AMUSEMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 112, 9 June 1909, Page 4

AMUSEMENTS.

"THE MKRIiY WJDOW." ( IHULLIAXT PRODUCTION BY THE ! ROYAL COMICS. it is an amusing, though cynical, com- • mentary on modern international stan- > (lards of art that with a clos'e approach 1 to truth "The Merry Widow" is billed as ''the greatest musical success of our. generation." That it is in accord with modern popular taste is evident from its magnificent success. And, since in these days the voice of the ipcople is as the voice of Cod, the huge audiences' which in three hundred theatres of Europe simultaneously .follow the merry widowhood of the "joyful peasant"'must bo right. There must be something in it ill accord with the highest traditions of the i-ace. In the alternative, one would | have to say that the taste of the people j is decadent—and who would dare? In | any ease, were one so minded, there is j no room to-day; Parliament sits, and j lucubration on standards of morals and : art imif't be curtailed 'to quake room for more serious stuff. Anyhow, musical comedy desires to be judged on its own standards and by no higlier. After three years' success in London, the more as- j tounding when one sees the play, the most famous musical comedy of the century is prevented to colonial audiences. The theatre' avu-. all too small for the audience which sought to be present at the performance by Mr. J. C. Williamcompany on Monday jiight-a house to (leliigh't any manager's heart. The play was brilliantly staged. Mr. Williamson certainly doe's not" skimp expense in presenting his plays even outside the bigger centres, and' anv defects visible in the local staging may be attributed directly to the inadequate space available in the theatre. At times the 1 stage hiis absurdly overcrowded, and in I the last act the whole effect was dwarfed by Jack of stage room. However, one Ventures to think it is the exceeding brilliance of tile setting that gives "The Merry .Widow'' its success. The music is undoubtedly lar above the ordinary standard of musical comedy, but it might be so without reaching any transcendent height. The orchestration is i really interesting „ m i al t j uu . s ■ cx ]ii|. u .;' ating. There are -some quaint Wagneri esque uses of the side-drums, as' when . the widow's" entrance is introduced by a sort of "Flying Dutchman'' runibL'; but it ends there. The lyrics are pretty but a, disappointment, in that they foiI low too faithfully the Hat and unprofltl able lilt of the ■music-hall ditties which I have become traditional in this „ort of musical play. The man 'who can make • musical icomcdy different from what it is i while retaining the brilliance of the set- ; ting and the lightness of the music is i yet to seek. • Lchar certainly has not achieved it. 1 ln-rc i. nothing brilliant ) auout (.lit? dialogue, biitr it is popular ami [ it takes. Ihe virtue uf a good storv is |. not in its nevne-s. dmt in Hie evccllcnc" > of its telling, and there the iibreitists'I it it be they—score.

Mm I'lorcncc Vcuuifr plays the "iierrv U mow ' very charmingly. Her voice has a remarkable .power and -llexibility given full 'piny by tlie music ullottctl her. Sim wa»' at her Jiest in the duets. Mr Vadrew lligginson, who played Prince Ihuino, ha, ilie iidynnln-;c ol' being different I'rom the usual s '„ r t 0 f musical .comedy hero, and lii- iu:tiiig was rcflHuhiag. Hi' is distinctly original, and one Wonders tlie more why couldn't improve on tlie "business I ''in tire "Cnvalid" duet; as it is, the said liy-plav is banal, jiaron il'opoll' ; ,ml Nisdi' are two very droll character.,' done after tlie usual pantomime fashion .by .Mr Victor (ionnet and ,\lr. XV. K. IViVv-lhoroiHi-ly excellent and amusiu" iu their wav but too much after the orthodox mode! to ibe really interesting. The way is perennially fresh with the „,„a| audience, f Mttioun to .be amused; hue one longs for a change. The head waiter at .waxnuis was a lovely caricature (imhappily rather overdone)—a true touch of ,-ea ity for once. .Miss Nellie Wilson ■Siiijf her mil.,lf, whicli j s .possibly tile > • "I'lV' 01 ' 0 ' l>rilllniitlv. anil Jlr. Reginald Huberts. as J)e Jolidou, sluir.'d ' '' n" 0 ""' "■ ll "' "" lst 'beautiful '""s "f. 11 "' He has a capable enor voice of pleasant (| ualitv. ami iu the Aibmir „„ng (, )m . of (1,,. ra ,j Sl[( ._ !" < ' cl ' v ' Wl|li ill llis J ', " 1 " )1 , 7, ". v Wang") danced superb--11 '!' ''"'"-'"'S throughout was excellent. There are .some very line con-i-erteil iiuni'bers, notably tlie sextette W omen.'

The whole perforinanw niav be regarded as a brilliant rendering of an 'Xtraordinary niusical comeih. It is really niagnilicutly staged and sii'endidall '"tli i't '* i A ' Ui is „ 4ril Iy almost ; l^su«-e^?""'"' 1 " UU " ,e ™