17.

Out of a deep black void there floats a top-hat, cane, tapping feet and dancing hands: lit in brilliant fluorescent colours, this Disney-like fantasia of sight and sound heralds the triumphant arrival of the Famous People Players.

It is the beginning of an enchanted evening which gives a timely reminder that a masterly combination of high-tech tricks and gruelling human endeavour can and does inject A Little More Magic into a hum-drum world.

The Famous People Players is a puppet company extraordinaire, where life-size caricatures of show-biz celebrities vie for the spotlight with swimming mermaids, anguished alley-cats, and giant birds -- to say nothing of giant tea-pots, dancing sugar canes, and clattering typewriters that cavort, apparently disembodied, about the stage.

This non-stop, vigorous musical tribute which shifts from jazz to rock 'n roll, with snippets of opera and ballet cheerfully tossed in here and there, is a show with almost limitless appeal.

The `black light' concept is clever, the iridescent colours assault the senses and the characters are sprightly and irresistible in a comic sort of way.

There is no particular theme in this show -- just a medley that wrings the changes heard (through an excellent, if loud, loud music system) in music from the past and present, represented, among others, by a drum-banging Phil Collins, Little Richard, Madonna, Bette Midler and a hip-swaying Michael Jackson.

But there is also time for a little ballet, as a giant pair of sneakers, pursued by a predatory scrubbing brush, perform some jubilant jetes and there are delightful extracts from The Nutcracker, as cats in coolie hats dance with chopsticks that grow into stilts and in Aquarium, denizens of the deep drift along to the music of Saint-Saens. There is even a `Stripper' who adds a twist to burlesque by removing everything, even her neon-glowing hair, until she has disappeared into nothingness.

New meaning is brought to the phrase, `Cats' Chorus', with two furry felines keeping a roof-top tryst and nursery rhymes are brought into cartoon focus, as cows jump over moons, and trios of trumpet-tooting blind mice scurry from a giant carving knife.

A special, and tuneful, tribute is paid to the late Liberace (and his piano) for it was he who gave the company their first break, inviting them to appear with him in his Las Vegas show.

It is irrelevant, really, to mention that these extraordinarily talented puppeteers are all handicapped in some way, for had we not been told, no-one would ever have guessed.

But at the gala opening of their week-long season, the company's founder, Diane Dupuy, who has been awarded the Order of Canada for her work, came on stage and revealed how, as a child, she had turned to glove puppets to provide `another world' for herself as she was rejected by classmates as a "retard''.

Convinced that there was a creative streak in many of those similarly labelled, Ms Dupuy pursued her dream and in 1975, formed the Players who have performed to continuous acclaim ever since.

Only at the last do the puppeteers remove their black garb, graciously selecting the strains of Bermuda is Another World and the motif of the longtail to demonstrate how each sketch is assembled.

The Famous People Players are presented by the Hamilton Lions Club and Mr.

Sandy Mitchell, who are donating proceeds to raise funds for Bermuda's disabled to vacation at Mr. Mitchell's Windreach Farm in Canada -- a good enough reason to support almost any show. The bonus, however, is that Bermuda has the unique opportunity of seeing a world-class show (at Bermuda prices), for A Little More Magic provides what Ms Dupuy calls a "sneak'' preview of their next production, due to open on Broadway this November.

Theatre doesn't get much better than this in Bermuda -- so don't miss it. -- Patricia Calnan.

MASTERFUL PUPPETEERS -- The Famous People Players, on stage at City Hall until April 17.