STAGE JOTTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 62, 13 March 1915, Page 14

STAGE JOTTINGS.

A budget of new music, forwarded by Messrs. Chappell and Co. includes quite a. number of good songs, -of which I can Tecommend "My Garden," hj Guy IKHardelot? "The Call of the Wild," by Daisy McGeoch; "Marry Mc, Nancy, Do"; ".The iPoet and the Nightingale," Liza Lehman. The annual dance album is of more than average merit, and a march based on the patriotic song, •'Your King and Country Need You," will probably be appreciated by those who care for this class of .piece. Mr. "W. 6. Percy, the well-known comedian, was recently playing in "A Cold, Douche " with his own company at Birmingham. Mrs. M. E. Everett (nee Miss Hettie Evans) has recently returned from England after an absence <tA seven years, during which time she has completed several operatic engagements in England and South Africa. Mrs. Everett was to have returned to England to fill engagements, but owing to the war these nave •been cancelled. One of this lady's most successful parts was " Paul Jones" in the opera of that name. The Trans▼aal Leader" eayes—"ln the tile role, Miss Hettie Evans achieved a signal success, her beautiful sympathetic mezzo voice was beard to delightful effect, and her acting redeemed the part from an insipidity which, in leas capable bands, might attach to it." Mies Annette Kenermtn. !aet year at the Globe Theatre. New York City, created new records in Broadway picture play productions as the star in "Neptune's Daughter.'The public continued to pack the spacious theatre for nearly a year to witness the productions. -Xeptune's Daughter," with Annette Kellerman in the stellar Tole. will shortly be shown in «oae of the Jfew Zealand paetnr« theatre*. Hiss Marie lx.hr, the 'young Australian actress, is to be Sir Gmrge Alexanleading woman in a production of a new play by Rudolf Beier, at the St. James. Theatre, London. EJjar's new work, "Carillon," received its first performance at a London Symphony Orchestra concert in December. The composer conducted, and the performance'was evidently impressive The work is a setting of EmHe Camraaert's Chantohs, Belgw, Chantorw." One ' critic remarks that "the heartbroken | cry of tiie patriot poet weeping for hie I ruined country, and declaiming vengeance, has inspired Sir Edward Elgar to one of bis loftiest utterances." I La Maze trio of acrobats, now per- ' forming at the Tivoli Theatre, have been in every part of the world. "The richestlooking audiences in the world," says the . chief actor of the trio, "are not to be I seen in London or Paris, but at Nice and Monte Carlo. Nest to them in point of i wealthy appearance I would place the! audiences in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos i Ayres. The wealthy Spaniards are fond of the display of their opulence, and except in Monte Carlo arid Nice there is no theatre which will show the flashing array of costly diamonds you see in front of you at Buenos Aires. The cattle owners seem to have more money than they know how to spend. Big hotels in the South American cities are extraordinarily luxurious. Outside America and Europe the world has nothing like Lhftn— nor even to approach them. ,, I Writing under date December 6. from the Variety Theatre, Turin, Italy, Mr Fred Elton, the comedian so well known in these parts some times ago, after giving instances sent by his son of some absurd cables that had appeared there about the war, states: "But the top is reached here, when a. paper saye that the Australian soldiers from New Zealand have been deposited in Cairo, Egypt, where they are to learn the art of the fighter, and when they are the finished article they will be sent to fight the i Kuropean." Mr Elton states, further, "We wish we were back. n«re it is bitterly cold, and we are not used to it. j We were hoping to return by the Oster- >. ley. Cinemas are depressed. We have two performances a day, and three on , Sundays—7, 0.30 and 11.45. That is long . hours and hard work." ij That bright young actress, Gaby t Deslys, who had the royal love affair and blushed to find it fame, has discovered that a profound interest in patriotic efforts is exceedingly helpful in an advertising way. Nowadays she earns many a useful paragraph By visiting the ' wounded in different London hospital— a practice, previously monopolised by the King and Queen ana persons of "high estate. One time lately she made a stupendous first appearance at a London ! music hall, and was considerably em- : bedded in bouquets, which she took next j day to a London hospital, and distri-' buted them with kind words among the wounded Tommies. Miss Deslye got several pars and photographs out of this little episode, and from every point of view did a very good day's work. | While opera is far from flourishing in England, France and America, it is alleged to be running as usual in Germany. The Berlin Opera House commenced its season as customary on let September, and Dresden, Munich, Stutt- i gart and other large centres opened I their opera houses in October. The only ' effect that the war hae had on German | opera is to reduce the artists' salaries and the prices of admission. Seeing that the charge for a seat is eompara- I tively modest in normal times, German ' opera impresarios cannot be making a fortune at cut, wartime rates. The audiences, it is said, are ac lar>»e as j usual, though probably this is an ex- \ aggeration. Considering the German death roll and the practically universal bereavement, it can be understood that i many regular operagoers have no time < lot opera juet now. (•» According to a private letter from ! i Mr. Ernest Toy, who wrote from New,, York, Mr. Paul Dufault will be revisit- t mg Australia v.nd New Zealand in 1916.'« The influx of foreign musicians and the 1 depression caused by the war induced i Mr. Dufault to abandon the idea of { giving concerts in New York at the time * and Mr. Toy states that from the mnsi- a ctan's point of view, New York was in a I bad way. The war is held to be responsible for ( many changes in the theatrical world Drama on the twice-naghtly plan has t been essayed with more or leas success j at the suburban and provincial theatres c in England. Now it is to be trded at a i West End bouse—no less important a s theatre than the Garrick, where, during ; o Mr. Arthur Bourchier's absence on tour r ■with "The Double Mystery," a play y called "A Daughter of England" will bo d performed twice each evendng and at two matinees a week. The advantages of 0 tikis system at the present moment are j considered to be obvious. With the (j darkened streets and curtailed 'bus ecr- i vices there are many playgoers— i especially among the suburban patrons— l< who are anxious to return to ihesir I ■»r>me3 as early in the evening as poe- v *»«.'» while for those who have no such i: restrictions the second house begins at a h more convenient hour. 1 TEE DEADHEAD, j c