MIMES AND MUSIC.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIV, Issue 72, 21 September 1912, Page 11

MIMES AND MUSIC.

(By "Orpheus.") a THE SHOWS. OPERA HOUSE. Plimmer-Denniaton Company, 23rd September to 2nd October Oecar Asche Company, 7th to 26tb October. THEATRE ROYAL. Breunan-Fuller Vaudeville Company TOWN HALL. Concert Chamber, The Bed Dalidiee, in, eeasotl. SKATING RINK, ffuller's Pictures. THE KING'S THEATRE, j Royal and West's Picture*, ADELPHI THEATRS. Adelphi Picture Company. STAR THEATRE. Star Picture Company. ST. THOMAS'S HALL, Fuller's Pictures. THE NEW THEATRE. MacMahoa and Donnelly'! Picture*. UHORTT'a THEATRE. . Bhortt's Picture* "Nobody's Daughter," to be staged at the Opera. House on Monday evening, is well worth seeing, says a Southern paper. It is a simple, direct, and moving study of a kind that will never lose its appeal. Its construction is excellent, so far as the framework is concerned, the development of the plot being refreshingly free from artifice. The main characters walk and talk and behave like people of the mundane world, and there is more than a little deft characterisation. Then there is the acting. Mr. Titheradge would be ' worth going to see if he merely walked in. Aa it is, he has a good deal to say and do, and is always a delight. Mrs. Brough retains some of her old ; ability, and there is also that very talented lady, Miss Beatrice Day, who always brings £n air of distinction on to the stage, and Miss Lizette Parkes, whose natural ability and charm have ripened by experience. Mr. Harry Plimmer's acting must have surprised the people who had become ' convinced that Nature did not intend him to j appear in modern comedy. In some phases of the character he could hardly •be better. Old favourites are always sure of a welcome, and vaudeville patrons of ten years ago will be pleased to hear that Mr. Fred Rivenhall, the popular comedian, will be seen again in these parts shortly. Mr. Rivenhall has been a big success on the London vaudeville stag* for some years, and has been engaged by Mr. Brennan to tour the Brennan-Fuller vaudeville circuit. Mr. Rivenhall left London by the Otway on 16th September, and opens at the Sydney National on 9th November. Mr. Julius Knight, heralded in one or two preliminary paragraphs, duly took Mr. Arthur Bourchier's place as the lawyer in "The Third Degree" at the London Garrick during the actormanager's holiday absence in August ; but apparently even a change in so important a part was not considered sufficient to ]ustify any departure from the rule under which the London press remains indifferent to alterations in the cast during the run of a piece. Hence there is not a line in the leading dailies to tell how Mr. Knight's performance was regarded by the critics. There is only the advertisement to announce even his presence. The grief and anguish which she has so ofteti portrayed as a singer in grand opera have now a real meaning to Geraldine Farrar, the beautiful young soprano, and the loved favourite of New York, Berlin, and Parisian operagoers. She is lying ill in a hospital at Munich, suffering from nervous breakdown, caused by grief at learning of the engagement of Signor Scotti, the famous Spanish baritone, to Charlotte Ives, an American actress. The tragedy in the romance is that Scotti was formerly very attentive to Geraldine Farrar. The _ American accent is said to be spreading in Sydney like ink on blot-ting-paper. Everywhere one goes the twang seems to be let loose. This is due to the fact that in "Get-Rick-Quick Wallingford" there are so many real American sayings and catch phrases that people who see the play like to repeat, and they endeavour to crowd in as much of the accent as they can when dealing them out. It is related that on a Sydney tram the other night two men who had apparently not seen each other for some time were talking. When they had gone a little way one said to the other, "Where have yon been all this time— in America?" "America!" said the other. "\ haven't got you. I've been in Sydney right along, sure.'' "Then how did you come by the accent?" "Gee," was the reply, "I never noticed it. Mußt have caught it tonight. Been to see 'Get-Rich«Quick Wallingford.' " In Mr. Harcourt Beatty, appearing in Sydney as Peter Waverton in "PasseraBy,' the Australian theatre has the most consistently satisfying actor at present before the public, says Sydney Sun. In the number of parts he has played, since he first appeared with Miss Nellie Stewart as Charles 11. in the comedydrama, "Nell Gwynne," he has maintained a fine standard of excellence. His performance