ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2428, 6 April 1915, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

"DU BARRY." The Grand Opera House was filled to its utmost capacity last evening, when Diivid Belasco's pieturcsque drama, "Du Barry" was performed for the second time by the Nellie Stewart Dramatic Company. "Du Barry" takes for its theme the love of King Louis XY's favourite lor one of his Guards, and seeks • to illustrate, and does so fairly effecl tively, how the decadent King of a • then effete court could cast majesty and , even dignity to the winds over the , foibles of a woman of 110 importance. , Du Barry was the notorious Pompadour s successor at the Court of Louis, . and was no end of a beautiful virago i when all France cringed at her feet, i Doubtless the play reflects something of the spirit of the times and much of tho ficklo Du Barry's waywardness. . Miss Nellie Stewart is quite a fascinating creature as Du Barry, and calls to her aid all the arts she is mistress of ill presenting most sympathetioally the woman who ruled France for a few brief years. Air. Clarence Blaklston made a handsome King Louis, and Mr. H. R. Roberts a prepossessing Cosse-Brissac. A host of minor parts are all capably acted. Oil Saturday evening next "Dorothy of tho Hall" will succeeed "Du Barry." HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE. The holiday audience at His Majesty's Theatre last evening wero treated to one of the most diversified programmes arranged by tho Brennan-Fuller management recently. Among the distinct novelty turns which hit the public taste were the Four Aerial Lesters, who do surprising things in an upside-down, world of their own creating. Their particular aim is to emulate the example or tho ceiling-loving fly, and walk in precisely the same manner. Two of the men aro clever at this difficult recreation, using for the purpose a series of loops threaded on a metal bar. One of the Lesters, made up as Charles Chaplin. the famous oomique of picturedom, actually disrobes as he saunters across the flies head downward, and finally the very plump and pleasing girl, and the human flies" form an upside-down • n a hvely inarch in midair. iho act made a distinct hit. IMeanor and Bertie represent a very graceful wire dancer and the inevitablo comic relief. Eleanor is a lissome and dainty performer, who is just 'as much at home on tho wire when blindfolded and otherwise shrouded visually as when she lias the full,use of her powers of sight. Hank, Lank, and Ahce are an exceedingly bright trio who Bpecialisoln Indian club juggling. Each one of the trio is an adept, and when they get together, with three clubs apiece, the an is alive with clubs. One of the trio also juggles with enamel plates and flamuig torches. Walter and Bunting depend on the kilts, and the humour that goes with them, to magnetise the favour of the audience. Scotch songs, jokes, and dances serve to eke out a tolerably entertaining ten minutes. Juatilde and Elvira, the two Spanish singers and dancers, in their quaintlycut dresses, show new colour combinations, and they instinctively move and gesticulate gracefully. In the Mexican danco and the Hat dance tliey ingeniously suggest tho witchery associated with tho dark-eyed maids of Andalusia.' No ono received more dccided and persistent applause than gifted Ella Airlie, who is "just herself and a piano." Her songs were those 'of yesteryear, but her 1 vocal and personal buoyancy made her beloved of the gods. Sho sang of tho 1 'travelling Menagerie," of "Porcy and ! the Nursie," and finally "Bottle-OI" 1 ft™ t|ien the gallery cried for the ! Crocodile," but they were left crying. 1 Merlyn and "Archibald" amused greats 1 ly in their seance, "Magis Exposed," ' and the deft hand of Elton Fox was ' seen in several sketches of topical in- ( terest. Wykeham and Preston contri- ' buted a bright and breezy sketch. Mr. ' Re S ; Wykeham was admirably suited'as ] a giddy old Anglo-Indian colonel, and Miss Preston as an actress of fickle 1 fancy showed a lively senso of farcical 1 comedy. Wm. Sumner, a coloured singer and dancer, also appeared. <

THE KING'S THEATRE.

