MIMES AND MUSIC.

Evening Post, Volume LXI, Issue 140, 15 June 1901, Page 5 (Supplement)

MIMES AND MUSIC.

[By Oki>hbtjs.] COMING EVENTS. t OPEBA HOUSE. Ada Delroy Company, now playing. ' Stuntou's Comic Opera Company, !d6fch June to 16th July. Musgrove's -Grqnd Opera Company, 12th to 31st August. Pollard Opera. Company, 16th September to sth October. Bland Holt Company (pencilled), 11th November to 7th December. Pollard Opera Company, Christmas 3oason. Just now New Zealand is receiving particular attention in regard to theatrical matters, which would seem to indi2ate that managers on the " othpr side " are rather regretting their long neglect. The threatened desoent of American combinations has possibly something to do with this. Lately, an Australian syndicate has been, endeavouring to secure a twelve months' lease of a theatre in each of the four centres of the colony, with the view, it is understood, of trying the experiment of establishing a permanent service. The nature of the fare to be submitted, whether drama or opera, or both, is not yet known, as negotiations have not been concluded. It may be mere speculation, but rumour gives it that as an effect of this, Mr. J. G. Williamson mil for the future send companies across regularly, and it is said that he is the purchaser 'of the Theatre Koyal at Christchuroh, which was put up under the hammer recently. The repertoire of the Opera Company now appearing at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne includes works of three distinct schools. "We have," says Signor Hazon, who engaged the artists in Europe, " practically three distinct companies to interpret them. The newest school has evblved a particular type of voice, in which dramatic quality is everything, bufr we have also voices for the older style of work, for whiih a primary essential is extreme flexibility, Midway between the two comes Verdi's later works, in which the characteristics of both schools meet. While the operas of Puccini and Giordano are all the rage in Italy, it remains to be seen whether —outside of that country— they will dispossess in public favour the great operas of the old school, and, consequently, such worka as 'Lucia,' 'Ernani,' 'Rigoletto,' 'Ugonotfci,' ,'Ballo in Moschera,' 'La Giooondo,' and 'La Favorita" will form the staple of our repertoire, with 'Othello' and 'Aida' representing the transitional period, and 'La Boheme' and 'Fedora' to illustrate the very latest phase of operatic composition. In 'Lucia' you will hear Signora Sapio, a great lyjtio artist; in 'Aida' Signora.de Benedetto, a true dramatio soprano; and in 'Fedora' Signorina Bassich, representing the latest type of the modern^ school. Thjß' other voices have been selected with the same discrimination, and with the exception of Signora Sapio and Signor -Travaglini, the bassp, all are new to the Australian stage." ! The initial performance by the company in Verdi'a "Aida" seems to have very favourably impressed Melbourne people. The principals, with one exception, appear to have been quite up to promise. ' The exception was Signora Marcomini. The Age critic compains of her inabiity to utter a sustained . note free from a distressing tremolo. As an actressy 'however, she shows to better advantage. "Lucia" was to follow "Aida," with Madame De Vere Sapio in the title role. • ' \ Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brough returned to Sydney at the beginning of the month. Mr. Brough. will, it