SONG, STAGE, AND STORY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXIII, Issue 102, 30 April 1892, Page 3 (Supplement)

SONG, STAGE, AND STORY.

At last Auckland lovers of the lyric stage are afforded an opportunity of listening to capable exponents of some of the besb operas extanb, after a long period of lethargy in matters operatic. The Mon. tagae-TurnerOpera Company finish the first weok of their season in Auckland, and they have no reason to bo dissatisfied with the financial result of the five nighbs already played in Abbott's Opera House. Crowded houses have been tho rule, and the packed auditorium on Monday evening, ab the initial performance of ' Maritana,' was a sighfe to be remembered. ' Maritana' was played for the first two nights, and was succeeded by 'II Travatore , —one night—and 'The Bohemian Girl. , Miss Annis Montague, Mr Turner and Mr Farley havo established themselves as operatic singers and character delineators of tho first rank, bub the same cannot be said for all tho rest of the Company. The chorus in the opening performances was altogether too weak, and the numerical inefficiency of the orchestra was also very palpable. The Company play for a fortnight longer.

The Walter Bentley Dramatic Company have ' dissolved, , and have gone their sovoral ways in peace, after an excellent season in Auckland. The business manager, Mr Bradley, has gone to Sydney, while Mr Bentley has taken himself down tho West Coast. Ib is understood that the Auckland Amateur Opera Club's noxb producbion will bo ' Pinafore,' this piece having been decided on ab a meeting of the Committee severol days ago. If this is correct, thon there can hardly be any two opinions as to the foolish and ill-advised action of the Committee. To reverb to such a silly and decidedly mediocre opera as 'Pinafore'— to say nothing of its age—after successfully producing such a fine piece a3 ' Princess Ida,' is a decidedly peculiar procedure, and certainly will not command the supporb of the Auckland public. ' Pinafore' is so old, ami withal so empty, that old opera-lovers will be greatly disappointed if the Club persist in bringing oub H.M.s. Pinafore and the venerable Cochrane and hoary midsbipmites instead of attempting some more brilliant production. A semi-failuro even in • Dorothy' or ' The Yeoman of the Guard' would be better than a tame • success' in ' Pinafore' or the equally uninteresting' Sorcerer.' The Committee, howover, allege ib is impossible to do otherwise in the face of the fact that most of the besb soloists have gone, and that those who have nob gone will nob sing. • Pinafore' is an unpopular choice with the Club aa a whole, and ie is to be hoped that the Committee (who should nob, by bhe way, gratify their own craving for prominence and the ' fat' parts ab bhe expense of the Club) will see their way clear to make a more judicious selection. What of 'Rip Van Winkle? , Bland Holb is still in Sydney. ' The Trumpet Call,' a stirring military piece, is his latest production. Rice's ' Evangeline' Opera Company have concluded their Sydney season with their repertoire of American operettas. Harry Wirth, late circue-man, and wellknown here, having taken a Melbourne hotel, announces, • Free list entirely suspended.' Mise Maggie Moore wae, a couple ot weeks ago, playing in 'Forby-nine' with great success ab Brisbane. The Taylor-Carrington Company has been playing 'Barnes ol New York' ab Brisbane. . At latest advices Mr Snazelle was doing excellenb business with his clever varieby performances ab Christchurch. He is on his way up Norbh. Mrs Bernard - Beere has made a grean • hit' in Melbourne in • Fedora.' Our London correspondent wribing by bhe laeb mail, says :—' The Kendals have made a fortune in the States during the last two years. Ib is reckoned fchab their share of the profits of their three tours amounts to considerably over a hundred thousand pounds. The Bancrofts must now regreb thab they missed exploiting this theatrical Tom Tiddler's ground. 1 looked in ab Drury Lane on Ash Wednesday afternoon, thinking that on such a day ab least bhere would be plenby of room. To my utter astonishment, the vast theatre seemed crammed, from floor to ceiling, jueb as ib was within ten days of Boxing Night. The man at the pit entrance lured me inside with the remark, 'Lots of good seats.' This I found to mean that by paying a shilling extra you could climb up to the balcony {i.e., the circle just above the upper boxes, and below the gallery) and stand at back. I had never been up there before, and was surprised to find how well bhe ' gods can see. The dresses of ' Humpby Dumpty show fewer signs of wear and tear than you would suppose, but there is no spontaneity now in the performance. Pantomime in March is as much out of place ac plum pudding and mince pies in August. 'Mr Richards, , by Messrs Arbhur Bourchier and Blair, goes up ab the Shaftesbury Theatre to-night. The hero belongs to the ' Jim tho Penman ' and • Jackman the Panther' school. Mr Bourchier. Mi*s Norreys, Lady Monckton and Mise Chester are in the cast. Mrs Terry, the whitehaired old lady, mother of Kate, Ellen, Florence, George and Fred Terry, always such a conspicuous figure on Lyceum premieres, died lasb week after a short illness. . The past fortnight of cold and east wind in London proved fatal to both 'The Times 'ab Terry's, and ' The Grey Mare ab bhe Comedy Theabre. Business, good before, dropped to barely expenses, and the surprised managers have had to put novelties into rehearsal which they didn'b expecb to he obliged to produce till autumn. ' The Times' has had (comparatively-speaking) a respectable run (upwards of two hundred performances), but the 'Grey Mare ought to have lasted much longer. Ib is a capital play of its sort, and well-adapted, by"-the-way, for private theatricals. Following in the footsteps of Lady Dunlo, the young Countess Russell proposes to go on the stage. She possesses considerable aptitude for histrionics, and as her appearance in public *ould annoy her husband and his family intensely, bhe inducemenb to accept an engagement is naturally very great. Personally I should advise the lady the experiment might have unpleasant consequences. The pit and gallery are sympathetic in a case of semiinjured innocence such as Lady Dunlo's, bub after sabisfying their curiosity by taking a pood look ab Lady Russell they would not improbably hiss her off^

The Randegger divorce suit was interesting solely because the irresistible ' Tottie Coffin ' (as Mr C. Hayden Cotiin is called) figured as co-respondent. It soems that during the run of 'Dorothy' the handsome tenor had excellent reason for warbling the glucous ' Queen of My Heart' with such intense feeling, for he was at that very time engaged in seducing his elderly singingmaster's young wife. Mr Ilandesger was nob apparently sorry to leb the lady go ; in facb, for all three the arrangement was mosb suitable.

In a late budget of English library notes our London correspondent writes us : The now and cheaper edition of the 'Little Minister' published by Cassells on Friday last places tho most successful novel of 1891 within the reach of all iairly-iillcd purses. Mr Earrie, who has been living in a whirl of invitations and congratulations since the unequivocal success of ' The Houseboat' (I really can't call ib ' Walker, London') finds working in town oufc of the question. He consequently flies north to his quieb home near Kerriemuh' {alias Thrums) next week, and will there geb along wibh tho theatrical novel for the ' Illustrated London News ' which Toole's commission interrupted.

'Faces and Places' is a volume of miscellaneous 'journalese' resurrected by H. W. Luck from all sorts of odd papers and magazines. The excellent reminisces of poor Fred Burnaby which tho ' Daily News' special supplied when that seven foot hero died ab Abu Kloa, opens the book. It also contains articles on ' The Prince of Wales,' ' With Peggotty and Ham,' 'Oysters and Arcachon,' 'Mosquitoes and Monaco,'' Tho Battle of Merbhyr,' '-Some Preachers 1 Have Known,' ' A Night on a Mountain,'etc., etc. You understand tho style. The price of the volumo is 3.s Gd, or less discount 2s 9d.