Tho Dev.- pictures shown last-night at tno king s Iheatre are all of really excellent quality. The most ambitious of the new lilms is a dramatisation of the well-known farce comedy "My. Friend I'iom India." It -is an exceedingly lunny play, and the picture representation of it, with Jlr. Walter E. Perkins, the original barber-philosopher "friend from India," in the title role, loses none of the fun of the play. At least the pseudo-theosophist gets into just as many awkward situations in the house of the pseudo-aristocrats, amongst whom '■ ho finds himselt an accidental guest, as he can conveniently find time to eS'tricat® himself from. Another arousing Story is told about "The Persistent Mr. Prince.' This young man fell in love with the photograph of a debutante which he saw in a society paper, and lie forthwith made up his mind to marry the real girl. He began by sending her .liowere, accompanied by his photograph, and very soon afterwards he informed her that he had decided to marry her on May 1. The girl's fury deterred 'him not a wliit, nor' did her very well laid plans to escape him. Last of all, by changing seats with an aviator—he had already changed seats with b cooohman or two—he takes the lady for a joy ride into the clouds. Very soon she begs to be taken down to firm earth again, and then discovers to her horror who her pilot is. Then he intoims.her that he will keep her in the air until she promises to marry him and. in the end Mr. Prince keeps the promise made to himself and the girl to get married on May 1. "The Little Country Mouse" is a pretty little story about a little girl plunged suddenly into the cold realities of life amongst gamblers,, roues, and gay ladies who nave their husbands and lovers besides. A film descriptive of trawling in tho White bea is one of the most successful of the kind that could be imagined, espe-' cially in those sections showing what stormy seas look like from the deck of & trawler, and those ateo showing the capture of the silver horde. A series of animated cartoons of the German Emperor and his chateau-looting son and heir ii particularly ingenious and clever. The nawG pictures, chiefly about the training of troops' and other warlike preparations, are all highly interesting and informative. EVERYBODY'S THEATRE. Holiday houses greeted the new programme at Everybody's Theatre in Manj®s Street at every session yesterday. Chief amongst the new attractions was an Edison drama "The Best Man." Shortly beforo sailing for America from Europe, George Hayne had sent Cecilia Jefferson, his fiancee, the reassuring word that by marrying her he would ? av 0 her family from financial extremity. The plot is a complicated one, involving many startling situations. Mayno is imprisoned in his dressing chamber on tho morning of his wef ding, and, a man namod Holmar, a financial adventurer, manages to secure an important secret cipher service message. A friend of Hayne's named Gordon endeavours to secure the message, and in doing so actually marries Hayno's fiancee. After several startling adventures, in which Haynes's friend manages to secure the document he is seeking, tho couple reach New York. Hayne meantime is looked upon as an impostor by the Jelfersons and their friends. Gordon and his wife proceed to Washington, where for his clever ■ bit of work ho i 6 appointed chief of tho foreign secret service bureau. This Kood news, and a rapidly-acquired love lor Gordon, bring full content to Ceci- ' lia. "The llan Who Knew," a Vita- r sjraph drama, is another stroiig picture. Its story is one of absorbing interest , ioaling with the temptations of a young Sirl'jYaa liw a aiclt wotlioi, 'Qitot Jta

