DRAMATIC GOSSIP,

Press, Volume XLVI, Issue 7419, 10 December 1889, Page 2

DRAMATIC GOSSIP,

By thk Man in this Pit.

At the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, a 1 change has been made In favour of "The' Irish Detective" with Grattan Rlggs in the title role. The Argu* notices the first performance as follows:—The largest audience- which has visited the theatre since the opening ot Mr Biggs' season assembled to welcome the popular comedian in the part which he has made his own in Melbourne. Mr Bucklaw impersonated William Hoyt, the hero of the piece, in an! entirely satisfactory manner* and Mr Sass displayed his peculiarly incisive style with; good effect as Dr. Mildmay, while Mr Owen Harris created great diversion as Adolphus Tiverton. Mr Grattan Riggs, although he was apparently suffering from a very severe cold, assumed the numerous disguises which the detective brings into requisition in the course of the play with versatility and completeness which won frequent applause. The female characters were taken by Miss Ada Ward, Miss Clara: Cowper, Mrs E. Bryer, Miss Aggie Kelton, nd Miss Lamont, all of whom acquitted themselves satisfactorily. Although ""Little Lord Faunrleroy" has reached its seventh week at the Princess's, the piece still booms along and is likely to hold the boards for a long time yet. The idea of having two little lords, by which' each ge,ts a rest, and the audience a change, is popular with the Melbourne people. • •-'■-.. • " Antony and Cleopatra" is still running 'at Her Majesty's Opera House. Oh Monday week the performance was patronised by a large Parliamentary party, who made a request that Mr Milne should give them a special opportunity of showing their appreciation of hts efforts in the direction of encouraging the public taste for good l playß. .-. '~ ;. - - ■■: :■■■;■ '■■ ■ / : "The Sultan of Mocha" is growing in popular favour, and large audiences are present at the performance every night at the- : Alexandra ■ The adventures of the sailor lover and his lass are recorded in music that has a flavour of the sea in it, and the excellent setting of the piece increases its attractiveness. : ;

The Oycloraraa, with its realistic, view oE the battle o{ Waterloo, continues to be well attended, and the great historic, picture is one which may be seen several tiroes without any diminution in interest. "Patience" has been revived, after a lapse of five years, at the Theatre Royal, Sydney. Miss Clara Merivale made her first appearance in Sydney as Patience, aqjd was successful. Her voice is described as a light soprano, strong enowgh to fill an ordinary theatre. It has been perfectly trained, andsthe quality is sympathetic and even throughout the whole register. Miss Merivale, besides, acts very gracefully, and altogether her performance was a racceas. Mr Howard Vernon was, ofc course, the bilious Bunthorne once more,: and Miss Eanny Lltfdlard as Lady Jane was «s good as ever. The open* was to run for a week only, and the " Olivette waa.to take lta place. ; i j

At the Criterion, Messrs Brough and BoupicanltV company are still playing " Dfploriiacy," a pi*£ * hich aeemsto bare cautchfc tba Sydnny people's more credit to them on that account.

"The Royal Guard," with Mr Edwio; Thorne in the part of D'-Artagnan, ha* been pat on at Her Majesty's ana is meetIng with success. Mr Kignold intends to produce in the near f ature at this theatre the second-part of " HenrylV., , ' "Henry VIIL," "Kinar John," "Antony ani Cleopatra," and, of course, at Christmas, '" A Midsomtner Night's Dream." A new theatrical venture, says the Sydney Telegraph, has been set on foot by Messrs Charles Holloway and Walter Howe, whose long afcaste experience well fits them for independent management on their own account. The new company they are now forming will make a start at the Hoharfc Theatre on Boxing Night. where they are booked for an eight weeks season. They have secured the acting rights for their tour from Mr Walter Gates (representing Mr W. J. Hollaway> oi"The World Against Her" and ".Tadße Not," «vi by arrangement with Mr Williamson'sflrni they also inclade ia their repertoire -«♦ The Magistrate, , ' " Nita's iJlrat." " Written in Sand" and other comedies. Their Hobart season will be followed by a few weeks in Launceston, and another good date (Easter, 1890) has been filled in for. their opening at.Ballarat. Negotiations are now in progress for the occupation, daring the first half of tbe nexis year of the Gaiety Theatre when it is probable that some new pieces will be staged. The chief of the new plays is Mr Arthur Shirley's version of " itoger la Honte," tine drama which, under the title of " Aran's Shadow," is now running at the Haymarket Theatre. In the *'Castle of Como," a romantic opera adapted from tbe "Lady of Lyons/ lately produced at the Opera Comlqoe, the abeurdifcy is committed of showing the imaginary palace by a series of mechanical efiecta. Says the Era ;—" While the lovers Are tenderly singing, a black gauze curtain

