THEATRICAL NOTES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVII, Issue 204, 29 August 1896, Page 2 (Supplement)

THEATRICAL NOTES.

•Dagonet' on Drtjriolancs,

Some Memories of Twenty Years Ago.

(FROM OtTR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

London, July 6,

Amongst the many obituary notices, some absurdly exuberant, others unduly chilly, which 1 have read of the late Gus Harris, I like none better than Geo. R. Sims' in the ' Referee,' who blends therein several reminiscences specially interesting; to Australians. One had almosb forgotten that ib was George Rignoid in 'Henry V.' whom young Harris played as his first card ab 'the Lane,' and it also appears to have slipped the recollection of many that Clarence Holt helped to construct '"The World.' Doubtless, Mr Bland Holt could tell you something about that. 'Dagoneb'writes, 'I want a good long sleep—don t let ma bo disturbed.' Poor Gus Harris—for by thab name all who knew him well knew him best—has his wish now, and sleeps where never a murmur from the busy world in which he was such a prominent figure can reach him. They say he died of overwork, but knowing the man and something of the task to which he guvo his lite, I don'b think, thab ib was so. Men of Augustus Harris's energetic and impulsive nature don't die of hard work : they would be far more likely to di 6if their energies ceased to be taxed and they were left time to think aboub their business responsibilities and their physical ailments. Sir Augustas Harris died of a disease from which he had suffered for many years; a disease which hard work kepb ab bay. If he had been a lesß busy man ifc would probably have beaten him long ago. That, of course, is only theory—the stern fact which we have to face is that our friend and workfellow, the brilliant impresario, the successful manager, the clever dramatist, and the genial, goodhearted man of the world, is dead. Although I never worked with or. for the practical founder of ' Autumn Drama,' I was one of the first to whom he confided his scheme of management. In 1879, when 'Crutch and Toothpick' was running ab the Royalty under the managemenb of Mr Edgar Bruce, Augustus Harris was playing the parb of Cecil Leigbbon in the place of Lybbon Sothern, who had gone elsewhere. The future lessee of Drury Lane was then in receipt of a salary ot five pounds a week. During the run ef 'Crutch' he brought into the bheatre a burlesque which he had written with Mr Edward Rose, and "Venus' soon formed the after part of tho bill. One nigab after the theatre was closed we wenb bo supper at Kefctner's, and there * Gus ' told me the story of & drama which he had in his mind, and "I told him the story of one I had in my mind. His story was that of 'The World,' which, in collaboration with Paul Meribfc and Henry Pettitt, ho afberwards produced ab Drury Lane. Ib was coon after this, and while wo were both undsr the management of Mr Bruce at the Royalty, that he told me he intended to have a try for the big theatre, which was then sadly in need of clever handling. Aboub the same time Mr Edgar Bruce bold me he meant bo have a shob ab the Prince of Wales's. However, negobiabions in both cases hung fire for awhile, and in the 1 Referee' for October sbh 1879, 1 wrote: ' THEATRICALS.' In spite of t he various ' taleses,' And in spito of what folks maintain, O, nobody's got the Wales's And nobody's got the Lane.' But during bhe following week every thine was settled. Mr Edgar Bruce bad acquired the lease of the Prince of Wales's, then in Tottenham Court Road, from bhe Bancrofts, and ' Gus,' after many remarkable adventures in search of ib, had the lease of Drury Lane in his pocket. Directly everything wa3 arranged he sent me a tunny libtle note of four lines which I published in these columns on October ]2tb, 1879. Here is Druriolanus's 4 CORRECTION.' In spite of the numerous *tales>es.' And in spite of what folks maintain, K. H. has K<H tho Wales'a, And A.H. has got tho Lane.1 The first advertisement of the Harris lesseeship is—' Theatre Royai, Drury Lane. Leseee, Mr Augustus Harris. Sub-Lessee for Autumn Season, Mr George Rignoid.' George Rignoid produced 'Henry V.'as the first autumn venture under bhe Harris los3eeship. A remarkable coincidence has been narrowly escaped. Had nob Mr lledford, the examiner of plays, refused to license ' Joseph of Canaan,' Mr George Rignoid would in all probability have been ab Drury Lane' with ib ab the present moment, and so, as it was ab the beginning ib would have been ab the end, a Rignoid season under Harris lesseeship. Jusb before ' The World ' was produced' poor Paul Meritb took me into bhe vestibule of the Drury Lane Theatre and pointed fco the statue of Shakspere. ' That chap spelt ruin to this show,' he said. ' Now I'm going to Bpell a word bhas begins wibh R for the Lane, bub it won'b be Ruin, it will be Riches.' I bold the story at the old Crichton Club in Paul's portly presence j soon afberwards, and we drew up there and then a petition bo Augustus Harris requesting him to order a statue of Paul ab once at our expenae, and have it placed on the pedaatal then occupied by Shakspere. Ab the foob of the petition we added a note : ' P. S.—lf you and Pettitb want) statues you can pay for your own.1