pictures are a side-splitting Keystone comedy "Noi6e of Bombs," featuring "tatty" Arbuckle and Mabel NonnancL "Gaumont Grayhic," "Sugar Industry," and a stirring war picture entitled "On the Track of tlo Turks." THE EMPRESS THEATRE. 'Harbour Li^ius,*' 3 a melodrama, Si J I?"J" 12 ; 1 ' 10 play-goers by Mr. Bland Holt sboufe fcwsnfcy-fiv© yc&rs headed the new programme at the Empress Theatre yesterday. Tho characters are Lena Nelson, daughter of Captain Nelson, Dora Vane, his foster daughter, Frank Morland, squire of Redcliffe, Lieutenant David Kingsley, R.N., and Mark Helston, a young ii6hernian. Tho squire enedavours to win Lena, who i 6 6eoret-ly in love with her unscrupulous admirer. She forgets Mark, who is fondly' attached to Eer, and he vows to be avenged upon Frank Morland. Nicholas Morland, cousin of the sguire, is dismissed from the Navy, and it is mainly owing to Lieutenant Kingsley's evidence that he is courtnuirtialled. Nicholas is determined to be revenged upon Kingsley, and obtains an engagement with his cousin, the squire, as his steward. He gets the squire to write a letter to Dora, who is betrothed to Kingsley, luring her to the squire's house.- Lena, who has been betrayed by the 6quire, also goes to the house on the same evening to demand satisfaction. Nicholas tells Kingsley that if he goes to the squire's house he will see his fiancee -keeping a sreret appointment witli tbe squire. Helton follows Lena to the squire s home, and there a stormy scene ensues. Kingsley realises that his fiancee' has been tricked into the visit, • and he and Dora leave the place. Mark Helston then denounces the squire and shoots him. . Mark's mother, half-demented tries to kill Lena, who is the Bole' witness of her son's, crime, but. Lena is rescued by Kingsley, and Mark, remorseful, writes a full confossion ; and commits suicide. The auxiliary items include "How Horoes are Made" (Keystone farcecomedy) and "Tho Topical Budget." PEOPLE'S PICTURE PALACE. A story of the vileness of the Huns on their devastating rush' through Northern Franco is told in the picture, "Tho Road to Calais," shown at the People's Picture Palace yesterday. The hero and _ heroine are respectively a young British officer and a pretty little French da-nseuse. .When the girl was at her home the invading hordes came, and German officers, about whose "chivalry" so much has bceii written, mado merry in her house with the contents of the cellar, and forcer her to make musio for their entertainment. She played bravely on while her British soldier lover and his men in khaki slowly but surely came to rescue her. In the end the young officer holds up the German officers with his revolver until the men arrive in force, and they are ignominionsly marched off. The rest of the story is not warlike. Throughout the film all the apparent reproductions of scenes of war are wonderfully realistic.' Next in order of merit on the bill is "The Fatal Taxi-Cab," one of the very test of Keystone comedies. The central . figure of tho plot is an anarchist, very fearsome in visage and apparel. After the manner of anarchists and other people, he admires a pretty girl and it happens that he falls violently in love with Mabel Normand at first sight. The affair, which promises well, is interrupted by the arrival of the anarchist's sorrowing wife and family, and Mabol goes off to seek the protection of the fat man. Ho borrows a motor and tho anarchist and taxi-cab, and they all set out on their travels, with Charles Chap: lin -in charge of a fine acrobatic posse of police in an explosive motor-car well in the rear. Hie adventures of that chase were too thick and fast for de-• scription. There were bombs and pistols all the while, hairbreadth escapes from drowning, and gallant rescues. In the end the villain,, who defied all sorts of gunfire, was rocked 'txT'slumber with pieces of brick and other things Mr. Chaplin found lying around. A very ; beautiful series of landscape views is shown in "The Lake of Candy" (in Ceylon), and the Topical Budget'is ■full of interest as usual. ! • HIGHLAND SOCIETY CONCERT. In another column is published the programme for the Highland Society's concert, which is to be held in the Town Hall on Wednesday evening in aid of tho Mayor's Belgian Fund. The programme now' published in itself should Xlie society have secured the assistance of leading vocal artista, and in ' Scottish. song and Highland -dancing. Highland dancing it would ba hard to produce the equal of the society's clanccrs in Australasia. In. addition to enjoying a'first-class concert, tho public have the satisfaction of knowing that the whole of the proceeds , are to be devoted to the Mayor's Belgian Relief Fund. A bumper house is anticipated, be sufficient to attract all admirers of