Mimes and Music

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 30, 4 August 1923, Page 20

Mimes and Music

BY "ORPHEUS 1

THE SHOWS. Grand Opera House—Oscar Asche, 22nd August to Bib September. Beano Molseiwltsch, 6th September. Town Hall—Amy Castles, Utb, Utb, and loth August. Hla Majesty's—Vaudeville. Artcrarb Theatre—Pictures. Our Theatre—Pictures. Empress Theatre—Pictures. Shortt's Theatre—Pictures. Strand Theatre—Pictures. Britannia Theatre—Pictures. Princess Theatre—Pictures. Everybody's Theatre—Pictures. Queen's Theatre—Pictures: Paramount Theatre—Pictures.

Annette Kellerman and her husband) James Sullivan, are living in Sydney. Odiva'a Seals are on the Fullers'.New Zealand circuit again.

Oscar Asche says that he is going to give two or three Australian- girls a chance to show their talent when ho produces "Iris." This will be after the present" New Zealand season.

Victor Beck states that, with a; syndicate at his back, he opened negotiations some time ago with Mr. Lloyd George for a lecturing tour of Australasia. However, the ex-Premier had apparently already concluded arrangements with the lecture agent who had arranged the American tour, and it is under this direction, says Mr. Beck, that Mr. Lloyd George will come to Australia in October.

"The Toreador" is to be staged in Christchurch on the 13th by the Christchurch Amateur Operatic Society.

"For Value Received," a play by Ethel Clifton, is booked as one of thp first entertainments to reach Chicago in the autumn. Maude Hanaford, who was in Wellington with "Scandal" in 1919. will be the featured member of the cast.

On his arrival in San Francisco recently Louis Bennison, the American aclor, in an interview, stated that. Australian audiences are very appreciative, and their theatres largo and beautiful, but despite this there is a, decided propaganda against American ideas. Theatrical business is reported to bo very slack in Perth, Western Australia, just now. This has been mainly due to exceptionally heavy Tains. Many of the shows have, been playing to very "poor business indeed, and one or two of them have been-on the point of closing down The Prime Minister of Australia recently presented to Mr. Hugh J. Ward at Parliament House, Melbourne, a flashlight photograph taken at the recent Premiers? Conference in recognition of Mr. Ward's hospitality to the many State visitors during their stay in Melbourne. Mr. Ward had already become closely acquainted with most of those present due to his various campaigns to wise patriotic funds during the° war T«LSi UI; c ' Iv the Presentation, referred to the high status of the theatncal profession, and expressed his appreciation of the assistance rendered to the Govarnment both in peace and war Irene Vanbrugh who, with her husband, Dion Boucicault, and their London company opens In "His House in Order in Melbourne to-night, is the 1 daughter of the late Bey. PrebendarS Barnes, of Exeter (England)." She^s the younger Bister of Violet VanbrU and was educated at Exeter, Paris and London., and prepared for the stage under the fete Saiah Thome, of the ThTatre theatre that she made her first appearin P? v S S^ge ' at the aSe <* 16. Playing Phoebe uj "As You Lil™ Tt ■> W SteggaU, who took Ja^in the %£??***¥?> "?? tte<i Matures," ?t the -amy Castles striking love, for her fc of h" f with the trad" tions of her family, every member of .which is purely Australian in sentiment and devoted to Australian ideals. .Her & er, t0 J ok \. leadin S part-in the Eureko Stockade which marked an epoch m the country's freedom, and her father as a boy played a man's part in several o£ the most exciting adventures of the gold, rush. , iSebrge and Frank CastlesSTdl^' i''tIl(l Cfreat War, in .whichthree of her first cousins were kill-ed.--During the early days of that tragic Pe™d/- w lt h out any stePs towards the limelight, Miss Castles regularly took concert parties to Broadmeadows at her own-expense and used her great gifts to entertain and cheer the departing "Diggers.-;.,. Later on, when settled in Amet lea -the "Three Castles," Amy, Dolly ?u :T,\- ' dld ma^ificent service for thev-Alhed Eed .Cross, and made their home a rendezvous for the Australian solders passing through. A romantic issue of this period was the marriage of D°lly to Major Charles Finn, 0.8 E who shared in the honour of the landing at GallipoH. . ° In "Cairo," to be produced here by Oscar Asche, on the 22nd inst., there are three" acts of eleven wonderful scenes of Oriental splendour, but the play is not all spectacle. The music is said to bo one .of..its greatest featurts. There are b» fewer than 36 numbers, written specially for the production, the melodies of which are, it is said, of the haunting iind that grow upon one _ T]ie mu^ic ig •written into almost every movement of • Cairo," which greatly assists its atmosphere.: On the first nicht of the original London production, the sensational Bacchanalian scene, it is said, created a furore of enthusiasm. When the curtain went up on the second tableau of this scene, disclosinjr the mass of men and women lyong where they had collapsed, the curtain had to be raised again and again. The London "Daily Mail" in 1 describing this scene said: "The festival of Saturn in ancient Rome could not have been more ravishing to the eye." We are promised that the New Zealand representation of "Cairo" will be a n exact replica of that which was staged in London. "

