PRINCE EDWARD

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 234, 22 December 1927, Page 16

PRINCE EDWARD

THE ROYAL SUNBEAMS Direct from Sydney, the Royal Sunbeams will commence a New Zealand tour at the Prince Edward Theatre today. Organised by Miss Chrissie Royal, the Sunbeams on this occasion contain some new faces, but many old favourites remain. Everything in the new “pantomimes” to be presented -will be entirely new, even to the costumes and effects. The children simply bubble over with enthusiasm, and their spirit is contagious. Their opening production, “A Merry Christmas Party,” will introduce a lot of the latest song and dance hits, including several specially written numbers. New members of the personnel include Valda Chate, Harry Ussher, Phyllis Robertson and the pet of the family. Baby Doreen, and older favourites are Jackie Clarke, Alice Johnson and Gwen James. The specialty troupes are many, notably the Royal Merry Twinklers Ballet, the Radiant Beauty Ballet, the Tiny Tot acrobats, and the Royal Wonders. Performances will be given twice daily during the Auckland season.

Two years ago, while playing “extra" parts, Janet Gaynor was guest at a party at the Morosco Theatre in Los Angeles, where Helen Menken was portraying Diane in the stage production of “7th Heaven.” The play fascinated Miss Gaynor. She sat enthralled, lost in the beauty with which Miss Menken interpreted the character. She left the theatre wrapped in the atmosphere of the play and vaguely wondering how it would seem to create such a part, though it was too far beyond her dreams at that time. But sometimes dreams come true, and the youthful Janet was cast for the film version of Diane. The rest is now film history. With the showing of this picture in Los Angeles and New York, critics of these two cities acclaimed the acting of little Miss Gaynor as a revelation of emotional characterisations and the greatest individual performance of the year.