MIMES AND MUSIC.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIII, Issue 70, 23 March 1907, Page 11

MIMES AND MUSIC.

; COMIKG EVENTS, OPKUA HOUSE. C. Holloway season closes to-night. J. C. Williamson, oOtli M.irca to 21st April. W. AuUtram, 32nd April to 11th May. E. Geach, lTrli to 25tli .May. J. C. "illußwon, 23tb Mny .to 18th June. Mevnell aK'd Gunn, 20th Jime to sth July. Harry Kftkards, Oth July to 27cu Julj. UosgrovV« Royal Grand Opera Company, 19th August to Sth Scpti-mber. W:!loughby-Waid Co., 12th| September to 19tn Sectcmbtr. J. C. Williamson, 20th September to 9th October. Allan Hamilton, 10th 'to ?QUi October. MacMahon C«m pauv.' 2nd to 4.6 th November. J". C, Williamson, 18th to 22nd November. J. C. Wiin-imson. 26th December to loth January, 190 S. THKATKB BOIAJi. ' Fuller* Vaudeville Conipiinv. 1 HIS MAJESTY'S THEATBE. Charles' Verner Drama tio ■ Company, 3Cth March. _' TOWS HAI_. Slontgomery's Entertniners, 23th March. Tho next attraction at the Opera House will be the appearance next Saturday of Mr. Andrew Mack and his supporting company, under the management of Mr. J. C. Williamson. Mr. Mack is said to be not only the greatest living exponent of Irish character, but also a siriger of high repute, in the United States. The characters this star has made especially his own, aro those of quietly genial and refined Irishmen, as contrasted to the old ' type so ldng jjopular in so-called Irish plays, but which are too nearly aproaching burlesque. During his tour through Australia two years ago, his great success conclusively proved that this departure is entirely in accord with public taste. The Irish tenor wijl open in a drama new to New Zealand, entitled " Tom Moore," founded on the life of that great poet. i " Human i Hearts," a new American drama, is bsing pushed forward for presentation to Australian _audiences this coiling winter by Mr. Edwin Geach. The drama was originally purchased from the author, Mr. Bea Lowe, an American, by Mr. J. C. Williamson, for the "Waldron Company, but Mr. W. J. Lincoln is now arranging for it to bo handled by Mr. Geach,"with a special company. A grod leading lady has already been secured locally, but the necessary complement of a leading man is to be imported from England. The Australian tour will start in May. Miss Maud Hildyard, .who is to do a starring tour of Australia under the direction of Meynell and Gunn, will open in Sydney at 'the Theatre Boyal in July. Miss Hildyard, who played Rosy Slcy in the Tree production of " The Darling of the Gods," and has appeared under most of the big English managements, is said to. be a beautiful woman, tall, of magnetic personality, with much and intense real dramitic instinct, to which is. wedded fine U-chnique. During the (says Melbourne Punch) it is proposed to produce a new Napoleonic play by a local" author, of which big things are expected. In "Tom Moore" we shall be taken back to the days when George 111. was king, and introduced to such historical personages as the Prince Eegent, Mrs. Fitzherbert, Beau. Brummel, Richard Brinsiey Sheridan, and others. The play was especially written for Mr. Mack by j T. B. Saycr, who has invested his hero •with a sentinent-al charm, naturally . to be expected in the writer cf "Believe me, if all those endearing young charms," and the rest of Moore's beautiful series of ballads, several of which ore "introduced "into"" the play by ' Mr. Andrew Mack. One of the most prominent managers in America, who has successfully fought the theatrical "combines," recently stated : "It isn't necessary for us to

have one English play in this conntry. When t you realise .that if an American play is successful it takes five years to exploit it, \rtfh companies travelling from Maino^to Florida, andlfrom Cali(fornia to the East,, -you can fancy that [an American success is worth working )for." There are plays in America that have had ,a twenty years' r,un. They aro Dlays with a distinctly local and patriotic background. Th v y are miles away from any problem ; the emotions in them are legitimate and straightforward, love of home, love of fun, and a strong, loyal love between woman and man, a thoioughly healthy moral tone; while tenderness, tragedy, and comedy jostlo each other in rapid succession. Sarah Bernhardt has again been refiised tho deodration of tho Legion of Honour as an actress, though tho French Minister of Public Instruction (M. Bridiid) offered to secure it for her as a theatrical manager or a sculptor. IMadame Bar.nhardt replied that sho would be decorated as an actress or not at ail, and tho Minister complimented her upon her resolve. An agitation is now starting in Paris to apply pressure to the Council of the Legion of Honour, and force that body to decorate