Many players, in drama and musical comedy, are drawn from New Zealand (states a writer in "Aussie"'), ■ and, casting one's .mind over the current shows, it is surprising to note how many of the artistis were cradled in Maoriland. In "Mary," Miss Ethel Morrison, who plays one of;the principal parts, was horn .in Wellington, and Miss M'Manus^ understudying the leading part, is an Aucklander. Miss Rosemary Bees, with George Grossmith in "Quarantine;" i s a Gisborne production, arid Mr. W. S. Percy, comedian with the "Mary,'' company, is another Maorilander. Mr. Robert Geddes, with the "If Winter Comes" ond "The Cat and the Canary" company, tvas horn in Auckland, whence he came a year or so ago, and Miss Isobel Wilford, who is to play here shortly, and who is remembered for her work in "The Bat," is a Wellington .girl, daughter of the Leader of the New Zealand. Ormosition. ' .' ..' .

Two -wonderful violins which have not been played upon in public for many vears.aie.to be heard in London shortly. One fe. a Stradivarius and the other aJoseph vGuarnerius. Each is valued at £5250. They are the property of Mr. R. D. Wuddell, of Glasgow, the collector of ■violins/- He has lent them to the Glasgow youth, William Primrose, who has been hailed by such authorities as Sir Landon Ronald and Mr. Misoha Ehnan as a violinist of geum. Both fiddles are

now in London, and special measures ara being taken to safeguard them. It was in the shop of John Belts in the city of London that the Strad. changed hands 100 years ago for a modest guinea. A man entered the shop, and laying a fiddle on the counter, asked for a guinea. Mr.. Betts at once-paid the sum. Afterwards he found that it was a genuine Stradivarius. George Hart bought it in 1878 for, £800, and in 1886 sold it for £1200. In 1898 £1900. was paid for it, and today it is worth £5250. The "Leduc" Joseph Guarnerius came to Mi. Waddell indirectly through Signor Nicolini, Mme. Patti's second husband. It is considered to posses the grandest tone of almost any fiddle in existence.

With his "Peep Show" honours thick upon him, J. H. Wakefiold recently began a season at Fullers' New Theatre, Sydney.. In a delightful comedy and dance act, he gave further proof of his unique versatility. One incidental of his entertainment was that in which ha impersonated a Parliamentary candidate looking for votes. He schooled the audience in various, signs which he gave throughout the speech, and the crowd cheered, hooted, and hear-heared him with humorous realism.

