JACK AND JILL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9584, 2 September 1909, Page 5

JACK AND JILL.

A BRILLIANT AND DAZZLING DISPLAY. It is very questionable if ever a more brilliantly mounted production has been stagecjjin Masterton than that presented last night at the Town Hall by Mr J. C. WlUifttftWlJ in "Jack and Jill," a smart and intensely fannyjfpantomime from the pen pf J. Hickory Wood. The staging wa3 that of a master hand; what with ballets, groupings, marches, incongruous but clever impersonations ona's attention became rivetted to the j proscenium by the ever changing j scene, the exquisite mounting, the 1 elaborate dresses, the admirable blending of colour—in fact, the performance attained almost the pinnacle of perfection —the four hours flitting by in fairylike swiftness. In the collective work, special mention must be made of the ballets ■—the snowstorm, the butterfly, and the harvest home ballets presenting a veritable visional feast. What were termed the "solo" dances were artistically given by Misses Ivy Schilling and Florrie Sutherland, 1 these ladies''efforts mesting with rounds of applause. Tnen thera were the marches, chief among which was the "Jewel" march,, the Teddy Bears, and the Scottish Cavaliers. The first named was dazzling in the extrem9, topaz, emerald, ain?tliyst. sapphire, ruby, pearl, torquois.? and diamond coming on in that order, arousing enthusiasm and wonderment. It was indeed a most excellent climax. The singing was bright throughout, the only fault—if one may find fault—being a tendency to take the music too fast, thereby destroying enunciation to a marked degree. The best vocal effort was by the chorus assistiner the fairy "Gleam" .(Miss Nance Maher) in her solo "As long as the World." This was indeed very fine, and it was gen- j erally considered that Miss Maher's ' vocal effort was the gem of the evening, which was amply evidenced by the vociferous applause accorded to her. Miss Stella Gastelle as "Jack" sang and acted in an acceptable manner, although her articulation on occasions was faulty. Her best numbers were "Climb, Climb," and "A Lassie from Lancashire." Miss Betty Ohls as "Jill" was good but her voice did not compare favourably with the other soloists. Her lower and middle register notes were of a distinctly pleasing quality, but thejhigher notes were somewhat weak. Her rendering of "My Hyacinth" displayed her powers of instilling expression into her singing, ard this song pleased the audience very much. Miss Stella Selbourne as "Prince Opulent" has a fine stage presence, but the part was only of a light character. She, however, speedily enlisted her quota of admirers by her rendition of "Jessie Mclntyre," the Kiltie "supports" lending able assistance Miss Olga Grey was entrusted with "Margery's" duties, and acquitted herself with credit, as also did Miss Baby Seaton as "Simon." Messrs Fred Leslie and J. M. Campbell supplied the comedy in their impersonations of "Baron Bounce" and "Widow Cobble" respectively. The audience were kept in an almost continual simmer by these artists' efforts. They were ably assisted by Mr Clyde Cook as the "Scarecrow" and Mr V. Loydall as "Perks." "Glum" (a demon) was entrusted to Mr G. Young, who spoke his lines well. Mr Rupert Darrell had a particularly severe time as the Baron's solicitor One must not, however, overlook the "Gaint Rooster," a turn which lays claim to special merit. Compared with its predecessors, "Jack and Jill" stands alone in almost every particular, and the exceedingly large audience, representative of all parts of the district, were most enthusiastic in their applause, and universal comments of a decidedly favourable character were to be heard on all hands congratulating the management on the masterly production. The orchestra arc deserving of credit for their abie efforts, the conductor having his forces utu'er complete control. Then; was. however, a tendency to over pmver the soloists at times, but their w.irk generally was of a high stand- 1 ard.