HIS MAJESTY’S

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 233, 21 December 1927, Page 15

HIS MAJESTY’S

“ROSE MARIE” TO-NIGHT At His Majesty’s Theatre at S o’clock this evening the J. C. Williamson, Ltd., management will present the first representation In New Zealand of the world’s most successful musical play, “Rose Marie,” whl.h is said to be too best and costliest play ever presented to playgoers of New Zealand. It Is said of “Rose Marie” that it has broken every musical' comedy record in Australia. It contains a record number of players. The number of special engagements (of principals) constituted a record, the salary list" topped the poll, the number of performances given, broke all records, a record number of people witnessed' this wonderful show, and the number of recalls was unparalleled in the history

of musical comedy productions. One of the great features of “Rose Marie” is the wonderful Totem Pole dance towards the end of the fjrst act, which contains some of the most striking and appealing scenery ever

seen on the stage. The locale is the Totem Pole lodge, where the Indian girls, under Wanda (Miss Stephanie Deste), perform some of the most intricate and varied movements, dancing and marching in a manner never yet. seen on the stage. In this scene Miss Deste scores one of the most marked successes ever credited to an individual artiste, while the Totem ballet girls have been cheered and cheered again for their .astonishingly clever concerted work. Those who liavo witnessed the production are loud in their praise of the facial beauty and physical perfection of the ballet, and of the general presentation of tills recordbreaking musical play.

The cast of characters is a particularly strong one, and seldom indeed has such an aggregation of artists of world-wide repute been gathered together for one musical comedy. Miss Harriet Bennett, who plays the part of Rbse Marie, the beautiful, and passionate French Canadian girl, is one of the most accofnplished stars ever brought to New Zealand. She has scored a brilliant success in the part—a success she is sure to repeat in the Dominion. Other high-grade performers are Mr. Dandy (who plays the role of Jim Kenyon, the lover, so convincingly), Frederic Bentley (the diminutive comedian, who appears as HardBoiled Herman), Yvonne Banvard (Lady Jane), George Bryant (Black Eagle), James Hughes (Sergeant Malone), Doris Johnstone (Ethel Brander), Lou Vernon (Emile La Flamme), and Noel Allan (Edward Hawley). There are ten scenes In “Rose Marie,” and 20 musical numbers. An augmented orcherstra is under the conductorsliip of Mr. N. Ravel. The season is for 22 nights, and the box plans are at Lewis R. Eady and Son, Ltd.