descends and wraps hero and heroine in the darkest gloom. When It rises spectator* begin to blink, and some to soule. The vialonary Palace of Como is there, not In the lines of Bulvrer, but in the detfiee of scene painter and machinist, and a very curious and novel Palace of Como 16 Is, and we can find nothing to compare with it, unless it be the illuminated arbofa of Vauxhall ox some of Mr Brock's firework scenes at the Crystal Palace." The scene is said to have done much to rain an opera already tottering. The music is by Dr. George Cockle (not the pill man of aotibillous fame), and the libretto by the late Charle* Searle. Madame Melba, the Australian soprano, has been re-engaged at the Opera, and is Btudyln«<Opheiie*s role for her second appearance in Paris , . A newcomer, Mdlle. Stenee Vidal, has made a great success at the Opera as Amneris in "Alda. The critics' comment, en passant, upon the "shoves English people make of themselves when they go abroad," in respect to certain remarkable tourist appearances in the dressy parts of the house. " Check dittoes do not go well with Baudry's paint ings and the gorgeous interior of M. Garnier's lyric tabernacle: nor does a white flannel tennis cap look well in the front row of a box, even though it be worn by a pretty girl." "Miss Alice Rees, who hae been working I hard to secure a position in comic opera in England, has for some time been under study to Mdlle. Canaille D'Arville In the Carl Rosa (Provincial) Comic Opera Cornpan/. Whilst at Nottingham the leading lady fell ill whilst performing in "Paul Jones." Miss Rees then took ncr place a« Yvonne, and the papers speak highly of the impersonation. A first night audience at the Lyceum (says Pall Mali) ie unlike a first night audience at any other London theatre. You see people on that occasion whom you never see on any other, nor in any other theatre. They are really fossilssome ot these Lyceum first nighter*. The London correspondent of the Nottingham Express spoke to one old gentleman who had come £o ' see the "Dead Heart." "I ■am seventy-seven," he said. , "I have attended every first, play at the Lyceum since 1 saw Edmund Kean die."

" What's going: on inside?" inquired a gentleman of the ticket-sailer at the eatrance to a public haJi.. "An amateur performance," replied the latter. "The audience seem to be having a good time; I heard thplr shouts of laughter tour blocks away. What's the play i" *' Hamlet," was the unexpected reply.

Salvini, the famous Italian tragedian, has undertaken to give a, series of eighty performances in t.he United Sbates, for which, iiiaddition to two •'benefits," he is guaranteed a sain of £10,000. This, it is said, is to be S-ilvini's last foreign tour. He intends on his return, after a series of performances iv the chief Italian cities, to retire from the stage. , , . , Sims Heaves tells a v sfcbry about Macreadv and G. V, Brooke when playing Othello and lago together at Birmingham/ Macready was dissatisfied with the Htage-Dosition taken by Urooice at rehearsal :— " Be good enough to stand there. Sir," he excl ai ma.d, indicat injr a particular spot. Mr B. went sufficiently;, near, but did not stand on "the precjee spot" which Macleady had in his. eve. " There, Sir; . I said there!" he exclaimed. .-■■■'■ ■;■•'■

laKo changed his position,-but somehow did not succeed in standing exactly where Othello wished to see him. ■...■:>

" Bring a nail, carpenter," cried Macready at last, "a nail-and a piece of chalk." ...... The carpenter brought the nail, drove 16 into the boarda and with the piece of chalk made a small circle round it.

