"MOTHER GOOSE'?

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2803, 22 June 1916, Page 7

"MOTHER GOOSE'?

WILLIAMSON PANTOMIME SEASON

"Mother Goose," a pantomime, written by J. Hickory Wood. Music by Victor Champion. Cast:—

G r ot V s r e £ rtllur SUeant sff, ' or , o l Moortown Rupert, DarroU Hind Legs of Horse Geo. Smith Arthur Eornold3 mi sollJ5 oll J Ctooso Albert Felino The Donkeys Billy le Brun Malignum Ohar]ee Howard i??/' wr- Victor Kelly Colin ..... Lilian de Yenny Enc, Earl of Fens Gladys Dawes Queenie Paul Grekflion Maggie Dickinson * Dorothy Firmin J- 1 " — ; Maud Pane Perhaps it is not altogether fair to judge the performance of "Mother Goose" by tho Williamson Company on last evening's showing. Misfortune seems to have dogged the management, for the 6teamer which brought the company direct from Sydney arrived later than: anticipated. At the last moment, after a most trying - day, some of the mechanical parte of one of the biggest effects were found to be missing, and, after a strenuous effort to adjust the gear, it had to bo cut out, and the result was a late start' and a correspondingly late finish, tho curtain descending at 11.10 p.m. Undor the circumstances, the audience ■ was indulgent, , and ' it' speaks well for the show that, with very few exceptions, those present stayed to the end.

( As a pantomime this latest edition of "Mother Goose" can scarcely be compared with its namesake of yeaTS ago. It has its good points in point of spectacle, massed effects, andiballets, but the personnel of the company is not so strong either in oomedy or in most other respects. Comedy more than anything else is- the element one looks for in pantomime, and in that regard the public is only moderately well served. Mr. Arthur Stigant, who was tho dame in last year's pantomime; came up smiling as Mother Gooao, and worked really hard and with good effect on conventional lines to raise laughter. Her endeavours were well backed by a really wonderful goose (Arthur Felino), built up and feathered on the lines of -the extinct great auk and the dancing horse (Messrs. Lo Brun:.. and Smith); Mr. Arthur Reynolds, as.Laird 'Roderick, walked through his part in kilts, but made little attempt to entertain, if one. excepts his song,- ■ "Billy Hughes," writton Tound the adventures of the Commonwealth .Prime Minister in civilisation. Mr. Victor Kelly''(Jack) is a distinctly clever comedian and'-acro-bat, but there are occasions where his humour is eclipsed by a tendency to vulgarity, which is,not at all desirabloiin an ontertainment that everyone likes to see children eujoy. His "Follow the Moon" song .was planned on original lines, and tho amazing shoulder falls made one acbe to .. look at ■ him. :Mr. Rupert Darvell, and tho Mayor of Moortowu, had little to do but slouch round in moth-eaten robes and the dismallest make-up concoivablo. There were gleams of brightness among the ladies. Miss Maud Fane makes a charming Jill, though her more vital talent as a comedian is not utilised. Hor rich mezzo voice was used with fine effect in a pretty balloon, song (in which tho chorus offer coloured balloons on long sti'oks to -the occupants of tho stalls), sud a love ballad. The variety , of "her frocks was of extreme interest to the ladies. The principal "boy" is Miss Lillian de Veiiny, the tallest "boy".'we have yet seen in a pantomime, and net one, moreover, who conforms to the ideal in a ; character which requires to be full of joio de vivre-, .as well as .possessing claims to personal charm. • Miss de Venny was helped in her, songs by some clever effects. In "My Little Dream Girl" chorus, the whole of the stage is blacked out, and a rosy light plays upon the pretty features'of juvenile-Pinky Porter, who loaws the dark confines of the stage, to lloat ovet the heads of the audience in the guise of a human, firefly. Iu the "Swing Song" the ropes of tho swings were outlined in electric lights, which changed their tints as tho girls swung out over the heads of' those in the stalls—quito a • delightful effect. ' Miss. Maggie Dickinson, as Grrotclieh, displayed an airy sprightliness of. habit, a nice capacity for pert acting, sm dan eager desire for action! that had its effect on the .She is, ,bue of the, brightest spots in the pantomime, and her dancing in the Allies* Ballet , was graceful. and spirited. Miss Queenie Paul, who appeared in tho glittering white.robes of the Fairy Heartsease sang rather well, but 6poke ' her lines with the smallest respect for their meaning. Her foil, the Demon Malignum, was vijornwsl} ylayixi , by 'Mr.' Chas. Howard, who has had much experience in pantomimic crime. The star specialty performers.are Ross and Falls, a:.really remarkable pair of original comedy acrobats, who keep tho audience in. a roar of laughter, when it is iiot shuddering with goosey apprehension at their daring.. specialise in. falls and bumps that would put the average man in tho hospital for a week, bang each other about to tho air of the "Anvil Chom/' and finally pile four tables, one on top of tho other, arid rock about on a chair on the dizzy apex, giving heart-shocks to all who are not laughing, until tho centre of gravity is defied, and down comes the pile, man and all, and no one the worse, tor it. The act made a distinct hit.

The ballets are very elaborate, and in. some instances an artistic feast of colour . and form. The Toy Nurses and Soldiers' Ballet by the children is decidedly quaint in the memories it recalls of N urseryland. The Ball Ballet, tagged on to a song sung by .Miss 'Dickinson, is pretty, and • the big "Money Ballet," in which copper, silver, gold, and bank notes, float round in ordered array, in fitting scenes, was quite a gorgeous arrangement; filially, there was the Ballet of National Flowers, which evoked exclamations of delight and rounds of applause as the scheme developed into a glowing garden of beautiful girls, each symbolising a national flower.. If there' were nothing else to see in "Mother Goose," the scenery of Mr. W. It. Coleman would be worth a visit alone. . This evening tha curtain will rise, at 7.(6 p.m., Mid the performance will include the daring, yet comical, rocking [;)iip scene, which had to be cut out lasi evening.