COLOUR AND BEAUTIES

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 80, 2 October 1933, Page 5

COLOUR AND BEAUTIES

"BRIGHT SIDE UP"

You can fool some of the lowbrows all the time, all the highbrows some of the time, but not all the lowbrows all the time. So much was apparent on the first production at the Grand Opera House on Saturday of that feast of colour and beauty, offered by Ernest C. Rolls as a revue with the captivating title of "Bright Side Up." First and last it was a cleverly-designed entertainment for those joyous audiences which demand plenty _ot bright colour and brisk music, rapid action, and no waiting; audiences wnicli can relish a broad joke as long as it is witty, and can appreciate any subtle jest with a fine point to it. Before the curtain went up the crowded house on Saturday was prepared by the orchestral epitome of tho show that was to come. The overture began with a mighty crash, and in modern music fashion strove to imitate a boilershop in full action; then it swung off into a waltz, stepped on the accelerator, so to speak, and brought a fierce presto section to a close with a vicious smack on the cymbafe. Then up went the curtain. The floor of a great drapery emporium was discovered. At the swing-doors stood a gorgeously liveried porter, just inside the entrance, on pedestals, stood two splendid-living model figures wearing costal habiliments and hose with appropriate elastic attachments, girls in maize and cornflower-hued flounced1 dresses, were fooling about with "feather dusters, an assistant stood behind a counter, and a great variety; of millinery, piece goods, and over and .under garments were arranged to catch the eye of the customer and promote sales. This scene was but the first of many, with their bright interludes, some of the latter being before a front cloth. It served to introduce at once three leading members of the talented company—Jennie Benson, Keme^ Eiano, and .Charles Norman. Play was made with that trade dictum, "The customer is never wrong, and much tun extracted from the exposure of articles ot women's wear that attract but little attention when seen behind plate-glass windows, but send audiences into paroxysms of laughter when they are displayed on the stage. Bright little sketches tollowed in quick succession. ,„.,,. „• r There is no waiting in "Bright bide Up," no returns, no repeats, but swift going all the time.' Recalls were frequent and insistent, but lingering before the curtain was evidently strictly forbidden. To even mention item by item in this bright and merry entertainment would overrun space provided for this notice. Reference must, however, be made to the beautiful conceit called "Trees." First the song of: that name was artistically sunc before an appropriate front cloth (by Miss Thelma Trott), then the singer retired and the oloth rose on a sort of enchanted forest with Arthur Kackham trees. Then trees swayed in the breeze while attendant goblins of the glad?, all dressed in green, showed their concern at the rudeness 3f the wind, personified by a sprightly dancer (Billy Kershaw) bounding about the stage in Puck-like flittings. With masterly lighting-rcharacteristic of the whole show—rosy dawn turned to day, and day to a gorgeous-gloaming, and then the tree trunks moved and discovered lovely girls which they had hitherto concealed. One other exquisite example of stagecratt should' also be referred to—and seen by all who enjoy theatrical splendour. It was entitled "Pearl of the Pacific. First a song of that name is given by a line baritone (Colin Crane), then the disappearance of diaphanous curtains, and next the revealing of great bivalves, such as pearl oysters, clams, or those oysters which never look so well as when flanked with a glass of liock and garnished with a slice of lemon. As the gentleman sang of the pearl of peerless beauty which he sought tad'-.would not rest until he found, the great shells opened and < showed that each contained a beautiful girl, upon whom the spotlight lingered caressingly, yet all too briefly. . . " . It should-not be imagined that because two exquisitely beautiful examples of theatric decoration and stage settings and groupings have been specially referred to, other features in the programme were lesser works of art of their kind; on the contrary, they were eminently suitable for the playlets or sketches to which they were the visual backgrounds. "Broadcasting," for instance, had nothing*to it but a sombre back cloth. But it was screamingly comical with its "effects" illustrative of passages in-a play sent over the air from the, studio of Wellington, 2FUN. The main purpose, it would seem, in the production of "Bright Side Up" is to get the whole house into a roar of laughter, and to keep it roaring, except in moments afforded by way of relief in gazing on scenes of exuberant beauty of both girls and decoration. ' If takes clever and experienced^ artists like Jennie Benson,. Charles Norman, Renie Riano, Chic Arnold, and lively.and original dancers like Billy Kershaw, Mac Band, "L'Etoile," Laurence, Archie Thompson, Harry Simmons, and many Others in the cast to do all this. Everyone in "Bright Side Up" knows what to do and when to do it, and when not to do it. lAs for the girls, the beauty girls, they appear to have been most carefully selected for the entertainment for- physical attractions as ivcll as a sense of rhythm. They wear ns a rule costumes that could easily go into a reticule, in fact, bare necessities in tho way of covering. Their posing, grouping, and apparel (such as it is) suggests the influence of the Folies-Bergere. There was not a slack moment in "Bright Side Up" on Saturday; not a yawn to be seen or a sigh to be heard. The "grand finale" was. grand indeed as a spectacle,

but it was "nob final, because there was such a storm of applause at the fall ot the curtain, such a wealth of bouquets presented, and some nice little speeches of thanks by the management before the tactful and accomplished conductor, Eno Mareo, waved his baton for the orchestra to rise and play the National Anthem. "Bright Side Up" will be repeated this and tomorrow evenings. Other similar brilliant and jolly s^hows are to succeed it.