FINE TALENT

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVI, Issue 21360, 1 June 1939, Page 14

FINE TALENT

Boys’ High School Concert Clever Acting in Comic Opera Talent of a high standard, presented with the attractive vitality of youth, makes the Timaru Boys’ High School concert refreshing entertainment of the type the public too rarely has an opportunity to see and hear. Solos and choruses with a sketch in which good humoured fun was made of local organisations and troubles occupied the first half of the programme, but the finest work was clone in the comic opera “Les Cloches De Corneville" in which several of the boys gave acting performances that were amazingly skilful. The audience which filled the Theatre Royal was obviously delighted.

Whoever was responsible for the production of the opera cleverly overcame the difficulty of having a limited range of voices to choose from and an entirely male cast to take the parts. The casting was excellent and those boys impersonating women and singing womens songs gave convincing performances. While Serpolette received the greatest applause, there can be little doubt that his was not the best performance. His clear speaking and singing and natural actions, with the verve that his pert role demanded, made his performance one of high standard, but for artistic merit it did not compare with the infinitely more intricate and extremely hard part of the miser. Gaspard. In the early portion this part was given with a greater emphasis on the comedy than on the tragedy, and the very appearance of Gaspard impressed the audience with humour. But in the second act the role of the miser changed to tragedy, and in effecting that change and fully holding the interest of the audience, the portrayer of the role excelled most efforts that have been presented by schoolboys. He gave a graphic portrayal and his chattering and gibbering in the haunted castle scene, where madness overtakes him, was an exhausting piece of work that held the audience enthralled. The Baillie was one of the few that held the character unflinchingly throughout with clever maintenance of extreme pomposity. His constant attendant Gobo provided comedy of action and his use of arms, hands, legs and feet was impressive. The part of the heroine. Germaine, called for difficult acting by a boy. Again the part was well taken and with pleasing soprano singing he maintained the character in his solo efforts in a manr- that the others found it difficult to do. In addition a sort of shrinking appeal, that suited the part of a girl of beauty but of apparently humble descent, was effectively maintained and the boy showed a delicacy of movement and voice production that at t-’mes led the audience to think it was actually a girl taking the part. It was an excellent production taken all through with pleasing singing in the choruses and solos and with bright costuming. The movement of all were good and the problem of hands that so often ruins an amateur production w T as not noticeable. There can be no doubt that apart from parental interest the attention of the audience was held by bright and convincing performances by all the players. In the first portion the school sang the New Zealand Anthem. A solo “Ole Man River” was sung, the School singing the chorus. A burlesque w’as given of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” in which the opportunity was taken of making pungent comments in verses of "Heigho, Heigho” on local topics. Tap dancing, a violin quartette and a playlet by the preparatory school concluded an interesting and versatile first half.

The concert will be presented again to-night.