DRAMATIC GOSSIP.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7864, 15 May 1891, Page 6

DRAMATIC GOSSIP.

The question of tights is still being argued in America with great vehemence. At Mankato, Minnesota, che town council has passed an ordinance against the display of "obscene pictures" on the billboards, particular mention being made of Amazons in tighca, ballet girl* in short dresses, and the familiar lithographs of female trapeze performers. At St. Paul, Minn., the Senate has recommended the passage of a BiU providing for the punishment of any female wearing tights on the stage, either by fines from odols to lOOdols or by impi-isot-nrient for from five to thirty days. In another western city recently, the aldermen, shocked by the advanced lithographs of a comic opera company, hastily made a decision that the legs of the ballet girls in the posters and lithographs must be covered from public view. As the p in ting was already up when the ordinance was passed, the manager of the company was undecided whether to tear down his show-bills or serve a term in gaol for misdemeanour. However, he ingeniously avoided both predicaments by pasting imitation petticoats of paper over the offending limbs of his lithographs. But next day a heavy rainstorm washed off these modest devices, and the original pictures were as brazen and shapely as before. The aldermen immediately lodged a complaint against the manager. He was arrested and taken before a magistrate. That functionary, however, decided to discharge the prisoner because he had shown an intention to obey the law by covering the objectionable pactions of bis lithographs, and because he could not be held legally responsible for the action of the laments tiiat atultlfied Us efforts.

It Is understood that Mr 1 Harris will signalise the beglnnhWN I tenancy of Olympia by the I there Q f a spectacle which might be l,\ !°*> 1 ;" Venice in London." It will con*,? 411 -*! If properly built-up group of streets U 3 canals flowing between, and gondoi'i. & boats plying* for hire. The | themselves will come direct from V. T* 11 Until "The Gondoliers" wa« ■_"«•. 11. before the Queen at Windsor a few W W ago Her Majesty had only seen 1 since the Prince Consort died Th.,% P "The Colonel," played by Edgar r".* 4 ' I company at Abergeldie. I A number of medical men assembly . I invitation recently at the Midland u% 1 Liverpool, to witness an exhibiti* X ! muscular skill and strength on theitS. * * a young Roumanian lady named rf, B * < Potresc'i, who has introduced .-in • v° V A ty i?,,, t , ho s _ hai,e o£ d *ncinß : ' hands. Mdlle. PeM-e-scu, who I. hT."' years of age, is the daughter of a BupK. IJ J professor of gymnastics, and i s an accomplished contortionist Sh„ ' only dances a polka, a mazurka a£ ?<•* >• or a galop upside down, bat surna.,l ?; tbe tliiish and effectiveness of her%J« I tricks most of those acrobats »r*-* £ pnucipal qualification is pliubilitv «t$ % dorsal column ana strength of .Y 1 * dorsal muscles. But her moat remarti 1 ?* I feat is performed by tho agency nf'* 1 pectoral muscles. It consists iv st*--* 1 1 upon her hands on the backs of two eh.!"* I which are drawn apart to the full 1,, $ of her arms. Kii *il i Mr Pinero's play, " The Profile;-to *i, I been produced at the Stadt | Hamburgh, and achieved an e n JS> success. This is the secoud En_l ,h!? 5 ' » which Mr Sylvnin Mavcr hw h.d ■_*! \ duced on the German" stage wirM** period of four months the othi,i' • being Mr Jones's " Middleman '* i pieces have turned out far Br_at*r . ; cesses than the m:ijorltv of German -l* ! produced during the last tweßlA* 1 Jhe next English plays which Mr sffife Mayer proposes to introduce to GWm audiencea are '' Captain Swift." "SnniiJl!. aud Shadow," " Wealth,"and "T_« «•_*! It is also possible that Mr Pii o V n K "The Squire" and " Th« Weaker SIV? will be produced in the course o£ the v* . Mr Mayer, not content with cransnl-,;.! English plays into Germany and iS 8 is arraiigitm* for their production j_ bcandinavia. "** l * Theatn* goers will be glad ton„«. »_ . Messrs M.icMahon Bi-_tlK|£** gj better opinion of New Zealandl th apparently oihcr theatricaUnnaon t__ other side have. They intend to Bead th_ Clara Merivaie Opera Company Uuoujh the colony before long, though th_MecF__ time at which the tour is to commenceh__ not yet been decided. Besides* Misa Clara Merivaie, the company includes Miss Fanny Liddiard and the popular com*, dians, Messrs Stiazelle and Uourley. TJa repertoire consiscs of "Paul JonenJ"F.Uka," " Boccaccio," " Les Manteaa_ Noirs," and "The Morry Duchess." Mq» of this probably next week. The popularity of Mr and MrsKen-J in the United States continues unabated Their financial success this year has tts exceeded that of their first trip, and tht>. intend to visit America rjext autumn _» a third time. In Boston they took vert nearly £10,000 during a stay of four weekj Prior to lur departure from New York Sarah Bernhardt adopted a little Araert can girl, five years old, whom she Intend, I to educate in Paris. Miss Anderson's retirement Is decided by the following advertisement fromTJu 1 imes :— " For sale, all the s.enery, proper* tics and costumes used by Miss MaiAnderson, The complete production of 'Winter's Tale,' 'Tennyson's Cup,' cos* tumes of * Borneo and Juliet,' 'As _Q9 Like It,' ' Galatea' ;• nd ' Ingomar.' Apply by letter to A. Grilnn, 10 Frognal.N. WV* •Colonel A, Grillin is the lady's step-father and a brother of Consul Griffin, of Sydney,