THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2109, 28 March 1914, Page 9

THE THEATRE.

[Br SrLtics.il

sClms World's a, theatre; Dftftb ft ' stage.—Heywagd. i '1 "Paul Jones.," ! In view w£ the fact- that wo have recently had visits fr<Mh the Royal NeV Comic Opera Companies, the jifO" duetioti of "Paul Joiws" by the "Wellington Amateur Operatic Society is fairly certain to be the first 'Opera produced iii th.e new Grand Opera House. In this regard die choice of opera is exceptionally _ fortunate, as_ "Paul Janes" lends it'sffif to Mounting, and is replete with opportunities for beautiful lighting effects, July i has been fixed as the date ef the opening per-, foniwnce. Mr. Tom Pc'l-lard, who will prodijee the opera for the society, will be in WeUington nest week, wiren a .confcrj &ttce will bo held frith' the committee. "Madame X." linelly, this is the story of "Maclamo X," which is to bo staged by the "Within the Law" Company at M<dbourne Theatre lloyal to-night:— "Madame X.,"' Otherwise .Jacqueline Flo-riot, deserts her husband and child for the sake of ft suitor who has oxcrtwi his influence over her. After two, years' absence sho returns -and begs forgiveness, but her lr.jsb.and is obdurate, and refuses to take her back. JactftieUuc! concealing her identity, disappears, and for twenty_years lives a life of degradation, ultimately l>ecoming the alr.inUie arid ether-drinking I mistress of Laroque, an adventurer ancr black-mailer. , Bearing, that Laroque and his associates had determined to put pressure ttpoft Jacqueline's hush;i!ic], who is Cow a Judge, to obtain the property to which Jacqueline ig. cto. titled, she shoots. her lover to obviate this disgrace that theamiouncenvnit of her identity ivould bring upon her husband and child, She i$ taken for trial to the town whore her husband presides over the tribunal, and is charged with murder, tier defending counsel is her ottti son, grown to manhood, whom sho does riot recognise.. The antecedents of the woman are imknovnij and she refuses to speak a ward m her defence or to oftcr any explanation .of the crime. tu the* course of the trial Jacqueline heat* the name of her counsel, and ntleri) » shriek, but- will Still say nothing. She is acquitted, but the strain list;? been too groat, and, revealing her identity, 1 sho dies in Lor sou's arms.

More Melodrama, Messrs. Geergo Willougbby, Ltd,, will open the New Zealand tour of their new l)ra,matie Company, headed by; ■Cyril Maekay and Gertrude Boswell, at His Majesty's Theatre, Auckland, oh Easier Monday, with a new dramatisation by .Soya Ely-arts of "Uncle ; Tom's Cabin," .founded oil Mfs, liar- ' riet Beocher Stowe's famous ■ work. Novelty numbers are to bo introduced by the Era Comedy F&ur, the Pie*-; irimiy Ragiimers,. and the National Dho. The staging of scenic realvsjiis, . ins'luding the wonderful waterfall scone, is to be tfn a scale of great- .completeness. Succeeding productions by! this company will include the American drama. "At Cripple Creek," "Term of His; Natural. Life," anil "The. Bad fisrl -of the Family." : Mr. A. W, Batiste severs his position as inuring manager of the "George Cross." Company to take over the business manniigenieiit of the above. . % Notes from New YorlCt , Soma ,six;ftifiiiths.; ago■ W, S. : Percy;' tlav bright little cnmeJinic who was so lorn; with the Pollard and "\YilliajniiqH. m..«nagenie.nts i left. for- America . to tfjr liis hick.vin tive broader theatrical field. ' Ho was snapped up by - Henry Eftrage, ami is quite satisfied thatAmerieii is Sn amazing shoiv c'punti-j. !■ He writes netaify as follow* [ "Ju-st a few impressions of m,v trip' oyer here; . Itma-giire Nw Yo-fll and iriitlwiiitcrl X ieel I ought to be in New •Ze'sland. ' ''■Everything you: are told . about America turns out to he different; We wero told wo couldn't stand the, cold. Yet hero ve arc, with the window ojnm, and the sloam heat turned off. It was tho samo all the way through. "Wo aie quite at homo in New York, and like it. Although we }iav» not been hero very many days, Wind oiir/wW about quite well —thank you! This is accounted for by the system of numbering instead, of .naming the streets; "The 'riiost wonderful thing about New York, so far, lias not been the buildings or tile lights; but George M. Cohan. Australia- has already seeii one side of him -to tile production, gf ftis '(vet-Kicli-Quick AYallmyford.' But he isn't only an author, dancer,' producer, theatre-owner, and maaager'; ; ho .is a fo-i'co and .iiisptfatitiii to Aaieiied. Wo want an Australian like him lor Australia. lie loves America, and "puts America first. And America reciprocates by doing tho samo by him. Tms is all the more remarkable in a country where they don't lovo actors as a rule.

