ENTERTAINMENTS.

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2683, 1 February 1916, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS.

"MA HIE ROSETTE." +ii?? e " le 'P o3 ' important revivals of ?r! i.? £>oras w hich are being staged during the season of J. (J. Williamson's Opera. Coinpany is "Ma Mie tosette, which is to bo produced at the uranu Opera House this evening and lomori\>\v night. Tlio music in "Ma Mio wosette frequently verges 011 the border ot grand opera. 111 the original representation uf "Rosette" tho principal parts were sung' by Miss Nellie Stewart, Mr. Wallace Brownlow, Mr. Joseph l'apand Mr. George Lauri, and it is claimed that not since those daj-s have the Williamson management sent a better company to ..cplace those artists than the present on« v . 'ihe part of King Henri IV will be playt<, \y Mr. Derek Hudson. Miss Ethel Ca~ u an created an excellent impression in Auckland, by her performance of Rosette, and slio was ontliusiasti- j colly encored r iT.'her rendering of "I Was Breaming." 111'. Reginald Roberts has the handling of the important role of Vincent, which is regarded as one of his finest characterisations. Miss Florence Young will. take her' original part of Corisande, and Mts. ■ Lauri v.ill impersonate Martha, which she created 20 years ago. Mr. Phil Smith as Bouillon, and Mr. C. It. Bantock as Colonel ■ Cognac provide much merriment. Only the two representations can bo riven of "Ma Mi? Rosette," and .the last three nights of the season will witness .& production' of the London Gaiety musical success, "The Dancing Mistress." The French soldiers who are at present in Wellington will, attend to-night's performance. •

. HIS MAJESTY'S- THEATRE. .. The piece de resistance at His Majesty's Theatre last evening was "Fun in a Sanatorium," by the, Bletsoe Musical' Revue Company. . This bright little company, if it does not exactly twinkio with etare, has evolved an electrical 'action .which means that the. fun.'is kept going at high the whole time, which appears to be the be-all and end-all of revue tactics. Modulation is out of the question, quiet subtlety has no niche, refinement finds no home in the modern revue. Go'at it hammer and tongs from -the jump-pdon't let the audience think are the maxims that govern the revue, and the Bletsoe people.are true and faithful disciples, and the great audience present took them to its aggregate heart. "Fun-, in a Sanitarium"- is out-of-breath musical farce, and concerns the,carryingson of a bevy of very pretty nurses with their amorous patients; a crazy actress in search of the unattainable; and an. amazing doctor with a'Petticoat Lane degree. Dr. Abe Isaacs, as impersonated by Mr. Boy Rene, was easily the star 'of the ; company. His Yiddisher medico was only an expansion "of . the Hebrew of .vaudeville, but his personality reached out; his harsh crackling voice was barbed with quaint Yiddisms, his expression was. always, photographic, and his dancing .would disturb the ' equanimity of a Socialist. • His Swiss yodelling song was a gem only comparable to Claude Dampier's "Toreador,' and daughter was his for v the asking. Mr. Albert Bletsoe, who appeared as Mike Sloan, a rich patient, is a comedian of a boisterous character, with more endurance than refinement., Miss iMaud Bletsoe exercised a timorous'contralto in a_ "Dreamland" song (in which a pretty effect with electric lights is introduced), and Miss Carrie : Franks made the utmost of the demented mummer, who. has a relapse in order to sing in Red Cross guise about the boys who will soon oome marching home. A likeable performer is. Mr. Horace Franks, whb' acts well, and made quite a hit with "An Oldfashioned Mother," which is supplemented by a:i>retty tableau and a harmonised male chorus. , The revue is prettily mounted, well dressed, and boasts a quintet of lively dancers, who disturb quite a lot of atmosphere in the sanatorium. i

11l the. first part Ibex, ' a 6hadowtraphist, showed singular. dexteritv with Inis hands in illustrating comical lo\;e and marriage' scenes on a screen. Sylvia, who dances.a'la Loie Fuller, was given a-skirt bf many colours and designs with tho aid pf a magic lantern. The flag idea was particularly attractive and popular. Other performers were tlie Quealeys, Bnrlee and. JJutton, "Miss, Betty Bruce, and the Alaxjvells, trick cyclists.

