"HIGH JINKS"

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2971, 8 January 1917, Page 5

"HIGH JINKS"

1 •• AIIDtT7V DTIDTfCAIII? liltlUiii ISUKLhM{Ub "High Jinks," a musical comedy in threo acts. Cast: .Dick Wayne Clms. H. Workman Dr. Robert Thorno Field Ksher ! Mons. Jacrjue3 Rabelais...William Greene Colonel Slaughter Alfred Frith I'Garcon Walter Champney • Air. J. J. Jeffreys Claude Bantock Sylvia Dale Dorothy Brunton Adelaide Fontaine Connie Ediss Mile. Chi-Chi - Maud Fane Mrs. Marion Thorne Marie Eaton Florence Cecil Bradley Madame Rabelais Violet Hooper Paget Ida Lacey This rollicking musical farce, made in America, was presented for the first time in Wellington about fifteen months ago by the Williamson Musical Comedy Company. Some changes have been made in the cast since that time, the most important being the addition of Miss Connie Ediss to tho group of principals. But Miss Dorothy Brunton, Miss Marie Eaton, and Mr. 0. H. Workman, who have most of the work to do, retain their parts, and "High Jinks," as revived in the Grand Opera House on Saturday evening, is every whit as attractive as the original production proved to be. The play is a whirlwind of bright and ..breezy fun, with tho lilt of ragtime running through it. Its scenes aro hilarious, its plot is a. queer mixture of comedy, revue, and burlesque, and its musio is unusually catchy. The reduction of the plot to brief narrative appears scarcely pos. sible. The playwright's.particular inspiration is the "high jinks" perfume, which cajiscs every person breathing it to lapse temporarily into a _ state of amiable and complaisant hilarity. It is the perfume that causes Dr. Thome to kiss Madame Babelais. Then M. Rabelais demands blood or osculatory satisfaction in the form of a kiss from Mrs. Thorno. The doctor being a man of resource as well as peace, decides to hire a lady to call herself _ Mrs. Thorne during tho absence of his own wife, who could not be trusted to view with an indulgent eye the kissing escapade. But owing'to the enthusiastic co-operation of Dick AVaync, the doctor gets two bogus wives, and when tho real Mrs. Thorna appears unexpectedly, and one of tho "wives" falls in love with. Wayne, and the mercenary Adelaide Fontaine (who has mislaid her husband) has to produce suddenly «a twenty-year-old daughter who nevor existed, tho perfume has to lie used with great frequency in the interests of poace. It is all highly ridiculous, of course, but it is also very amusing. The action of the play procoeds at headlong pace, pausing only to allow the introduction of .musical numbers, ballets, and choruses, and thero is usually a delightful background of seaside girls, shop girls, cabaret dancers, and tho like. The dresses are .pretty, the mounting is gorgeous, and the most is made of the music. Of the principal players it is not necossary to say much. Miss Dorothy Brunton has an established position in the affections of Wellington audiences, and,as Sylvia Dale she was bright, sweet, and exhilarating. The kissing that fell to her lot sho managed with -just the right amount of daintiness, and hor solos and duets wewall treats. Mr. Workman was again the sound comedian, and with Miss Marie Eaton and Mr. Alfred Frith he made an nproarious success of the trio, "Faust in Ragtime." Miss Eaton's own songs inoluded the amusing martial solo, "Sammy Sang tho Marseillaise." Miss Connie Ediss was very well suited, and her numbers were excellently rendered and keenly appreciated. A "double rag step" dance by Mr. Jack Hooker was an interesting item. "High Jinks" will bo played Kg&in this evening, whon the company will bring its present season to a close.