SOUTHERN STAGE NOTES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1383, 26 October 1916, Page 34

SOUTHERN STAGE NOTES.

(By.

“Lorgnette.”}

WELLINGTON, Octoter 23. The J. C. Williamson American farce-comedy company inaugurated a Dominion tour at the Grand Opera House this evening with “It Pays to

Advertise,” and were greeted with an audience that packed the theatre from floor to ceiling. “It Pays to Advertise” proved a winner from the start, the uproarious fun of the first act completely capturing the audience, and the smashing applause that brought the curtain up again and again at the close of the act must have been exceedingly gratifying to all concerned in the production. The plot of the farce is, in brief, that old Cyrus Martin is a hard-headed millionaire, with a son who apparently has no brains for business. Cyrus has entered into a compact with Miss Grayson, his typiste, that she shall direct any abilities the son may have into business channels. And she does it. She makes the son fall in love with her; she fires his ambition, and when the boy and the typiste are ordered from the house he goes with a promise of dislodging his father from his corner in soap. Mr. Hale Hamilton, who plays the part of Peale, assures him it is all a matter of advertisement. Why does a man eat a hen’s egg in preference to a duck’s egg for his breakfast? The hen advertises the laying of the egg; the duck does not. Then out goes Rodney Martin on his soap and advertisement campaign. The second act opens with Rodney’s company, of

which he is president, fairly floated to all public appearance, and the inspirational title “Thirteen Soap, Unlucky for Dirt,” is plastered on every window within view. Cyrus Martin is cutely handled by his son for tens of thousands, and is on the point of paying when Mary Grayson unwittingly gives the scheme away. There is hardly a thing on the level Even the Thirteen Company’s first order is faked by old Martin in pity for his son. But at the finish advertising triumphs genuinely, and soap is booked here and there by the million cases, whilst the three young adventurers draw cheques of great magnitude, and father, who never believed in advertising, supplies soap in quantities he had never dreamed of. The farce is full of tricks, and even up to the last moments the whole fabric of impudence and boost appears only to have broken down after many narrow escapes. It introduces to New Zealand playgoers a trio of American comedians, Miss Myrtle Tannehill, Mr. Hale Hamilton and Mr. Donald Bowles. Miss Tannehill, as Mary Grayson, showed herself completely wise to some of the little stage tricks conceived by the author, and scored a distinct success. The “fat” parts in the farce belong to Mr. Hale Hamilton, as Ambrose Peale, and Mr. Donald Bowles, as Rodney Martin, and needless to say they made the best use of their opportunities. Miss

Nancye Stewart, as the fake French countess, played we.l. Mr. Maurice Dudley, Mr. Edwin Lester, Mr. Charles Wheeier, Mr. John de Lacey, and Mr. Leslie Victor all did fine work in their respective parts. There are several minor characters in the farce, all of which stood out well in the picture. “It Pays to Advertise” is staged in the best J. C. Williamson style. As the Wellington season is limited to ten nights, only four performances of “It Pays to Advertise” will be given. The second production will be “The Boomerang,” a comedy by Winchell Smith and Victor Mapes. The first performance in New Zealand will be given on Friday evening. The last three nights of the season will be devoted to the spicy, side-splitting farce “Twin Beds.” The New Zealand Natives’ Association Band gave a very fine concert in His Majesty’s Theatre on Sunday evening. The Wellington season of the charming comedy “Peg o’ My Heart” was a rare treat, and also a distinct success in every possible way. Miss Estelle Beere and her clever pupils are to be congratulated on the two evening and matinee performances which. they gave in the Grand Opera House on Friday and Saturday last of Sir J. H. Barrie’s lovable child story “Peter Pan,” arranged in ballet

form by Mr. Bert Royle. The performances were in aid of the Countess of Liverpool’s Red Cross Fund and the Blue Cross (wounded horses) Fund. The scenery, dressing and general mounting were a special feature of the performances. The patrons of His Majesty’s Theatre have nothing to grumble about in the way the Messrs. Fuller are catering to their wants. This week’s programme is one of the best submitted by this enterprising management for quite a long time, and that is saying something.