SOUTHERN STAGE NOTES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1418, 28 June 1917, Page 32

SOUTHERN STAGE NOTES.

(By “Lorgnette.”)

WELLINGTON, June 25.

The six nights’ season of the J. C. Williamson pantomime founded on the story of “The House That Jack Built” was brought to a close this evening. At both afternoon and evening performances crowded houses were the rule, and on many occasions people had to be refused admission. The season was an all-too-short one. In the space of three hours there are presented a series of spectacular scenes, dainty ballets and tuneful songs that appeal with equal force to young and old. The animated dolls are always a source of merriment to the juvenile section of the audience, whilst their elders revelled in the humorous situations surrounding the building of a chicken house. Miss Hilda Guiver scored nightly with her singing, especially in the patriotic song “Our Boys,” the ensemble on board the battleship, with the guns belching forth fire and smoke, making a really stirring scene. Miss Maggie Dickinson’s classic poses and poetic touches in “The Dance of Emotions” are among the best this young Australian danseuse has shown New Zealand playgoers. The dainty tulip scene has scarcely been excelled even in the long array of J. C. Williamson pantomimes, whilst the final pageant

of Empire scene represents the acme of stage colour and grouping. Notwithstanding the many counter attractions, there have been capital attendances at His Majesty’s Theatre during the past week, and the new Fuller programme is received with great favour and applause. The Walter Johnson revue company added to its reputation with its second production, a musical farce entitled “The Railway Tangle.” The English Pierrots closed their Wellington season on Wednesday evening.

The next J. C. Williamson attraction for Wellington will be the return visit of the comedy company headed by Miss Beatrice Holloway and Mr. Robert Greig. The season opens on June 27 and will extend over ten nights. The repertoire will include “Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford” and “Baby Mine.” One of the charms of Miss Hilda Guiver, the principal boy in “The House That Jack Built,” is a bewitching smile. Talking to Miss G'uiver the other morning, she acknowledged the power of that fascinating smile. “When I come on for the first time,” she confessed, “I get towards the footlights as quick as I can and let the people in front have it. I think any means are justifiable in getting on good terms with your audience. New Zealand audiences, as far as I can see from my limited experience, are particularly friendly to a stranger.”

Mr. Arthur Stigant, who is now on his third tour of the Dominion, playing the part of the Dame in the J. C. Williamson pantomimes, is well and favourably known to all playgoers. In his early days Mr. Stigant made a specialty of “old men” parts. In one season of Irish drama lasting six weeks, he played eighteen priest parts. He confesses now that he has a hankering after drama roles. In conversation with Mr. Stigant he stated that he “sometimes got very tired of playing the Dame. It certainly is a fat part, but people get the idea into their heads that an actor who plays one particular part can do nothing else. The worst feature of playing the Dame in an Australasian pantomime is that during the run in Melbourne and Sydney and other cities is the hot weather, and I swelter in the heavy clothing to such an extent that at the end of the tour I am a very lean exponent of a fat part.” The Wellington season of the “Daddy Long Legs” Company opens on July 11 for seven nights.