STAGE JOTTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 168, 17 July 1926, Page 24

STAGE JOTTINGS.

i #_ , A Mozart and Wagner Festival of opera is to be held at Munich, beginning the first of August and continuing till, the middle of September. , "Abie's Irish Rose" had its Australasian premiere at the Princess Theatre on Satiißxfay last. Grace Stafford and j George Duryea play the leads, the ! latter having the part of Abie. Miss Esther Fisher, the Wellington pianist, has quite established herself in the favour of music-lovers in London. She gave a recital recently at the Wigi' more Hall, and gained some first -ate ; ■ notices. Chaliapin. the great singer, has !' arrived in Melbourne with his wife and I four daughters. It is interesting to i j note that the price being charged for | reserved seats for his concerts is 12/6 jeach. Dorothy Brunton made her first ■ appearance in drama in Sydney recently, . when she appeared as Guy Bates Post's | leading lady in "The Climax." _ She ; scored a personal triumph, receiving a ' , great ovation at the end of the play. Scan O'Casey's "The Plough and the Stars," which is dedicated "To the Gay i I Laugh of my Mother at the Gate of •the Grave," has been praised un- • ■ reservedly by the critics at Home. It •! is said to be worthy of the pen that wrote •"Juno and the Paycock" and to 1 mark a distinct advance on the earlier play. ■ | Madge Elliott, the pretty young dan--1 cer who will be remembered as the part- | ncr of Cyril Kitchards in several J. C. j Williamson shows which came to New ' Zealand, is making a name for herself • in the Gershiwn ballet in the "Midnight Follies" at the Hotel Metropole, Lon- ' don. Strikingly attired, she appears 'J.is a lady of the Georgian period in a "Rhapsody in Blue." '. i The smart, semi-Bohemian, cynical set is cleverly portrayed in Geoffrey Warren's new play, "Loose Ends," at the ' Duke of York's Theatre, London. Miss '■ Molly Kerr, Miss Mary Merrall, Mr. , Dion Titheradge, the producer, play the : leading roles. One of the features of the ! piece is a game of bridge, which is 'properly played right through, dummy's '. cards being exposed on the table. '! Edgar Wallace's play of a thrilling ' murder mystery, "The Ringer," is en- ! thralling London audiences. The identity ' of the Ringer (so named because of his ! skill in ringing the changes in his appear!anc!, is cleverly preserved until the I end. He murders people whom he considers worthy of the fate and in this case 1 his victim is a rascally solicitor who is ; a dope-fiend, a libertine and a receiver ' of stolen goods. ! It has been said that the foreign visitor who becomes acquainted with the 1 French theatre, via the Moulin Rouge, is ■ often shocked at the freedom with which ' . nudity is exposed on the stage. '"Many | of the uninitiated leave France with the impression that its playhouses are producing orgies of licentiousness," accord- • ing to one writer. "Les Mannequins," •at present being staged, is the latest . "sensation." It goes the limit. I The Anstralian stage is to lose Frank i ' Harvey, who is at present playing I Wilfred Denver in "The Silver King" in ■ Sydney. He will leave for England at the end of the season. The popular ■ actor first went to Australia in 1914 ■ with the company organised by J. C. j Williamson, Limited, for the production ' of "Joseph and his Brethren." Harvey : : was in Auckland recently, when he • played with Remy Carpen in "The ! . Seventh Heaven." .! 1 ' Eden Phillpotts' fourteen-year-old 1 play, "The Secret Woman," met, it ap- ' pears, with an exceedingly cordial recep- » tion on its recent revival at the Alhamf bra, Glasgow, by Julian Frank. Written . in the author's most serious vein, temi pered, however, by some pleasantly humorous scenes, the play makes an ; excellent vehicle for acting of a strongly ; emotional order. The title part, accord--1 ing to the "Glasgow Herald," was . handled by Violet Vanbrugh "with - assured and complete artistry and a - remarkable range of passionate inteni . sity." Wales is following the example of EngI land and the Continent, and is having '; a musical renaissance. A society of I Welsh muscians has been organised by ' j native composers, who base their work •i on Welsh folk music and folk dance. ' Dr. David de Lloyd of Aberystwyth has " | composed the first large work produced 1 under the influence of the new move- ■ ment. His opera "Gwenllian" has had ' i several performances. The modern group ' ' includes Leigh Henry, T. Hopkins Evans, 'j D. Tawe Jones, Frederick Humphries, ! Haydn Morris, Osborne Roberts and J. . ] Owen Joues. j "Tell Mc More," is the musical comedy that will follow "Leave it to Jane," , at the Royal, in Melbourne. This is one of the pieces which Harry B. Burcher found most pleasing during his recent . [trip abroad. He will produce "Tell Mc I More" with a very strong cast. Gus ; | Bluett and George Gee will strengthen | the comedy element. In the cast will also bo Margery Hicklin, Mona Barlee, : i Cecil Scott, Leyland Hodgson, Floie . I Allan, Emmeline Orford, Winnie Tate, . ' Dorothy Lena, Rosie Le Varde, Harry j Wooton, Hugh Styne, Cecil Kelleway. j The dancers will include Fred Mackay. ; | Fred Carpenter, and Daphne Selig. i ""Doctor Knock" was one of the fortuJ nate plays which survived the thin . i days of the strike in Lqndon. Mr. DenI nis Eadie appeared in the title-role of ' j this famous comedy in three acts, by j Jules Eomains, which has been running 1 | over two years in Paris. ■ j _ In my mail to-day I discover two free tickets for George White's forthcoming ' : "Scandals," the price of which, to others, is 55 dollars each (says a New York writer.) Thus 110 dollars must be ! expended by less fortunate revue lovers ; to attend the initial performance, not | counting the further disbursements j naturally the accompaniment of such a ! big event. Mr. White is one of the least rapacious of the showmen and his high tariffs are justifiable. His exhibii tions are expensive, and if one does not care to share the cost with him he does not force one to do so. I estimate that a "Scandals" first-nighter, if thrifty in the matter of tips and tributes to the supper clubs, can escape , from the Jrst showing of the "Scandals" with an outlay of 1200 or 1300 dollars. Mr. Ziegfeld, the pioneer of the fleshly frivolities, has become mellow in his charges. For "The Palm Beach Girl." ; soon to be repeated at tho Globe Theatre, he will exact from his adherents only a modest sacrifice, ranging from two" to ten dollars per seat.

