THE FAMOUS DIGGERS.

Shannon News, 18 October 1921, Page 3

THE FAMOUS DIGGERS.

Wliai a. wunuenui recurd me Diggers nave Haul ii* i&n i given to every uieaUiCctl company hj ne ume to lull iur uqui'iy u»e years, aiiu piay m eigui uiimreui countries, to lieaxly a million people.

iiie management of the company icuiuij leCujjinse that the snow must nuvv siunu eniiieiy .on its merits, anu wiui mat in view, nave engaged at mg expense some ol the nest artists mat have ever neen seen outside me mg Australian centres. Two, at least, oi tne new artists nave London reputations.

Bert Barton, well known as a member of various suidier entertainment parties during the war, started his Career, as a lad, with Marie Studnolme in London. He is probably best known to New Zealanders as principal comedian in J. C. Williamson’s Pantomime, “Humpty Dunipty.” Mr Barton is very versatile and his Dickens’ sketches are masterpieces of character drawing. He once had the honour oi being congratulated by Charles Dickens’ own son on the clever way in which he presented the characters.

J#e Valli is an important and expensive importation from England. He has been putting his sketch, “Tickets Please,” on at the Palladium in the foggy metropolis with great success, and it speaks well for the enterprise of the management that New Zealand is to be given an opportunity of seeing %this very fine artist.

Frank Moran was well known as a comedian at the front. When the armistice was signed, Frank elected to try his luck on the English music halls, with the result that he was kept busy until recently when business reasons recalled him to Wellington, N.Z., and he was prevailed on to accept an engagement with the Diggers. Spencer ' Furreli, a ragtime singer and eccentric dancer, is a performer whose forte is Southern melodies with a lilt in them. Ivan Marshall is a tenor Singer whose songs are sure to be. sung in every homestead. Besides the artists mentioned, there are still some of the ol favourites, including Stan Lawson, the misleading lady, and Tano Fama, the captain' of comedy. The song numbers in the new show were specially selected in -America, England and Australia, and the publishers are-printing special editions of them for circulation in New Zealand. They are an exceptionally fine lot of musical numbers. In addition to the comedy, which is the best ever, the show will have some scenery, including the beautiful Oriental scene and the lovely Lantern Land—a miniature masterpiece of beautiful effects. The dresses, too, are on a scale that brings them into line with the bedt London shows, as they were secured and imported from the great metropolis regardless of expense. Lawson’s dresses range from a beautiful creation by Cornell! of gorgeous shimmering spaiigles and passementerie to a wonderful gold and jewelled Eastern costume with snake head-dress. The costumes used in the Oriental scene, by other members of the company, make a kaleidoscope of bizarre colouring. The quartette has been trained by Fred Webber.'