STAGE JOTTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVII, Issue 173, 21 July 1906, Page 10

STAGE JOTTINGS.

Mr Diver's Nelson is still the first feature of,. "The. Mariners of England," the other prominently well-played character being Miss Helene Burdette's Mabel Talbot. To-night the company stages the Australian bushranging play "Thunderbolt." i

Another local production, this time a two-act musical comedy, entitled "The Lady Typist," written and composed by Thomas Humphries, will be staged at His Majesty's Theatre on August 13. Rehearsals are now in full swing, and 1 hear that the chorus under Mr Sam Jackson, are doing excellent work. Mr Fred Graham, the producer, is very pleased with results so far, and will during the next three weeks devote the whole of his time and experience to making it a success.

Miss Tittell Brune's visit to this colony will be a month later than was originally planned. In order that Sydney theatre-goers may have an early opportunity of seeing that actress in her latest success, "Dorothy Vernon of Haddon Hall," Mr J. C. Williamson has arranged for a special season of four weeks for that play here, commencing on August 4. The decision will necessitate an alteration in the New Zealand tour of the company, which will begin at Wellington on September 5 instead of at Dunedin on August 7, as originally intended. A further advantage gained by the readjustment will be a. season at Christehurch during the Exhibition.

The reception of Mr. Charles Waldron and the other members of Mr. Williamson's new company at Her Majesty's, Melbourne, in "The Squaw Man" is described as having been exceptionally flattering. ,

Mr. Julius Knight has already fallen on his feet in London. Almost immediately after his arrival there he was engaged by Mr. Beerbohm Tree to support Miss Ellen Terry in a Shakespearean production.

The "Daily Telegraph's" correspondent at Christiania, describes Henrik Ibsen's funeral as follows:—The weather was bad, hut the streets were filled, and there was a great concourse of people in the church, in the churchyard, and on the way to it. The obsequies opened with a solemn service at tho Church of the Holy Trinity. The mourners included members of the Government and the Norwegian Parliament, and representatives of numerous artistic and scientific societies, home and foreign. After some psalms had been sung, a funeral oration was delivered, to which the King, who was present, listened attentively. Finally a long procession was formed, and ihe remains of the great writer were conveyed, amid the dolorous strains of dirge-like music, to their last resting-place in the churchyard. As the grave was filled in the band played a funeral march and the people slowly dispersed.

If the visit to Australia of Mr. Charles Waldron, Miss Ola Jane Humphrey and tbe other oversea members of Mr. Williamson's new dramatic company had ended where it began they would have gone away with unpleasant memories of this land. In the first place their boat, the Sonoma, was several days behind time, and only reached Sydney on Friday evening, June 29, at an hour which prevented the Health Officer's, inspection until the following morning. No mail train leaves Sydney for Melbourne on Saturdays, and, thinking to save time, Mr. Williamson's representatives hurried the newcomers on board the Orient, which left at midday, and was timed to reach Melbourne early on Monday morning. Instead of this, the steamer ran into the exceptionally heavy weather prevalent on the coast at the time, and only reached the wliarf at five o'clock in the afternoon. A rehearsal ww called for at 7 o'clock the same evening, and thenceforth the company worked literally day and night on the preparation of "The Squaw Alan," rund practically lived in the theatre for the whole of the period.

Air. William Collier was accorded a most cordial send-off from Alelbourne on July 4. Tho date, coupled with the presence in Hobson's, Bay of the United States cruiser Baltimore, inspired Air. Williamson with the idea of making the farewell performance a typically national one. Her Alajesty's Theatre was therefore hung with tho flags in which "Old Glory" predominated, and the officers and men of the warship were the guests of the management. The presence of so many of their fellow-citizens in the audience reflected also upon the spirits of the players, who never appeared to better advantage, a fact which the large assembly noted with evident appreciation. On July 7 Air. Collier made a highly successful first appearance at Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney.

Mr Otto Heggie, who was a member of Mr W. F. Hawtrcy's highly successful "Message from Mars" "Company, which toured New Zealand three or four years ago, and wfrl be remembered as the Messenger therein, is at present hi London holiday-making after a most successful engagement with the Repertoire Theatre Association at the Theatre Royal, Margate. During his term with the R.T.A., Mr Heggie filled leading roles as the Duke in the new costume play "The Duchess of Alarlborough." as Hank Bannister in "The Walls of Jericho," and as Cyrus Blenkarn in Air H. A. Jones' old play "The Middleman." In this piece Mr Heggie made a very decided ''hit," and on the strength of his acting therein he has been offered engagements by several managements anxious to secure his services for provincial tours. Mr Heggie, however, wishes to try his luck in London, and would rather "rest" in the Aletropolis for some time to come than undertake a provincial round. "The Star" has often singled out Air He<*"ie for special praise, and "The Deadhead" may perhaps be forgiven for the usually inexcusable "I told you so." "Laurence Godfrey," a young Aus tralian pianist, hailing from Sydney, who rejoices in private life in the* highly unprofessional name of Smith, bids fair to take rank among the foremost pianists of the day. He made an appearance in London some time ago, and won high praise from the leading critics, and last week he achieved a big success in Paris at the Salle PlejeL "Le Figaro," "Le Gaulois," "L'Echo de Paris, 5 ' and "La Liberte" all accord Mr Smith the warmest praise for his interpretation of compositions by Scarlatti, Bach, Chopin, Schutt and Greig. "Le Figaro" says:— "The young pianist is a pupil of Lesehetizky and he certainly has all the characteristics of this celeorated school —very agile fingers, sure technique, intelligent musical interpretation and beautiful phrasing which served him wonderfully in Scarlatti's Capriccio . . . . and also in Greig's "Sonata" for piano and violoncello, in which he was associated with the eminent violinist Louis Fournier." te Le Gaulois" speaks of Mr Smith as "certainly one of the best of Lesehetizky*s pupils," and describes him as a "perfect interpreter" of the works he gave at the corcert. The young Australian had a large and enthusiastic "audieh'ee, and his playing of Greig's "Sonata" with M. Fournier in particular, "brought down the houae,"

•': The. "Stage" states that ]a, hew comic 'opera', "The Fool's Cap"; has-"been isuiecessfully produced at Leipzig v by Mr G. M. Clutsam, "the young English composer." Mr Clutsam is, of course, an Australian by birth, but was taken early in life to New Zealand because, as he put it, "the cow's milk was very good there, or something of that sort."

Little Wanda Radford, who has been receiving, very flattering notices from the German papers, and is described by the "Daily Express" in a recent issue as "a brilliant actress, vocalist, and dancer," is a Sydney child, whose father is manager of the A-B:C. Cafe in that city. She is only nine years old, a native of Adelaide. Last year she was singing and reciting in Sydney, and, after living with relatives in Berlin, she and her mother have gone to London. The Berlin correspondent of the "Express" writes of her as "a remarkable child. She has sung, danced, and acted in the presence of many distinguished Continental critics and members of the dramatic profession, who have formed the opinion that she possesses unusual ability. At the Apollo Theatre in Vienna her performances excited the enthusiasm of the public, and elicited warm praise from the critics of the leading newspapers " THE DEADHEAD