MIMES AND MUSIC.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIII, Issue 28, 2 February 1907, Page 11

MIMES AND MUSIC.

[BT OBrHKTTS.] COMING EVENTS. OPEttA nOTJSK. "The,Squftvr Man" Company, in 8«a«on to 2nd February. Brough-Flemminff Co., 4th to 23rd February. C. HoHow»y, 24th February to 23rd March.' J. O. Willi*mson, 31st MaroU to ISth April. Atlan HuniitoD, 10th to 30th Oetotxt. THBATRB SOTAX» Fuller* Vtuder'lle Company. ' TOWN. HAUL Madtme Blanche Arral, 4th and 6th TehTuary. Beoses o1o 1 th* B«rn Band, 11th to 16tli February. "Dr. Wake's Patient" is the play with which the Brough-Flemming Comedy Company is to open its season m the Opera Hooso on Monday nest. Messrs Herbert Hemming and Claude tta&itfi have been in town during mis ■week preparing for the Wellington sealon, whilst the comoany has beau working its way south from Auckland. It is interesting to note that the company is so well organised that every principal in it has an understudy. As a result, Mr. Flemming can get away to assist in the business arrangements whenever he is so required. "xJi. Wake's Patient" is an unusually interesting play, and will appeal to all classes of the community, 'me upper and the middle classes of English^ life are represented in the characters, and the problem of making these two classes see their common brotherhood is the chief theme in the story. Mr. Herbert Flemming, Miss Beatrice Day, and Mrs. Brongh are the central figures, and they will be well supported by other members of a wellbalanced company. "The Sqtaaw Man," Milton Royle's play, seen in Wellington recently, has been "novelised" by Miss Julia Opp Faversham, whose husband played tno name part in the American production. The story of the long struggle to free London from the theatrical monopoly, a straggle that lasted for nearly two centuries, is told in "The Struggle for a Free Stage in London," by Watson Nicholson, a recently published book. Jktr. George Musgrove s Grand Opera season, which opens in Melbourne on the 30th March will see the following productions : — "Tannbauser," "Lobengria," "La Boheme," "Die Walkure," "The Flying Dutchman," "Carm«n," "xtomeo and Juliet," and, perhaps, "Faust." The company reaches New Zealand in October next. In an article on "Golden Days of English Op«ra,' apropos W. S. Gilbert's seventieth birthday and the Gilbert and Sullivan revival at the Savoy (London) la** month, the Argonaut (San Francisco) says : It is perhaps not > enough to say that Gilbert and Sullivan's "H.M.S. Pinafore, or the Lass That Loved a Sailor," was the first English comic opera ever written, at" least the first that ever had an adequate presentation. There -were Gay's "Beggar's Opera;" which was not an opera, burlesqnes and extravaganzas galore, and' there was French opara-bouff c that could hardly be translated, but there was no English light opera. In parenthesis, I may say that Gilbert and Sullivan had written one earlier than "Pinafore," that was brought out at the Opera Comique in London — "The Sorcerer"-— and it is a sparkling, whimsical, (tuneful opera, but it did not have D'Oyley Carte's carefnl stage management, and even yet it is hardly known in America. Stage managers are important factors in all stage productions, but even the worst of stage management could not spoil "Pinafore." Miss Madge Titheradge, well-remem-bered George Titheradge's daughter, was appearing in "The Scapegrace" (leading role), at Wyndham's Theatre, London, when the mail left. Miss "Tith" has _ made rapid strides la her profession, and is now in a prominent position amongst London actresses. She was a very beautiful woman and ■he was very beautifully dressed, says

1 th* Chicago Herald report. "She entered a Rudolph-street theatre at a Saturday matinee with a woman friend and handed her seat checks to an usher. As she swished and frou-froiied down the aisle she appeared a personification of all that is exquisite. The usher, tho beauty and the friend arrived at the fourth row down from the footlights. Tho usher turned down the seats and bowed low as he handed back the checks. The beauty spoke : "Is them seats ourn?" sho demanded shriliy. Tho usher did not wince. He bowed thrice as low as before. "Them seats is yourn,' said he. Mr. Williamson's "Mother Goose" pantomime at Melbourne, which is still arawing crowded houses, has the credit of the /our biggest consecntive weeks' business ever done in Australia. "The Spring Chicken" still holds the Australian record for the largest single night's receipts. "Why," asks Mr. Stanley V. Makower in tho Speaker, "arc the concert halls of London filled with at .least thrice as many women as men? Hero is a fact of high interest to tho musician, but also to the student of modern society. Js o ono can honestly plead _ a lack