Bernhardt tbe actress. At the prpsent timo she is rehearsing the Jjart of a hunchback jester in " The Bnfloons, a French historical drama, by the eminent Parisian journalist, M. Zamacois. It appears that Mr. Gordon Craig, iMlen Terry's son, has found abroad higher appreciation of his views 'onthe subject of stage setting than was j extended to him in England. In Germany, it is said, ho has been hailed as a genius and a great reformer, destined to do a work for the drama akin to that wJiich Wagner did for music. But his greatest triumph, according to tho London press, has just been won at the Pergola Theatre, in Florence, where he staged " Eosnierholm ' for Eleanora Duse. The r great Italian actress is enthusiastic over his methods, and has engaged him to accompany her and produce three other Ibsen plays, " Hedda Gabler," "Tho Lady from the Sea," and 'John Gabriel Borkman." "Shakespeare and myself" is a phrase made use of by ueorge Bernard Shaw when called upon, a month ago, to say a few words at a lecture on "The Business Side of the Elizabethan Theatre," at ing"s College, London. Still, it might have been worse, says a Sydney •writer.} A vainer man would have said "Me and Bill." Mr. Charles Waldron, the popular leading man with the "Squaw Man" Company, is to be married to-day in Sydney to Miss Kins;, » New South Wales heu-ecs. The wedding is to be a double one, for Mr. Waldon's friend, Mr. Keegan, is to be married at the same time to a sister of the bride. Madame Benda, a Bendigo girl (Miss Kate Samuels), has been engaged at the-. Thalia Theatre, Saarbruecken, Germany, since the beginning of the German operatic season in October last. In January she played the part of Gilda to Herr Mohwinkel's Kigoletto. HenMohwinkel is- one of 1 the artists engaged by Mr. Musgrovo tO open in Melbourne at Easter in gi\:nd opera The music-hall strike still rages in London, and anyone breaking away from" tne artists' combination against the managers has usually a bad time upon the stage. When Datas, a memory man, whose forte is histori< ?1 dates., went over to the enemy, the first question asked on his reappearance' was, "When did Judas Iscariot die?" The artist saw the point, and promptly retorted, "on November s—the5 — the same date as you will die." Miss Carrie Swain, by a decision recently rendered by the French Court | of Appeals, sitting in Paris, has won an, (important point, in her suit* for a share of Frank Gardiner's millions. Carrie Swain, who was Mrs. Gardiner, claims that she was her husband's business as well as domestic partner. Miss Swam is represented by Maitre Labori, formerly counsel for Alfred Dreyfus. The second New Zealand tour of Messrs Meynell and Gunn's "Fatal W edding" Company will commence at Invercargill on Monday, for four nights,

the company opening in Dunedin on Easter Saturday. The military drama "The Midnight Wedding" will form I tho principal attraction of the tour, ; with the celebrated actor Mr. Harcourt Beatty as "Paul ?almar, swordmaster of the Red Hussars." Mr. Beatty will be recollected as the lead- I ing actor with Musgrove's "Sweet Nell" Company. All the old favourites reappear with the company, including the gtfted young actress Miss May t,"ong3on. Several new plays will bo included in the repertoire, in addition to the "Midnight Wedding^'' whilst a revival of the musical drama "The Fatal Wedding" is promised, and the management is bringing the entire "Tin Can" Band of 40 trained children with tho company. A "Kelly Gang" play was' produced at a suburban hall, the other week, by a versatile combination of stars. Most of the peoplo in the cast wero used to variety business, and couldn't persuade, themselves to do without at least a few songs and dances, says a Bulletin contributor. Theso items were dragged in, shrieking, at any opportunity or none. When Ned Kelly was hemmed in on every side, he soliloquised, "Ah, why did I ever come to this beastly Australia? But what could I expect — fool that I was to leave 'My Little Yankeo Belle of ifaragansett' t" Then the orchesti^v (ono piano) struck up the prelude to tno pathetic American ballad which Ned wanted to chuck off his chest. The schoolmaster who saved the train was turned into an eccentric Dutchman with wooden 'shoes and a song and dance. Kate Kelly came on in one scene in a "golliwog" make-up, and explained that she had disguised herself in order to foil the troopers. Then she gavo a coon song, and paused for a moment to announce that sho would now introdooce the latest New York and London wing dance. Dan Kelly wore a kilt, and alleged that he was "frao Paisley, ye ken," and one of tho troopers found some drawing-room furniture lying loose about the bush, and gave an exhibition of his '"unrivalled chair-juggling