STAGE JOTTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 121, 22 May 1909, Page 12

STAGE JOTTINGS.

HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE. iay 17 to Jumj 5 — J. C. Williamson iltoyal Comic Opera Company.) une 7 to 26 — Wost'e Pictures une -28 to July 24 — Hamilton's Dramatic Co. jly 5 to July 24 — Hamilton's Dramatic Co. aiy 28 to August 23 — J. C. Williamson (Nellie Stewart Company.) .ugust 24-to Sept. 7 — HamUton'a- Dra^ matic Cp. OPERA, QOUSEI ieynell and Gunn's CinaereJla! Pantoml.ine< Compauy — May 24"Oii?ra$ds. KOXAL: ALREKU , ' HALJ.... athe Pictures— JSlgbtlK. TIVOLJ THEATBE* "JvoU Pictures. — Nightly,. JMisa-XJly Braytonj who.suppose-Oscac-Uchein! his coming : colonial tour ovye*? ouch' of the brilliance., of.:herrcareer. t<*< he* invaluable/ experience., she? gained-- aa w-alkingjlady " with) the company headed >y Mr. Benson, the Shakespearean- actoy. Mike many aspirants for- stage .honours, he did not consider it beneath* her dty to commence, at the bottom of the adder. To those whose aspirations are in the. lireotion. of a. stage career, an> interestng.problom that presents itself ia, What branch of'the, profession offers the most scope? Miss- Meredith Meredco—the irincipal; boy- of Messrs Moynell' and Sunn's pantomime 'Cinderella! which. Dpens at the Opera House on- thfc 24thi inst.— a great deal of.'experience in grand oppj'a, comic op^ra:-aud< musical comedy, considers tha-t there.- is more scope- for an actress uv this dir. reetioni than in any other- branch- ofrthe.: profession.. Miss Mewdco- appeared in; grand opera- in , America, but sta,fce» tha-b American--audisnoes prefer forcigTl' grand' opera aptists. with the. glaniDuc of foreigh' triumphs around them; The pub* lio are-gocting/fondor a.nd fonder ot -the■ musical plays, she says, and particularly of the lighter and brighter kind; and for that reason the comic opera artist will have more and more opportunities as time goes on. possibilities than are to be met with in other lines of the profession. The Edwi-n (ieach Dramatic Company will make their first appearance before an Auckland audience, in _ the Opera House on June 21, in the exciting dra-ma "Lured to London.' - The drama contains many ?<'n-ntional incidents, including a real water scene. It i≤ in this act that Miss Kthel Buckley performs her diving, feat. She rescues an old man who has previously been thrown into the canal,, by diving from a.n elevation of "20 feet. The season at the Opera House will extend over five weeks, and tbe management intend to produce a number of the lates-t dramatic successes including "The Woman Pays" and "The Broken Home." Few of those who are looking forward to enjoy Lehar's " Merry Widow " as produced by thn Williamson Company, know that the Prince Danilo of tho musical comedy i 3 a lifelike reproduction of what the real Prince Danilo, heir to the throne of Montenegro, was in his early day*. It wa_s out of the "wild oats" day? n?"T:ho real Prince that, camo tho character in " The Merry Widow." What is dom , by the prince on the stage has been clone, anri probably more, too, by the real prince. Prince l>anilo is a brother-in-law of the King of Italy, and in the heyday of his gilded youth, caused his 'Jroyal retoulvp more than anxiety. The pioturp of the probable- future rulfr of the little Balkan kingdom dibhod up to you in "The Merry Widow" is of course a reminiscence of his moi'o youthful days when ho, was a high roller in l'uri« "an<l Home. He is no lunger the open-haniicrl sppndor that his musical i-oniodv prototype ninke-s him out to be. Ills merriag* to lYiuces* -Jutta. (if MeekIpnbnrgi. cousin of the Princess of Wales, has toned him down to a considerable degree. His name, has been forgotten by tho older Pet at i , where is laid the last act of "The Merry Widow," and in which the prince—in the play—comes out a> the victor among her suitors. In this connection it is interesting in note that the Montenegrins will not tolerate the piece, and have on more than one occasion watrd a riot when present at its production. At th<» premiere oi \jzbar's opera by an Austrian company in Constantinople, for example, a number of Montenegrins were, in the audtence, a-nd they vehemently protested against thepictures of their rompntriots submitted by the player*. Whether if was that nianilo was too frivolous for thvir ideas I erf a prince of the blofxi, or that Baron Popoff dirl not conduct himself us seemly as a Montenegrin ambassador should, the fact remains that th" Montenegrins made such a vile uproar with hoofs and sticks and feet that there was a. viot. Sir Rupert Clarke lins purchased the interest of Mr. John Wren in the. firm of Hupert Clarke. .John Wren, Meynell and Ounn, which will in future i« carried j on as Rupert Clarke. Meyiiell ami Gunn. From advices earlier in tbe week it is evident thnt Miss Nellie Stewart is to take the dates originally booked at .His Majesty's for the Juliu* X.night Co. Krom I some published comment.