ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2359, 15 January 1915, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

GRAND OPERA HOUSE. The Julius Knight soason, under the J. C. Williamson grand management, concluded at the Opera House last night with ,the third production of "Monsieur Beaucairc." A largo audience filled the house, and the performance was received with enthusiastic demonstrations of approval. GEORGE WILLOUGHBY DRAMATIC COMPANY. George R. Sims has laid the story of "The Ever Open Door," to be produced at the Grand Opera ' House on Monday evening next by the George \\ lUoughby Company—in the "hidden t Westminster," unknown to the great world of. London, though within the shadow of St. Stephens'. _ This drama (the sixtieth the veteran journalist has written) is in part a study of slum and mission life. Mulberry court, where the boy Earl, the hero of. the play, was brought up by a burglar and a "singing woman," is shown on the stage with its faded decorations as it stood when the piece was written two years , ago. The oompany is headed by Mr. George Cross and Miss Vera Remee. All of the scenery is said to be typical of the London of long ago, and is from the brush of Mr. John S. Mann, who . wa» brought specially from Amerioa , some time ago by George Willougliby, Ltd.,'to mount their different attrac- [ tions. "The Ever Open Door" will be , produced for three nights only, when it [ will give way to "Under Two 'Flags," , an entirely 'new adaptation of "Ouida's" . famous novel. The last two nights of . the season will be taken up by Alexander Dumas, Fils masterful play, "Cam- | ille." The box plans for the season are | now open at the Bristol Piano Depot, . where seats .may be reserved without . any extra charge. Booked seats, 3s. 1 Early, door tickets to back stalls and gallery may be procured at Christeson 8. , t HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE. 'j At His Majesty's Theatre are several j new turns that are well above the usual Brennan-Fuller standard. These are j Mdlle. Davenport's Models, three grace--5 ful young ladies, who pose attractively, - though_carved in Parian marble. . The fountain effect in "The Awakening" 3 ia exceedingly and never fails to s enthuse the | audience. Fields and . Coco are marvellously fine head-balanc- . ers, and there are plenty of laughs to 8 be extracted from the burlesque acro- . batic act of Keen and Waller. Mr. j Geo. Whitehead is a singer, worth hearing, and the Corrick Family supply mirth and song of a diluted character. KING'S THEATRE. There is splendid matter for a good ? novel in "A. Million Bid," the star 1 Vitagraph picture now being shown at > the King's Theatre, and there is hardly - a moment during its five parts that does 1 not interest. The wreck with ■- the intriguing mother of the heroine' oni. trapped m her cabin through her desire i. to savo. her money, was highly sensaI tional, and the picking up at sea of the , Australian millionaire, his loss of mein- ; nry, his luck at the gaming tables, and >. finally the fatal operation, • were all • aoted with a sincerity of manner that , tvas really admirable and unfailingly '<• convincing. Other pictures are war snaps in and near Calais, "The Temples ' Nikko," "Soptember Morn," and the - "Gaumont Graphic." i- EVERYBODY'S PICTURES. " The star programme that is being pre- ? jilted at Everybody's Pictures in tho II Opera House continues to attract capacity business. In . the Vitagraph « drama, Mary Pickford, Maurice Costello, and Roscoe Arbuckle continue to charm by the art of their skilful: acting. There is also the quaint Dutch story, "Lena and the Geese," with Maurice Costello to charm the ladies and Roscoe appears in the Keystone' specis laity, "Their Ups and Downs.". "Witlij the Allies in Flanders" gives some vivid 8 snap shots of war happenings at, or at f- least very adjacent to, the front. Yesterday the management added to the current programme a war film of exceptional interest, _ depicting the battlefields of Dixmude, Nieuport, and r along the Yser Canal. U ; . PEOPLE'S PICTURE PALACE. "The Sheep Herder" is the name of the dramatic top-liner at the Peoplo's 3 f Picture Palace for the rest of the week. In It is the breezy story of a clash he's tween an enterprising young sheep.' ir farmer and some cattle-men, who rei- sent the activities of the young manp. in their territory. His mother is on a h Visit-to him when the cattle men seek s' to eject Win, but to the amazement of d all. the head of the ranchers proves to [e bo the sheep herder's own father, and >- there is a general reconciliation all 1- round, "whoso Diggeth a Pit" is also . a. _ good dramatic tale in picture of a it girl who sacrifices'herself to a drunken, )0 brutal broker to save her father from it ruin. It is hardly _ necessary to say that true love gets its own reward in •e the end, the drunkard shooting himself [. when mad drunk, to which act he con- -- fesses' on his death-bed, and so frees .; from gaol the girl's lover, who had, 3- under the misapprehension , that the i- sjirl had shot her husband, taken the >- blame for the. deed. There are some excellent war pictures- taken round Ypres and Dixmude, and some comedj pictures to preserve the balance. MACMAHON'S. NEW THEATRE.. The unabated popularity of this comfortable theatre is illustrated by the 6 regularity of the patronage that is ac[e corded to it, and'yesterday was no exception to the "house full" rule that i; is now associated with it. To-day will see the customary bi-weekly change of >_ programme. This will, be headed by 'The Counterfeiters," , an immense 0 human story of intense interest, which • e outside its illustration of the vicissi3. tudes of vice, has a sterling love iriter;o est and a pretty domestic theme. Sup•e porting this' exceptional picture there y will be a fine programme of brisk comei- dies, stirring dramas, entrancing >. scenics, and timely topicals; The genud in'e appreciation of the little ones ree mains intense, and tho distribution of new toys daily at the Children's Festival is in itself a picture benediction that is delightful to witness. •s P THE'EMPRESS THEATRE. , r "Liberty Belles," a hilarious, com,s edy, is the "feature" of the new prot gramme introduced at /the Empress d Theatre yesterday Margery and Dore othy are schoolmates. Their lovers, Jack and Phil, manage to get the girls • sent to a boarding school, where they, can visit them stealthily. The fathers of the two girls fall in love with Mrs. Sprouts, who is mistress of the girls' college. 'The "belles" hold a secret feast in their dormitory, and the boys disguise themselves as burglars in order to gain admission. This leads to n their arrest, but they manage to es--9 cape. The two young couples get mari. ried, and start a coolcc-ry school. Dor--0 otliy's father discovers a treasure isn land, and finds a shipwrecked mariner who assists Mm in locating the buried 3 ohest which is believed to contain the " gold. Mrs. Sprouts recognises in the shipwrecked sailor her loiw-lost hus--1 band. The fathers forgive their dauglij ters for eloping and all ends happily. 1 The auxiliary firms comprise "The s Greed for Gold," "Topical Budget," i Defence of Alost," "Cairo and Pyramids," and "Siege of Antwerp." Tho j series will bo screened again through- > out to-day and to-night