ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 103, 26 January 1920, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

OPERA HOUSE. ; Tliq attractive Hawaiian, piny, "The Bird of I'lir.-ulij-o," drew a large audience ai Iho Grand Opera nouse on Saturd.iy evoniny. The play lias an altHctivMiess at. its own, and was appreciated to the (all by Hie audience. .Miss Muriel Starr at Liiana makes a lovablo character, who won the sympathy of the audience. .Mr. Frank Harvey, who appears as a social outcast, on the island, gives a very finished, performance. The other members of the. company arc all well cast and make the Teij most of their opportunities. "The Hird of Paradise" will be repeated to-nigitl and (o-morroiv night. 810 \\'n;i.iA l .ii'soi ; rvTT!(ACT;oN. Great interest, isibeing evinced in the ■ (•appearance of the popular J. C. Williamson jltislcal Comedy Company. In the production of "Yes, Uncle'' a prcat lieat is prom'scd lovers of musical comedy. "Yes, Uncle" has 'irokcn all the light opera records of London fur i two <i(!Ci-(!e>. This is to a great extent owing lo the fact that a new writer of Ij rics has appeared on the musical horizon in the person of .Mr. Ayder. .Musiei'llj, "Yes, Uncle" is gencrailv 'allowed by critics a.s being one of, '.f not the best, of all modern musical plays. The reason of this is, 7'iot only is the music head and shoulders above the ordinary musical comedy calibre, bat that the lil.rettists concerned in Ihe creation of the p'eee have endowed the play with a sane and human story. The play has run for three years hi London, and is alill runninj; to capacity business there. This, of course, speaks for itself. The play will be interpreted fcv the very best talc-nt that is procurable in Austtilasia. "Yes, Uncle" is in two acts of continuous musical, jovial, clever, harmonious continuity. It will be played for the first seven nights of a sixteen nights season, and will be followed for the next live niihts bv the unchallenged favourite "Going Up." For the last four nights of the season is nniiniinreil "High Jinks." The bax plan for the first seven irghts will bo opened at the Bristol at nine o'clock this morning. KINO'S THEATRE. At the King's Theatre, the tastes of the picture-lover who is fond of music, and those of the music-lover who is fond of pictures, are equally considered. The current bill furnishes abundant evidence of (he fact, for while the pictures are excellent, ihe music, vocal as well as instrumental, is no less so. A concert trio, headed by Jfr. Charles Smythe (basso), appears 'nightly. Sir. Smythe is an artist of rare ability, and if he is best known as a performer who has shared the platform with world-famous operatic stars, it is not to be deduced from ('hat that his range of achievement is limited to items in the heavier style. His masterly rtmlering of the prologue to "1 I'agliaoei" distinguishes him at once from the ordinary ruck of concert singers; but his "Humour, his expansive nature, and genial temperament, are fjnalitics revealed chiefly by his treatment of such humbler favourites as "The Floral 'Dance," "OH to Philadelphia," "Up From Somerset," and "The :■»...., .•■;,:,,." '['lie number, conceived in a delicio»s vein of mockery and sat: to wonderfully catchy music, was given on Saturday as ail "encore." It is safe to predict that iiv. Sniytlie will have to repeat it each evcning'lill the end of Hi is stay. "Worthily supporting the ba!>:o_ are Miss .Anita Greene (soprano), and Miss Miriam Kiitner (soubrette). Tom Moore stars in the big picture, of which his happy smile is undoubtedly the making.

J EVERYBODY'S. THEATRE. ! "The Shuttle," a splendid picturisaS Hon of tlic famous novel, was shown lo a i very largo crowd at Everybody's Theatre J on Saturday. It is a stirring story of ', American and English life, and features \ Constance Tahnmlsc. It will be repeated | to-day and to-night. \ ■ EMPRESS THEATRE. ' "Ruggles of Red Gap, 'in which Taylor Holmes is starved, is the leading picture at I'lic Empress Theatre this ■week, 'the story is woven round tho j valet of an English nobleman. Rugbies, J the butler, is lost to an American in a j game of poker. The Americans make ' him take charge of their cousin, who is 3 i from tile country, and does not dress or { j live as they think proper. They go to j Red America, and take Ruyglps 3 ! with them. There he is introduced to !j the town as Colonel Euggles, of the Brij tisli Army. Complications arise, Ruggles ] starts a restaurant, and a pretty love u-tory enters into (he film. The story is vj'vcrv interesting, and the film a really 'J ■ good comedy-drama. Taylor Holmes and $ ; Frederick Burton are Clio chief f'un- !■ makers, and their acting is excellent, j ; A fine supporting programme is shown, '■ ' including a Pa'the's Gazette, and episode ' ! ten of "The Lightning Raider," entitled | "The Baited Trap." ; WIRTITK' CIRCUS TO-MORROW. i The periodical visits made lo Welling- * i ton by the big circus and menagerie of } the Wirth Brothers always carry with 3 them the promise of novelty and excite--1 iiiei.'.'. 'I.';:e ciivjus, which was to have oiioned to-night, has baen delayed in the : South by bad weather, and •/annot open i here until to-morrow afternoon. Mr. ;■ Wirth and his company arrived yoster- ! day, but the animals cannot reach Wcl- '. lington until this evening. The big : tent will be pitched in Cable .; «'--<;,)■_ ~<•),,. (-1,,, Taramki Street \ Wharf. It will run for six nights and i ' five matinees, and visitors will be admit- > led to the menagerie l>etwee:i i and "> i p.m. each day. Among the new artists !•• are the Eddy Duo, who perform on a silver wire, turning somersaults—the only act of its kind in the world, the Wirth 'j Brothers claim. The Garcia Brothers are. " n troupe of famous acrobats; Mdlle. Bell j| Onra, a beautiful and dashing interna- ] tional gymnast on the trapeze, excels in i feats of strength. The Cevina Troupe of | six wire-walkers, in an net entitled "The j Maniacs of the Wire." are more than !' expert wire-walkers. They dance, run, and perform acrobatic fcate on the wire, apparently as much at home on Che wire as if they were on the .ground. The , . "loop of death," performed on the trnj i pc/.e by Leo Moutfort. is a highly senj rational and dangerous performance—one i that hoids the onlooker spellbound. Silly | Danny and his Hock of trained geese f provoke much laughter. Mr. Tex Bailey. I America's foremost animal trainer, I makes trained horse?, dogs, and sheep • stand in groups of modern statuary—like i pieces of alabaster. The Zoo sisters are 1 called "The Human Aeroplanes." They j fly and whirl through tin air. butterfly J fashion, hanging by their teeth, from a ,j steel circle. The Plying Winskills and j Charlie Chaplin clown do a wonderful aerial trapeze act. Box plan at the Bris- : tol.