STAGE JOTTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 180, 1 August 1925, Page 22

STAGE JOTTINGS.

It has been definitely decided that Pauline Frederick will make a tour of the Dominion, but owing to her great success in Australia dates have not been fixed. ' Marcus Clark and Company, Limited, have bought from Fullers' Theatres, Ltd., | the Princess Theatre, in Central Square, : Sydney, for £40,000, with the object of extending their present premises. The theatre will be demolished. The Vienna Opera House management is reported to be owing the Ricordi publishing house of Milan to the amount of 70,000,000 Austrian crowns, for royalties on the operas of Verdi and Puccini, which drew the best houses. As a consequence Ricordi has withdrawn the right to perform these works. The German Opera House of Berlin,, which recently went into bankruptcy, has been taken over entire, with its orchestra, chorus and ensemble, by the city. Two of the opera houses of the German capital are now owned by the State, and the other by the city. Subsidy seems essential to Continental ; opera. In answer to requests that some of the old musical comedies: "Floradora," , "The Cingalee," "The Orchid," "San . Toy." etc., should be revived, Sir George . Tallis stated that it would be too ex- j pensive to present them for short j seasons, and gave some interestiag j figures showing the cost of present-day • theatrical productions. Revivals of the comedies mentioned would cost from £3500 to £4000 each for a run of ft few weeks. A new production costs from £10,000 to £15,000. "Kid Boots" repre- ' sents an expenditure of £12,000. Playgoers of all ages and types will be pleased with the announcement that a | Gilbert and Sullivan Company is being ' organised in London for J. C. Williamson, Limited, and will be here next ' March (says "The Australasian"). Mr. Charles Walenn and Mr. James Hay have already been engaged—they were both very popular in the 1920 productions. "A Wandering Minstrel 1" and "Take a Pair of Sparkling Eyes" were a delight sung in Mr. Hay's exquisite tenor voice, and Mr. Walenn gave memorable performances of Jack Point and of the old chancellor of "lolanthe." "Originality," remarks Sir Benjamin Fuller, "is a beautiful thing—no matter what form it takes. Its great charm lies in its unexpectedness. I had an instance of this the other night at 'Little J*ssie James.' For generations the squawk of the seat-holder against the late arrival who crowds in, steps on hats, bumps knees and falls on ladies' laps, has resounded in husky whispers through the theatres of the world. There arrived a late-comer wedging into the centre of a fully-occupied row, with his seat the only vacant one. Quite audibly he complained as he laboured along: 'These people who come in early give mc a pain,' It was," concludes Sir Benjamin, "an entirely new one on mc." A clergyman is appearing in his own play .at the Ambassadors' Theatre, Southend, writes a London correspondent. He is the Rev. Ralfe Davies, of St. Clements, Leigh, now a member of the Southend Repertory Company, which is staging his fantasy, "Professor Tring"s Experiment." Mr. Davies, who was ordained while Still in his twenties by the Bishop of London, had a curacy at King's Cross for three years. Priests, he believes, must look facts in the face and take their part in ths work of the world. He played 27 different Shakespearian parts at the Old Vie. before > joining the Southend Repertory Com- i pany. The "Peter Pan" of vaudeville, " Wee " Georgie Wood, will be seen here shortly, heading the next Company of International Vaudeville from J. C. i Williamson theatres. The star is supported by his own company including Dolly Harmer, Thelma Kurtzman and i Tom Blackblock. The J. C. Williamson : acts supporting "Wee" Georgie Wood includes the " Beau Brummel" of vaudeville, Billy Maloney, in up-to-date songs and steps, Frank's Canine Statuary, described as "an act beautiful," the i Alder rio of trapezists, Marie Lawton, '. with her piano and harp .and Jay Shidden, the dancing violinist. The orchestra will be under the baton of Mr. : A. G. Frost. The announcement of the appointment i of Mr. James Watson, conductor of the Lithgow Brass Band (N.S.W.) to the conductorship of our Garrison Band will be read with interest by the many people • in this city who are interested in bands and band music, says " C Sharp " in the " Wanganui Herald." Mr. Watson takes up the leadership of a band whose reputation throughout the years of its , existence is an enviable one, and whose record surpasses that of any other band. Mr. Watson is the successor of men of outstanding ability and enthusiasm and the citizens of Wanganui will look forward to seeing one of its oldest musical organisations "come back," to lead the ' Dominion once again. "I love the part of Polly Pearl," says Pauline Frederick, who plays that part < in "The Lady" at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne. "I just love it all, especially the prologue and the epilogue, where I play the part of an old woman. I do not act; I simply become Polly Pearl and forget everything else. In this part I have to drop my "h's" and speak ungrammatically, but it is no effort to do so; it simply comes natural to the part. In one scene I have to fall down, and it is no innocent stage fall, I can assure you. I get so carried away that I simply fall and don't think of the consequences. People arc always telling mc that I will hurt myself, and sometimes I do." A Sydney " Bulletin " correspondent writes with reference to some players popular in New Zealand a good many years ago: The return to Australia of the former opera star Annie Leaf awakes memories. A native of Auckland, where her brother was a photographer, Miss Leaf, the brother—a little man with a large bass voice—Signor Tom Ricardi (otherwise Thomas Richards) J. A Grain, Charlie Harding and' Tottie Teague figured in a famous production of Pinafore" at the Auckland Theatre the first in Australasia. Annie Leaf, Kieardi and Harding were snapped up by the Williamson, Garner and Musgrove firm at Gisborne on their way back to Auckland after a tour of the southern provincial centres; and their subsequent successes in Australia are Australian opera history. I was a member of their mixed pro. and amateur co., and had the honour of teaching Annie and Tottie how to put up their dukes when they sang about a British tar being a soaring soul, and demonstrated that " this should be his customary attitude."