THEATRE ROYAL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17567, 18 June 1925, Page 5

THEATRE ROYAL.

LONG TACK SAM SEASON. SOME BRILLIANT VAUDEVILLE. Heading a vaudeville companv whirl: includes some brilliant artists, Lmi: Jack Sam renewed I:is acquaintance with ( hristchurch audiences at the i heatre Royal last evening. Tiie now vaudeville company which the T. U V illiamson firm have sent on this occasion is an earnest of their determination to provide really first-class entertainment. The contribution which Long .Lack Sam and his assistants make to the entertainment is a programme in it sGt. but supporting this turn are a number of artists who were able last evening to demonstrate beyond all doubt that they are past masters in the various forms of entertainment which. lhcv offered. It is a show in which the diversity is equalled by the quality. J here arc no turns which might be described as merely “ fillers "---items: which an ingenious management have interposed between the really worth hi!e acts that make flic success of the entertainment. All the acts that go to make the offering of the present company are worth while acts each is able lo stand alone, and if the enterprise were to be judged by the least successful of them it would still have to be written clown as an emphatic success. The offering uf Long Tack Sam and his associates occupies the greater portion of the second hah of the programme. It is comprehensive and satisfying. It opens quietly with a few tricks in ledgerdemain by Long Tack Sam himself- it ends in a’perfect whirlwind of difficult feats in which practically all the.members of the company participate. Magic, juggling, balancing, work on the horizontal bar and on the ropes go to make up this remarkable aggregation of novel things. Suave and confident and always tremendously capable, Long Tack Sam himself dominates the piece. He is an artist of many parts, who can run with ease the whole gamut from delicate acts of deception, in which he has his audience completely at his mercy, to feats of strength and supple body twisting in which he proves himself both an athlete and a contortionist. Miss Mina Long and Miss Poldi Long are gathering experience and versatility with their years and proved last evening that they are already important ingredients in the success of this ambitious offering. The work that is done by members of the company on the horizontal liar is splendid. Nothing seems difficult to them. The;.- perform with apparent ease feats which the average man would be prepared to declare quite confidently were impossible. One of the most remarkable offerings was afforded by Long Tack Sam himself, who employed a couple of bowls of water at the ends of a piece of rope very much as though they were the heavy ends of businesslike swinging clubs. In the process the rope was made to attain an apparent rigi (lily that was more consistent with a bar of iron than with a piece of pliable hemp. It is needless to add that Long Tack Sam performed • this remarkable feat without spilling a particle of the water that filled the bowls. It often happened that there were so many remarkable tilings going on at Ihe one time that, it; was difficult tor the audience to appraise them all, and certainly it was quite impossible to realise the great difficulty that the simultaneous presentation of so many excellent feats presented. It seemed to come very easily' to these talented people, who fairly swept the audience off its feet. Christchurch will chuckle over the loving birds for a long time. This offering comes as the culmination of the remarkable offering of the Xovelle Brothers, who, in the guise uf clowns,

are able to play violins, do the most difficult tumbling feats and keep the audience laughing heartily all at the one time. Their presentation of the loving birds was a gem of humorous mumming. They carried the whole 1 thing on by whistling, in which difficult art they are past-masters and the effect was hilarious in the extreme. It is a tribute to the quality of their work that from start to finish they hardly utter a word, but from the moment they come on the stage until they leave it the audience docs not cease • laughing for an instant. Chris. Charlton is a happy type of illusionist who can both mystify and amuse his audience. He started the ball rolling last evening by introducing what he termed his “ sympathetic ” handkerchiefs, and to prove that he had named them aptly he caused them to do all sorts of things together which, though simple enough for him apparently, were highly perplexing to his audience. His inexhaustible kettle is the sort of thing that the thirsty' dream about. It is quite a tiny' copper kettle, with a capacity’ (if it were a respectable household kettle) of perhaps a pint. Last night it produced in turn whisky, sherry, port, beer, brandy, rum. milk and soda. Fortunate mortals in the stalls were able to get whatever type of liquid refreshment they called for. The kettle seemed quite inexhaustible, both as to the quantity' of refreshment that it provided and the character of it. By placing a couple of handkerchiefs under the “ fluence,” Mr Charlton did most amazing things with them, and mystified his audience as much as lie did the small boy . whom he enticed on to the stage to see that everything was . fair and above board. A wonderful dance specialty’ is given by Errol Addison and Gertrude Mitrengn. The agility of this pair is as remarkable as their technical skill. Their classical dances were gems of fiery motion, in which their gyrations reached . whirl wind pace. There is quite an.acrobatic touch about some of their work, in which an instant’s departure from perfect unison of movement would spell disaster. .Moran and Wiser twirl hats about—" all in fun ’ They are a remarkable pair, in whose deft hands hats become docile things that do just whatever they demand of them. For quite, a long time last evening they had members of the audience hurling hats on to the stage. These were deftly' caught on the head of one of the performers. They juggle with hats in a quite remarkable manner, sending them far out over the auditorium, always to

return, however, to the hand that sent them. The vocal offerings of Arthur Mayes found instant favour, and he was enthusiastically . recalled. He possesses a melodious voice of wide range, and uses it to advantage in songs which j he knows how to handle well. He was twice recalled, and his final encore number. “ Sally in Our Alley,” made an enthusiastic audience demand more. All through the entertainment offered by the latest Williamson company’ is excellent. Some of the work done achieves the highest scale of excellence and points clearly to the fact that the original policy of the firm to offer vaudeville of the best class is being closely adhered to. The programme will be repeated this evening, and matinees are announced for Saturday and Wednesday' next. _