THE GONDOLIERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 85, Issue 31, 6 February 1941, Page 7

THE GONDOLIERS

GILBERT AND SULLIVAN EVELYN GARDINER RETURNS When Evelyn Gardiner was last in Wanganui she received cabled advic. from Mr. D'Oyle Carte in London that she was required to appear on the New York stage. This was the great step in her career and it was feared that she would return no more "down under” until she should arrive in the autumn of her career. Fate, however, shaped events otherwise, and in the holocaust which has broken over Europe the careers of manypeople—artists especially—have been given turns and twists which were never expected. Evelyn Gardiner is among the fortunate ones, for she was able to return to a field in which she was well remembered. How would the years have affected her work? Would the variety of audiences and the various players with which she has since worked have altered her? 't hese were my though is as I watched her teaming once again with Ivan Menzies lasi night, in "The Gondoliers.” The play's the thing, you say! Well, I'll concede the point, but then you and I and everyone but the youngster of thirteen summers who sat star-eyed through the delight of his first performance lucky young rascal—know the play, and there is much to be enjoyed in comparing this player with that and the player of to-night with the same person, hut not the same player, of several years

The players think highly of Evelyn Gardiner; their estimate of her work ■is higher than that of the public, which surely is unique. The public doesn’t quite understand why this should be, but there it is. Evelyn Gardiner’s technique is indeed excellent, which is what the players see, but the public is held by the droll Ivan Menzies, whose parts are, in the main, more attractive. Ivan Menzies is a very strong actor, which enables him to surmount the handicap of the poverty of his singing voice. He has only to appear and, Dan Leno-like, the house is in his hand. It requires a tremendously fine actress to d/wide the counter- to Menzies, and if such an actress be not present, then Menzies would be too strong, for I doubt if he could play down with success. The Gardiner-Menzies combination is,, therefore, a splendid one. Each strong personality balances up the other, and together they put drive and force into the performance. That is the key to the success of the performance. Menzies’ rollocking interpretation of the part of the brokendown Duke of Plaza-Toro (the bull ring) is matched by his Duchess, who is contriving to keep up appearances. Could anything more pathetically comic be imagined than a povertystricken aristocratic pair? Gilbert asked the question when he was engaged writing "The Gondoliers” in 1889, after having produced in the previous year “The Yeomen of the Guard." The supporting company includes some new talent which has been very well chosen, and it is intended to comment on their individual works in the next review of this season. FINAL PRESENTATIONS "MIKADO” AND "PINAFORE” This afternoon, commencing at 2 o’clock, J. C. Williamson's Gilbert ana Sullivan Comic Opera Company will present a spectacular production of the nautical comic <> v . ea “H.M.S. Pinafore,” which will be precede by "Trial by Jury.” In the evening the season will close with a revival of the tuneful, picturesque and humorous opera, "The Mikado,” in which the company achieved an outstanding success at Auckland. Box plans are at the D.I.C.