"There, sir, there can ba no mistake now," cried Macready; " let us go on with the rehearsal."

lago stood firmly, perhaps too firmly, on the spot marked out for him, but Macready was satisfied, and all went well. Wfcen, however, in the evening, the per-> formance took place, the first scene between lago and Othello was played with variations, which took the. public by, surprise. Instead of looking at Othello, lago gazed inquisitively on the ground, walked to and fro, and appeared lost in an anxious search for some object be could not discover. At last Macready's patience, never of a very enduring kind, gave way, aud he called out: . , , .~

" Mr Brooke, for God's sake be quiet; what are you doing f "I am looking for the- nail, Mr Macready," replied Mr Brooke, ia a stentorian volc£ ■■■••• ■. i -.-• ■ .'j.v ■, h; ,,. j.k'

London >Hawk says:— '* The compilers ot I theatrical chit-chat Tire, to say the least of it, beautifully credulous, and very careless or the reputation of the papers which they represent. They announce to the world \ everyrcock and bull story invented- byrthe j actlng-Munchausens, who represent i front of the house. I see ifc stated everywhere that Miss Minnie Palmer is engaged at.Her Majesty's Theatre at a salary.of £200 per week. Miss Minnie Palmer is not encaged at-'6 salary of £200 a week. She will receive, I believe, J875 a week fqr Her. seryiceey and, considering that her first; and, only appearance at a "West End theatre resulted in the Swanboroughs attributing their bankruptcy to the disastrous smallness of the receipts, to say the least of it, it seems quite as much as Miw Minnie Palmer is worth. There was a time when newspapers used to pay theatrical managers for.fctieatricaUaforms-■ tion. It seems to mc that if newspapers ■ are going for the benefit of actora and managers, to make fools of thenielves, it would! not be unwarrantable to make a charge for these puff paragraphs, which, not being true, are not news, and are nothing better than advertisements. Mr T. Hall Came and Mr F. S. Piggott, ■ the Licenser of Plays, are members of a provisional committee of twelve who are ; organising a memorial to be erected in. Westminster Abbey or St. Paul's to the late Wilkie Colline. ~ ! A new theatre on the Irving " Safety " plan has been erected at Exeter on the site where the old theatre stood. Ifc was the sad mUforfcuae at Exeter that caused Mr Henry Irving to turn his attention to the future of theatre buildinsr, and his ideas and conclusions were worked out by; his architect, Mr Alfred Derbyshire,; F.t.8.A., of the firm of Derbyshire and Smith, with much skill. ; These are the principles on which the Irving safety theatre is constructed: —; First, the complete isolation of the edifice from surroundingjproperty : secondly,' the separation 6T the different divisions of the , theatre, the stage,,the auditorium, and: artist's section from each other at 'a moment's notice; thirdly, the providing; of every portion of the "bouse with an exit and entrance, which, in case of panic, constitute two exits communicating direct with the street, and shut off from, any ptfter. portion of the; tijeatr>e.i But tim mpjtlmportant part of the scheme is the bringing down of the audience (so to speak) to within a few feet of the level of the ground outride the theatre/ Ttie highest point wnfrh can be reached by the audience at Exeter is only about eight feet above the street level. This is achieved by sinking; i the. pit below ground, and increasing the' size of tbeaadifcorfura no as to accommodate the gallery peofileion thefame level as the pit. This arrangement, it will be seen, necessitates only one grand circle, in which are asa&d/botb £ne dress circle and the upper circle audience. There is not a; point in the new, Exeter Theatre from! which the stage cannot be well seen,! and from wJiioh the actor**' vpiefs cannot; be s ~J»ad cdmfoetabJjx heard. Nothing but the contents of the stage and the stage itfelf. afp tsnsceptible: of ignition. The proacerlura wall has no opening in it but the* stage opening, and this is closed, in ten seconds by-the fireproof curtain, vebich passes through die! stage and closes oh tne solid brick wall' underneath. Should it be impossible to quenjh a fire on the stage, all smoke and: heat will ascend to the huge funnel in the roof, which is constructed of concrete,'with glass louvres and roof. These will ba instantly smashed, and the men in the flies will eaoape by their outside staircases. Tα© door to the artists' department will close out the stage, and the occupants of this part of the theatre have two escape staircases direct into Longbrooke-street. Every staircase is fireproof, witn treads 12in wide, and rises B§in in height, and all passages or lobbies where the foot hag to be planted when escaping are absolutely unburnable. In case of fire the audience are perfectly safe, cannot be asphyxiated, and can reach the streets immediately and -without danger. The actors and actresses can reach the streets easily, and without coming in contact with any suffocating gases from the stage. The flames on the stage will immediately "make for" the funnel, and so enable the stage men easily to leave the building id case they cannot extinguish the flames on the stage and in the scenery. Dion Übacicault, wrltln« fh the third person, gives this interesting account of the origin of Joseph Jefferson's fortunate "Bip Van Winkle "find:— In the summer of 1563 Mr Jefferson arrived in London from Australia at an unfortunate moment. American cbiheI dians were not regarded with favor by.the ■ Xondan public. The failure of Mr Owens was of recent date. Mr Jefferson had no : new plays. Those characters which Mr i Boucicauit had written for hinxmSaldr^

