English Star

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 218, 3 December 1927, Page 22 (Supplement)

English Star

New Lead for Au*t. alian Productions Annie Croi't, a London musical comtoy actress, who has been engaged by air George Tallis for an Australian season, received her musical education at Hull, where she was a member of ;.n amateur operatic society. She made her rirst appearance on the Stage as a vocalist at an early age. iter tirst appearance on the London stage was in 1914, when she succeeded Cicely Courtneidge as Phyllis in “The Cinema Star, She also played leading parts in “Topsy Turvy,” “Jack and the .Beanstalk,” and the "Follies” of 1919 and 1920. In 1921 she appeared in “The Peep Show,” the revue in which Mona Magnet appeared at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, in 1923. Before leaving London she appeared at the Shaftesbury Theatre, in the musical play, “M Son John,” in which se co-starred wit’ Billy Merson.

In Australia she will appear in “Tlk Girl Friend” (the musical comedy, in which George Gee is appearing with great success in London at present), “Hit the Deck,” a money-making New York musical comedy, and “The Desert Song,” a stirring musical play, with a singing chorus of fierce-looking Riff bandits. Somerset Maugham has written part of the last act of “The Letter,” one of the plays to be done by the Vanbrugh Boucicault Company in two forms. In the first version the wife’s confession was made direct to her husband; but after two or three of the London rehearsals Mr. Maugham substituted for this a “throwback,” in which her story was acted instead of being told. The throwback is a device which has been used ofen in moving pictures, but comparatively seldom in spoken plays, though it originated on the stage long before the cinema was known. Its use now by a leading dramatist is another sign of the times so far as the influence of the screen on the stage is concerned. Mr. Maugham says that his object was to avoid tediousness; he thought it would bore an audience to listen to two long narratives in one play. A Christmas attraction at the National Theatre will be the Royal Sunbeams Revue Company, specially organised in Sydney by Miss Chrissie Royal, Australia’s best known teacher. Headed by Jackie Clarke, the troupe, consists of 30 of Australia’s most talented children, including the Royal Wonders, the Merry Twinklers, and several other fine specialty acts. After a season at Auckland the company will tour New Zealand under the direction of R. A. Cleland.