THE KING'S THEATRE. After the feast of good films/at the King's Theatre recently, an ordinary picture programme would not have pleased, but the management rose to the occasion last night with a first-class bill, which'is to run throughout, the week.' The feature film is a stirring Majestic drama, entitled "X Yankee From the West," in which the leading parts are played by Wallace'Kead and Miss Signc Auen, the latter being a beautiful young woman, Whose acting is quite above the ordinary. (The play is an adaptation of Opie Read's well-known novel, and so the theme need not be enlarged upon. Suffice it' to say that an extremely popular type of hero and heroine figure in many exciting incidents, which are screened among niost delightful surroundings. .To see Miss Signe Auen hoeing'turnips in a spacious field will call up memories of Maud Muller raking the hay, .though the camera has made Miss A»?.n appear even sweeter than AVhittier's poem painted Miss Muller. Sho looked demure, too, when watching her Yankee hero ..punch, the villain's face into a, peculiar shape two' years later, and the applause of the'house, was probably as much for her as for, the •Yankee. These are but • some of tho many charming scenes with- which the Hrama abounds. . A splendid and inspir-

ing subject is the Neptune Company's contribution, entitled "The Royal Naval Division." It is probably the finest spectacle, of naval training tliat lias been placed before local picture patrons, ami shows all the phases of the training from raw recruit to commissioned rank. As evidence of the excellence of the system a selected squad are seen drilling almost as one mail, and it is small wonder to read that such smart men all received' commissions since they were caught by the camera, Other items on the programme include "Cutey's Awakening" (Vitagraph" comedy), "'the Bang Jl'iji •Mines" (Pathe industrial), and the "Pathe Gazette." Music is supplied by, tiio luug's . Symphony Orchestra.

EVERYBODY'S THEATRE. Two exciting instalments of "The Million Dollar Mystery" are being screened I in tho new bill at Everybody's Theatre this week, and make the programme one Of. absorbing interest. Large attendances witnessed the initial performances yesterday. and general satisfaction was expressed with the entertainment provided. The interest aroused by "The Million Dollar Mystery" has kept abreast with tho progress of the serial, two episodes of which are depicted this week, under the titles of "The Secret Warning" and "The Documents of the Treasure Box." In the first, Florence, through tho agency of an intercepted letter, is enabled to foil n poison conspiracy. In the second, tho Russian Minister of Police visits England iu search of the Black Hundred conspirators, and in collaboration with Jones, the butler, a trap is set for them. As in the preceding instalments there is a lively succession, of plot and counterplot. . Next week it is announced the mystery will bo elucidated. Supporting films-include a Lubin comedy, "Cutting Down Expenses," a story of matrimonial squabbles; a fine Edison picture, " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas"; and the "Ganmont Graphic," which covers tho latest in' the world's news. Not the least enjoyable portion of the programme was. the music, under the capable baton of llr. Herbert Bloy.

THE EMPRESS. The star attraction for this week at the Empress Theatre is a Lubin three-part feature drama. of the two extremes of our social life—the pulpit,and the stage. The picture,is entitled "Nell of the Dance Hall," the ■ leading roles are sustained by Miss Edith Sterling, L. C. Shuinvay, and Slelvin Mayo. The picture tells the 'story of a cabaret dancer, who [all's 111 love with a clergyman, who has saved her from the bullying of the dance-hall proprietor. The cabaret'is raided by the police, and Nell in making her escapo finds herself- in the house of the clergyman who had befriended her. The pastor exacts her promise never to. return to tho old life', and offe'rs: her a homei A love affair develops between them, and the rest of the .story describes the girl's fight against the prejudice of the parishioners, who .seek to part her from the man she loves. Another very excellent little drama is, "The Greater Love," by the Vitagraph Company, which shows Mary. Maurice, well-known as "mother of. the movies," to advantage. "Diana on the Farm/' by the Kalem Company, and a Pathe cartoon film, "The Police Dog," are comedies well worth seeing. "The Topical Gazette" has several interesting pictures of the British in Serbia.