Scudder In "The Octoroon," and Caleb Plummer in " Dot"—had been played put. Sj this bright comedian found no door open to him. The manager of the Adelphi haeardedthe remark: ".J&Mk, Bouci<»ttlt will write a new piece for yoay I willt»vf you an appearance. Hβ ought to'do ife, to" he told mc you were the beefe eccentric comedian living." So Jefferson came to eouoicault, and they tossed over a dozen subjects. He expressed great affection for "Rip Van Winkle," an eld and Very bad melodrama. He admitted that the piece had failed; he had shown it to who objected to producing such a WgBouclcault pointed out that the character, of a ragged old sot, however plctureiqae; was not an attractive object through three " Stay," cried the author, " a thought occurs to mc. Suppose we s<reep aside. Washington Irving and make Bip a young, buoyant ne'er-do-weel, with wife andayoangehUa. Let him bo theblayfellow of all the children, the lover of all the girls, a village Bohemian. Let us curry that character through the first and second acts, and bring Elm out in the third aged in appearance, butfreah in heart after his long sleep." Jeffereon was not" enthused " with this new form; of the acory, but yielded, em an saw no other way to obtain a Inondoe appearance. In afe <? weeks the piece was written, and the Adelphi Theatre was placed at the disposal of Mr Boucicauit. Jefferson's agreement with the manager, Webster, was to share the gross receipts nightly, after #70 had been deducted for expenses. The agreement between Boucicauit and Jeffereon was that the author should receive one-third of Jeffernon's share. The play and the comedian' made the success of that season. In the summer of the following year Jefferson went to New York, and there commenced a career too well known and remembered to require record. „„,-,- Taraagno, the great tenor, Is 38 years old, and got bis chance for & debut by accident. The eiuger who was to have sung the Rataplan in "The Huguenots, , . , usually done by a utility man, fell sick, and Tamagno sang it Instead, and,did So well that he was educated for leading ■roles.

There is a touch of the grimly pathetic in the closing paragraph oi Actor Noble's modest little book of stage prattle: Listen : The player's life is not all tinsel and sunshine. Our ideal Prince of Denmark himself has battled with poverty and worked the Junch route in his day,,.,The Prince of Coma has burned midnight oil ing tne description, of his palace by tha. Lake of Como, ancl darning his, princely silk etockiuga. The haughty slayer oJ tyrant Rlahard. do!tia« hi.s spangled armour, has hurried from Bosworth and the ringing .plaudits of a crowded theatre to a 1 alf-furnished garret, where, book irihaud and a nioistehed towel on his head, he baa labored wlthMacdaff .till' gray dawn came' peeplog throwKn. his narrow window. Then, with scant rest and scantier breakfast, he is off to renearsal; back again at 3, a cold remnant for dinner, three hours spent in fixing up togs and studying his lines, and off agaiu to the shop. This is no overdrawn pic ture. That haughty queen, surrounded by courtiers, serfs and flatterers, has gone from the : scene of royalty to a wretched boarding house and spent the night rebuilding the " old man's toga and changing the tinsel and puffiag on her own royal gown, which she must wear the following night as a maid-of-honor. The nimble Touchstone or the joljy, drunken Toodle, ; with the laughter yet ringing In his ears.'has nastened home to rellisve a patient wife In the care of a, dying chlldi, We are human, my son—men and women, like the rent of the world. True,, there are thoae who havefound the royal road to fame and fortune, ; but their number Iβ limited. . "Ehey are the exceptions, not the rule. But stock or star, rich 6t poor, everjr old actor is proud to have It known that his eawjr life was one of struggle, hard work and constant self-denial; and no other period of his career la so dear in treasured memories as the days, of his vagabond novitiate.