THEATRICAL ORGANISATION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 279, 18 August 1908, Page 6

THEATRICAL ORGANISATION.

THE SCIENCE OF TOURING.

"HUMPTY DUMPTY" ON THE ROAD,

The transportation department of an organisation. like that of J. C. Williamson, it must often occur to the most superficial observer of tho movements - of tho firm s companies, requires no small amount of skilled generalship. That it must also eat lip largo sums of money is .also very apparent. Tho territory, throughout which the . ■ compaiiios.' aro operated is ono of long distances.: has only to call the map of ' Australasia to mind to realiso a rough idea of : it. \ A remarkable illustration of'these facts was furnished a few weeks ago when four ' companies were in course of Wansit at .once. . v "Peter Pan," concluding a season in Perth, left; for. Kalgoorlie .and travelled thence to Broken • Hill and-on to Melbourne. "Humpty Dumpty." ! jumped from Newcastle to Auckland for the New Zealand tour. The Julius Knight, company,-terminating its visit to the Dominion, proceeded to .Hobart, en route to L- ' Adelaide arid ' Perth. "Brewster's Millions" company undertook one" of the longest , railway journeys possible .in Australasia— from Broken Hill to Brisbane, a little trip of 2200 - miles;-V. The four companies; it will v. be seen, aggregate a travelling record of over; 10,000 miles botween them. In additiou to this touring quartet of attractions there is",the Margaret Anglin Company, tho ; principals .of which were - brought from . Amenca and ■ England; "Mrs. Wiggsoftho . Cabbage Patch" company, whose-members were-all imported from New York; "Tho 1 Red Mill Company," sevoral of whom aro imported artists from America; "The, Merry , Widow" company, which'includes new English artistsanct the Ada Crossley Concert' Party, coming direct from London to Syd--1 jiey. 1 It is a condition of amusement enterprise in: Australasia that every attraction must be toured, owing : to the centres of ■': > population being so scattered, and the work of manoevring such forces as J. C. Williamson controls, without clashing or conflict of dates, it will be - apparent to ■ all, must be far removed from child s play. A Notable Example. To what a fine art this dovetailing process has been reduced is well exemplified by_ the . present tour of "Humpty Dumpty." From tho opening date in Auckland, to its.'closing date at Invercargill, only one playing night will be: missed. The , whijle_ tour-of the Dominion will occupy less timo _ than ' the • . season of the . pantomime . in" either Mel-bourne-or Sydney. It-will, thus .be, seenthat while a,tour of New Zealand has not . so.-many playing nights ,in it as the run "Humpty' Dumpty" enjoyed in either of ... those cities—the pantomime was in Melbourneand Sydney sis -months; it wil} ,bo in the Dominion less than' three—it has heavy transport charges to bear unknown* to a.continuous twelve weeks' run in the capital.; Notwithstanding this tho produc- ". ; tion-has: come,'to New Zealand in its entirety. Associated ; with last night's per- ■ formance at the Opera House were'over '120 peoplo/all of whom crossed the'Tasmari.Seai ' This'can-be more easily understood when it is stated , that its equivalent is; ?in expense, an uprooting . from London:, and a itrans- ' planting in New York. \ Yet Ellen Terry, in her -memoirs,, .writes, of • this .latter journey with the late Sir Henry Irving's company as if it were only equalled by the voyage of Columbus. It is almost a - weekly occur- ,'. rcnce' in this part of the world, though' with i production of the dimensions of "Humpty Dumpty". it-is'less frequent than perhaps tho' amusement-lovinjg community or the - .Dominion would have it. What it entails silly those who bring, it. about ■ are -in a ~. josition to realise. To play ..inY Auckland ast Saturday night and appear, Welling- ■ ion-last night is in itself as surprising a feat is jt is unprecedented. To enablo it to ;. so ' performed "Mother Goose," la?t year's' ' iavourito, was. played in Auckland for such '. timo'sis enabled the scenery of ."Humpty ; : Dumpty'.' : to be forwarded to Wellington: so ihat it should be in readiness for the arrival * .>f tlie- company. -This meant also 'sending ...-' liioad a staff of mechanists and stage hands . ,j x prepare the production.:' Then arose the juestion of the company. Mr. , R; : . Stewart, , . ivho planned the movement, was equal to the emergency. Ho arranged a special boat to New Plymouth and a special.train' to' ■' jonncct with it.v' 1 By these services lie had thecompany in' Wellington at 1 o'clock yes-' tciday where he was able to report (to him-' self) "all's well!" ; , 1 "The Smalls." ' . In theatrical parlance one and two night towns are. "tho ■ smalls." They, represent the strenuous lifo of tho stage. They also' mean to the. management an additional out- . lay for-a duplicate.set of scenery—a replica of the big/production iii every, de'tail to fit the space the smaller theatres have -back ■- of the footlights. - A glance at'.tlie tour .. , laid down • for ' "Humpty-Dumpty" ' after ■ Wellington will bp all 'that is required of . - those with' local- knowledge to: grasp the situation. It will be seen at Mastorton, ■; ' and then will'bo played in this order:— , - Dannevirke, Napier, 'Hastings, Palmerston North, Wanganui, Stratford,' New Ply- - : mouth,. Christchurch, Oamaru, Dunedin, Invercargill. • ■ Christchurch. and Dunedin do not come under. the heading of "the smalls"; they' ; ; are two of the "four centres" of the Dominion.';.. It-is, -however,: a remarkablo fact and. a tribute to their prosperity that in ■ America . towns' with ' tho same population would not be touched :by first-cla§s organisations. • In the United States . nothing under 100,000 people is tapped by'the "road shows" sent out by tho big New York • managers, and 'some .'centres with 200,000 inhabitants are written down as "one night stands." , ..It can be seen from this' that New Zealand' well! earns the distinction of being in population' the greatest show country in thewqrld. Outside the big centres , of Australia, there aro 'no towns'of equal size with the , spending power' of, those, set down on the abovo . tour list. < None even boasts-of a theatre. Tho. Australian towns of. 2000 and 3000 population have no better accommodation than "a mechanics' hall,"seating probably 200 people. These aro given over to picture shows and touring com- ✓ panics.

