THE SCARLET TROUBADOURS.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1481, 12 September 1918, Page 32

THE SCARLET TROUBADOURS.

It would be a pity to miss the last nights of the Scarlet Troubadours, that happy band of costume comedy entertainers at present holding high revelry in the Town Hall Concert Chamber. An evening spent with them will be found an agreeable relaxation, for the company specialise in melody and mirth, and their talent covers an endless range of solos, duets, sketches, monologues, burlesques and dances. Miss Lalla Knight has a soprano voice of engaging sweetness, and her numbeis are received with much acceptance. Miss Madoline Knight, contralto, is another sure favourite, and her reception nightly proves that she has a big following of admirers in her old home town. In duets with Miss Ward there is a delightful blending of voices. Miss Ivy Davis sparkles through the programme with infectious gaiety, tyer doll specialty with Mr. Courtney Ford being a most popular item. Mr. Ren Millar’s splendid singing of “The Sands of the Desert” is worth going a long way to hear, while Mr. Harrison scores an equal success in “Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes.” Their duet, “Ye Banks and Braes,” arranged by Mr. Kennedy Black, evokes enthusiastic applause, and they are obliged to repeat it at each performance. One of the biggest successes

is a medley of popular airs given in character by Messrs. Andrew Pace. Kennedy Black, Ren Millar and W. Harrison. This was compiled by Messrs. Black and Pace, and stands out as an example of artistic dovetailing. Mr. Black was responsible for the harmony, and the result is so satisfying that the audience demand its repetition. Every popular familiar song title is covered, from “The Lost Chord” to “Good Bye-e.” Then there are dances by Miss Hilda McMurtry, light comedy sketches by Messrs. Hawthorne, Livingstone and Ford, an amusing nautical scena enlivened by song and dance, and a melodrama skit entitled “The Midnight Mail,” in which all the merry coterie disport themselves.