I don' 6 think all the collaborators were so cocksure about the Bucceee of ' The World 'as Paul Meritb was. The Sunday before ib was produced I met Mrs Harris, Sir Auguaßus'B' mother, on the platform of New Maiden station, where at tbab timq we were neighbours. She bad Been the rehearsals, and I asked her what her opinion was of the play. • 1 don't know what to think,' she replied. *Ib will either be a great success or a dreadful failure.' For-

fcunabely ib,burned oub a great encce&s, and the foundation etono of ' Autumn Drama' was well and truly laid, and Auguebus Harris was started ova career which brought fame and forbune nob. only to himself bat to bis collaborators. And now all three havo passed away—Henry Pettibb ab the age oj forfcy-five, Paul Meritb ab the ace of fifty, and Augustus Harris at the ape of fortyfour—all three comparatively young.men, who mighb reasonably hate expected at leasb another twenty years of life in which to peacefully enjoy the fruits of their industry and skill.

Looking sorrowfully back upon those early ' World' days, now thab the last of the brio of authors has gone over to the majority, I cannot help thinking thab, with all our boasted improvements in dramatic arb, those were the happiest days far iti professors. The old Bohenaiauism wasn't quite stamped oub bhen. The men who wrote for the Btajje didn't take themeelve* so seriously or write about the business bo much. They aidn'fc pose, or preach or lecture. They worked for the amusement of the public and their own livelihood, and the work was accotapiishad in a franker manner and amid more genial surroundings than ib is now. The new critic bad not arisen to sneer at) situation, carp at con. venbion, and anabhumatue ' comic relief.' Dramatists in those days met each other ad Bohemian cluba—sometimes, I am afraid, ab Bohemian pubs—and smoked pipes, and had drinks, and planned excursions and spent) happy days together roaming about the country. And I don'b think ab that period of the world's existence they wen quite as envious of each other's success. Perhaps it was oecause success in those days didn'i mean quite bo much money, or so many flattering notices in the press. Bub 1 daresay I am wrong. The drains. tists of bo-day are, doubtless, in every way as lighb hearted and as good tempered a band of brothers in arb as they were twenty years ago. Only they have bad to fcako themselves more seriously because the public bake them more seriously. The men whose companionship and good fellowship I miss, are mostly under the turf. Those who are still above ib and working, have grown old like myself, and have taken to early hours, and given up clubs, and rung to Richmond, and trips to Margate, and happy litble dinner parties, ab country hostelries, and Sundays up the river, because they are no longer young fellows with all the future before them, but middle-aged millionaires with gout to keep under, dyspepsia to keep down, and a reputation to keep up. When Harris and Meritb and Pettitb first came together tor the making of drama the old night houses in Panton-streeb, where the younger and friskier members of the profession gathered after closing time, were juab done away with, and co6y little night siubs were coming into fashion. The Albion was the greab meeting place at that time, and when the Albion closed the old Unity Club, in Holywellrstreet, was the rendezvous. It was in one of the * boxes' of the Albion. thab the American fifes of ' The World' were divided on a table between the three collaborators by Henry Pettitb, who had jusb brought them back from New York in hard dollars and a portmanteau. , ,

Very wonderful were the stories which Henry Pettitb used bo bell me when we were away together of the ' rush' that Sir Augustus was generally in, and the interruptions thab were constantly happening to the process of collaboration in the Drury Lane drama. Sometimes Pettitt would arrive to do a morning's work, and would be greeted with *Oh, Harry, go hbm« and pack your portmanteau; I must go to Milan (or Madrid or Vienna as the case might) be) to-nighli. We can woik in the brain." And Pettitfc—glad to have Sir Augustus for a few days beyond tha reach of the Italian tenor, the Polish baritone, the I'rehoh soprano, and the German contralto,; Mr So-and-So aboub the sketches for tho panbomime dresses, and Mr So-andSo about the models for the eceneryof * The Young Recruib,' tho inberviewer of the 'Strand Magazine,' 'the agent of bhe threelegged dancer, and the mother of the baby reciter, and ' would Sir Augustus spare a few minubes and let baby go through her entertainment'—gladly consented. Once when they were collaborating on the road to the Palace of the Duke of Saxo Meiningen they both fell asleep in the train. Aboub six in the morniug Pettitfc woke up arid looked bub of the window. •Halloa Gus,' he said, 'here's a' river; I wonder what it is ?' Gus opened his eye» slowly and gave a grunt. 'River, eh J don'b know. Suppose ibs the Rhine or bhe Danube or the Guadalquirer. or the Tiber, or something of that sorb, 1 and dropped off bo sleep again, and Petfcltk followed his example. That was the onlf view of bee Rhine fI.P. ever had. ' ItTd known what it was,' he said,. * I should have waked myself up and1 have bad » longer look ab it.' And now the last of the Drury Lane trio is dead, and the three sleep together in Brompton Cemetery the long, long sleep thab knowa no waking; and -eta" • The World ' goes on, and • Youth has its day, and leads 'A Life of Pleasure, and •Human Nature' remains the: same. There was no * Run of Luck' aboub we Drury Lane successes of the three dramatists ; all was accomplished by 'Plucky and if bhey made 'A Million of Money between them bhey deserved every BhiUißg of it.