is stated, start his new season in Sydney with "Second Command," Captain Robert Marshall's latest success at the Haymarket Theatre. Mr. Brough has secured two other London successes, Mr. H. A. Jones's " Mrs. Dane's Defence," and Mr. R. C. Carton's "Lady Huntworth's Experiment," which will form part of his repertoire fof nexii season, together with "Tyranny of Tears," "Second Mrs. Tanqueray,* "The Amazons," "The Village Priest," etc. Scene models have been furnished for the " Second in Command" by Mr. Joseph Harker, of London, and ' Messrs. , Nathan and S, ons ate furnishing the uniforms and accessories." •Mfer. Brough. opens his Sydney season at the Royal on 6th July. » Of the old 1 Brough Company, Mr. Lovell, Miss Noble and Miss Martheze went direct from Hongkong to London. Mr, Dartrey, Mr. .Percy Brough, and Miss Bessie Thompson are joining Nance O'Neill. Mr. Cecil Ward returns to the Broughs as leading man of the new company. From England 1 are coming Miss Susie Vaughan (sister of Kate Vaughan) to teplace Miss Thompson; Miss Mary Chatteris, to replace Miss Noble ; Mr*. Ernest Vere, juvenile lead ; ■ and Mr. Chos. Garry, comedian. Mr. Victor remains with the company, and so do Mr. M'lntyre, as stage .manager, Mr. Hamilton, business manager, and Mr. Diedrich1 sen, conductor . Mr. P. R. Dix is, according to report, negotiating for the purchase of tho Pro-* vinciol Hotel and the Princess Theatre, Christchurch. There is a purchasing clause in the lease, and at the end of 1901, when the lease expires, Mr. Dix will probably close on the property. Albert Lucas has finally given up his occupation in New Zealand in despair, and will shortly open in Newcastle in "The Silver King" with the Robert Henry Company. / Regarding Mr. J. 0. Williamson's engagement of Mr. James K. Ha,ckett for an Australian tour in 1902, the new actor, who has a great reputation in his own country, is to star in a new play by Victor Mapes, ' called " Don Ctesar's Return." Mr. Williamson's proposition to take Mrs. Leslie Carter, famous in London and New York as Zaza, fell through, owing to her many engagements extending too far ahead. The actor-manager has purchased the Australian rights of Miss Julia Marlow's dramatisation of "When Knightiiood was in Flower," a fact which renders probable a visit of that Shakespearian actress to this country.' Miss Ada Reeve who made such a success in Australia with Mr. J. C. Williamson's "French Maid" Company, is revisiting Sydney. She wjll not appear on the stage. A cable message to Australia states that Mr. Donald Macdonald, the Argus war correspondent, is delivering a course of lectures in London, at the Polytechnic Institution. The newspapers give him appreciative notices. Mr. Love, the advance agent of the Stnnton Opera Company, states that he has arranged for a big vaudeville troupe, twenty-seven ifcrong, to leave San Francisco by the Sierra on 24th j June. They will play ten days at Honolulu, and leave there on 16th July, touching at Auckland on the 27th, and proceeding straight on to Sydney, where they open on 3rd August. The company will include Henry Lee, the impersonator, who made a great hit in Australia some, years ago. Mr. Love has also arranged for a visit from the Haverley Minstrels, another American combination, who will be due next October. At the 400 th performance, 'Flora- ! dora" (now running in Australia), at the London Lyric,, was reported to be full of Tittup •' --fc^-— ,J

