“THE DESERT SONG”

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 822, 16 November 1929, Page 15

“THE DESERT SONG”

“SPECTACULAR MAGNIFICENCE” The approaching season of “The Desert Song,” which is to be staged at His Majesty's Theatre by the J. C. Williamson, Ltd., management, for the first time, on Wednesday night next, promises to prove just ns successful here as it has been in London, Xew York, Australia and in Wellington and other parts of Xew Zealand. "Tim Desert Song” was described bv one eritic in Sydney ns a musical play of spectacular magnificence, and singular charm and beauty. with music which at times borders on the fringe <»f grand opera. The play, too, is rich in dramatic* interest. The scenes are set in Morocco and peopled with members of the Foreign Legion. Arabs and so forth. Lance Fairfax, in the role of “Red Shadow,” has achieved an outstanding triumph. Mr. Fairfax is a native of Wellington, and he has made Xew Zealand known throughout the world, for he now ranks amongst the world’s best as an actor and a singer. To a tine stage presence, Lance Fairfax adds a magnificent baritone voice, and “The Desert Song” contains numbers that give him every opportunity to display it to the fullest advantage. The principal soprano role, that of Margot, will be sung and acted by Miss Marie Bremner, who played the part witli enormous success in Sydney and Melbourne. Miss Bremner has not appeared in any of the other cities of Xew Zealand, but she is definitely to do so here on Wednesday night. A feature of “The Desert Song” is I e genuinely humorous comedy. In the role of Benjamin Kidd, Mr. Herbert Mundin, the talented young London comedian, is said to be scream- ■ ingly humorous, and so is Miss Rene Murphy as Susan. The east is a very long one and algel • - there are over 130 people in the production. including a male chorus of 40 and a ballet of 60.