HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1466, 30 May 1918, Page 34

HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE.

THE J. C. WILLIAMSON ANNUAL. “DICK WHITTINGTON” PANTOMIME. The big and ever-welcome J. C. Williamson pantomime —the biggest theatrical attraction of every year—is due in Auckland on Wednesday next at His Majesty’s Theatre. This year the Williamson management have chosen the story of the immortal Dick Whittington as the theme on which to hang a glittering show. Report has it that “Dick Whittington” is easily the biggest thing in pantomimes the firm have done in a number of years. .As to the cast, the fact that a number of artists who succeeded last year in making memorable “The House That Jack Built” are again in the brilliant attraction of this year, suggests a further treat in store. There are over 800 costumes used in the production, the bulk of which are startling in design and execution. The cast will be as follows: —Misses Vera Pearce (Dick Whittington), Maggie Dickenson (premiere danseuse), Mr. Sydney Yates (principal danseur), Mr. Harry Roxbury (Idle Jack), Miss Pauline Bindley (Alice), Mr. William Fullbrook (Aiderman Fitzwarren), Mr. Arthur Stigant (Mary, the cook), Mr. Ernest Langford (Johnnie), Mr. Claude Bantock (Captain Barnacle), Mr. Howard Vernon (Emperor of Morocco), Miss Connie Cayley (Rupert), Miss Pearl Ladd (Princess Rosy Dawn), Mr. Billy Le Brun (Tommy the Cat), Mr. Villiers Arnold (Rodento), Miss Ethel Walker (Dulcibelle). Special attention has been paid to the optical attractiveness of the setting of “Dick Whittington.” The charm and skill of the artist are shown in the many varied and beautiful costumes which are so lavishly displayed through the production. There are no less than eight ballets, the most impressive of which are perhaps “The Great War” ballet, the “Surprising Living Bon Bon,” the fascinating “Flying” ballet, the dance of the “Temptations,” the novel “Butterfly” ballet, and the dainty “Vogue” ballet. Some 80 numbers of the brightest and most attractive music are interspersed throughout the pantomime. From a scenic point of view, those celebrated artists, Messrs. W. R. Coleman and George Upward, it is affirmed, have in “Dick Whittington” surpassed themselves in the handling of colours.