THE THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 241, 29 June 1918, Page 11

THE THEATRE

(lly "Sylvius.") "Dick Whittington." 'i'lic annual Williamson pantoruime, in this inslance "Dick WhitiingUm," will commence a. brief• season at the Grand Optra House tltis evening. On this occasion, according to reports, the spectacle provided is quite up"'to tiie standard ol previous pantomimes, which should bo saying all that is necessary to please the public. The cast is a particularly strong uuc. It includes Mr. Arthur Stigant as the Dame, Mr. W. 11. I'ullbrook as the "eccentric," Aliss Vera l'earce as the "Hoy/; and ..Miss Pauline Hindley as the "(.tirl." Others who tiguro in the bill are: Villiers Arnold and Alius I'earl Ladd (who came to Jvev Zealand with tho last Gilbert ami Sullivan opera company), -Mr. J.e Hi'uii (the Cat), Jlr. Howard Vernon (formerly the greatest. Gilbeirtian of them all), Miss Constance Cayley, and perhaps, as important as anything. Miss -Maggie Dickinson, the delightfully vivacious premiere danseiiKC, and Mr. Sydney Yates, the English dancer. With two such entirely dissimilar dancers tho pantomime should have a special terpßichorcau value. Mr. John Farroll returns lo Wellington as manager. "Peg o' My Heart." -Mr. Maurice Ualpli has secured tlie Now' Zealand rights of "l'eg o' II j Heart," aiid will return probably next month with the popular comedy, which will be played.by the original cast, including. Miss Sara Allgood (the incomparable Peg), Jlr. Gerald Hanson as Jerry, Miss .Doris Gilliam as Mrs. Chichester, Miss Bejlv MacMillan as Ethel, and Air. John Grant. (Into of the Ada lieeve Company), as the Butler. A New Concert Party. . Mr. John Jlopkiiw has' arranged to bfiiig to'New'Zealand an eutirely new: concert company, headoil by that tlno Italian tenor Capelli, whose velvet notes charmed the heart of everyone who heard hirii with 1 the Italian Opera Company some eighteen, months figo. Capelli must be numbered among the very best tenors we have ever' heard—perhaps the best as far as toiio (pure and simple) goes.. With Capelli conies Mr. John Amadio, prince of .flautists, and originally a 'native of Wellington (and expupil of Mr. Charles Hill). In ..Austra-lia-.Mr. Amadio.is at tho.-head' of liis branoli of. the. musical profession! To his marvellous .powers' as an ekecutant is.an-amazing verve, power, and a breath control that puzzle all who hear him. The soprano will be Miss Bedford (daughter of-, Jit. Uandolf Bedford, M.L.C., of. Sydney, • the ' well-known Australian . autl'.or and journalist), Mr. Harold Wliit tie, of Wellington, will accompany. Thetour -will commence' at Wanganui on July 13. j "The Gondoliers," . . Tho. decision of. the Wellington' Amateur. Operatic Society . to produce "The • Gondoliers" this_ year should', bo received with unmixed joy.. After the simply awful trash.that:is served up as revues, and. tho poor quality of-a lot of. the'latest musical'comedies (iis witness "Tho lied Widow" and ;"Jlr. Manhattan"), the return to Gilbert and Sullivan'will 1)0 hailed with delight by all with a serious love for 'what, is intrinsically good, The joy with .which "Katinka" was recoivod in Melbourne; following upon its suocess in New Zealand, is a ray of hopo that leads us to believe that the return to legitimate comic opera with good music may succeed thi.i age of unprecedented iiianity on tho stage—when talent will take tho place of the "almost altogether," and real melody will supplant the rag-time drivel which passes for, music. The fact. that, the amateurs aro going to produce"The Gondoliers", recalls tho .first amateur performance of the work given some eighteen years ago; when tlie -cast, was as. follows:—Alarco, E. J". Hill; Guiseppo, Air. George Parsons; Don' Alhambra, Mr. T..M. Wilford'; Duke of Plaza Toro, Air.W. D.'.Lyon; Duchess, . Miss Ettie Alaginnity; Gianetta;.Miss' Jennie Sheen;. Tessa; Miss Leila'Spiller; - Luis, Air'.: jlora.ee; Stubbing; Casilila, Miss Rosa-.-Bradshaw;' Antonio, Mr.-'.-l I:' Slimmer-.' TAnd- ii right' ■good east it'was. ''AIV.'L/o'n was'capital' us - tho Duke, and Mr: T.-At: Wilford did some of his-best work'as the Inquisitor In-view of his-recent elevation it would: bo rather interesting to hear our newest Alinister of Justice, attired, in his Inquisitorial black tights and robe singing:

