"Just a bit more pep, there. And sing up, all of you, so that you can be heard right at the back of the theatre."
A rehearsal of the Augusta Min-stress was in full swing. On the front part of the stage of the Grand Theatre, just behind the footlights, (not glimpsed by cinema audiences), was the stage manager, himself well known as a cabaret artiste, giving a piece of expert advice to the 20 or so bluejackets from the American flagship who were rehearsing the opening chorus of the show.
Behind the "Minstrels" was the ship's dance band, styling? themselves the Augusta Melody Cruisers, vigorously blaring forth a fast number accompanying the chorus. It was a gay sight, even though the troupe did not have their faces black, and were not fitted out in the nigger costumes which they will wear on Thursday, when the show will be presented in aid of Shanghai refugees.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.