STAGE JOTTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 105, 2 May 1908, Page 12 (Supplement)

STAGE JOTTINGS.

The Scarlet Pinpemel" possesses a ■ drawing capacity that iis intrinsic merits ! as a play decidedly do not merit. It ; filled His Majesty's Theatre for nice nights, which is quite an exceptional run for such a piece here. A much better . ! play, and one more suited, I think, to the j compajiy, is "The Prisoner of Zenda," I which completes a revival oi four nights j j this evening. Many good plays have I { been written since the initial production ! jof this drama more than a decade ago, : | but nothing that surpasses it as an et- j iec-tive, romantic play, with ample oppor- i tunities for display, both in costume and | scenery. '"Claudian," which follows, as a i well-constructed and dramatic play, and was probably the best thing done by the j late Wilson Barrett, a player who. despite mannerisms and a tendency to pose, j was in certain characters a very sterling , ac-tor. Enrico Caruso, who was sp highly satj isned with the four years' contract that Ihe made .with Henrich Conried. oi the Xew York Metropolitan Opera House, is I now trying to dod__e his obligations. Under his contract with Conried. which has three years more to run, Caruso gets £3.0 this year for each appearance, £_00 next year and £500 the following year. He is assured or" eighty appearances every season. Lately be has had ]to refuse an offer oi £ 700 each lor ten j concerts in the States because oi the j contract. May Moore Duprez, of the accent and I the clogs, is back again at tbe London ! halls after an extended holiday in Monte : Carlo and Paris. ; The '"Peter Pan" production at the | Melbourne Princess, according tc the I critics, has proved a great success- Miss Tittell Brune. it would appeir. admirably (sustains the title rele in Barries fanciful : romance, and receives adequate support I from the company. Mark Hambourg does not believe in learning music by rote, but piecemeal as it were—idea by idea- just as one would • memorise a piece of poetry. Proceed I phrase by phrase until the whole is masj tered. but never try to learn a piece by ■ playing it right through over and over 'again. , I The Royal Artillery Band oi Newcastle left Ens'.and on April Oth to make a tour of Australasia. The band's reputation extends to almost every corner of Great Britain. [ Meynell and Gu_a "s first musical j comedy produrtion c :>r.iniencc-d its I career at ihe Melbourne Royal a fortnight br.ck. The piece was "Miss Hook of j Holland." from the LoEdon Prince of Wales. In t'n c linglish production G. I*. Huntley is the Mr. H.ok. and it is said j that the Australian importation, Mr. Edwin Brett, is strongly reminiscent of the En_.iL_ comedian's very distinctive style. 1 ..."ice that Huntley has been j out of the London cast owing to 111----jhealtii. and that that excellent comedian lof pleasant memory. George Giddens, has been filling his shoes. Andrew Black is in Westralia. He gave a recital at the Queen's Hall, Perth, on Good Friday nightThe Klos Sisters, who are in the Riokardj." touring variety show, are said to draw £ 100 a week. Speaking of Ric- \ kards and drawing salaries. 1 notice that ithe "Referee."' after detailing some oi" I the superstitions of that lucky manager, inclu-U-ig- a dismciinazion to sign contracts on Friday, expresses an opinion that no actor would allow himself to be so far influenced by superstition as to refuse his pay on a Friday. Talking of superstition —Bland Holt objects to an open umbrella on the stage, and in one play of his, in which there was a scene with the rain falling in torrents, two of the principals walked the stage with closed "gamps" under their i arms! Percy Dix who, in conjunction with Baker, provides the people of the coal town of Newcastle with permanent variety entertainment, has at present artists appearing most of whom are known to •! patrons of vaudeville on this side—Viei tor the Great. Ward Lear. "Re.cued from . |ap Eairk-'s Nest," moving picture, the | Levartos, Maggie Fraser. Lucy Lavinia. j Chive Carr, Maxwell and Roberts. Amy : i Blackie, Dawson and Rhodesbury, Chas. ; Pope, and Geo. Pogden. ' Roy Redgrave, who appeared here with Titteil Brune's Co., is now leading man in the production oi "Robbery Under Arms" at the Pavi_>_j Theatre. Londo^. Dolly Castles is a member oi one of the George Edwardes' touring companies | at present producing "The Girls of GotI tenberg." ) Fred. Graham and his wife .Nellie j Dent I. at present with Fuller's company. - will