ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2344, 29 December 1914, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

"A ROYAL DIVORCE." Probably ; no dramatic play of modern times; is more popular than W. It. ."Will's Napoleonic spectacular piece, "A Royal Divorce," and possibly no better exponent of the great Corsican has been seen jmy where than Mr. Julius Knight. This was evidenced again last night by the audience that filled the Grand Opera House' to its capacity to witness tho sorrows and tribulations of the illustrious,' but ill-staired, Empress Josephine, and the downfall of the great Napoleon, i The play was followed with great interest throughout, and both Mr. Knight and Miss Browne in the two principal parts, were recipients of unstinted appreciation. Able, support was given by Messrs. Hughes, Harvey, Bentley, Turner, and Misses Temple, Cartwright, and Ballanger, while Miss Lizette Parkes was sparkling and art- . istic as the volatile Stephanie de Beauharnais. "A Royal Divorce" will be withdrawn after the performance on Saturday evening next, and will bo followed for two nights only by "The Scarlet Pimpernel.". The box plans for the remainder of the which includes productions of "The Sign'of the Cross,"- "The Silver King," and "Monsieur Beaucaire," will be opened at the Dresden to-morrow morning at 9 o'clock. HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE. An absolutely full house greeted the new bill at His Majesty's Theatre last evening, and got value several times over. There wero many neiv artists in the bill; which was highly entertaining. ; The Corricks provided the first part of ',- the , programme bjr giving a musical treat of great merit. The company is strong in vocalists, and contains several excellent instouinentalists. . It caters for various moodsj , but is always entertaining. The .quality of its performance throughout is or the highest, and it really can etand by self as a good evening's- amusement. The company quite upholds tho great reputation which preceded it. A rer markable turn : is done by Clinton and Beatrice, expert rifle and revolver shots. These' two' very. "true-eyed" Vomen succeed in hitting; a'lmost_. without error, small moving and swinging, objects. Bull's-eyes are obtained by them without apparent difficulty, and one_ of the pair does some very fine shooting from the dress circle. The impersonations done by Mr.' George Melrose aro extremely good. Various well-known Australian' artists 'are faithfully represented, but the masterpiece is a delirium scene from a noted drama. The Dangars introduce the cyclodrome, and give an exhibition of sensational cycling.. With tie aid of the eyelodrome races are run, and tie lbuse > witnesses the spectacle of scorchers doing "forty miles an hour" on the stage. It is a most interesting performance* and the crowd , watches the races with tie.greatest keenness, and urges on the competitors; The Helen-Leach-Wallin Trio are still performing their feats of strength and daring; the Barclay Sisters appear, and Mr. Carleton Chase, assisted by Mr. Gene Hawkes, makes Us bow to"" Wellington. .

THE KING'S THEATRE. 'A big holiday crowd filled the seating accommodation at the King's Theatre last night to witness the. new .picture programme, which is headed by the Kalem Company's.study of reincarnation entitled "The Mystery of the Sleeping Death." This is a highly interesting romance, embracing a legend' of India, which covers thousands of years. The story opens with a burglary committed at tho house of a young millionaire, named Harrison, the burglar being a girl, who is the agent of a gang. . Harrison discovers her at work, but'generously allows here to escape. '■ An hour later, the girl is. found unconscious on the street and Harrison's butler finds his' master in the same condition. Both are rushed to the hospital and efforts to revive them prove unavailing. As a last resort' the surgeons send for an Oriental.. hypnotist. (The latter relates an ancient Indian legend of two lovers, who were cursed and caused to. fall into a death trance because of the refusal of the beautiful heroine to , give up her lovei. Once in every century the spirit of each was to leave the sleeping body and meeting recbgnise each other. Harrison and the girl burglar revive as the legend is told and fall into each other's arms. (The romance is very impressive as pictured by the film, the acting of Miss Alice Joyce in the principal part being particularly effective. The supporting items, include a Keystone play, "His New Profession," in which the popular comedian, Charles Chaplin, brings roars of laughter from all corners of the house. The Pathe Gazette this week contains views of the British Naval Brigade interned in Holland, and another good war picture is "French Battleships," showing the operations of the fleet as in battle. The Thanhouser company is represented in the new seriee by a delightful play called "Little Mischief," featuring a little girl, whose acting is serious, humorous, and tender. The. remaining items are: "The Price of a Lie" (A.K.'coloured drama), and •' Summor Resort Idyll" (Edison comedy). Appropriate musical accompaniments are supplied by the King's Orchestra under the able direction of Sie»or A. P. Truda. .