of John Shand in "What Every Woman Knows" will be long remembered for its firm portraiture, and his parson in "The Hypocrites" was an equally noteworthy study. The ease and finish of his acting in Haddon Chambers's play are delightful. In Melbourne it won him the description of the Wyndham of our stage. From Sydney, Madame Kirkby Lunn will proceed to Brisbane and thence to Adelaide. Then, after returning to Melbourne, she will come over to New Zealand. It is likely that her return voyage to England will be interrupted for a visit to South Africa. She is to appeal' again at Covent Garden in April next year in "The Ring." So far, her travels have taken her mainly to the Continent and to America. She lias never had time to go further east in the United States than Colorado on her concert tours, but her verdict is that American audiences are exceedingly discriminating, and insist upon good music. The conditions of travelling in that country are very trying. On her visit last year, one railway journey, when she set out for Minneapolis, lasted for thirty-six hours ; and she had all this trouble to sing in only two concerts with the Symphony Orchestra. It is truly a land of immense distances ! " The Pink Lady " is bidding farewell to London, after a four months' season at the Globe. Mr, Mark Klaw, the controller of the company, gives a grange reason for concluding the run of "The Pink Lady" when it is playing to a lull house nearly every performance : " Even at the business we are doing there is no money in the piece with an American company. The salaries are too high for your small theatres and low prices. None of our chorus girls are paid less than £5, and some as high as £8 a week. With a large company, Buch as London demands in its musical comedies, it requires more than the regulation seven rows of seats at half a guinea to make ends meet." The Carrie Moore Comedietta Company commences its tour on the 28th inst. at Newcastle. The company opens in Auckland on 11th November, and will {

be in Wellington at Christmas time. For Christmas time 1913 Miss Moore is to produce the pantomime "Dick Whittington" in Sydney, she taking the part of principal boy. It is announced that Caruso has just signed a contract to appear at the National Opera House in Buenos Aires at twelve performances, for which he ia to receive £1400 each. If the figure be correct, it must eurely constitute a record in the way of operatic fees, co for, at any rate, as any male einger is concerned. It is theprima donna, as a rule, who receives sums usually spoken of ac fabulous. Probably the record in this matter is held by Patti. From the late Mr. Henry Abbey she often received £1000 for each appearance, and during one season at New Orleans in the eighties the diva was paid £1200 a night, plus a percentage of the receipts above a certain amount, all her travelling expenses, moreover, being defrayed by the impresaria. For her farewell American tour in 1904-5, Mr. Robert Grau gave Madame Patti £1000 a concert — the contract being for sixty concerts—plus 25 per cent, of the receipt* whenever they exceeded £1500. Furthermore he paid the entire cost of the journey to and from America for the diva and her staff, besides providing a private palace car for her use throughout the -itinerary. •* Fred Niblo, who displays the moneymaking talents of Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford, now at Sydney Criterion, is said to be the befit-dreesed man on the Australian etage at present. A« a matter of fact, some people consider he is the best>tailored actor tha.fc has been seen on the boards in this country. Even tho tops of his boots match the colour of his clothes. Niblo pute a great deal of streee on the importance 01 a man's clothe*— on the etage ac well as off. "The clothes a man wears become factors in his success," he says. "You cannot afford to look hard up. Every man must carry the brand of success, and clothes are the outward aricT visible sign of that. The man who wrote 'Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford' realised that. See the bluff that Wallingford put up— valet, bulldog, and trunks packed with clothes. That was to impress the 'boobs,' who are always overawed by the well-tailored. Every suit worn by me in the play was made by the beet tailor in New York, and don't you forget it !" At a full'dress rehearsal of "Kismet" in London there was a humorous incident not provided for in Edward Knoblaugh's Arabian Nights' play. Everything was going through exactly as at the real performance until the scene was reached in which Hajj throws Mansur into the harem bath and drownß him. "Into the water, thou vermin," said Hajj. 