Le Béguin

At the Leas Pavilion on Wednesday afternoon,an admirable entertainment in French was held, in aid of the Folkestone Church Lads' Brigade and the French and Belgian War Funds. The cosy hall was well filled, and amongst those present were: Mons. Corbes, French Vice-Consul, and Mons. Peterson, Belgian Vice-Consul. A party of wounded Belgian soldiers from Winterbourne House attended, and also several small parties of English "Tommies" from the local hospitals. The greater portion of the audience were French and Belgian refugees residing in Folkestone. An excellent programme was carried out by several well-known artistes. The Rev. E.A. Jordan, assistant priest at St.Peter's Church, was responsible for the arrangements, and he worked very hard to make the concert the success that it proved to be. During the afternoon teas were served. Little Mell.Marguerite Jones delighted all with her two graceful dances, "Danse de l'Eventail" and Danse du fouet ecossaise." Melle. Michel, who has a very sweet voice, was a great favourite with the audience. In the first part of the programme she gave "Grand air de La Tosca" (Puccini), for which she was recalled, and later she was still more successful, her fine rendering of "En Avant!" (Xavier Leroux) and "Samson et Dalilah" (Sainte-Saens) being warmly received. Mons. Hector Chemay, who is already a great favourite with local audiences, was heartily applauded for "Air de la Calommie du Barbier de Seville (Rossini), while he was encored for "Prologue de Paillasse" (Leoncavalle). Melle. Madeline Bovier gave a splendid recitation of "Vous m'avez dit, un soir" (poesie d E. Verhaeren). and later she gave the very popular patriotic poem, "Au Roi Albert," written by Marguerite Coleman. Her rendering was full of expression, and at the end loud applause and calls for an encore greeeted the artiste. She responded by repeating the poem, much to everyone's delight, especially the Belgian soldiers present. Melle. Rita Coleman excellently recited Alfred de Musset's "A Ninon." "Le Beguin" a comedy in one act, by Mme. M. Coleman, was given in the second half of the programme. The play, the scene of which was laid in Paris, related the infatuation of the daughter of an American millionaire for a famous French actor. How the two were united, in spite of initial parental opposition, and how the butler, Francois and the maid, Rose, were also married, formed a capital story, which was splendidly enacted. M. Fernand Rombeau made a first-rate Jacques de Lignieres, the famous French actor. M.Jean Mansuy gave an excellent impersonation of Mr. John Wilson, the American millionaire. M.Raoul MacKintosh kept the audience in a merry mood as Francois, the butler. Melle. Rita Coleman, an accomplished actress, was charming as John Wilson's daughter, Helen as Melle. Marguerite Delfosse was also very good as Rose, the maid. At the conclusion Mons. Chemay stirringly sang "La Marseillaise," and Melle. Michel gave a very moving rendering of "La Brabanconne," while finally "God Save the King" was sung by M.Chemay. (Folkestone, Hythe, Sandgate and Cheriton Herald, Saturday 11 December 1915)