Mr. Dix and hip general manager, Mr. Duval, leave shortly for Australia to arrange for a constant stream of artists. Mr. Chas. Faning, the well-known comedian, is billed to appear next Saturday at Fuller's Empire Theatre, Sydney. There was an unrehearsed incident at the sacred concert in Masterton last Sunday evening. A well-knoAyn elocutionist was reciting, with dramatic pathos, and had jusfc exclaimed, " I hear, c'en, now, the infants' fierce chorus," when his own child called out, from the back of the dress circle, "Dad.jfV The audience was shattered. Thus the Hobarb Clipper: — Charles Arnold, who has been some 28 years before the publio, has serious thoughts of retiring from the stage at the conclusion of his Australian season. Dad Lohr -will probably follow suit at the conclusion of his turn with Arnold. " Charles, by the way, has, we hear, a nice little property in London, quite sufficient to live upon. Lohr still has his eye on that quiet little hotel that he has been dreaming of so long. Trouble is that the hotel Lohr wants' must have somewhere handy a little good shooting, a little good fishing, a little good society, a little ,good scenery, and so forth -y a hopelessly ideal hotel, such as " Daddy " is not likely to occupy this side of Heaven. Sir Henry Irving's revival of "Coriolamis" (noticed elsewhere) has called to mind probably the only known occasion when the "crowd" impersonated by "supers." received a call before the curtain. The incident \s told by Mr. Clement Scott of Phelp's production of "Coriolanus":— "The supers., instructed by Phelps, were little short of actors, and, in tho scene where the mob banishes the proud general, acted with such intensity, that, on the fall of the aot-drop, after the usual compliment had been paid to the great actor, a cry went up from the. audience which at first nobody could Understand, but which soon resolved itself into 'Supars!' 'By God!' said Phelps, 'they are calling for the supers; land damme! they deserve it — I' never saw batter acting in my life.' The act-drop was then raised, disclosing the unusual spectacle of the supers 'taking a call,' loudly cheered by the spectators." The notices in the London press of Mr. George Musgrove's latest production, "The Fortune-teller," at the Shaftesbury Theatre, are most enthusiastic. The St. James's Gazette .-writes : — "Tho plot deals with the strange complications which, ensue from tb,e remarkable resemT)lance of two ladies — Musette, a gipsy fortune-teller, and Irma, a pupil in the ballet class at the opera. These ladies are so much alike that their respective lovers cannot teli them apart. Irina is" the heiress to grcai, estates, and a certain wicked Polish nobleman, Count Berezowski, wishes to marry her for her possessions. Irma, however, prefers her soldier lover and elopes with him. The fortune-teller Musette $urns up soon after the elopement, and 13 persuaded to impersonate Irma in order to marry the aforesaid wicked nobleman, a course strongly objected to by her gipsy lover. She, too, manages to escape from Count Berezowski, and finally all complications are unravelled, and the ladies united to the lovers of their* own choice. The prologue to Mascagni's latest opera "Maschero" is a queer one. A few lines of the overture are played, • when the stage-manager rushes forward, as if a mistake had been made, and explains that the author would like to have his piece explained to the public. Then the curtain rises, and discovers the actors with just a few finishing touches of toilette to complete. To them enters the chief* comedian with ' the news that they are to mum a new piece by one Mascagni, of whom they have never heard, and after a. pantomimic recital of the chief outlines of the story, with here and fiiere an interjected thrill or snatch of melody by way of suggesting some of the principal numbers, each aotor is formally presented with his "mask." The opera emulates the travestifes of "La Fille de Madame Ancjot." Mr. J. C. Williamson, as a result of seeing Misa Adams in the English version of Rostaud's drama "L'Aiglon," which Sarah Bernhardt originally produced, was so impressed that he is endeavouring to secure Miss Adams for an Australian tour. M. Jean Gerardy made- a sensationally successful debut the week before last before a large audience. The Sydney Mail's correspondent places him in the first rank of the violia'cello players who have visited Australia. ' The Hawtrey Company is back in Sydney with "A Message from Mars." After it, " Tom, Dick, and Harry " will be given a short revival. Then "In the Soup" •will be played, with "For Charity's Sake" as a curtain-raiser, and finally "The Lady of Ostend," with "The Ivy Eeaf." Mr. Alfred Hill was one of a trio who were each the recipient of a handsome ivory baton (suitably engraved) from Sir James Graham at tho State Concert in Sydney, the presentation being made in the Mayor's private apartments before the Royal visitors arrived. An American exchange says that contracts between Klaw and Erlanger, and Arthur Collins, of London, and James C. Williamson, of Melbourne, contemplate a simultaneous production of "Ben Hur" in England and Australia, Bth April, 1902. According to an Australian exchange, Mr. M*Kee Rankin has accepted a play from Mr. S. A. Miles, of Sydney. The play has been written especially for Miss Nance O'Neill, and it to be produced in London and New York. Under the heading of "Frohman to Invade Australia," a New York paper says: — "Having established himself to his heart's content as a manager of multifarious theatrical enterprises in America and England, Charles Frohman is now preparing systematically and elaborately to present attractions and have other stage interests in Australia. With that end in view he has formed a partnership with J. C. Williamson. Beginning the coming season Messrs.. Frohman and Williamson will have large* joint interests in- Australia and New Zealand. This does not mean that Mr. Frohman will merely dispose of Australian rights of his plays to Mr. Williamson or farm out some of his attractions to that manager. It means that they will be full partners in all the risks involved in the sending to Australia of plays and players controlled by Mr. Frohman. They have signed a contract, covering several years. One clause makes it mandatory on Mr. Frohman to send to Australia a year from this spring one of his stars now touring in this country, Mr. Williamson is perfectly willing to leave the choice of stars to Mr. Frohman." Mr. DOyly Carte, in making his will, did not forget those who did much to make his large fortune of £240,817 3s Id. . Besides smaller legacies of varying amounts left to different employees at the Savoy Theatre, Mr. Carte has ltft £1000 ' to his wife, who is appointed sole executrix ; £6000 to Frances Julia Willes 5 £1000 to Miss Rosina Brandi ram ; £500 to Mr. J. W. Beekwith, treasurer at ttie Savoy ; £500 to Mr. W. H. Seymour, stage manager ; £1000 to Mr. Charles Hawkins, Mr. Carte's secretary ; and £500 to Mr. S. W. Steer, his assistant secretary.

The gross proceeds of the half-million loan floated in Victoria last week totalled £482,031. Locally the result was '.not regarded as gratifying.