adt." Altogether, it was a riotous performance, and just now "The Kelly Gang" is more idolised than ever in that suburb. "Micawber" in tho Bulletin: Whatever may be the ultimate issue of the English music-hall strike, it is pretty certain that some of the leading artists can now say good-bye to their former ! greatness. London has suffered a surfeit of Marie Lloyd Alec. Hurley, George Bobey, etc. Smart agcnt3 had booked these artists well up into 1912, and this, mind you, on the strength ot their present, or past, abilities. What is the result ? They hardly ever change their business, and the sameness of things becomes dreadful to contemplate. I could fill the "Poverty Point" page with the names of high-class (?) London artists who have been backnumbers for years. To quote Ernest Welburn Hall, the variety critic of London : "I have before me a list of salaries payable to a dozen distinguished artists now on strike. They range from £80 to £160 per week each. With all due respect to these people, I would not give them as many shillings. If their faces were blackened, and they j were immersed in a minstrel troupe they would not draw worth a cent. Individuality they havo none." The strike will be practically the deathknell of such artists as and and , who have been living on a dead reputation, when they should have been shovelling coke. It almost makes mo weep to think how much good coke is waiting to be shovelled, while good shovellers are singing dull songs to people, viro don't enjoy them, but think they do. because they have heard thatit is the correct thing to think so." It has .been left to an Italian composer, Signor .^ossi, to sot to murle John Milton's epic, "Paradise Lost." It , was first performed in England last month by tho London Choral Socictyj and produced a favourable impression. Says a London writer :—"I: — "I saw a very pathetic, yet a very charming, sight at

the Duke of York's Theatre on Saturday morning — due to the kindn-ess of Mr. Ba-rrie, and his love for children. Last year a little girl of ten, suffering almost since birth from a spinal complaint which prevented any position except that of lying flat upon her back, wanted to »20 'Peter Pan,' but it appoaTed to be a hopeless desire. Then Mr. Barrie heard of it, and placed a box at the disposal of hor parents. The little one — she eeemed not older than three — was brought to the Duke of York's in a cab and can-icd to tho box. With the head of her stretcher resting on the ledgo of the box, she lay watching the stage intently — through a mirror. Mr. Barrie invited her again this year, and I saw the child smiling delightedly as again, still unable to sit up, she followed the reflections of Peter and his. comrades in a glass, while lying with her head turned from tho stage. In two years, it is hoped, tlio little ono will bo cured. I would libs to watch her seeing 'Peter Pan' as other children ccc it.'.' "Tom MooTe," in which Mr. Andrew Mack will appear at the Opera House on Saturday next, is a play from the pen of Mr. Theodore B. Sayer, an American play wright, who has 'taken Mo<jre's_ early years ao the foundation of his piece— the timo when the poet was making his name in London, and winning his. much- ' beloved wife, Bessie Dyke, a yjoung Irifih actress. Such a themo should make a charming play, «yen if those who saw it in Australia two years ago had uot told us of its great fascination. During his ceason Mr. Mack will produce "The Way to Kenmare" and other high-class Irish dramas. He may also give short revivals of some of the old favourites. Mr. Ernest Collins, formerly manager for Mr. Goorge Musgrovc, in Australia, has returned to Melbourne. Mr. Collins represents an English syndicate who own a fine invention, and will remain amongst us at least twelve months, as in addition to the principal business on his list, he intends to go carefully into tho . possibilities of other projects, theatrical and otherwise (says Melbourne Punch). "I'm glad to see the Australian sunlight again," Mr. Collins declared, in the course of a conversation, "and. all the- old faoas. I had a nice holiday in England, and a good look round. Theatrical business is not too good — the panto, at JJnrry Lane and 'Alice in Wonderland' aro huge successes; you couldn't get near them when I left. The season has been a poor one, but few real successes. Tho truth of the wholo matter is in a nutshell — j there are too many theatres. Both plays and actors deteriorate as a consequence. The supply musb be kept up. Half the suburban theatres are closed or closing. I saw many Australians ; in fact, on-& can't go anywhera in London nowadays without running on Australians. Some are doing well, others arc — leave it at they would be glad to get back." . Despite all rumours to the contrary, it is definitely esttled that Miss Julia Marlowe ar.d Mr. E. H. .Sothern, for whom it is interesting to note, a theatre, "Tho Booth," is to T>e built in New York, will open their London season at the Waldorf in Charles &2nrv Meltzer's English version of Gerhart Hauptmann's fairy play, in five acts, "The Sunken Bell" (says, a London paper). The story of this play — one of Hauptmann's later works — concerns Hciniich, a bell founder, who, in the woids of the translator, '"breaks his h.