mr McEhvain's -humorous sketches were most entertaining, and he put the audience in~high good humour. His first number was a Cockney sketch, "Evans' Dog Hospital," in which he described how the petted dog of an aristocrat was cured of an imaginary ailment in a Cockney's dog hospital. In response to the vei'y hearty burst of applause which followed the item, he gave an amusing monologue, "Oh Memory," in which an old man endeavoured to recall a love affair of his youth. Later he gave a sceneishifter's idea of 5 how "Hamlet" should be played, and followed with a telephone sketch, "Levinskv's Wedding." Mr McElwain proved a host in himself. Mr Arthur Ripley has a very pleasing tenor voice, wnich was heard to advantage in tlie numbers, "My Family" and "My Dear," both of which were well received. The Lyric Quartette are certaiuly well worth hearing

The marqaeo contained a. large audience in the evening, and those present spent a most enjoyable two hours.

At the outset, the Deputy-Mayor. (Cr. T. Petti t) said a few words of welcome to the visitors He apologised for the unavoidable absence of the Mayor, wno had asked him to express his wishes for' the success of the Chautauqua sessions in Nelson. Cr. Pettit, in the name of the citizens, extended to the visiting party a most hearty welcome. He ti usted that their stay in Nelson would be a pleasant one. Their coming had been looked forward to, and a good deal v, as expected from them, but he was confident, from the information he had been able to gather, that these expectations would be fulfilled ; and he believed that the sessions would be both educational and entertaining. There was perhaps at the present time a lack of entertainment cf the highest class, and a change in the tastes of the people had been noticeable for the past few years, but he was sure that the entertainments to which they would be treated by the party who were now with them would be of an uplifting character. He was therefore pleased at the party's advent.

Misi MoGillivray acknowledged the Deputy-Mayor's remarks, and took occasion to thank the local committee for their efforts to make the Chautauqua sessions 'in Nelson a success. She thought the people were to be congratulated upon having such an excellent committee.

The first part of the evening's programme was provided by the Lyric Quartette, who, in an entirely new selection 'of items, repeated their success of the afternoon. Their contributions all earned recalls, and both their singing and their humour delighted their hearers. The unaccompanied part singing, as, for example, in "Reveries,'' was exceptionally beautiful, and the solos were deserving of the warmest praise.

Judge G. Alden is a trained orator with remarkable natural gifts, and he maintained a complete hold on the attention of the audience. His subject was "The Needs of the Hour," and he spoke of the commercial, political, domestic, and religious relationships of mankind. Now, the Judge is by way of being a humorist", and, although he'insisted that he knew nothing of New Zealand conditions—"Never been here before, you know," he said—those who listened to his picturesque address had plenty of opportunity for drawing inferences of local application from his account of the state of affairs "way down there in U.S.A." He was inimitable in his description of the old farmer who is blind to his own meanness in trade while loudly declaiming against the wrongdoings of millionaire operators. In lamenting some of the shortcomings in personal relationships the Judge was alternately kindly and severe, but never pessimistic. He said he was not an advance agent for any particular brand of religion—in fact, he put it that the need of the hoiyr was less theology and more Christianity—but he wa.s definite in ascribing some of the ills of the world to-day to indirference to God and the growth of materialism. Other Americans have accustomed us to quicker changes ''from grave to gay" than we commonly hear, but Judge Alden is much more than a wit, though he has a quick and lively fancy. There were passages in his lecture in which noble thoughts were expressed in imaginative language with a felicity that exercised an Undeniable spell over both old and young.

The programme for to-day's sessions is advertised, and announces the final appearances of the Lyric Quartette md J'ldge Alden.