Coloured Comedienne

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 224, 10 December 1927, Page 24 (Supplement)

Coloured Comedienne

DEATH OF FLORENCE ! i MILLS IN NEW YORK IS j I LOSS TO REVUE STAGE I 1

SUCCESS IN LONDON

Florence Mills, the famous coloured American comedienne, who delighted thousands of Londoners with her wonderful performance in the revue “Blackbirds,” at the London Pavilion, died in New York recently.

Miss Mills was only 25 years of age. Although an extremely clever dancer, she stated a year ago that she had never had a dancing lesson, and only a few singing lessons. She made her first stage appearaipce at the age of four at a music-hall in Washington. It was in 1920 that her great chance came, when she was offered and accepted the “lead” in a new show. “Shuffle Along,” in New York.

Later she became a star at the Plantation Cabaret, New York, where C. B. Cochran first saw her. I-Ie took her* to London, where she appeared in May, 1923, in “Dover Street to Dixie.”

Miss Mills’s last appearance in Lon- ‘ don was with an all-coloured cast in “The Blackbirds,” which was produced at the Pavilion in September of last year. It was an exotic, eccentric ultra-jazzy revue, in which the peculiar talents of Miss Mills had the fullest scope. She was described as having the thinnest legs ever owned by a well-known dancer, and “The Daily ChVonicle” dramatic critic wrote of her performance* ”The artistry of Miss Mills is exceptional. She can fill mawkish words set to an i. itative melody with glitter and innuendo. The audience cooed over, whistled for, and acclaimed her as though she was another Nellie Farren.” Off the stage Miss Mills was a dignified, serious and charming girl, whose chief ambition it was to raise the social status of the negro. She spoke English in a quiet, cultured voice. Somewhat sensitive as to her colour, she once said she could : not understand “why a litic colour in ! the skin should make so much differ- I ence. We have the same brains and ; the same feelings as white people, and j it hurts us very much when 'we are looked upon as people ap&rt.”

“The Girl from Cook’s” the most recent Gaiety Theatre production in London, suggests a rehash of many old-time musical comedies. The authors, R. H. Burnside and Greatrex Newman, have written a "book” which contains a set of situations that date back far beyond the days of George Edwardes. The music, composed by Raymond Hubbell and Jean Gilbert, recalls memories of many old-time tunes. IVlost of the dances and the ensembles remind one of the days when musical comedy had still to grow up. And some of the jokes are far older than the Gaiety Theatre itself. Here is an example, as spoken by one man who is cross with another:—“l wish your sister hadn’t prayed for a baby brother.” Such a line criticises itself. And there are others—dozens of others" !In its conventional way, however, the | play has colour and tune, with a story that is neither better nor worse than the kind of “come-and-go” farce that has proved a substantial foundation for ; many a piece that has run its hundreds lof nights. .