Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Monday 24 November 1941, page 9


REVIVAL AFTER

36 YEARS

"The Sorcerer" at

Theatre Royal

"The Sorcerer," which the Gil-bert and Sullivan Opera Com-pany presented at the Theatre Royal on Saturday, had not

been performed here profession-ally since 1905. It was not hard to understand why.

The libretto reads well enough, but proved tediously thin in performance, while the music lacked that sparkle which is so much of the appeal of the later Gilbert and Sullivan.

Oniy one of "The Sorcerer's" char-acters had any life and that, perhaps, was more because the part was taken by the irrepressible Mr. Ivan Menzies than from any skill of Gilbert's. Not much could be made of the material, but, even so, the other performances and the production were not so good as they might have been.

Maxwell Oldaker, as the romanti-cally inclined Alexis, had three funny lines. He said them with arch over-emphasis and studied timing, which begged on bended knees for laughter,

MR. MENZIES'S RESOURCE.

Richard Watson, as the vicar, had the most amusing song in the operetta, "Time Was When I," but he spoilt it by failing to make clear the last line, "I was a fair young curate then." Sara Gregory as the girl in love with love gave the most appeal-ing performance of all.

Mr. Menies showed enthusiasm and resourcefulness in his comedy role. His tendency to miss no opportunity to propagate his private views, even on the stage, was again in evidence in the last scene. In this, he, as the magi-cian, disappears down a trapdoor in a puff of smoke. On Saturday night he did so reading a copy of "Innocent Men"—the Oxford Group book which he recommended to the audience in a curtain speech on the opening night

of the season.

"The Sorcerer" was preceded by a schoolboyish mock opera. "Burning to Sing." It was distinguished by an excellent comic performance from

Sisca Navaretti.