AUCKLAND AMUSEMENTS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIII, Issue V, 4 August 1894, Page 102

AUCKLAND AMUSEMENTS.

•CAPTAIN FRITZ.’ FRITZ,’ which succeeded ‘Charley’s \ J Aunt ’at the Opera House, is as pretty a play as the majority of Aucklanders had ever seen. One can easily understand that in Wellington, Dunedin, and Christchurch it was preferred by the critics to the company’s trump card. ‘ Captain Fritz ’ appeals to a very much wider section of society, for to those unacquainted with college life and uninitiated in the fooling of undergraduates there is a lack of interest in ‘ Charley’s Aunt,’ laughable thongh that play undoubtedly is. In the play concerning the lady from Brazil we have buffoonery—irresistibly comic situations, et voila tout. We laugh, but it is not at the dialogue or any wit in the lines, merely at the utter absurdity of certain positions certain persons are placed in. In • Captain Fritz ’we have no buffoonery, but we have a sparkling dialogue full of wit and smart repartee ; we have pathos, and we have pretty music and scenery. In place of Mr Thornton’s genius in facial play

we have the genius of Mr Arnold, histrionically and vocally. A very fine piece of work indeed is this actor’s impersonation of Captain Fritz. The character is an ideal one—there never was so entirely charming a German officer—but Mr Arnold makes him real. The songs are excellent, and ‘ Private Tommy Atkins ’is especially worth heating. The play was exceedingly well received in Auckland as elsewhere, and will be played this (Wednesday) evening. Then ‘ Hans the Boatman ’ follows, a play which has been a safe draw in Mr Arnold’s hands for eight years, after this we are to have * The Private Secretary,’ with Mr Thornton in the title rGle. CLUB RINK.

The largest attendance of the season last Club night probably accounted for the fact that the evening was voted the pleasantest and most successful spent in the rink this winter. The Tinkers were very numerous, and everyone seemed to have a party of friends looking on. The music was excellent, and the floor, thanks to the perpetual care of Manager Vincent and Professor James, is now as good as it ever was. It has been vigorously holystoned once or

twice a week, and all inequalities are smoothed away. Ladies interested in rinking dresses and seeing who was there will find further information in the Auckland Society Gossip letter. The Club night will not be held to-morrow evening because of the Poultry Show, but we understand the rink will re-open again on the following Monday.

SAPIO-URSO CONCERTS. An hour or two after we went to press with this issue the Sapio-Urso Company were to give the first concert of their season in ‘Auckland. From the interest already manifested there seems little doubt that these accomplished artists will have a highly successful series of concerts in Auckland. The programmes are certainly such as must attract the truly musical, while at the same time they are not of the ultra classical order which would make them caviare to the general public. Private letters from mnsical persons * down South ’ to their musical friends in the North are urgent in entreaties not to miss a single concert given by the Company. The merits of the various artists need not be recapitulated here, since most

of the readers of this paper have, by this time, seen, heard, and judged for themselves. This is, after all, far better than any newspaper criticism.