'Termin must drown." Then he seized Mansur. But the Wazir clung to Hajj, and implored: "Please, Mr. Asche, not to r night j it's too cold. I'm shivering already." "Vermin were meant to be drowned," muttered Hajj. "Into the water, thou son of a dog." "No, no, not to-night," implored Mansur/ clinging tighter to Hajj. This was too much for Mr. Asche, who exploded with laughter, in which the whole company and Mr. Grimwood joined. Mr. Asche respected the appeal of Mr. Grimwood, so the wicked Mansur's bath was postponed until the opening performance. There is no "fake" about the bath scene. Hajj, ; the beggar, seizes the Wazir Mansur, and throws him head first into the bath. It is real water and there is nearly six feet of it to swim in. Each time the head of Mansuf appears above the surface, Hajj thrusts it under again, until at last there is a final splutter of bubbles and Mansur disappears and is 6een no more. But Mr. Grimwood has to make his exit from the bath unperceived by the audience. So he swims the full length of it —about 14 feet — under water, and emerges unseen at the closed end. The actor is an accomplished swimmer, but on two or three occasions he has had un« comfortable experiences in connection with this incident in the play. According to an article in "Munsey's Magazine," New York possesses 150 houses under regular theatrical license without counting a dozen new theatres not yet on the list— a total larger than London and Paris combined ! In a long and interesting argument, this increase is attributed "to competition, and to the gradual elimination of the star." "As there are fewer big names at the top of the bills new plays must have a metropolitan endorsement before taking to the road, where the real money is to be picked up." It is stated that stars like Sotheran and Julia Marlowe, Maude Adams, Robert Mantell, Viola Allen, and a few others, need never play on Broadway to roll up big box-office receipts. On the other hand/ their place is not taken by new "stars," because managers are refusing to boost a new man or woman into popularity only to have him or her switch over to a rival as soon as the hall-mark is generally accepted by the public 'William A. Brady is a manager quoted as having only two stars on his list, Robert Mantell and his wife, Grace George, yet he has 40 touring companies in different pieces. These pieces must secure New York approval, since it is the plays that are intended to draw, not any one artist. Hence the necessity for more playhouses. Theatrical clips : — Charles Frohman is organising an international musical comedy company to present plays in New York and London alternately. It will be headed by Richard Carle and Miss Hattie Williams Claude Haigh, it is stated, will shortly leave for London in search of people for Branscombe's companies. . . . Jansen the Great has been touring the country towns of Westralia (following upon a record money-breaking visit to Kalgoorli© Goldfields) -with continuous success. . * . Miss Hilda Spong during her present Sydney .season, may produce "Woman," a New York success, staged at David Belasco's theatre a year ago. . . . Mr. Irving Webb, touring manager for Hugarde, the illusionist, is a passenger for Dunedin by next week's boat from Melbourne. . . . Hngh Cannon, the composer of "Bill Bailey," "Goo Goo Eyes," and other music-hall bits, died at Toledo, Oregon, on the 17th June. . , . George Bryant, the American actor, is the latest to enter vaudeville, and has made his first appearance at the National Amphitheatre, Melbourne, in a tense, dramatic playlet, entitled "Stung." . . . Mr. G. H. Clutsam's new four-act opera, "King Harlequin," was to be produced in Berlin on 7th September. . . . Herbert Walton, of the Green Dandies, will be joined by William Welch in sketch work on the vaudeville stage at the conclusion of the former's engagement with Edward Branscombe. . . . The name of the new play which Mr. J. M. Barrie has written for Miss Maude Adams in America, and which is likely to be seen in London in due course, is "The Legion of Leonora." . . . Miss Ethel Irving, now at the London Hippodrome, is to be the leading lady in the new piece with which Sir George Alexander will succeed "Bella Donna" at St. James's, London, on Ist October. . . . New York papers announce the death of Miss Lottie Gilson, who made famous the song "The Sunshine of Paradise Alley." She was forty-one years of age at the time of her death. . . . Mr. George Marlow and his wife, Miss Ethel Buckley, returned to Australia by the Orient steamer Orsova.