"Search in anil out 'mid round about, And' you'll discover never A tale so free from every-doubt, All probable possible shadow of doubt, All possible, doubt whatever." If fhe amateurs or to-day can produce so good a cast'of principals they need have 110 fear of tlio results of their next season, "Tho Nigger." "The Nigger," produced in Melbourne recently by J. 'and N. Tait, gave emphatic endorsement to the opinion 'that Guy Bates Post is one of tho finest and most cultivated dramatic actors America has eyer sent to Australia. In Ed.' Sheldon's powerful play, 'Mr. Poet a]>pears as Phillip Morrow, a young man with high ideals, who, though lie despises I lie black man, wishes to.'do the right thing, by him. In tluit 1 direction ho is doing-all he can-to - bring about prohibition in tlio city, knowing that drink--WO3"-responsible for .many of tho negro outrages. To pull him down a distiller,V-owiier-invents'' the story ;tliat Morrow himself is an octoroon, ;aa'ono - with' negro blood in his veins -is not v fit-for decent society. The accusation and how it is mot forms the. denouement of the second and such wng tho conveyed by Sir. Bates's acting on the opening night that the curtain iiad to bo raised and lowered no fewer than sixteen times, which is believed to bo a record for Australia.A correspondent writes r—"l lis (Bates's). acting in this play is s>iinply too stupendous'.to describe. It is certainly the finest piece of dramatic acting I have seen. He is a wonderful aTtist with a wonderful personality, ■ and .I only wish you were going to see him in New Zealand, but that is impossible, as lio only came to Australia for the (American) ■ summer vacation, and lie is to return to New York to take up the running of 'The Masquerader'" (which run' seven weeks in Melbourne to big business). Mr. Post'opens in Sydney to-night. The visit of Guy Pates Post has been so successful that there is already some talk of a more extended tour in the' future. . Notes. ■ ' ; ' \ Tlio. new Scarlet- Troubadours a,to to commence their , New Zealand tour at Auckland on Saturday, July 13. "Ob, Oh, Dolphiue" is to bo produced shortly' by J. C. Williamson, Ltd.'s Royal' Comic Opere Company in Melbourne. This gav and sparkling musical play ill French vein is-by CV'M. H. JlcLellan (who wrote "The Belle of New York"), wit li music by Ivan Cttryll, wlio has liad many musical successes. Mr: George Welch, the lively drunk of the 'l'ivoli Follies revues is playing the role, of the cafe manager in "Katink?" in Melbourne. It is, lie snvs, the first sober purl; he has played for years, and he felt quite nervous on tho first night. Miss Muriel Starr is to appear in the first'performance (in Australia) of "Tlio Man Who Came Back/' at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, this evening, , • Advices from Sydney state that Miss Ada Reevo will leave Australia for South Africa via Singapore and Colombo at the end of July. Probably Mr. Sydney James will go with Miss Reeve ns a partner.'' Mr. Thomas Holt will go -with Miss Reevo as malinger How Time brings in his revenges. Mr. "Wallace Browulow, who has just joined Puller's circuit in Australia, was tho original Eui?: in the Snvoy production of "The Gondoliers," first produced on Saturday, Decoinher 7, 188!). Mr. Uroivnlow was the most picturesque of romantic baritones wo have soon • in comic opera. To-night Miss Margaret Wycherly will make her appearance at the Sydney Criterion Theatre in "The Thirteonth Chair." This play was written by Bnynml Veiller, who is the star's husband. Miss Wycherly played in the drama for nearly two years, with great success. After the New York season she played across America to San Francisco, and there took tho steamer to Australia. .