Astounding figures or the earnings of film stars were given by Mr. J. D. Williams, late general manager of the First National Picture Corporation, at the Federal Trade Commission's inquiry into the operations of the film trust. Mr. Williams said that Chaplin, six years ago, obtained £215,000 for eight pictures. Mary Pickford received £70,000 each, for three pictures, Nomia Talmads £32,000 each for eight, and £70,----000 each for twelve pictures, while Constance Talmadge received £22,000 each for twelve films and £30,000 apiece for twelve ■ more. Katherine Macdonald received £20,000 each for sis pictures, Charles Ray receive £20,000 per picture, Anita Stewart from £16,000 to £'0 000 King Vidor £15,000, Mildred Harris and Jack Pickford £10,000 each. James Oliver Curwood, the Canadian novelist, received £16,000 for each of his scenarios, and Marshall ?<eilan received £20,000 for each of his productions, plus 50 per cent, of _ its profits. In some cases stars received £10,000 for merely signing a contract Mr. Williams added that he himseli had rejected an offer for £20,000 a year from German sources. Stanley Lupino, one of the most successful of the famous English panfomimic family, has been tumbling and throwing himself about for years and K^ W t ? 6 had °ften refer«a to the fact that he was fortunate on meeting- nothing more serious than a few abrasions now and again Last 1™ T, r 6 ™™n? his well-kept lawn he slipped ano 7 fell down! When an enforced ho iday. The three American legitimate productions sponsored by Charies B. CoXan possible that two of these pieces nLfy^r m AMtndis and N^TealSd in tnat. city, and managers can rely upon arge audiences to recoup them for an" losses sustained-during the we! nlghH day wn 3A S *% Paid extra for their Sunday W ork the new movement is likely •^Ir 4 ™3 g°? d deal of opposition.7 Isabel Edward, and Aine," the new comedy by Gertrude E. Jennings, £ Pl**^ % 'Haymarket, Lonriri'wf s;* 6.?™P 16 st °ry of a romantic girl who fell in love at a fancy-dress .ball with a youthful Hamlet, who turns out to be the son of her dressmaker. It seems to be well acted and pleasantly iMSj; Th? L°ndon "Times" says of it: There.is little'of the truth and sting of wit, little of the vintage of comedy, but there is an abundance of the pleasant froth of entertainment " Eo yj Hormman's new play, "Love in ,awn' at the London Eingsway Theatre deals with a situation in which a Gentilo girl has to marry a Jew or surrender her fortune to him. Finding him more attractive than she expected,' she agrees to the match, to his great concern, as he is in love with one of his own people. In the ensuing conflict of interests the author apparently has made a desperate effort to endow all persons concerned with equally disinterested and honourable motives, so as to avoid any possible suggestion of racial or religious prejudice But in this object he seema to_have failed by missing the easiest and. most, unassailable solution of his conjectural dilemma, which could have .been found in a division of the cash. Love in .Pawn" did not achieve great success in the early weeks of its run, and was abandoned by its original producer and backer, Lewis Sloden. Mr. Sloden, departing' for America, left, however, his tenancy of tha Kingsway' to the company there if they cared to carry on the play. This they are now doing under the "commonwealth system" with increasingly, successful results. Certain alterations have been made in the play since its first production.

To find theatre crowds flocking to see Shakespearean drama instead of crowding into musical comedies and light, opera, is something that New Zealand has yet to see. But such a thing has been happening on Broadway, New York. The Americanisation of Shakespeare has found popular fa.-vomv One dramatic critic says "that it is harder to procure tickets for performances of 'Hamlet,' with John Barrymore in the role, of the melancholy Dane, than.it is to get tickets for the 'Ziegfield Follies' And now comes Da-vid Warfield, in David Belasco's superb production of -The Merchant of Venice,' and standing room is at a premium." Recently a gentleman in the dress circle at a performance of "Hamlet' on Broadway after the. final act, when the King, the Queen, Laertes, and finally the youn«Prmce of Denmark had all "been slain° fn-?i T and said to his' companion, ialk about your, melodramas! This has ■em skinned by a mile!" And, according to all we can learn, he was right. "Hamlet," as played by John Barrymore and mounted by Arthur Hopkins, has been so pruned down, speeded up, and shorn of its ancient encumbrances, that it seems like'a brand-new stage story, a story that carries the audience breathlessly through its three acts of stark tragedy. It is Shakespeare Americanised and brought ut> to date with a vengeance. More is "the pity. But it is recognised that a "kick" is ?y,a^ed '.alld Bro--wlway is finding that kick in tho present interpretation of Shakespeare. ■