shortly leave on a trip to England and America. How great was the fall thereof The Queen's Theatre, down in Kensington, ■ which for some years has catered for the intellectual interest more than any i other London theatre, mainly with Bernard ..Lav. plays, has descended to a • j Courtneidge revival of "The Dairymaids." Carrie Moore, who was a bright particular star in the original production, would . j not be in the cast, having sailed for 1 j Australia to play the chief part in the Williamson production oi "The Merry ! Widow." But even Carrie Moore would j not be so much missed in view of the fact . | that Phyllis Dare was to play the ! heroine. _ . j Mr. William Hawtrey. with his own j company, is tulfilling engagements in far- > i off California, being at the Orpheum, lin Oakland, not a great distance from San Francisco. A smart valet was recently caught after obtaining considerable amounts, irom tbe well-known Paris actress. Mile. Lolita, in an extraordinary way. He went daily to her residence with a bouquet, which he represented to be the ad- > miring tribute to the actress from hi» master, the Grand Duke Peter Nicflolj tievitch of Servia. Each day the actress | gave him a handsome tip. which, in fact. ■ amounted to some two or three francs J more than the price of the flowers. By j obtaining the flowers himself Gaston ad- ■ ded appreciably to his weekly wage by I this fraud. But now the trick has been | discovered, and he repines in gaol. | 'That very clever and attractive act- : ress. Janet Achurch has apparently fallen on had times. She was sued recently by a firm of c-ostumieres for £ S2. During j the course of her eviden*. she stated ! that she bad been engaged only for four \ weeks during the last two and a hali years. "But you make £25 a week," remarked Judge Edge. "That is very hand- | some." "But only for four weeks in two and a half years." Miss Achurch replied. "1 •am known chiefiy for playing in Ibsen.; plays, but they are rarely performed I nowadays. I would gladly pay this ii | I could; and I promise you that _hen- ; ever I am in work 3 will pay whatever I I can." 1 Mr R. G. Knowles has included Austra i lia and Xew Zealand in his itinerary for a second tour oi the world.

Mrs. Langtry makes her early return j to the London stage, _rith a new play by I Mr. Sydney Grundy. It is three years since either the iamous actress or the | equally celebrated author gladdened the i London public with their work, and ! their reappearance in the roles respeci tively of actress and dramatist will no I doubt be welcome. ! I notice that Miss Rosemary Rees. a j daughter oi W. L. Rees, of Gisborne, has , established a solid reputation in EnjSand j both as actress and playwright- For a ; good while she toured as the Duchess de I Venders in "Tlhe Broken Melody*' with jM. Auguste Van Biene, but her latest i engagement is with one of the Davis j touring companies, in which she plays { ; Lucy Middleton in 'The Education of j \ Elizabeth. A play by Miss Rees, ''Her j Dearest Friend," has been prosperously ! toured since last autumn, and another ' ' play. "A Desperate Marriage,'* was lirst produced at Brighton just the other j I day. I That clever mimic Albert Whtlan. made his American debut recently at the Colonial, New York, and scored an im- : mediate hit. He sings, whistles, plays the piano, and gives "impressions"' of Bransby Williams. Albert Chevalier, and Harry Lauder. Later he moved to Hammerstein's. Harry A. Gribbin. who was well known through the Dominion in the late eighties of last century, and later is understudy to the principal in the famous Lounen Gaiety Company, under Wil-; iiamson Garner and Musgrove's management, is a steady favourite in smaller parts in many of the English musical comedies. An erstwhile chorus girl of the Royal Comics, Miss Winnie Brown, is. I notice,: doing well at home in musical comedy and principal boy pantomime parts. Her latest part is that oi Robin Hood in "IThe Babes in the Wood.