EVERYBODY'S PICTURES. Easily the best thing in the line of picture drama, both in the matter oi plot and staging, is the great Pathecolour military play "King in Name Alone" shown for the first time at Everybody's Pictures, Manners Street, yesterday. The piot, a fascinating one is after the style of Anthony'• Hope's "Prisoner of Zenda." A young prince, whose equerry bears a remarkable facial resomblance to himself, incurs the latter's enmity by making unwelcome adyances to tho equerry's lady love. The prince, unaware of the relations between the two, commissions his equerry to kidnap the maidon. This, quite naturally, the equerry refuses to do. The prince is annoyed, but is not thwarted in his original plan. The equerry is incensed, rescues his captured love, awaits the prince and kills him. Then it is that the only available escape presents itself to the equerry. Acting' oh. tho wonderful resemblance between him* eelf and the prince, ho dons tlio latter's clothes. Complications ensue. . The 'pseudo prince finds he is made king by the untoward death of the , reigning monarch. The "King in name" embarks on a policy of reforming the kingdom, awakening displeasure in tho higher quarters. His lady love is inveigled into a plot to assassinate hini, thinking that lie is really tho princo and has killed her - lover. This leads to a tragic end. The picture is really a revelation in picture photography, and truly fascinating in its plot. Supporting this fine film is a Kejxstone absurdity in which tho somewhat- unstable Keystone police play a prominent part, a fine war picture "Naval Brigade in Holland," "Girl of the Season" (delightful comedy drama) and the GauJnont War Graphic. PEOPLE'S PICTURE PALACE. The new selection of pictures shown for the first time at the People's Picture Palace, Manners Street, yesterday, is in all rospects excellent. The feature picture is a magnificent Thanhauser drama eutitled "Tho Catspaw." The picture is an admirable example of modern day kinematography, while tho plot is thrilling to t«e extreme. Tho film conires around society life, and tho unsuccessful efforts to steal plans of considerable worth. The acting of tho piece is something above tho ordinary. Another fine drama on the programme is one by the Victor Coni-

pany entitled "The Field Foreman." The plot is not a hackneyed one, and moreover is interpreted by two such reputable- picture artists as Warren ' Kerrigan and Miss Jessalyn Van 'I'rump. The story relates how an apparontly hopoloss and vicious bully is transformed into the kind-hearted lover of the little person who works tho change. The latest war nows from tho front is most interestingly reviewed in tho most recent edition of the Warwick Chronicle "Bill Bailey as a Dancing Master" is a most audacious comic, guaranteed to draw a smile from the most (sombre watcher. There are other oxcellent pictures, including "Pimples Fire of London."

THE PETER DAWSOiY RECITALS.

That entirely satisfying vocalist, Mr. Peter Dawson, enthused another largo audience at the Concert Chamber last evening. Few baritones that we have heard in recent years can approach Jiim as a ballad singer, and his pronounced versatility is a. virtue that gives rainbow tints to.his programmes and shows the abounding intellectuality of the true artist. Temperamentally he is best suited to the robust, breezy ballad' of the open air. He was admirable last evening in Cowen's "Border Ballad," a new stting of ''The Blue Bonnets" in "The Little Admiral," a song racy of the sea in Nelson's day, by Sir Charles V. Stanford, and he.fairly roused the audience to enthusiasm in "I'm a Roamer," and had to respond to a second encore with "0 Star or Eve" (from "Tannhauser"). We are grateful to Mr. Dawson for introducing to our notice Liza Lehinann's "Cowboy Ballads," viz., "The Rancher's Daughter," "A Night Herding," and "The Skewball Black," songs racy of the Western plains, vital with character. To that bracket he had to add "The Lowland Sea" (a new and simple setting of. the old ballad) and a very charging "Banjo Song," sung with immense sympathy. ■ In tho latter buffo air, "Largo al Factotum," from Rossini's opera, "The Barber of Seville," Mr. Dawson showed that he las the spirit of comedy strong within him. It also leaked out in the effective touches given to "Young Tom of Devon" and "The Blue Dragoons." One of the best songs of the evening was the "Song of the Wooden-Legged Fiddler" (Graham Peel), the story of an old man's undying love for the sea, which Mr. Dawson sang delightfully. His encore songs also •included "The Arrow of the Song" and "Eleanore" (Coleridge Taylor) . The chief trouble with Miss Annetta George is to sing in the middle of the note.. There is over a tendency with this singer to flatten, a tendency that is not che&ed by her well-defined l tremolo. She sang Santuzza's'song from "Cayalleria Rusticana,". ."Roses of Forgiveness" (d'Hardelot), "I Heard a Sweet Song" (Forster), and "The Roses in My. Garden." i Miss Grace Newman, an advanced student of the violin, played Papini's "Pensee Fugitive," ' a lively "Sattarella." "Lβ Cygne" (SaintSaens), and a "Romance" by Lauterbach. - Miss Carlien Jurs played the "Oraoovianne Fantastique"o f Paderewski, and accompanied the other artists.

THE EMPRESS THEATRE. Yesterday's new programme at the Empress . Theatre introduced the Klaw and Erlanger Company's superbly mounted "feature" drama "Classmates." Miss Daphne Wayne takes a leading role, and Mr. Henry Walthall is also prominent in the cast.' "Classmates" is a motion picture adaptation of a noted stage success, and was produced in kinema form by special ■, arrangement, by the A.B. Company. Young Stafford is in lovo with his mother's ward, Sylvia Randolph. The girl, however, favours Irving, the sod of the village . storekeeper. ; Stafford plans. to disgrace Irving through the hitter's father, who is addicted to drink. Irving learns of Stafford's triqkery, and a fight ensues between the two men. - A heavy blow over the-eyes-makes Stafford, blind. Subsequently Stafford recovers his sight. He goes to South America as an engineer and is reported as killed, but Irving goes to search for him. After many exciting adventures in the jungle Stafford is found and brought back from the wilds and a happy ending is brought about. The auxiliary films include the latest "Topical War Budget," "Lake Maggioro" (scenic), and comic items.

A private telegram from Auckland states that the production of "The Gondoliers," bj the Williamson Comic Opera Co., on Saturday night, was received with great enthusiasm and was generally acknowledged to be one of the finest representations of the Gilbert and Sullivan opera yet presented in the Dominion.