-, on the person--1 tipl of the. former orgnnisaUon 1 Jparnt 1 that Mr .Langhorne Burton. Uv? leading ; j man of the Nellie Stf-ivart company, is I the beauty-man of the .show, vv-jili good . I grey eyes, a straight, well-cut, distinctive i j no=e, and rippling fair hair—that is, if he : I would only wear it long enough to give I 1 the ripple, a fair chance, but he will not. s j for the wave ia nipped in the bud. and is •[but a suggestion, says an exchange: He i is also the swell from the sartorial point 11 of view. He wears what-is seldom seen i in Australia, a single eyeglnss, and even 1 then it is a monocle out. of the common, i Jor it boasts a narrow frame of black. For his Wo.it Australian tour, which \ commenced at Perth, Mr. Julius Knight has a most attractive repertoirv. "The J)uke"s Motto. Hie Sign of the Cross, , " The Breed of the Treshams." "The 1 Royal Divorce," "Moueie.nr Beaucairo"' and 'I of course, "An Knglishman's Home." , Much <-he same repertoire will bo played , during Uie Dominion visit, which follows s All the members of the Nellie Stewart 7 Company have had an eye open recently c for a King Charles spaniel fpr " Hweet 0 Nell of Old Driiry,'" which ha.-i been re ' 1 vived for the conclusion of the Kclli« H I Stewart Melbourne season. Mr. Kinf v i found the best—appropriately enough a: * 1 he plays the King—but the price' asket " \ for it was £150. \ \ After nearly two years employed ii . i entertaining a very largo and continu j! ' ously appreciative section of Austialiasmi i" ' playgoers, tho Williamson Comedy Con: 1 pany has ceased to be. The new orgamsi p ' tioii which is to take its place has alread, t ' I commenced operation on " Tlie King c - which is- to be presented fo V the first time in Australia at Her Maje; j s ty's Tlieatre, Melbourne, next montl , r The company will also add the Gaiet success, " Ha.vann " to their repertoir*.

Mr. Edwin-Brett, the Baroness-in " Ciik I jrella," to be produced at the Opera' ou3e on Monday next, says that the [ imedian who appears before an Austra.- i an audience, ha 3 not such an arduous isk as his confreres in the Old.Country. Australian audiences," says Mr. Brett, I are more intelligent, and more readily , :e the humour of anything, and are : aicker to applaud and appreciate it. The | lughter-loving trait is a more j ounced characteristic of the Australians; lav English people. The Australian has j , sunnier and. more buoyant torn- j eranient,- and- is lass likely to be deressed- by his troubles. He is, therefore, (ore given to- laughter. Moreover, life (.■so much'easier-o.ver-here, and. there i* ttle-of th€i<ppver-ty andisordidness.o4.tte ie, that characterises the big. cities- in jngland. A? full ho,use.-atfcendeC;the rpertorma,n.eje-i'"Uut;-oai, CAstleveagbj" a, priamMng.; >lny- by r~M;T ?J.; Clarence* Lee, which , waa. >rodue,ed<:by- the»vPl&ygQer&'' Clu.biat-th.ft 'istlaoe. Theatre, Sydney. Ta& : "Ausfcua-l-an- Statf*' s»ysu.its pjpfe 13 devek»ped f ia-u.-iutereatingy : manner,' although , it b, ouglv and une.ven at times.. Some, of the ecnea-have<a.reaL dram.atift ring ; which vas nob missed.' in. the. creditable. eatationi givemj. Threes good,- aoting >arts are provided, and these were ably ollowed by M'isa Lilian Booth* Mr Reginald Goode, Mr S. Bue>k.leton and vliss Louise Broad. Henry- Arthur Jones, recently interviewed in London* sa.id, that he consid' ■red "The Hypocrites" the best play, he iad written j though there, might be nany. who would'not agree with him, "However-," ho added, "I know- that in vriting;it I felt that I was putting into t the.