MEYNELL AND GUNN’S PANTOMIME CO,, "CINDERELLA.”

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVII, Issue 1001, 13 May 1909, Page 17

MEYNELL AND GUNN’S PANTOMIME CO,, "CINDERELLA.”

It will be pleasing information to Auckland playgoers to learn that Messrs. Meynell and Gunn’s Comic Opera Company, wh'ch first won fame in Australia with “ Miss Hook of Holland,” will inaugurate a tour of the Dominion in the Opera House, Auck land, on Monday, May 24, with a repertoire of the latest London and American successes, viz., the world’srecord pantomime, “Cinderella,” “ The Belle of Mayfair,” “ Miss Hook of Holland,” “ The Girl Behind the Counter,” and possibly “ Tom Jones.” The anniversary of the company’s arrival in the Commonwealth was celebrated a few weeks ago, and since its advent there is no gainsaying the fact that the combination has achieved wide popularity with the playgoers of Australia. The company is said to be one of the best that has ever been organised for a tour of Australia, not only the principals having high-class London reputations, but the chorus was picked from some eight hundred applicants, and it is asserted to be one of the finest combinations of voices ever got together. Among other features may be mentioned the 'ballet and orchestra, both of which are said to be in a class by themselves. The opening piece will be “ Cinderella,” which has beaten the world’s record for pantomime. After Auckland the company will commence seasons in Palmerston North on June 21st, Wellington June 26th, Christchurch July 26th, Dunedin August 8, Invercargill August 25th.

The company for New Zealand is practically the same as has appeared with such marked success in Melbourne and Sydney and the West, and includes Miss Meredith Meredro, Miss Ruth Lincoln, and Messrs. William Cromwell, Edwin Brett, Harold Thor-' ley, Tom Payne, Will Carlton, etc. To accommodate such a large undertaking, many structural alterations are being made to the Opera House, both on the stage and in the auditorium. The members of tne company have heard so much concerning the dominion that they say they have never looked forward to any tour with more genuine interest and expectation than their forthcoming visit to New Zealand. Mr. George Homan Barnes, the well-known manager for Messrs. Meynell and Gunn, arrived in Auckland on Monday by the Maheno from Sydney to complete arrangements.