Tho Cares of the Advanoa Agsnt. As mucli oaro and moro trouble is gono to. in order to give a creditable performance of the 'pantomime in "tho smalls" ,as in tho four big centres of the Dominion. In several of the former thcro. is. no electric lighting —so important a factor in tho. scemc department of "Humpty-Dumpty." This is overcomo'.-by ; carrying a dynamo' and an electrician, and it is the duty of tho advanco agent to secure motive power to generate current. : Thus at' 1 every town whero electrical services are not to bo had' he hires a portable , engine. ■ Iu tho case of "Mother Goose" this was at several towns a lumbering'engine ■of the-traction variety, but tho 'necessary belt-driving energy wasthero in each. caso. . On tho shoulders of tho samo advance agent fall many duties. 110 must : hustle round for. carriers to convoy tho scenery to and from tho theatre, see to' it'that the countryside , knows that the pantomime is making an appearance in their midst, and be active in a hundred and one different ways. He does not only boar tho glad tidings as many imagine. ' His commissions outnumber tho sands of the sea. . And ho ! daro not linger on the order of his going—for ■ the company is hot on his hcols. Like Joo in, "Bleak House," ho is always being "a-raovod on." Nurse Frator,- who has charge of the, children of the' pantomime, asks him .to ' arrange that her charges have niqo accommodation found for them; Mr. Gilbert asks as a favour to find' him a hotel where there is a firoplnco in his bedroom; Mr. Shine likes a r:;o:-.i where he can get the morning sun, he would sooner it came in to him than ■ diould got up and go out to it; Messrs.. vn raul Le 13run tell him tho' they may animal impersonators, the best that a ■n. being can get_ is good enough for : end so 011. Yet the advance agent V :'„a the antithesis of King Solium; he :' '.i'.vays wear a smile and jolly his wav t.lip. world#