ENTERTAINMENTS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 304, 18 May 1911, Page 6

ENTERTAINMENTS

THE WANDERERS. OPENING TO-NIGHT. The long looked-for and eagerly awaited visit of "The Wanderers Musical Comedy Costume Company" will eventuate at the Theatre Royal to-night, when a crowded house is assured to welcome the first appearance in New PlymOutri of this brilliant combination of entertainers. Their fame has preceded'them, and the public can with all confidence look forward to a most enjoyable evening's amusement. The plan will lie on view to 0 p.m. this evening at Hoffm inn's. Patrons would be well advised in iiook at once. Speaking anc.nt the cniii|>aiiy a Wellington exchange says:— "Tin: Wanderers," a musical costume comedy company organised by Mr. George Stephenson, opened their initial season in New Zealand at the Town Hall concert chamber on Saturday night, and made such an excellent impression that they may look forward to a very warm welcome from Dominion audiences. Having a thorough knowledge of the particular delights of the average. New Zealand amusement seeker, Mr. Stephenson has planned well. He has provided all the elements of a good variety' performance in the right proportions, being careful to keep out items of doubtful taste, the result being that "The Wanderers" can appeal to a very wide circle for patronage. Exceptionally flue niountj ing gives the production a complete I finish. Mirth is the outstanding element in the programme, and as chief merry-miiker and a first-class one at that, Mr. Leslie Holmes deserves first mention. It is seldom the good fortune of I a Wellington audience to hear a comedian of such all-round ability. He is a master of "patter," but does not let his songs degenerate into tuneless mono--1 logue; he has the most diverting set of antics that could be imagined, and when the audience, by constant encores, had run his evening's repertoire to the limit, I and he trotted out a hoary old,favorite, it was so well done that the thing had the charm of a novelty. A lady mono-' | loguist is so unfamiliar a sight on the i stage that the audience was particularly | curioHs to see how Miss Phyllis Foldi I would sustain so unusual. a role. She I opened her .turn with a tiresome pian'oI forte item which did not seem promising, but turned it to account for pu:rJ poses of jocularity, and ran off a •aeries | of well-told stories, to a rattling pia'no- ! forte accompaniment, which had more ', ''color" in it than the subdued harmonies affected for the purpose 'by mJfet perI formers of that type. Miss Madeline Feme, is a soprano with natural gifts,] but hampered with a lack of experience' i or nervousness, which did not tend to make her "song of Thanksgiving" (Allitsen) a complete success. However, she demonstrated later on that she has been well trained, and has turned her opportunities to account, for she sang with excellent effect the operatic aria I "Roberto 0 tu die adoro" (Meyerbeer). - Another soprano of quite a different ' type is Mr. George Winstanley, whose | extraordinary wide range in the falsetto enables him to sing, with great success, Cowen's somewhat florid composition | "The Swallows." As a tenor of the 1 robust kind, Mr. J. Leith Harvey filled i an important part in the programme, 1 with effective solos, and still more pleasj ing duets, his colleague on these latter occasions being Mr. John D. Keenan, I whose baritone is soft anil sympathetic! J Miss Everil Heggie danced prettily..and i sang a lively song to the accompaniment ; of funny by-play by Mr. Keenan. The j mandoline and banjo selections of Miss Ruby finest provided acceptable variety in a lon S programme. We have noted some of the individual efforts of the performers, but the programme provides for I combined numbers which we have not ; space to deal with in detail.