ENTERTAINMENTS.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 May 1921, Page 7

ENTERTAINMENTS.

THE EMPIRE. THE MASQUERADERS. An excellent entertainment on original lines is promised by the Masqueraders, a company who will commence a short season at the Empire on Monday evening, and the company claims to present the most novel numbers and settings ever produced by a similar organisation. A leading feature of the programme will be the Maori speciality sung by Mr. L. Fairfax and the entire company in native costume. During the season the company will present programmes comprising varied items from grand opera to revue. The performers will be supported by an orchestra of twelve players under the baton of Mr. George Pownall. Mr. Chas. Stewart, the ‘‘wizard drummer,” was offered startling contracts in Australia, but he remained staunch to his old company. The company includes Leslie Holmes (English comedian), Leslie Gordon (of “Dave On Our Selection” fame), Norman Leslie (English comedian), and George Wright (comedian), and it is said that vocally the company is very strong, having such vocalists of repute as Miss Clarice Norman (contralto), Miss Gwen Lester (soprano;, Mr. Lance Fairfax (baritone), and Mr. Leslie Jephcott (tenor). Carrying with them their own orchestra, “The Masqueraders” offer an entertainment which is described as original in every respect. The box plan is at Collier’s.

EVERYBODY’S. . THE MUSICAL BLANCHARDS.

All who were in Everybody’a Theatre last night will agree that the “Musical Blanchards,” a lady and a gentleman, are highly capable entertainers, and that their performance is a very pleasing one. They play with much artistic skill upon various instruments, some of them quite elaborate contrivances with weird names of Greek derivation, others quite simple, such as strings of sleigh bells, rind they produce charming music therefrom. One of the most effective performances was by the lady upon the “tubular harp,” a harp-shaped affair with tubes in place of strings, the gentleman supplying an accompaniment upon an arrangement of a kind of bells. They played popular operatic and other airs, and delighted the audience with their performance. Their programme is not all musical, for the gentleman gave a capital performance of “mock magic,” clever and highly amusing burlesques of familiar conjuring tricks. He also did some very effective papertearing, producing really artistic patterns by tearing a large sheet of white paper. The lady, with another sheet of paper, gave a quite remarkable exhibition of folding, turning her piece of paper into about a score of articles of the most diverse description, ranging from a lady’s hat to a candlestick. Both artists have a decidedly engaging stage presence, and performed their various “turns” with much vivacity and deftness. At the conclusion of their performance they were heartily recalled by the audience. In addition to the “Musical Blanchards’” performance tonight the big humanity screen epic, “Children Not Wanted,” featuring Edith Day, and other films will be screened. THE PEOPLE’S. LAST NIGHT OF “THE SECRET WOMAN.” “The Secret Woman,” an all-British Davidson production, from the novel by Eden Phillpotts, screens finally to-night at the People’s. The featured artists are Maud Yates and Nicholls Bates, and the story, splendidly directed, closely follows the book. The bill includes Gazette, comedy and “Elmo” No. 15. To-morrow’s new programme, commencing at the matinee at 2 p.m., presents the master character actor George Beban in “An Alien.” When the famous stage play “The Sign of the Rose” was adapted to the screen, under the title of “An Alien,” the newspaper criticisms were remarkably unanimous in the praise of the picture. The New York Times said: “The film is of the sort that grips the heart-strings. Mr. Beban’s work is of that vividly expressive sort that is so graphically effective on the screen.” “Smashing Barriers” No. fi. Gazette and comedy are also on the bill.