OPERA HOUSE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1314, 1 July 1915, Page 38

OPERA HOUSE.

Madame Marion struck a new note in vaudeville entertainment when she conceived her protean novelty, which has been a source of amazement to audiences all over the world. To keep faith with the public, Madame came straight from the Sydney boat late on Monday night and gave her turn to a wondering crowd. There have been quick-change artists before, but

to Madame Marion must certainly be given the palm. She speeds up her act with a lightning effect that leaves one gasping with astonishment. Seven distinct feminine characters in a playlet revolving round a reporter calling for news of a stage scandal, and Madame Marion plays them all! The news man is represented by her assistant, and merely acts as the motive for the creation of the different characters —an elderly matron, an Italian girl, a servant, a dancer, a neighbour, an actress and a maid. There was no room for doubt of the genuineness of the act as the audience could view the acrobatic-like changes of garments from angles and could also see them completed in every detail. The artiste had a great reception for her ingenious act. Another star turn was in the hands of Tozart, billed as a vagabond sketch arlist, who created three effective pictures in incredibly short time. His conversion of a fashionably-dressed

woman by a few deft touches into the words “God bless our Army and Navy” evoked a spirited round of applause. Rozeal and Ross provided a merry interlude with a juggling act, in which kitchen utensils flew about wth bewildering rapidity, one of the men performing the feat of balancing a well-hung dresser on his head the while he juggled. The two Newmans won further plaudits in a new sketch in which Mr. Newman appeared as a naval officer and his wife as a ragged newsboy, the former giving evidence of his superior vocal talent in a muchappreciated song. Their joint efforts in a sailor’s horn-pipe again brought down the house. Miss Nellie Kolle varied her song offering with monologues and pianoforte selections, and was recalled many times. They are making the most of her last week. Mr. Phil Percival, the Rhodesburys, and Lumley and Rhodes received their share of approval for brightening the programme.

Miss Maude Fane, the dainty comedienne of the Court Cards, has been the recipient of very flattering criticisms during the New Zealand tour of the company presented under the direction of her husband, Mr. Edgar Warwick. Miss Fane is recognised as the most versatile comedienne yet seen in musical costume comedy, and her many admirers in the Dominion will regret her early departure for Australia at the conclusion of the tour next month.

Miss Maud Allan, the famous classic dancer, is posing for the moving pictures at Los Angeles. “I have always tried to keep away from personal glorification. I am a bad mixer, although I am more or less a three-sheet —to use the phrase again—for myself. I have become used to being a uear-spectacle, but I don’t know what I would do if I were a celebrity like the President of the United States,or a prizefighter.” —George M. Cohan.