MIMES AND MUSIC

Evening Post, Volume CI, Issue 19, 22 January 1921, Page 11

MIMES AND MUSIC

(Bj "Orpheus.")

THl' SHOWS.

Grand Opera House— J. and N. Tail's Musical Comedy "Irene." in season. Bis llajesty's—Vauievillt. Concert- Chamber—Fashion Plate Dandles, in Th« Kind's Theatrt—Ficturu. Artorift Theatre—tlctuna. pur Tl»catr»—Picture*. tS*i!Ji'4ss Tlse»tr«—Pictures. ■Shortt's Thtatra—Picturn*. - Slranii Theatre—Picture*. . ■ Xritannia Theatre —Picture*, Princess Theatre—Pictures. l»tevjnojy's Theatre—Pintum. Theatre—Pictures. FarameUDt Theatre—flr.turt*

The cables report a decision reached at a big meeting of the theatrical people in London to give a "Warriors' Day" at the end of This v.'ill be marked by a matinee performance in "every entertainment house? in the United Kingdom, and the proceeds are to be handed over to Ear] Haig's Fund for the benefit, of the multitude of British ' ex-service men whose grateful coun,trymen have not yet been able to accommodate with billets in place of those they gave up to go to the, war. The theatrical profession, famous for generosity towards good causes, will no doubt do its ' best in this ■ instance, and the effort seems likely to produce a big financial result.-

Much. attention is being given to Sunday concerts in London, and fine programmes are offered. The view is held that'iu. London, as.in Paris, these concerts may yet be' the most important musical events of the week.

Mr. Oscar Asche's new spectacle, "Mecca," the intended first perform-' arice of which in London has been deferred by the eontiiiued success of "Chu Chin Chow," was produced at the Century Theatre in New. York early in October. ' Beauty and colour in an extraordinary number of scenes of wide variety, though all Oriental, were striking features. ■ In a ballet amid pillars reminding one oi' the imaginative pictures reconstructed at Thebes or Karnak, the youths and maidens of a Bacchanale danced until they swooned. This, they apparently did.'literally,•'swooning in couples all over the stage. . To-day is the date of the first performance (at Melbourne) of the Australian season of "The Maid of the Mountains," the famous comic opera which ran for 1320 nights at Daly's Theatre, London. The London, Era, in a recent issue, reported the enormous auccess of 'The Maid of the Mountains" in Canada. The Era mentioned that at Montreal, this play drew nearly £12,000 in two weeks, whilst at Toronto the takings in one.week amounted to over BBOOQ— records for both cities. I'ho following cmious letter appeared recently in the' London Daily Telegraph: "Will you of your courtesy kindly afford me space to protest against the forthcoming production of .'Macbeth?' T-iis play constitutes one of the. most vile libels on the memory and good name of a Queen of Moray and Scotland. As a direct descendant of Queen . Gruschj I ask, is it fait that her memory should be so foully traduced, seeing that, she had absolutely nothing to do with, the murder of King Duncan? It is, therefoTO, very hard that when the light of my fine is nickering out on earth for ever I should be compelled again to publicly protest against this outrage. Suroly we nave suffered enough wrong. They took our kingdom, they took away our earldoms and vast estates, without equal in Britain, and now they will not leave .us our.good na:ne. No person possessed of the least' delicacy of feeling would countenance such an outrage on the fair fame of an innocent Queen." .'.

