ENTERTAINMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 159, 22 November 1912, Page 5

ENTERTAINMENTS.

" LES DE CORNEVILLE." DTQLEWOOD'S AMATEURS.' •and the music is bright, sparkli,' Si clnucally hetter in qntHt J tha ° ™ of the flimsy tintinabulation wh cl nowadays » called upon to do duty A, presented by the Inglewood oe'rai n>ght the performance was a distinctly meritorious one for amateurs ad U J f considerably more thawed muster under much more pretentious surroundings. It was hampered a mo e \ h^ 8e ex rr?' but ™* ™> more than counterbalanced by the brightness and crispne* of the perform! anee. If one wanted to be hypercritical one might regret the absence' of volume n the mens voices in the chorus, but this is almost inevitable i„ amateur opera, and it was fully redeemed by the excellence of the principal*. Indeed much bigger towns are much more poorly equipped with amateur talent than Infflewood is, and we should be glad to see the company finding time to present their (.elightful entertainment in New Plymouth, where it would be assured of an enthusiastic welcome. The laurels of the evening must be said to have been fairly divided Mrs. Mcßeth made a charming fccrpolettc, singing and acting with quite professional abandon. Mrs. 11. J. M Thomson, too, was excellent as Germaine, and she was a tower of strength m the production. Mr. A. J. Frewin was happily cafit as the miser Gaspard, and his convincing acting much more than condoned for any lack of vocal ability. Mr. H. J. Thomson was a thoroughly satisfactory Baillie, and Mr. A, G. Hynes as Grenieheux and Mr. J. H. Rowe as the Marquis were also capital. But it' is idle to discriminate where Such a pleasing performance was given, for there was hardly a weakness in the cast. The other characters wore sustained as follows: Manette, Miss L.'Laing; Jeanne, Miss G. Simpson; Gertrude. Mis. R. Jacomb; Stisanne, Miss. Mildred Spurdle: Catherine, Miss I). Laing; Marguerite, Miss I. Harvey; Gobo (The Baillie's Shadow), Mr. C. Williams; Christophe (a cadet), Miss R. Mcßeth; Scipion. Mr. W.> H. Taylor; Poly. Mr. R. Buckley; Paul, Mr. H. E. Moody; Eugene, Mr. G. H. Taylor; Leon. Mr. R. Geddes; Michel, Mr. L. Sutherland. The dancing wa/j really good, under the stage management of Mrs. Mcßeth, and pretty scenery and bright clean dressing materially helped Jie performance. Messrs. G.Duffill and:9 Matthews bad charge of the limelight effects and a small but compact orchestra, under the baton of Mr. A. L. Cooke, did yeoman service. Mr. .J. Sutherland presided at the piano.. which was kindly lent by Mr. Hoffman, of New Plymouth. The production drew a lajrge house, and this experience should be. repeated to-night when the second and lasfi performance will be given. , ?

TIIEATE ROYAL PICTURES. A fine varied programme of moving 1 pictures was presented to a good audience at the Theatre Royal last evening. That the management intend patrons of this house to have an up-to-date* programme was evidenced by a fine pic-i tnre of "The 1012 Melbourne Cup," introduced tn last evening's selection. The: picture is remarkably clear and well produced, , showing sections of the huge crowd, and the magnificent race for the coveted Cup. A pleasing number of the Gaumont Graphic reproduced many late and notable events in other parts of the world. Tlie Lubin studio are responsible for a powerful drama "A Matter of Business" in which Charles Erskine, a broker, takes out a Life Insurance po- ! licy, takes it home and presents it to his. wife. Ella ig very fond of her husband and pooh-poohs the idea, She has no thought of his dying and does not like to be reminded of the inevitable. A ! year later a financial panic ruins him and a lingering illness reduces his cireum-i stances to ncediness. The doctor insists that Erskine be sent south or he will not live long. Lack of means makes

the men sure impassible. His little son, Raymond hits upon an idea, he takes the life policy to the President of the Company and explain*. The President sees by the boy's argument that to save the man's life will save the Company 10,OOOJ dollars. He furnishes the means for the trip and brings happiness to the family. There are many other pleasing pictures, including "Cardinal Wolsey" (Vita-i graph drama), "The Family Tyrant" (Kalem drama), ("Archibald Clnibbs and the Widow" (Edison comedy), and other scenic and comic pictures.

EMPIRE PICTURE PALACE. J

The Empire Theatre was crowded last night by an enthusiastic audience, who thoroughly enjoyed the splendid sckc : tion submitted. A particularly popular item was the fine American war picture showing a number of stirring battle scenes, and including a Southern love story, entitled '.TJie Siege of Petersburg." This brilliant Kalem masterpiece will be rfhown for the last occasion to-night. morrow at the usual matinee an entire change of films will be submitted, including a "star" portrayal by the Vitagraph Company, "The Red Cross Martyr."