SOUTHERN STAGE NOTES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1262, 25 June 1914, Page 36

SOUTHERN STAGE NOTES.

(By

“Lorgnette.”)

WELLINGTON, June 22. This week'k programme at His Majesty’s Theatre is full of good things, and the business done at this popular vaudeville house must be very gratifying to the enterprising Brennan-Fuller management. Amongst the performers who are deserving of special mention are the Four Casting Lamys, Ray Lawrence, Bevan and Flint, Vernon and Sinclair, Hayes and R’lves, and Millie Doris. The musical Kennedys, after a successful season in the South Island, opened their North Island tour in the Grand Opera House on Saturday, and met with a most hearty reception from a large and appreciative audience. The Kennedys are a most talented combination, who supply an entertainment that appeals to all classes of the public but those of exceptionally vulgar tastes. That they are versatile may be judged from the fact that Mr. Keith Kennedy is the violinist, Mr. Lance Kennedy is a flautist, and the possessor of a very fine baritone voice; Mr. Laurie Kennedy is a cornetist and ’cello player of exceptional ability; Madame Bertha Kennedy is the pianist of the combination. The Kennedys are assisted by Miss Dorothy Grace, who possesses a soprano voice of excellent quality, and Miss Rose Fitzgerald, whose contralto voice is sweet and mellow. Mr. Keith Kennedy, who is a pupil of Professor Sevcik, is a violinist whose tone is pure and almost infallibly true, and his solos were enthusiastically applauded. Mr. Laurie Kennedy’s ’cello solos proved that he is a thorough master of that instrument. Endowed with a high technical mastery of the ’cello, he plays with the spirit and impetuosity of happy, aspiring, passionate youth. As a flautist, Mr. Lance Kennedy is in the front rank, his solo work being a genuine treat to listen to. Taken all through, the Kennedys give an entertainment that is artistic, bright, and decidedly versatile. The North Island tour of this talented combination ought to be a highly successful one in every way. The two lectures given by the celebrated English actress, Miss Ellen Terry, in the Grand Opera House, were listened to by very large and fashionable audiences. Mr. George Buller arrived from Sydney last Wednesday to complete the final arrangements for the Dominion tour of “The Rosary,” which opens at the Grand Opera House, Wellington, on June 25. The ’projected return tour of the North Island of tlie' George Willoughby “Uncle Tom” Company has been abandoned. The company return to Australia from the Bluff, where 1 understand they disband. Mr. J. B. Mcutrie, who is wellknown in the Dominion, has been appointed treasurer for the Dominion tour of “The Rosary” Company., Mr. Alf. Linley returned to Wellington last Wednesday after a lengthy stay in Australia. He informs me that he has secured several attractions for New Zealand, including another pantomime company.

The “Orange” Dandies are in the last week of their Wellington season. Right from the opening night this clever combination has shown to firstclass business, and the season is one of the best, if not the best, the Branscombe management has ever experienced in Wellington. The company start out next week on a tour of the North Island.