of time as an excuse for not_ going to concerts, or indeed as a philosophical excuse for any other omission ; the answer to such persons being always conclusive : they have all the time there is. Men lounge in the park and in their clubs every afternoon. They talk politics or sports at all hours of the day or night ; they dance, play bridge, go to the river, go to the theatre even, but not to j a concert — no. Why not? It is tempting to employ the service of history to account for fashion. Thus one might I say that the general indifference of Eng- j lishmen to music is the continuance of a tradition. Englishmen of fashion in the eighteenth century regarded musicians ] as 'mere fiddlers,' not worthy a serious man's consideration. Such, for instance, was Lord Chesterfield's attitude. But it is none the less true that in the days of Queen Elizabeth Englishmen 'descanted' and sang* glees after dinner with as much heat as they now discuss the Education Bill. ' History, then, helps rather to complicate than to erplan how it is that to-day few of them either practise music in private or listen to it in public." Another interesting note from Mr. J. C. Williamson's reminiscences : — " When I came to Australia tho second time (in 1879), I brought out among other new pieces 'Pinafore,' and the first thing I had to do when I landed was to take out injunctions against the people "who were playing it withont authority. 'Pinafore- went very well, and then I got "The Pirates of Penzance.' GeorgeMusgrove was running an opera company at the time with 'Tambour Major,' and Arthur Garner was running his English comedy company, and they aime to me and said, 'We had better go into partnership !' Well, I held out for a bit, but eventually agreed, and that started what, people called 'The Triumvirate,' which lasted for nine years. Then. Musgrove went out, and Garner and I were- together for tvo ye?«xts. Then I bought Garner out for a time until Musgrove rejoined me. We were together -for seven yearp, and I was alone for four years, until I joined forces with my present partners, Mr. George Tallis and Mr., Gnstave Ramadotti — both friends long associated with my affairs — Mr. Tallis as my Melbourne manager and Mr. Ramaciotti as legal adviser." "Nelly Neil" is the title of the musical play, written by C. M. S. MacLcllan, author of "The Belle of New York," "Leah Kleschna," and other successes, in which -uiss Edna May will return .to the London stage. - -* The mystery-drama "Parsifal" has surpassed the most sanguine expectations of the management' at Her Majesty's from tho ticket-box poi/it -of - view, says the Sydney Mail of last week. It is still attracting very large audiences, and among the spectators of the magnificent production are frequently to bo seen many well-known people who rarely visit the theatre^. At almost every performance clergymen are present. Miss Tittell Brune, Mr.

Kingston, Mr. Mervale, and the others are more powerful than ever in their respective parts. 1 Interviewed by a Punch man on his arrival in Melbourne last week, Mr. Sidney Howard, head of the Rickardian Dramatic Company from England which opens in Sydney to-night, said, speaking of the theatrical conditions m London : — "There is no melodrama save at Drury Lane and in suburban theatres, but I won't concede that melodrama has had its day.' The style of drama runs in cycles like everything else, and the reaction in lavour of melodrama is coming. When? Well, irhen we get another \j3ims or Pettit. A curious phase of the present conditions is the attempt by Oscar Asche to produce Greek plays in London. They were elegant productions, but too far above tho heads of the people to succeed. By the way, Mr. Asche is talkiag of coming to Australia with them. Personally, 1 believe the public still wants melodrama, and is waiting for the revivalist. ' I wonder whore he'll come from !" Writing of the return of Mr. Julius Knight to Australia and the new pieces he has bi ought with him, Punch (Melbourne) says: — The plays are all good. "Adventures of Brigadier Gerard," "Raffles, the Amateur Burglai 1 ," "Robin Hood," and several old favourites, including the late Wilson Barrett's favourite — "'Claudian," a poor play, well written, spectacular and sensational to a degree ; also "The Silver King." Some folks will say — oh! But honestly, do we want to lose it? In an interesting review of a monograph on ton-years-dead Tschaikowski, "Darien? writes in the Sydnoy Mail : — It is probable that of all those music heroes who have stood clear of the crowd down the ages, thore is none who presents more curious temperament than Peter Ilych Tschaikowski. Passionatehearted and secret as the nightingale that utters profoundest melancholy from itß loneliness, he lived always sensitively apart