THE SCARLET TROUBADOURS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 3056, 28 November 1908, Page 5

THE SCARLET TROUBADOURS.

A TALENTED COMBINATION. F c A very good house greeted the 1 p Scarlet Troubadours at the Master- ( ton Town Hall last evening, the ' t merits of the company thoroughly s deserving a large audience. The | 1 excellence of the combination was so r marked that in a programme of \ twenty items—including several £ very lengthy ones —eveiy one was encored, several more than once. The Troubadours were organised by Mr £ Edward Branscombe, organiser of a the Westminster Glee and Concert , Party, which met with such a warm welcome when it toured ,the Dominion some three years back. Mr Ford Watlham possesses one of the < finest bass voices ever heard in i Masterton, and the audience could not hear enough of his numbers. He is, in addition, a ciever comic actor, and his patter songs kept the < audience in a simmer of laughter. In ; j the "Song of the Anvil" the audience were treated to something extra choice, and they enthusiastically demanded a recall. The baritone of the company, Mr Alf. Cunningham, was likewise given an ovation for his artistic rendering of "The Toreador." Mr Cunningham possesses a particularly attractive voice, and his dramatic style gives it an added impressiveness. • Mr Sydney Mannering, the tenor of the troupe, was heard at his best in his number in the nautical scena. He has an extensive range, snd his top notes are full and clear. He, too, was insistently encored. The compat y|s humourist, Mr Edgar Warwick, is one of the best low comedians seen by a Masterton audience, his facial expressions and contortions being excruciatingly funny, and causing roars of laughter. A noticeable and pleasing feature about the humorous items—and they were many —was]J that aboslutely no approach to vulgarity was made, the humour being of the keenest, yet highest, order. As a chalk and crayon artist, Mr Percival McKenzie gave the entertainment a nice distinctiveness. His drawings were clever and amusing, and were held in high favour by the audience. "Two Lovers in the Rain," by Miss i Gertrude Parker, was a vocal gem, • which caused the clever vocalist's immediate recall. She danced at mi tervals through the entertainment, " and met with equal success through- > out. Miss Maude Fane sang the : Lullaby "Good-night" with true artistic feeling, and was loudly applauded for her encore number. In solos, duets, trios, quartettes, and i larger units the company was the > same—fresh and entertaining, and r they gave the audience generous 3 treatment in the way of encores. The Troubadours appear again tof night, whenjno doubt another large v audience will reward such a first-class entertainment.