THE COMPETITIONS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1911, 20 November 1913, Page 5

THE COMPETITIONS.

—.—-»-_ h ■"DEMONSTRATION NIGHT." The Opera House was fairly well filled last evening, when, the "champions" of L the various clashes at the recent com- _ petitions gave another demonstration night. Public recognition of the ef- fi forts of the Competitions Society' to promote interest ja good music and elo- fi cution has been rather tardy this year, j and this can no doubt be attributed to e the unrest consequent en the'' strike, ri but if the audience last night lacked in *j numbers, the warmth nl their greeting a to the many turns was unmistakable V and unstinted. a Cecils' Haines, of course, was raptar- | ously received, indeed, a competitions j; programme would hardly seem complete C . without this wee mite, and Wellington £ folk seem to have taken her to their q hearts completely, . Associated with t Dr. Norman Hales, she danoed daintily * as he sang the coon song, "Down by the j Mississippi." She made her biggest hit, however, later in. the evening as I "Sairey Gamp," Her delineation of this notorious character was really splendid, and after she had "felt so disposed," and; produced the black bottle, her artistic hiccoughs, as she proceeded to acquaint the audience with what Mrs. 'Arris said, fairly brought the house down. The audience would not be denied an encore, and Miss Cecils responded with another character sketeh. Another artistic performance was that of Mr. Ernst Luks, who proved himself to-be a musical mohologuist of parts. Made up as the conventional Frenchman, he looked t-bo part, and his simulation of broken English was convincing, as ho described his adventures with "Nini, Ninette, and Ninon," Miss Lillian Prichard, the talented- visitor from Melbourne, provided the thrill of tho evening in her rendition of Ophelia's made scene ("Hamlet"). Other I Shakespearean items were Hotspur's Defence ("Henry IV">, rather well done by Mr. Byron Brown, and little Peggy Reeves, as a fed-gowned Portia-, addressed an imaginary 'Shylock with . great aplomb. As tbo Rev, Robert Spalding (from "The Private Secretary"), Mr. Norman Aitken made an admirable., prim and proper curate, antl bis bath bun aiu} bottle of milk helped to win lna-ny laughs. Interspersed, among tho: other items was some- clever dancing by little girls. Miss Wyoftno Haybittle. proved •herself an adopt at the difficult art of , tiptoe dancing, but the performance of l littlo Thurza- Rogers -was perhaps tho more finished., The graceful posing and ] rhythmical afm moveinents and finger play of this little sprite were instinct with poetic feeling. Miss Ethel Lissaek created a good deal of amusement in lior humorous sketch, but the length of , tho programme would not permit- her to < answer tho demand fer an encore. Dr. ' Norman Hales was heard in lighter vein i in a humorous song entitled "Let it < Alone." Other vocalists were Mi*. T, H. : Heketa (Korbay's "Had a- Horse"); Miss Mario Fix, who, dressed as a dainty country maiden, sang about a miller and i his bargain; Master Leon Brown, who : touched a religious note by lifting his : boyish trebloin Handel's "Thou Did'st , : not Leave His Soul in Hell," andHliss i Kathleen Wheeler, who' Was in excellent ! voice. Miss Zita Chapman, the chain- i pioii juvenile- elocutionist, and Miss : Ngaire Lemmoo, tho baby reciter, were- : also heard, and Master Bon .O'Brien • (violinist) played a. "Cautabite" of Burg- \ muller, and succedoi in getting a good singing tone from his instrument, while ' his bowing was, considering his youth, ' t puito good. The performaiico concluded with winning comedietta, "The- Real Q." This is a smart American playlet, and Mr. Bentley Russell, as the doctor i who masquerades as a "crook," Mr. P. A. Jones as the "crook," who masquerades as a detective, and Mr,. Norman as-the "crook," who pretends to be a patient, all succeeded,in making the-ut-most of the incidents in the story, To-night there will be another "demonstration," and the programme will bo enhanced with items by Mr, J. Cul- : ford Bell, who wais champion elocutionist last year; Miss Betty Purdom-, who will , give • her inimitable- Scotch recitation, : "The Twa Texts," and the performance will conclude with a scene from ."The Bells." ■ .