FULLERS' OPERA HOUSE.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18415, 23 June 1925, Page 13

FULLERS' OPERA HOUSE.

NEW REVUE COMPANY.

SUCCESSFUL OPENING. There was a very large audience at Puller's Opera House last night to witness tho initial performance in New Zealand of tho Moon and Morris Kpvue Company, and the applause which was bestowed on them was evidence that their efforts were successful. The piece which they chose to present was "A Kins for a Day," a now musical comedy suggested by Anthony Hope's npvel, "Tho Prisoner of Zenda." The production lent itself to plenty of colour, the setting being in the mythical principality of Polvania, ono of those countries about which so many romances have been written. A plot is an ingredient which has gone out of favour with writers of revues, and that which serves in the present instance is not so strong as to load one to the belief that the vogue in this connexion has changed. What the production lacks in plot, however, it makes up in comedy, musical numbers, dances, and tho other features that go to the building up of a successful revue, and a capable cast does good work in keeping the fun moving. Without a good comedian no such ontertainment can be successful, consequently much interest was evinced in Mr George Moon, the loading laughter-producer in the new company. A diminutive man who appeared first as a crapulous prince clad in a very unregal-looking nightgown, Mr Moon made good from the moment of his entry. Ho has a manner of putting over a joke that Is pleasing because it is without effort, and he does not wait for applauße, Following the example of the movies, he has a dual role in "A King for a Day," the second character being that of a tramp, and in this he is funnier than in the first. He is also a dapcer of no little ability. Mr Dan Morris is a good supporting comedian, and between the two the revue runs mirthfully Jo its elose. Other gentlemen in the company are Messrs Walter George, who was singled out for warm applause when he appeared, Sidney Burchell, Willinm Bercsford, and Claude Holland, who are all up to revue standard, while tha leading ladies are Misses Lilly Foster, Vera Sewell, Jean Keith, and Lilly Denville, all of whom are pleasing to watch and hear in their respective parts. There aro some _ good, voices in the company, and a well-trained ballet. Tho revue is arranged, produced, and costumed by Mr Walter George, which is another way of saying that all these essentials leave very little to be desired. The company should have a successful season in Christchurch and elsewhere.

The vaudeville section of the programme is unusually strong. Miss listello Eose, -who is described on the hill as an international impressionistc in character songs and studies, is an entertainer who at times rominds one of Mies Jennie Hartley. She excels in portraying Hebrew characters, and in this connexion is one of the beet comediennes seen on the Fuller circuit for years. She had tho audience with her when she sang of a "Yiddish piano," and roars of laughter accompanied her telling of stories against members of the chosen race. Miss Kose finished R turn full of merit with an impersonation of a French and subsequently a Spanish girl «inging "You'd Bo Surprised." Mr Ben Beno provided a thrilling act on a trapeze swung high above the heads of the audience, many of whom are now no doubt suffering from strained necks as a result of their endeavouring to follow his movements. He went through a number of clever balancing feats in which a chair payed an important part, and the climax of his turn caused more than one immediately beneath him to givo vent to an involuntary cry when it appeared that he was about to lose his balance. Mr Alex Kellaway, another newcomer, is a man with a clear baritone' voice, which he used to advantage in a number of acceptable songs. Other turns were provided by Miss .Sadie McDonald, acrobatic violinist, and Mr Ernest Pitcher, a comedian with a concertina.