I MIMES AND MUSIC

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 143, 17 June 1916, Page 11

I MIMES AND MUSIC

(By "Orpheus.") THE SHOWS. ! GRAND OPERA HOUSE J. C. Williamson's "Mother Cl'jose Pantomime," 20tIi June to 30tli .func. Allen Dopne, Bth to Knd July Wellington Amateurs, "San Toy," loth to 19th August. George Murlow'j Shakespearian Company, Oth September. TOWN HALL. I (Concert Chamber.) TJie Daudies, in season. HIS MAJESTY'S. Fuller Vaudeville. THI'. LING'S THEATKE. Pictures nightly. j CROWS' THEATKE. | Pictures nightly. ■ ] STAR THEATRE. | Pictures nightly. j NEW THEATRE. Continuous Pictures. EMPRESS THEATRE. Continuous. Pictures. ' SEORTT'S THEATEE. . Continuous Pictures. PEOPLE'S PICTURE PALACE. Continuous Pictures. PUITANNIA THEATKE. , Continuous Pictures. OPERA HOUSE. Continuous Picture*. Miss May Beatty, who once was a favourite with playgoers here, at latest was playing lead in the English provinces in "The Miller's Daughter."

Messrs. John AViUiamson and Sons, solicitors, Sydney, have issued a writ, on behalf of Harry Farron, actor, against J- C. Williamson, Ltd. in respect of alleged wrongful dismissal. Farron, who was the Dame in the " Mother Goose " pantomime, is claiming £1000 damages.

Artistically a success, the Dunedin Operatic Society's season of " Les Cloches de Cornevillo" was not, a financial triumph. It was stated thai the staging of the opera would cost £600. It will cost not a penny less, and the venture will not show any profit, says Otago Witness.

In Eome quarters it is insistently asserted that revue is dead. If it is dead, says a commentator, its ghost seems to be going strong, and to be about to take sundry impsychic shapes. New revues are being promised London.audiences by most of.the popular writers of the breezy stuff. Many hundreds, of wounded soldiers from the Manchester hospitals were entertained in London recently, at a matinee arranged by Miss Ada Reeve.' A' pathetic incident occurred during the vote of thanks. At'great pains to himself, a badly-wounded hero hobbled to the stage, to present the comedienne with a bouquet. Enthusiasm was unbounded when Miss Reeve promptly rewarded the warrior with a resounding kiss.

Madame- Sara Bernhardt's retirement from the stage is imminent. She was billed to make her last appearances' at the .Grand Theatre, Birmingham, in a, special programme. The amazing energy of the great tragedienne is again exemplified by the fact that she. was billed for 13 performances in one week. Her final appearance was to be made in a series of entertainments, on which her heart has been set since the outbreak of the war, to her beloved soldiers of France at the front. After that, Madame IJernnardt will sever an association with the stage of over fifty-four years. "Duncan M'Clure," or "The Poor Parson," which is to be presented at the. King's Theatre, in Melbourne, at the conclusion of. the run of "Just a Girl is an adaptation by the author (Steele Rudd) from the two books of the same title. It is as Australian as only bteele Kudd's books can be, and theatregoers are promised as good a comedy as was given them in "On Our Selection." Mr. George Chant, a well-known Mel°ourne baritone, who sang here with the Melba^Opera Company, is again in Sydney as a member of Branscombe's Orange Dandies.

The Musgrove family still seems to keep its representatives in the forefront of managerial practice, says a Sydney paper. Mr. Harry Musgrove,, brother of the late George Musgrove, is house manager at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne Hi ? son (Harry) holds a responsible position in connection with a big Sydney play-house. Mr. Jack Musgrove is one of the most trusted of the Ben Fuller men, and has charge of the Bijou vaudeville house, where his brother George is also on the staff. While ever there arc Australian theatres there will probably bo Musgroves associated with' them, which in many respects is good.for the public and proprietors alike Mr George Marlow states that the Kew Zealand tour of the Allan Wilkio Shakespearian Company will commence at Auckland on 31st July next. Weihngton will be reached on 9th September. The company is now concluding a season of three months .at the Adelphi Iheatre, Sydney,.where their success is reported to. have, equalled that scored in Melbourne during their four months' tenancy of the. Princess Theatre. Mr. Allan-Wilkie has been generally acclaimed not only one of the finest Shakespearian actors who ever visited Australia, but quite the most versatile, as no other artist had previously played so wide a variety of Shakespearian parts as he has appeared in. The repertoire is indeed a remarkable, one, including ".Hamlet," "Twelfth Night," "Othello R "As You Like It," '.'Richard III.," "Romeo and Juliet,!' "The Merchant of Venice," and "Julius Caesar."

An act that was one of the sensations of American vaudeville will be launched on the Fuller circuit shortly. It is one of the bookings made by Mr. Ben Fuller during his recent United States tour,- and will be one.of the most lughly-paid vaudeville acts that he has brought to Australia. It is said to outshine even that of the famous Banzai troupe of acrobats who on the Fuller circuit a few years ago created such enthusiasm. One thing greatly assisted Mr. Fuller in his achievement, and that was. that the troupe of artists he has booked—Bryand Cheebert's Marvellous Manchurians—were completing a world tour that had taken 'them several years, and wea'e on their way back to China. Australia was on the return route When - Mr. Fuller was in the States the Orpheum Circuit was billing them, in the most extravagant terms. Like the Banziiis, who were Japanese performers,* the Manchurians provide an acrobatic entertainment during which they accomplish their startling feats*. Some of. their acrobatic work is carried out while they are hanging suspended by their pigtails. There are five of them, and to see them hanging in a line by their ' back hair at the opening is a bizarre . spectacle. They average about 12stin weight, and often one pigtail is bearing the. weight of three men—about 35st, or nearly a quarter.of a ton.

Mr. Tom Pollard has consented to coach the Christchurch Glee and Madrigal Society for its production of

'•H.M.S. Pinafore/ in aid of the various patriotic funds.

Mr. "Jimmy Petherick, well known in theatrical circles all over New Zealand, is in camp with the 17th Reinforcements.

Canadian critics . describe Percy Grainger as "a second Pa-derewsld." At a recent concert in Toronto the- Australian piiiiiul-doinjKHisr wtts rucdllaJ 10 tern.