from the rough give-and-take of everyday life. In him was no one particle of that humour which generally saves the artist inclined to take the matter of life too seriously. Nor was his nature touchened by the inborn pugilism that gave tenacity and zest, if some bitterness, to men immediately preceding him — nagner and Berlioz. Springing ready-made from the hrain of Ibsen, a creature made of words to live in books, ho would seem neither surprising nor unfit, ravage was the jest, surely, I in thrusting such an one into life, and that of the hustling, bustling nineteenth century. The Pteferee (Sydney) has a timely note upon the length to which perform- | ers of hazardous feats arc prepared to go in order that the puhhc may b* thrilled. A sidelight upon the riskiness of the game was illustrated at Wonderland City on Saturday night by a little domestic scene, probably unnoticed by the sensation-craving multitude. The incident concorned Chef alq. and Senorita Chefalo, who are husband and wife. The former loops what is called the "death-trap loop;" the latter "laps the fiery chasm." Both acts are attended with considerable risk, and only the most perfect nerve can ensure that degree of coolness to accomplish them in safety. A swerve to right or left would be followed by certain disaster. For high salaries the couple arc prepared to take these desperate chances. Both are ■well under thirty years of age, and they have a two-year-old boy. Dominim, as the little chap is named, witnessed "the death-deriding" exploits of his parents on Saturday night, perched high on the shoulders of a nurse. His mother, before she threw aside the robe that enveloped her' form — she was in tights and spangles — unobtrusively kissed her child, and the father, his Mcphistophelian red "fleshings" later to proclaim his identity hidden under a long overcoat, did likewise. Then the young husband and wife quietly pressed each other's hand. It seemed to the covert onlooker to be the "aye et vale," the solemn salutation and farowell. These were the "death-defying

duo" about to go forward to "skirt the borderland of Kternity." Shakespeare in Paris was once a dead letter; but changes have gradually occurred, and now the great poet occupies a high position in public opinion. Bernhardt, with her performance of "Hamlet,"' had much to do with .this. "Julius Caesar" was recently produced in the French capital, and has proved one of tho biggest successes known in years. Of the production the French correspondent of an late English exchange says : — "Shakespeare's 'Julius Caesar' — literally translated by M. Louis de Gramont — will be produced to-morrow evening at the Theatre de l'Odeon by M. Antoino. All Paris — or as much of it as could crowd into the theatre — witnessed the {repetition genoralo' this afternoon, and the result was a triumph for M. Antoino, who has staged Shakespeare as France has never seen him staged before, and in a way that even English managers may envy. He has done one thing which no English manager has done — that is, he has presented an entire -Shakespearian play without the transposition of a scene or the excision of a line, and presented it within the limits of a stage performance. 'Julius Caesar' lasted four and a quarter hours this afternoon, and there was not a djftll or inartistic moment in the entire production. The great scene in the Forum is already tho talk of Paris to-night, and will bo the talk of London to-morrow." Interviewed for the Red Funnel, Miss Ola Humphrey, the leading lady of "The Squaw Man" Company, said : "Would I advise girls to go on the stffge? Why, yes, if they have some talent, a fair amount of good looks, some natural grace of figure and movement, and, above all, if they can think and work. They must jbe able to work ; there is no royal road to success. There are difficulties in the way, of course, but Wpl Power, this great human will which is eniplanted in us, is able to surmount everything, provided it is strong enough, determined enough. We can rise triumphant over, environment, sorrow, disappointment — boulders that Fate casts across out paths ; one can surmoun everything, and go on and on towards the attainment of our goal. Beauty is not indispensable to success on tho stage, but there must bo magnetism, charm — a dominating personality." I "Australian actors have great talent, naturally — and, mind you, I'm not making any sweeping condemnation, but I do think that it may fairly be said that some are deficient in application, deficient "in painstaking ambition, too apt to forget that stags laurels will fade if they are not continually refreshed by new achievements. It seems to be the fault of the country. Things ripen too quickly. The fruit ripens quickly, tho crops mature qnickly — but the