"When you meet George 51. Cohan you can understand how they feel about him here. I doii't thinik 1 ever met a man of sncetcr nature. Ho lias just wiittcr.. the biggest Suce.ess. of the theatrical -.season, 'Sevan Keys to Bildpate.' . It. is one of the Severest, pieces I've ever seen.

"Last night we- wekt ,out to a place: called Newark with G.M,o.,'liis Uiothcr and father, to-see tlrem all act hi'tlve sou's last year's success, janes.* ,It was grand to. see. the ftrm'ily all. playing fogethM. Tiie Cslmivs are fmbite idois, Geo, M, told _ me that no. or a week passes but lie gets p, lfiitfacr asking where Jas'io (Mrs. is. He is very eager to hear and know all a bant Australia. ISo is everyone I've met. We were told wot to say we xvoro Australian fas ilremgli 1 could over deny the smiling wheatfieWs 1), but to say is« were English. "Tho ivord 'Australian.,' however, '! find,, acts like magic. Most of the people 1 meet here seam, to know toore about Australia than the average Australian knows of America. Even the black Waiter who . Serves ,otit; breakfast gave mo ii leetiirfi' on tho Wrongs of cxcludii?g coloured people from the Commonwealtl't. He seeniod. very upset iibout it.. "Wo have been an tho go all tlj® time, and we are seeing all we can. , Wo went along to see Ivy Scott at th® Century ■Opera House; Sho in looked tiptm as a leading prima daiwa, and -fcillwl Wg. After her vt&mb.is• 'Australian.?. so J'flU see sh<! didn't hayo to bo a renegade! She, deserves her success. Hor voice has improved out ot all knowkdge. We l:are had a supper at tlie Hotel Astor, aiid another at the Waldorf, livery member of both parties wits an Australian. We saiig 'United Australia' at both gatherings, so, you soe, wo arc keoping 'Dryblower' Murphy's 'Fivcstarrod Flag' Hying? '.'Hugh J; Ward is hero now', bijstling almut, and selecting material. Ton, get the worst q$ -well as tho best Itefe. Hugh J, W. is very popular, and they are feting him as an American actor who has made good in other parts of the world. The Wiiliawartu management, is something to ccuiure with here in theatrical-:. Every second actor ..you meet wants to go to Australia under the firm's banner." Motes. Productions set down for staging this year by J. C. Wiliihmson, Ltd., are "Tlai Argylo GVise ( " ;; strong drama gf tke d»Jt«ctive order, with tin;, clement of invsteryand "The Girl in the. Taxi," ami "Tin; Girl on the Film," .musical rte-s.. It is liigtily prahabie that Alalw! Trevor, whj ajsjieared in' "'i'ho WoW.au in tlji> CaS'.r' ill Australia and Nvw Kaa-la.ii4, will Iw. a wißinber of tha Bfeaiimoai Smith-liouis Meser Drauiatic

Company, which will o,peii in Sydney on July II with Hex Beach's great, pl-ay, "'.Hie Barrier." Miss Mario Miles, o'l Weston's living Mfltkls,. now- on Uio Fullei-Bfennau; vaiidevi.Ho circuil-, is one of tho few : women iu the world who can havo tho: rathftr novel sensation of sfitfng lifer head on the currency of lief native land.. Soma years ago. when tjic. TJiiited States Treasury officials decided wliat part of the design of the five-dollar piece was to be the ]>roiik> of ail Indiau girl, an ofiiI'eial was deputed to select a girl who i was ft typisml type.- ctf the United States. After lie had seen soma thousands, lis. picked Mis?, Miles, and aceoidiujjly she sat for tiro artist who designed the die. .Edward O'Xcill, tho clever actor who makes the character of Bimeun stand out- vividly in the production of "Joseph and' His B:r<?thre:v' at Mel-. boitr.no Theatre. Royal, was at tho. United Serv.ic.6S College., Westward Ho, at tli© siiino tirno as Hudyard Kipling. As a matter of fact. "fagged" tor him. All t.lio principal' characters included'by Kipiiiig jit liis "Stalky ajid C 0.," were is the -school at thai time. "Stalky" is noflr Colonel Lionel 'GWlfis Dnnsterville, stationed at Jhelum, commanding th& 20th Jniijatibis- Kipling himself was "the Br-etie." Mr. O'NVill has a vivid recollection of Kipling, the schoolboy, whom his descHhes as'having heeii a reserved and not altogether corigcmial classmate. Sir. Fred Shipntan expects to bo back in Kosv Zealand in of IVifscliAEhnan, tho wonderful youthful violinist,, iii September.