«art in the vain effort to Teach tho sun and to cieate a wondrous chime." Hem Tich, in the view of 'some, is the symbol of Humanity fighting for the realisation of ideals, and Rautendalein, the- mountain elf, stands for the freedom and sincerity of Nature. In this setvrch after light Heinrich encounters the Nickelnuun who symbolises doubt and materialism, and the Wood Sprite, in whom are embodied passions and lusts. The work, as these few details may nerve to shovr, is, though described as a fairy I play_, symbolic in qharacter, and for those j who- cars to seek it there is 'a teaching I within th? liuoa. "The Sunken Bell" ends with the note of tragedy, for Heinrich, speaking the final lines, "Hark! Tis tho music of the Sun-bells' song t Tho Sun . . . The Sun . . . draws near ! The Night is ... long !" dies in tho arms of Raut-sndelein. Mr. Sothern plays Hem-rich, and Mips Julia Marlowe will be seen <a Rautendelein, the part formerly played by Virginia Harned. The well-known actress, Miss Gertie Millar (Mrs. Lionel Monckton), last month laid an action for libel against a "London firm of printers and publishers. It was contended that the defendants got hold of a photograph of tbe plaintiff and had then "faked" a postcard by pla-cing her head on tha body of some other lady, either by photographing or drawing. In this cane the photographs published were libellous and calculated to bring the plaintiff into contempt. The first photograph of which complaint was made was one in which her head had be-sn placed on a body attired in a 'nightdress. Anyone looking at it would at onco assume that the plaintiff had been photographed in that costume. In regard to this the -defendants said that fhe idea was taken from the cpstumc of characters appsaring in "A Night Out," recently performed at the Vaudeville Theatre. Another photograph to which she objected waa one which tho defendants said they took from the idea of "La Source." Those wore the two pictures of which tho plaintiff moist bitteTly complained, but there vas a third photograph, which rcprcionted her crawlinc; out of an eggshell. Mr. Justice Darling, in summing up, pointed out that the plaintiff had admitted having been photographed in an ecR, and if that \va3 not a libel it was diflicult to understand how the other could be. He could well imagine that if a vicaT's wife were represented in "La Source" tho wholo dioceso would bo in an uproar, but it was not quite tbe same thing when tho subject of the picture v.-ao a lady who often appeared before the public in fancy dreas. The jury returned a v-erdict for the defendants. Theatrical Clips:— Miss Elbert Orton, of the Julius Knight Company, is reputed to be very wealthy. . . Mr. Peter Savieri was playing Dan in "Ned K«lly' at Sydney Criterion last week. . Misa Maud Bcatty is a member of an opera company pluying at the- American Iheatre, San Francisco. . . It is* rumoured that Mrs. Brough retires from the Brough-Flemming Company shortly, and that the name will drop from the title in a few months. . . "Alice in Wonderland" will hay« its fifth revival in London next Christmas. . . Mr. Bert Royle left this week for Auckland to meet tho Andrew Mack Company, duo by tho incoming San Francisco steamer. . Mr. Winter Hall, a clever amateur from Christchurch, has joined the BroughMemming Company. , . . Mr. H. Vincent, producer of "Ben Hur" in Sydney, and stage manager with several of the J. C. Williamson dramatic companies, has retired from the stage and ecUlcd down in South' Devon.. . . "The Littlo Stranger" Company arrived in Melbourne from Now Zealand last week, and has disbanded. . . Mr. Douglas Gerrard. who appeared in Sydney in tho cost of "Merely Mary Ann," is still in New York supporting Mies Viola Allen, in "Cymboline, at the Astor Theatre. Mr. Gerrord, who is to Count Orsino in a forthcoming revival of "Twelfth Night," is engaged up to July. . . "a tie Squatter's Daughtei" has proved such an enormous success that Mr. .William Anderson talks of staging a mining drama, "The Eureka Stockade." . . Tho Brough-Flcmming Co. opens tonight at tho Sydney Palace, . Meynell and Gunn arc- organising a No. 2 "Fatal and Midnight Wedding" Company, .j . The Messrs. Tait aro sending "The Kelly Gang" biograph pictures'to Maoriland.