VAUDEVILLE DE LUXE BY "MIDNIGHT FROLICS."

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 58, Issue 73, 29 April 1929, Page 2

VAUDEVILLE DE LUXE BY "MIDNIGHT FROLICS."

Showing a nice discrimination oi wliat every audience rcquires in a programme of varietv sucli as theirs, the J. C. AVilliamson "Miduight Frolics" troupe of entertainers, making tlieir bow to a erowded house in the Municipal Theatre on Saturday night, carried through with dash and j polish a bill of liumour, song and \ dance that thoronghly delighted every , memher of the large audience. It was vaudeville de luxe ancl Ihe company was undonbtedly one of tlie strongest of its kincl to visit Napier in recent years. Foremost among the talcntcd ! niembers of the company was the ver- | satile comediau, C'lem l)awe, whose i gift fon direct and implied comedy is j remarkable. _ No mean sifl'leur, he coramands a wliistle that is almost as eloquent at times as liis voice, and in one fragment of a scene he recluced the audience to holpless and admiring mirth by carrying 011 his sharc of a dialogue" siniply tlirough this medium. Burlesque is liis forte. and he is too much of an artist to let _ any of his i charaeterisations, almost innumerahle j as thev are, become the least bit monoj tonous. On Ihe nmsical sidc, the company is exccedinglv well served. IMiss Mona Magnet is a clever soubrette, who also reveals a talent for dramatic acting in a monologue or two, as well as taking solo parts in jazz selections. Miss Dorothy AVhite is a gay balladist, ! ancl an attractive dancer, as indeeci ! are all the ladies of the cast, wlio in j this departmcnt are headed hy Miss j Phvllis Amery. Oscar Beck has a j sonorous voice and liis rendering of the ever-popular "Funiculi Funicula" was a delinht for music-lovers ; while AVilliam Perryman's strong and well-con- , trolled tenor was heard to advantage | in other operatic alrs well chosen for j their colour and life. From the instru- I mental side, the company has unusual ! strength, and the Frolics' orcliestra is i a combination which in itself is well capable of contributing at least half a programme. A most expressive violinist in Gregory Ivanoff was heard on two occasions in the course of the programme, and liis mmsterv of his instrument was adequately demonstrated both in these solo appearnnces and in his leadership of the orchestral numbers. With a company .such as the Frolics the prnhlonm nf stage direction must be fairly simplified, but never-' theless there v.as ainple evidence of clever vvprk behind. the scenes, where

Mr Les AVhite had cliarge of affairs. The appointments and siage eflecis were getievally excelleM-, and iully maint;iined Ihe standard of tlie entertaiument. Tho Frolics will present their second programme this evening, when another good house seems assurcd.