STAGE JOTTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 254, 23 October 1920, Page 18

STAGE JOTTINGS.

The Auckland Amateur Operatic Society, which List year had a very successful season with "The Gondoliere," liavp now in active rehearsal 'The Geisha," which -will be produced early in November. .Mr. Maughan Barnett is musical director. The principal part, "Mimosa San," will lie played 'by Mrs. Glover (Chrisbehurch) and "Reginald Fairfax" by Mr. Cliff Crowther. Mr. A. Warbrick will be "Imari" and Mr. Glass takes '"Won Hi." Xaples hae decided to erect a monument to the memory of Leoncavallo, best known by his tragic opera, ','1 iPag-liafoi." The composer was a X'ea-polhan. The cost of th<> memorial will be met Inpublic subscriptions. Tin! Australian Le Brun. now appearing nn the Fuller circuit, is an Australian soldier, who married a daughter of France. Hie dainty Parisian partner sings songs in 'French and 'broken English, and lias made, a favourable impression with audiences in other centres of the Commonwealth. Mis* Minnie Love appeared in VS.V.. the. Australian inueieal comedy, at Melbourne for a week only. Her part was then taken by Miss Winifred O'Connor, who was brought to Australia by the Tivoli management to '"star" in forthcoming big production l . Miss Love returns to England. A movement to raise funds to erect at VVaterford, Ireland, a statue to Vincent Wallace, composer of "Maritana," was resumed recently. It was started beforj I the war, and at the time of the mail leaving London there remained £3f>U tv collect. The statue had been modelled. A committee was being formed in London to complete the collection of the money. (Last week Mr. Philip Newbury bade farewell to Sydney audiences, prior to his departure for the 'United States. A complimentary concert at the Town Hall was organised by a citizens' committee, and several favourite artists t&ok part in the programme. Mr .Vew'burv will give concerts in Xew Zealand, en route to Rosa Loader, musica] diploma comedienne, and her dapper little partner, Tom Laney, are shortly due in .Sydney to appear in vaudeville, under the management of Ben and John Fuller. Miss Loader gave over 2000 concerts in the battle area in war-time, and before j?°' n o to France held her certificate for motor driving. She had the unique experience of driving a tank in !France and winning a race in which six other tanks took part. Some extraordinary facts have recently been published by the Royal "X'ormal College and Academy of Music for the (Blind. Xo fewer than 84 of the music students have obtained organ appointments, 70 having gained either the fellowship or associateahip of the Royal College of Organists, while several have taken the degree of (Bachelor of Music. No wonder that there is inscribed over the organ in the great hall of the institution the Latin motto to the effect that music is light in darkness. Moved 'by the success of the popular internatiorial stars of the cinema, the British Minister of Health ie appearing on the films, and something' like 20.000,000 cnlema-goere will have an opportunity of judging his capacities as a hero in the "movies." Sir Kingsley IWood is responsible tor the play in which he appears, the subject also taking 'a mo/ving part. It all centres round the subject of the housing scheme, with, as a background, the door of the Ministry in Whitehall, where a former soldier demands a house of. Sir Kingsley Wood, and finally obtains one when Dr. Addison arrives on the scene. The subject of Government "movies" opens up an endless vista of suifcable-jnatters 'to be dealt with, only it would require the art erf Gilbert and Sullivan to do real justice to them. It was stated by Sir Henry Hadow, V:ce-dhancellor of Sheffield University, at a conference called by the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust, that for a hundred years, from Henry VII. to the end of the reign of James 1., Englishmen were writing music rivalling the compositions of the great masters of Flanders and Italy, and comparable with the great Elizabethan literature. Practically the whole of that music disappeared. It was overlaid by the lapse of time, and until recently nobody in -the world knew of the extent and value of that treasure. (But it lias now been discovered in manuscript form by a body of expert editors, and is about to be published by the 'Carnegie Trust.

There were two outstanding events •recently in connection xvith the .T. C. (Williamson Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company in Melbourne. The first was the announcement of the marriage of M : ss Strella Wilson and Mr. Ralph Errolle. Both artists had been asso-' ciated with the J. C. Williamson Grand Opera Company. Mr. Errolle "taing the principal tenor. Returning to America after the season of grand opera, Mr. Errolle arrived in Melbourne a few days ago, and the announcement of the marriage xvas given out immediately ionow- : ng the event. The other i"<*' 'ent was an rccident that happened to -—r. John Hal ton. who, whi c about to board a tram was knocked doxvn and run over by a hansom cab, u.e vr.icel i w.iicii passed over his neck. Mr Ralston received a bad knocking about, but fortunately escaped serious injury. Once he was about again, he accepted the misfortune philosophically, and wrote to the papers making a suggestion as to how pedestrians m'ght be protected from similar accidents in the busy street traffic.