*' A startling report was silenced in the I i Chancery Division of the London Courts I the other day when it was declared that I a young actress, who had been much indebted to a certain treatment ior wrinj k!es. was not Miss Gladys Desmond, of | the Gaiety Theatre, but another lady of that same name appertaining to Pittsburg. U.S.A. Miss Desmond's alleged obligations to the specific had been made ' the jubjec-t matter of advertisement; and naturally she objected- So, also, I lee! sure, would anybody who has seen a London Gaiety "production-" , The :dea that any oi the shining ones qi that company, so lair and so serene, had ever possessed, or could ever possess, a 'wrinkle, is too preposterous for words: and five minutes' talk in Mr. Justice Neville's Court sufficed to destroy it. The defendant in the case was prompt with the amende honorable. In future, i said her counsel, her advertisements will ' ; make it quite clear that the actress whose wrinkles were smoothed away v. as the lady of Pittsburg. U.S.A. L . us bope that the belle Americaine will a'so rejoice when she reads the account of the case in her home by the Ohio. Yet doubt suggests itseif. She also may object. This advertising oi personal cures is really rather a delicate matter. Tbe production of a new play by Mr. 'A. W. Pinero is always an "event," and shortly after Easter Mr. George Alexander will present at his London theatre "The Thunderbolt.'* which is described a< the portrayal of an episode in the history oi a provincial iamily. Includ|ed in the cast will be Mr. Louis Calver.. ; Mr. Norman Forbes. Mr. Wilfrid Drayi cott. Mr. Julian Royce, Mr. Cyril Harcourt. Miss Mabel Hackney. Miss May | Palfrey. Miss Kate Bishop. Miss Alice Beet. Miss Stella Campbell, and, of course, Mr. Alexander. First Actor—"Lend mc five shillings, oid boy.*' Second Actor—"l would if I thought you'd ever be able to pay it back." First Actor—"Pay it back! Great Scott! In the flay Fni booked for next week I have to steal five thousand in the first act." Miss Ellen Terry says Irving did not treat her badly, nor she Irving. He revived "Faust" and produced "Dante." but she could not act in either of these plays. But they never quarrelled: their long partnership dissolved naturally. It was all very sad. but it could not be helped. She would have liked to stay with him to the end oi the chapter. \ An event in the theatrical world was 1 ' the opening recently of the famous Old Lyceum Theatre with "Romeo and Juliet*' at hali the prices usually charged in London theatres. Our old friend, Mi=s Nora Kerin. of the "Midsummer ■ Night's Dream" Company, was the Juliet. Her reception by the critics was, I notice, not over favourable. On© writer says: ""Miss Xora Kerin is not 'an ideal Juliet- She struggles gallant- • 1-" with a part which is beyond the powj ers of anyone but a transcendent genius, but has none of the requisite qualities." : Unstinted praise is given Mr. Matheson , Lang's Romeo. In her business arrangements La Belle Otero, the celebrated Continental dancer, " - who. whilst knowing the value oi money 1 and jewels better perhaps than any living artist, has always employed an agent, as her knowledge oi business mat- ' ters is not great. Otero has a very passionate and imperious nature, and, ! ior a whim, has been known to break a contract at the height oi her success. 1 "If I don't appear,"' she has said, "I pay ' a forfeit. I don't choose to appear —■ ; ! and there is the forfeit money. What more will you?" At Hamburg on one 1 occasion Otero wished to go to Berlin, " where her affections at that moment ' lav. but her impresario pointed out that 1 that was impossible without breaking - her contract and disappointing the pubs' lie. "The public," she is alleged to have _' said, '"that!" and she snapped her fin- '• j <__. as she used to do on the stage; i "ihe management—this!" and she pour--I ed on the table the amount of her for--1 feit. J I -Th«* Scarlet Pimpernel" w_is the sub- ' i ject ol litigation in the English courts 3j in March. Mr Courtney Thorpe, a well- •- i known actor, sued and recovered irom 3 Mr and Mrs. Montagu Barstow 20 per r j cent, on the royalties from the play, tt • ! would appear that it was it Mr Thorpe's r suggestion that Mrs Barstow. who writes a j under the name of Baroness Orezy. under--1 took "The Scarlet Pimpernel."* In evidence :- |it was shown that £5!ISO had been rea I c-eived as royalties for the production oi y the play- There was an amusing piect g of dialogue -hen the judge asked plaind tiff's solicitor whether the defendants r had produced any other play? i ' Mr Gill: They did find somebody whe | they thought would forward their re > quiremems. and they ran a play for five I- or six nishts at a cost oi £5000 oi £6000. d. His Lordship: That was probably bet1' ter than tbe other play. (Laushter.l • Mr Gill: It was a play that was callec d . ."A Sin," and the public seemeri to thut-i l! ,it was. (Laughter.) Eventually a ver *" j diet .vas returned for plaintiff." | Brief notice in an American veiloTt ; journal:—"The Costers Love Company -, has ordered a tombstone." r l l IHE DEADHEAD.