harvests are irregular." — Mr. J. C. Williamson. If any one were asked to name the reason that the French have a national drams, and the English none, he would say: "The French drama is a part of French literature, and is honoured as a fine art ; the English drama is considered as an amusement purely and simply, is judged on that level, and is not suspected by English playgoers to be a fine art." — Hemry Arthur Jones. An interested little audience at Bloomsbury Hall had the privilege last night (says the London Daily Chronicle of 30th November) of being the first in England to make footligbt acquaintance with the Swedish dramntist, August Strinberg, of whom Ibsen is said to have exclaimed, "Here is one who will hi greater than I." So far 'as the two little plays of his produced last night aTe concerned the prophecy must remain something of an enigma. The little pieces were called "Simoon" and "The Stronger Woman" respectively. "Simoon" m particular is said to have been described by the Swedish poet, Froding, as a play in which "revenge and the sand of the desert are so commingled that they become one," while "revenge has never | been bo concentrated and never so vividly described." Frankly, whatever may happen with the original, in the ' Knglish version used yesterday by the New Stage Club, and presented with a maximum of earnestness and a- minimum of scenery, neither the sand nor the revenge arrived very convincingly. The thing is certainly .1 ghastly little conception of an Arab's revenge — revenge on a Frenchman found in the desert. Mr. J. C. Williamson believes in }he well-informed actor. As he says in the Bookfellow : "In our profession it is difficult to know enough, and you can never know too much. As a young man, when I was not engaged in a piece, I used to go round to the other theatres, wherever I happened to bo : picking ap an idea, here, a wrinkle there, or storing away a little bit of business for future use: watching the other fellows take a part and deciding how I would take it if 1 got the chance, and so on : and, what is most important, studying what to avoid in order to correct my faults." Theatrical . Clips. — Madame Lydia Yeamans-Titus and her husband, Professor Fred. Titus, talk of visiting Australia once moio during the current year. . . . The Lynch Family of Bellriagers are touTing New South Wales — Melbourne next month. . . , Up to the 17th inst. the attendance at Win. Anderson's latest Vventure, "Wonderland City" (Bondi, Sydney) had averaged 5000 per night ! . • . "Revenge," Bland Holt's latest dramatic production in Sydney, caught the popular taste immediately. .. . "More Than Love," Gabriele D'Annunzio's latest play, was a complete failure at its first production in Rome. It was hooted and hissed. . . . F-rom Wellington Madame Arral goes to Auckland. . . . The famous London Lyceum, the scene of so many triumphs of Sir Henry Irving and Miss Ellen Terry, was sold by auction last month, and realised £119,500. . . . Miss Esta D'Argo (Miss Hetty Holroyd, of Syoney) is shortly to be married to Mr. John Tillett, the English concert agent. ... In December Mies Inez BeneusaP appeared at a few hours' notice in a big part in o new play at the London Royalty, and made a hit. . . Charles Machin, a Londou skotch artist, and his company tno due in Australia shortly. . . . Mus Dolly Castles sailed for London a fortnight ago. It is eta-ted the young lady hao accepted an engagement with George Edwardea. . . . Mine. Rejano opened her now, theivtT© in Paris on 15th December with '.'La Savelli," a drama by M. Max MauTey. .. . Mr. Herbert Flemming ha 3 purchased tho Australasian rights of "Charlca I," "Nance Oldfield," and "Olivia," reserved from sale during Irving's life. . „ . Yvettft Quilbert returns (o AmeTica next year. . . . "The Squatter's Daughter, or the Lancl of the Wattle," is the title of a new Australian drama by an anonymous Australian author, that will be produced shortly at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, by Mr. Win. Anderson's company. . . . The Black Family is touring Tasmania. . . . There were 16 theatres and music halls opon in Sydney during the holidays. An Australian record. . . . Lilian Coomber, round here with Musgrovo's Grand. Opera Company, woo cast for Elsie Maynard in the Savoy revival of "The Yeoman of tho Guard." . . . Oscar A»che and his wife, Lily Brayton, are coming to Australia. He woe born at Geelong in 1872. . . . Winifred Austin and hor iiusband, Leslie Victor, return with Julius Knight, as does F. L. Hare, who came hero with tho Ben Hur Company some five or six years ago. . . . Ada Renan was offered £600 a week to tour America in vaudeville. . . . Lilian Boanas, a Melbourne singer, heard in New Zealand in opera, is touring England In a variety comp«ny.