THE EMPIRE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIII, Issue 772, 22 December 1904, Page 28

THE EMPIRE.

“ The Milliner Duchess ” was revived at the Empire Theatre last month “ by general desire,” and its revival was rewarded by general and particular appreciation. On its original production this popular divertissement, which is associated with the names of Wilhelm, Katti Lanner, and Leopold Wenzel, scored an emphatic success, and it thoroughly merited the popularity accorded to it. The piece has vivacity, spectacular charm, colour, and variety, and —Adeline Genee to recommend it. The combination is irresistible, even if the Empire’s devoted clientele wish to resist —which they didn’t. The “ turn ” brought back, if I remember rightly, Mdlle. Francesca Zanfretta to the scene of her former triumphs, and the clever pantomimist is seen again in the revival as the Duchess of London. The corps de ballet is Katti Banner’s own, and Genee still remains the most bewitching exponent of the terpsichorean art that Europe has to show. The rest of the Empire programme is, as it is always, the best of its kind

that can be found in London. But, excellent as it is, the entertainment suffers the defects of its excellencies. The first and thirteenth turns are orchestral—and it would be difficult to beat them outside Covent Garden or the Queen’s Hall. But the other nine, while they are unequalled in their own category, include two lots of acrobats (one comic), two lots of gymnasts, a wire-walking act, a conjurer, and a tramp juggler. Where all are so good, it may be urged, what more can be asked for ? It seems ungrateful, perhaps, to mention it, but even with all these excellencies to delight one, one felt, a kind of absence of variety.