Tho pantomime, "Sinbad the Sailor," included a performer of more than ordinary, interest. This was a'small, black bat, which was enclosed in am oyster shell, manufactured on a .suitably large, scale by the property department, and released by Jack Cannot in the scene on the whale's back, (ft was noticed' that the cat went through exactly th« same performance eveTy night. As soon as the shell was opened, ii shot out like a catapault, walked down-to the footlights on the o.p. fide, ; and waited there until the man with the big bass in the' orchestra stroked it gently. This was the signal for its dismissal, so springing into ithe' stalls it made its way out of the theatre 1 and walked home to North Fitzroy. The announcement that the New South Wales State Orchestra is about to pay a, second visit to New Zealand must be very pleasant ,news to all mus'ic-love-re. The results of the first visit were so satisfactory that it has not been con-' sidered necessary to ask for any guarantee from New Zealand. The only financial difficulty has been that of meeting the expenses which must be incurred before the tour begins to pay for. itself, and. this has been overcorrie by means of an advance from the New South Wales Government. It i» the opinion of the Australian critics that the orchestra is a finer body of instrumentalists' now than it has ever been. The Mel-^ bourne Age says : "It has developed'in every way, and: its work is genuinely remarkable." The composition of the 1 orchestra for the New Zealand tour will be exactly as in Australia, and will Dumber eighty performers. Mr. yerbrugghen has arranged for. his string quartet to give concerts in the! centres during the tour. For 18 years Verbrugghen's String Quartet filled a definite place in the seasons of London and the Continent. Each player is a master musician. Henri Verbrugghen, who was famous throughout Europe at nine years of age as a wonderful boy violinist, leads the quartet; Miss Jenny Cullen, another .distinguished international soloist, plays, second violin, and Mes&rs. Messeas ('cello) and Nichols (viola) are accomplished and celehrated artiets. Messrs. J. aad N. Tait are managing th« tour. . . .

Miss Dulcie Mitchell (Christchurch) has every reason to be well satisfied with the result of her recital at the -Eolian Hall (late in November), when: her powerful contralto voice' and her choice of songs gave much pleasure to the large audiences present, writes The Post's London correspondent. Her voice is one of wide range and rich quality, and marked expression is a characteristic of her singing. So telling a voice requires more scope in its surrounding than the --Eolian Hall pro; vides. Bliss Mitchell's first group of songs consisted of: "In Questa Tomba" (Beethoven), "The Asra" (Rubinstein), "Autumn Storms" (Grieg), "The Broken Vase" (Arensky), "Love Went a-riding" (Bridge). The second group was composed of : "Fanciulle chs il Cove," Dinorali (Meyerbeer)t "The Processional" (Franck), "The Sea" (MacDo'well), "Ma Voisine" ("My Neighbour") (Goring Thomas), and finally bracketed together were : "The Tryst" (Sibelius), "Lament of Isis" (Bantock), "Waiata Maori" and "Waiata. Poi," collected and arranged by A; Hill. The attractive rhythm of the Maori songs, when sung with bright and arch expression, appeal immensely to London/ audiences, and are sure to be encored/ as they were on this occasion, and "My Curly-headed Babby" was another encore accorded by Miss Mitchell. ' She had the valuable assistance of Mr. H. Phillips, one of the professors' at the Royal Academy of Music, who, some years ago, was her teacher. Mr. Phillips has i splendid baritone voice, &nd

his contributions were immensely enjoyed. The London music critics are quite complimentary. The Morning Post says that Miss Mitchell "is a true contralto, well ■ equipped with voice and imagination. Her powers of expression could be greatly expanded by two means —by cultivating the sustained phrase, and by lightening her vocal colour. The deep'timbre which she assumes habitually would hfc far more telling if confined to the significant moment." In tho opinion of the Daily Telegraph, Miss Mitchell's first recital created a distinctly favourable impression. "She hah a full, round and resonant voice; and in using it she neither strains the tone nor condescends to tepidity of utterance. Her delivery^ indeed, was almost tod, forcible. Miss Mitchell's initial success was due to the fact that she gave full play to an undeniable temperament. In slow-mov-ing numbers, 'In Questa Tomba' and "The Asra" (to name but two), Her diction was excellent."

Lady Diana Duff-Cooper, who is better known as Lady 'Diana Manners, daughter of the Duke of Rutland, is to act for the pictures, and' has signed a contract with Mr. j. Stuart Blackton, who proposes to produce pictures in England. Early next year Lady Diana will, take the principal parts in two Blackton films- by well-known British authors. Lady Diana has already had experience of film work, for a few months ago she appeared in the propaganda filmi "Unmarried" (issued with the approval of the National Council for the Unmarried Mother) with Lady, Tree, Lord Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, and other society people. She also apjvared on; ths films during the war, when she played a small part in "The Greater Love," which explained what British women did in ."the war, and in which Royalty appeared. This was the film which D. W. .Griffith made when visiting this country.' Lady Diana has been described by Mr. Griffith as a woman who, but for her social position, would have been the greatest of moving-picture actresses. r ■ '