NEW ST. JAMES

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 411, 20 July 1928, Page 15

NEW ST. JAMES

ELSIE PRINCE AS “SUNNY” Completely outshining its predecessor, “Archie,” the new show at St. James Theatre, “Sunny,” puts a full house into the brightest of humours each evening. “Sunny” is one of the world’s greatest successes in musical comedies. Nothing semes to have been forgotten in its make-up. The music is captivating, the ballets fascinating and the humour irresistible. As the circus girl who knows what she wants and isn’t happy till she gets it. Miss Elsie Prince is delightful. Jimmy Godden has the role of one of the American boys who is pressed into “Sunny’s” service, and his passive resistance is wonderfully humorous. Charlton Morton flits about as the aesthetic circus proprietor and is responsible for a great deal of mirth. Act 1 culminates in the elaborate ■wedding scene where dozens of bridesmaids follow the gorgeoously-gowned bride to the altar. A conservatory with fields of scarlet poppies and undulating hills in the distance makes a beautiful background for Act 2. Groups of lithe young ladies call in from the neighbouring gymnasium and cavort attractively. Mr. Godden and Miss Prince put over one of the best numbers in the show, “When We Get Our Divorce,” and the audience settles down for another burst of splendour.

Miss Prince and the ballet suddenly forsake the story altogether and step out in a “Blackbottom.” Mr. Morton and Miss Lambert then find themselves among the Flanders poppies and are intensely diverting in a burlesque number, “Strolling,” which they do very cleverly.

“Sunny” will sparkle each night until Thursday.

Arthur Edmund Carew, the George Harris of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin, sailed on Saturday on the Duilio for Rome, Paris and London. In all three places he will make a personal appearance with “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and in Loudon he expects to star in a British picture.