The prize this week is awarded to Mr. A. R. Elliott, Auckland, for: "THE GENTLE HINT." At a wireless station in the north of New Zealand there worked an official who was in the habit of acting as referee at tbe local weekly football match. Each Saturday a wagon would call at the station to pick up the referee, and this wagon was generally well loaded with Maoris from the local team. One Saturday the vehicle pulled up outside the local wireless station, and its occupants were very perturbed to learn that "Jones" was absent on leave. His relieving man thereupon offered to fill the position of referee for the day. After some argument the Maoris agreed , to this', and the official boarded the wagon, and sat on one side next to the spokesman of the party. This particular native, Hori, was a veritable giant, and, after being very silent for some time, he said: "You referee much pefore for te footy?" "Yes," stated the official, "I know the game fairly well." "Well," said Hori. "dis game she te pretty hard one. Te Pamapouri team te big men and they sometimes too good for us. But, to-day, you see anyting you not too sure about—well, we want te fair go." SLEIGHT-OF-HAND. "Jimmie, what is a person called who steals?" asked the teacher. "I don't know, teacher," replied Jimmie, promptly. "Now, Jimniie," the teacher went on. "suppose I were to put my hand in your pocket and take out a penny, what would you call me?"' •"Please, teacher, I'd call you a conjurer," said the lad. NOT PODDY'S FAULT. Farmer Jenkins was unfortunately in a bad humour when, one evening, approaching the twenty-fifth anniversary of their wedding day, his wife said, "Next Tuesday will be our silver wedding; we ought to celebrate. Let's kill the red calf!" "Kill the calf!" roared Jenkins. "What's the good of murdering an innocent calf for something that happened twenty-five years ago?" A WICKED WORLD. A clergyman at Opokonui was delivering a sermon in the little church on the subject of Sunday observance. "This is becoming a dreadfully wicked world," he said. "Sabbath breaking is rampant. Here on this Sunday morning, from where I stand, I can see through the window a number of boys playing football." "Please, sir." said a boy at the back of the church, "can you see who's winning?" PERFECT GENTLEMAN. At a ball given at Barbados by the officers of a British ship, there came in the middle of a dance an interruption by a coloured man who was acting as master of ceremonies. Rushing into the ballroom from the grounds, he cried to the bandmaster, "Sto-ppe de music, stoppe de band!" "What for I stoppe de music, stoppe de band?" "English officer he kissing my wife," and the betrayed official disappeared, to reappear, however, in a few moments, beaming all over as he jovially ordered. "Carry on de music, carry on de band; English officer he 'pologise." Honour was satisfied. OVER THE RIMTJTAKAS. As the train ascended a steep grade, with frequent jerks and stops, a fussy passenger showed great perturbation. Whenever there was a jerk or a stop he would ask the other passengers, "What's the matter? Have we been derailed?" His nervousness irritated the others, and finally, when he asked a man, "Aren't you afraid there is goinS to be an accident?" the latter said in a matter-of-fact tone. "No; I'm not afraid. I'm going to commit suicide in the next tunnel." Just then the train came to a station. The fussy passenger, after a hasty glance at the other, went into another car.