TOWN HALL.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1474, 25 July 1918, Page 34

TOWN HALL.

THE ENGLISH PIERROTS. A HAPPY COMBINATION. The English Pierrots found themselves among old friends when they opened their Auckland season on Saturday night. Wherever they go they leave a lasting impression of brightness and melody, and last year s admirers came along in full force to give them the glad hand. Every item is brand new, too, for the brothers Thomas see to it that the repertoire is not a limited one. Miss Elsa Langley, petite and piquant as ever, or more so, re-introduced herself in a serio-comic Scotch song, “My Tartan Plaid,” and was insistently recalled, but her biggest hit was made with Mr. Leslie Austin in “The Great Big World,” a charming love number in which she put in the little feminine touches with a naivete and surety all her own. A double encore was the result. Another established favourite is Miss Billie Wilson in her child impersonations, and the audience readily demonstrated they could not have enough of her. A newcomer is Miss Elsie Rosslyn, a soprano with a sweet and well-trained voice. Her singing of “Here is My Heart,” in conjunction with Mr. Roy Cooke, was distinctly pleasing, and an imperative recall was her reward. A sympathetic rendering of “Annie Laurie” sealed her conquest. Mr. Cooke was heard later in a new version of “Mandalay.” Mr. David Lyle, who knows how to use his clear tenor voice to best effect, had a rousing reception for his conception of “An Evening Song,” and responded with the always popular “Come into the Garden, Maud.’ Mr. Louis Mitchell gave a spirited delivery of “The Waggoner,” and, as an encore, “Invictus.” Mr. Charles Lawrence supplied an amusing interlude at the piano. in his chat about “The Insurance Agent.” Mr. W. P. Turner was merry in a coster song, “My Luck,” and was well to the fore all the evening in stimulating that happy feeling which invariably exists between the English Pierrots and their audiences. The camaraderie was evident in such concerted numbers as “Toasts” and “Nursery Rhymes,” in the melodious scena “Dear Old Romany,” and the farcical sketch “The Railway.” Last on the list but high up in the order of merit is the new accompanist of the company, Miss Rima Young, who not only created the rightful atmosphere for the singers, but gave evidence of her musicianly knowledge and technical finish in her artistic interpretations of Coleridge Taylor’s “Valse” and Chopin’s “B Flat Nocturne.”