-beat that there was in-me. If it ia not my ; \beat play, it at least represents the"'highest summit- of my efforts β-makerit Sβ;"' itagfrSteuek! Ther bnfcfc o£< gods and men! (P*ay; reader, do net seofliO Take Jrienda they egg- him.' ou; ; aad th*B, The •gods,: they- egg him. off.i Sir William Gilbert Has returned to Ao paths oi Savoy opera —"'one'of-the no*t cheering bits of news brought; to .lie notice of playgocre for many a long day," as the -'London Daily Telegraph" observes. Tliat journal drives some in- : ormation about the new work: '"'Beyond ;he faot that the new work comes of the same royal line as ' The Mikado,' ' The i'eomen of the Guard,' and 'The Gondoiers,' no details regarding it are known, nid for the moment the author (prefer* to keep his own- secret-. It* is good to ■enow, on the other hand, that the music is to be composed by Mr. Edward Gernnm, whom Sir Arthur Sullivan himself, shortly before his death, nominated as his legitimate successor in this particular sphere of endeavour." Pro-Hellenio corsets, leg-of-mutton sleeves, frills, flounces, and deeolletages, which, according to the learned schol\rs who provided the documents and the Iresemskers who copied them, anticipated in tho heroic age of-Greece the latest Parisian fashions, drew all Paris to M. lules Bois's tive-aet dra.ma in verse, ""La Purie"' (says the Paris correspondent of tho "Daily Telegraph"). "We certainly were shown wonderful women's dresses tif strange colours and extraordinary patterns, and as complicated as any of to-day, while the men went to the other extreme, and wore aa little as possible at home when they had laid aside the Persian or helmets and nrmour and the shields emblazoned with the owl of Pallas Athene, wherewith they had gor% to the wars. The eostunies and the scenery of Thebes in the days of Hercules have been reconstituted upon the authentic documents including the wonderful finds made in Crete, where ihe labyrinth of the Minotaur has beer discovered, and whore there are sti! hopes of unearthing the thread ol Ariadne. We were given into the bar j;Hiii a play lull of matter with uiuci heroics, >omo mock and fonif genuine with Herculean wrestling and othn things besides, including trlepathy hypnotism, and a dash of Socialism, am (•von two or three real dramatic fitua tionh. Kvery week seems to bring a fresl concession to the man in pursuit of ai oviMiins's entertiiinnicnt. JX, nifi.v os rs inembered that Mr. Charles Frohmai once established a service of motor "hilars to convey people to and from hi theatres; while it has become quite : customary thing for a ">anas?r on firs nigiij-s to relieve the tedium of lon, waits at the doors by- the offer of i comforting' cup of tea. And now th ; London Empire has made a step in th ?ame direction. It has reeoa;nised tha the belated City man, leaving his offic nt a moment which gives him just tim to arrive at a theatre or mufiic-liall v curtain ascends, may feel the- -vran of "a wash and brush-up.' . He ma even be moved to the discovery that hi hair is not partfd exactly in the ink die, or that his moustaches lack tha linal touch of brilliantine which give to them so lustrous an appearance. I j order to acr-ommodate him, the ment hns decided to inaugurate an uj to-;iate toilet *aloon, equipped with errr toilet necessity. But why stop here We may presently find some first-cla.' costumier offering to supply a numher i driss suit*, which could be hired for tf c\cmng by patrons of tbe stitlls ar dress-circle unable to rrttirn home- i don their own. The scheme-, it is clea contains endless possibilities: from su< small beginnings ivlio knows what gra results may spring? So much »s written and talked- to-dt on the subject of the star systPm theatrical affaire—?o much criticism diiected at it—thai the actor's vie' jjcint may not conic amiss, and it interesting to learn from Mr. Julil ' Knight, who ha? figured in move st: ! pjuvs than any other tictor in Austral in our recent stage history, his view th; "as playe were in the beginning, th. i art now", and ever will lie." To him aeeius the most imiuraj thing in ( world that a playwright -hould, in m« , ing a drama, shidy the accomplishmen and limitations of actors. If he do not, he muet work in the dark. T! . roles which (in author creates hnve be interpretod and, he *ays, it is bptt !' to bear that in mind before he sets o ; to build a play, than after he has eoi , pleted if- "Star parts are spoken of if they were a new devoloptiient, but " is far from being so. The Ureek poe t mote them. Sophocles is believed ■ huve written to the range of particu! i. actors, and his play* bear evidence of - Moliere built up the leading characi > in each of his comedies so as to acco ' with his own acting abilities. ShaY 3 speare devised Hamlet for Burba.ee, a i the same actor created most of the 1 roles in the tra-gediee of our greati droniatist. Racine, composed pis with a. view to the histrionic ca>pahiht " of Mile. Champsmcftle, Sardou wrote Bonhardt, Kostand for Coquelin. 1 '' actor, who steps into a part that " made for him, is like a man putting \- a. tailor-made suit; the man who wn n drama: with nobody in view for r leading role is best likened to a trad 5 " Tf-an who turne out slop clot-hing-i takes ch«rajc«s abpat the fit." THE niP.^rmTyiT