STAGE JOTTINGS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 103, 3 May 1930, Page 2 (Supplement)

STAGE JOTTINGS.

The production of "The New Morality' in the Concert Chamber, an May 9 and 10, is creating a good deal of interest. Harold Chapin, whose death in the war was so serious a locs to British drama, is at his befit in this delicious comedy. The parts will be taken by leading amateurs, and & very enjoyable entertainment should result. The proceeds will go to the Obstetrical Fund. New York is having a surfeit of prison plays. Three plays now running have to do with gaols, and another is to be produced shortly. Those already playing are "Children of Darkness, a story of Jonathan Wild, the famous London thief catcher; "The Criminal Code," a bleak tale of prison life; and "The Last Mile," written by an actor from a scenario, and with a first act by a condemned man. The cast in this piece is entirely of men, and the title is the name given bv men about to be executed to the walk from their cells to the electric chair on the scaffold. The unproduced play is based on the novel, "Condemned to Devil' 3 Island," which was used by Konald Column for his talking picture, "Condemned." Marie Studholme, one of the most popular English actresses at the turn of the century, when musical comedy had | become superimposed upon all light opera, and before the birth of the revue, died 011 March 10 at the age of 54. She appeared on the stage when she was 16 years old, and gained prominence through "A Gaiety Girl" and other pieces. Her fame coincided with the sudden rage for tlie picture postcard, and her attractive features caused her to become for the time perhaps the most photographed personage in the country. For some years she had lived in retirement. Referring to Abraham Lincoln Erlanger, theatrical magnate, who died in New York on March 10, leaving an estate valued at between 20,000,000 and 75,000,000 dollars, an American, writer says: Erlanger's death has taken a i theatrical gtanfc from the field, a man whose power stretched across the continent and controlled theatres in every 1 centre in this country. Until this season he had been inactive for some years. With other men of J. he theatre in New York, he began a campaign, to recover popularity for the legitimate stage, the attraction for which, except in the larger cities, has been on the wane since motion 1 pictures first, showed strength. I

Writing to Ms paper, an American dramatic critic touring Europe stated: "The London theatres all have bars, and men and women frequent them between the acts for a whisky and soda or some other such refreshment. The ushers, all girls, take orders for milder drinks and serve them in the theatre. At the matinees the ushers that your order when they seat you'for your tea, to be served after one of the acts. When the curtain goes down, they, begin handing their customers little trays with tea sandwiches and cake, and the people sit there and enjoy themselves -while they chat of the play or their neighbours. It was rather amusing to me at first, bat I grew accustomed and looked on it as a matter of course."

The former Savoyard, Jessie Bond, who is now 77, and who created many Gilbert and Sullivan parts, reveals in her memoirs an almost incr'edible escapade, whet*, the Savoyards were commanded to play "The Gondoliers" before Queen Victoria and the Empress of Germany at Windsor Castle. The dressing rooms were curtained cubicles in the throne room, and hers adjoined a highspiked railing enclosing the throne. She says: I was an incorrigible, joker, and decided that I must sit on the throne, but/it was too dangerous to climb the spokes, I flattened myself out like a cat and wriggled beneath them. I caught my clothes and stuck fast, then wriggled on, shredding garment after garment. The girls looked on half horrified and half amused. I made a last effort with nothing left on but a tattered vest, in which I clambered on to the golden throne,, where I sat shivering with cold and excitement..

Paignton lias just celebrated the jubilee of "The Pirates- of Penzance,"' for. it was in that town, at the Bijou Theatre, in 1879, that this opera achieved its first performance fifty years ago: and. the revival of this opera at the London Savoy in January last therefore had its own historical significance. How many audiences', since that first night,, have been captivated by the. story of the tender-hearted pirates; of Frederic, who, borrt ra a leap year, has. had only five birthdays, and therefore cannot free himself from hi'a apprenticeship for many a long day; of Major-General Stanley, who,, wrongfully declaring himself an orphan, humbles himself before/ the tombs of his ancestors, though' they aro his only by purchase, of the faimJus detachment of policemen, and all the. others'in the story,, with its topsy-turvy plot.. . And to-day this opera, and the others of the unrivalled Gilbert and Sullivan series, dated though some of them ay;e, are as, fresh in their tuneful muisLC and piquant humour as, when they were written. In the recent Savoy production; Mr. Henry Lytton was again the Major-General, a part he played on that stage thirty years ago, Miss Winnie. Melville a<j. Mabel,. Mr. Derek Oldham as Frederic,. Mr. Fancourt as the. Pirate King> Miss Bertha Lewis as Tyuth, aid Mr. Leo Sheffield as the Police Serjeant,' were prominent in . a cast which ho doubt, from these names,, was worthy of the best Savoy tradition^.