Plays – Players – Pictures

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 129, 2 June 1928, Page 25

Plays - Players - Pictures

',: ■ tub shows. ■"Town Hall— William Heughan, basso, 23rd, liGtb, 2Sth : .-■ June. ' '/- Organ Recital, erery Sunday, 5.30 p.m. I,' Opera Mouse— 1 ■■' '"Student Prince" and "Madame Porak padour," 28th June. '.>' Alfred O'Shea,'tenor, IGUi, 19th, 21st June. .His Majesty's— ; Revue...,. . ■ ■': Grand Opera Season, 31st July. vKcgeijt—Vaudeville and Pictures. , Da J use Theatre—Pictures. 'Paramount. Theatro—Pictures. Theatre—rPlcturc3. Artcraft—Pictures. Our Theatre—Pictures. Shortt'a Theatre—Pictures. Strand Theatre-r-Plctures. Britannia Theatre—Pictures. Quean's Theatre—Pictures. 'Princess Theatro—Pictures.

■■ Although ': it Was previously stated that the 3. C. Williamson, Ltd., Gilbert and Sullivan Company would disband after the Melbourne season, it is now announced that this will not be so. It has been decided, following seasons in Perth and Adelaide, to reorganise the company for presentation of comic operas of former days, in addition to ■ several recent pieces. In Adelaide and Perth "Lilac Time" will.be included in the company's repertoire. Miss Jean Forbes-Robertson was appearing as Lady Teazle in (_'A School for Scandal" when the last'maU left. Mr. Joseph Milton was playing Joseph Surface. , . The George Wallace Revue Company is delighting Sydney audiences, i Eugene O'Brien is appearing in vaudeville in New York. Al. Shean, of , "Gallagher and Shean," is on the1 samo bill. ■■•,.-■■ ; s Miss Otis Skinner, who is coming to Now Zealand, was appearing in Shakespeare's comedy, ''The Merry, Wives of Windsor," during April, at Brooklyn. Keith Wilburn, . tho • New Zealand mimic, who has done particularly well - since going to England, has been a big . success on the programme at the Coliseum. ■ .. ■ George Riley celebrated this month 1 his fiftieth "year as conductor of tho. Orpheus Glee..Society of Bristol. He ; first joined the" society in 1863 as asso'eiate arid: librarian. 'He himself eon- '< ducted 'his jubilee.'concert, receiving an : enthusiastic greeting and a testimonial cheque. ' ' \ Never was London endowed with so -many magnificent music and dance ''shows as happens to be the case at the ■^moment.-- One or two have reached the days- of decay, others are in hale and hearty middle life; and the rest in rob^St" infancy, says' a London critic. If there .is, a record-breaker .among them —something to outlivo "Rose Marie,'' for example—it might easily be "The Yellow Mask."- /This "melodramatic musical comedy" has been transferred from the Carlton to, His Majesty's, where it was welcomed to its nevv home by an audience more demonstrative, if possible, than on that Unforgettable, first night, and already show.s signs and portents of a tenancy as long as "Chu , Chin Chow." Paul ■ Althousc, who delighted New' Zealand, audiences with his singing a few seasons back, is singing in opera in America. ' ■ ■ The forthcoming . tour of Alfred O'Shea, the brilliant Australian; tenor, ■whose great voice is already known to many New Zealanders through his popular gramophone records,'is u"nder ' the direction of Mr. Henry Hay ward, with Messrs. lieq dv Chateau and Scott Colville as managers. The tour will 1 commence about^ (tho middle of next month,'and must bej confined to brief seasons in the four' centres, and per? haps a few of the more important provincial towns,.as Mr. O'Shea is to sing at the great Eucharistie Congress in Sydney in .September. Subsequently he is leaving for America, where he has operatic and concert engagements. Soon after his records reached America he was sought aftor by several of "the big impressarios there and contracts • followed. "The Desert Song," which ran for over a year in London, was taken, off on 14th April whilo it was still draw-, ing £3000 a week. J. C. Williamson, Ltd., has the rights for the Australian. and New Zealand production. The much-discussed project of a new theatre for' Invercargill is now definitely to be realised, and work is very shortly to be commenced on a scheme .of extension and complete remodelling of the Grand Theatre, the property of Sir Joseph Ward. Final arrangements wero made before Sir Joseph, left on his visit to England. Mr. A. C. Ford is the architect in charge of the. work.Reconstruction will be commenced this month, to be completed about February next year. Maurice Besby, the composer-pianist •who accompanied Miss Phyllis Lett ■upon her New Zealand tour, has been saying unkind things about Australian . musical standards and taste, upon his return .to London (writes "C Sharp" in the "Wanganui Chronicle"). Why is it that such criticisms seem to bear a direct ratio to tho success scored by the critic in the country thus criti- . cised? A short time ago Danio Clara Butt made ■ similar remarks about our musical taste having, deteriorated since her previous visit. Apparently she did not find the same appreciation ofvher shop ballads and baby songs as on previous visits.1 We thank her for the compliment! -Frances A'lda returned to America breathing out anathemas against Australia, where she was not very successful. And now Mr."Besby lets us down with a thud. Well, we have had many pianist-accompanists superior to Mr. Besby supporting visiting artists, illo expresses' his sorrow for Fritz Hart, Frank .Hutchens, Rita Coonan, and Godfrey Smith, who are "marooned on a desert island "—musically. Melba's retort "that it was a damned lie" and that Mr. Besby "heeded a box oH pills" certainly lacked nothing in force, whatever it may have lacked in delicacy. Frank Hutchens indignantly repudiates it on his own laehalf. Docs Mr. Besby suppose that these artists are "compelled" to stay in Australia? Certainly such is not the case, if one considers tho offers made to one of the gentlemen named during recent visits to England and America. Fourteen operas will be staged by tho 'Fuller-Gonsalez Italian Grand Opera Company, which opens in Wellington on 31st July. They are:—"ll Trovatoro" (Verdi), "Riggolctto" :(Verdi), ' "La Traviata" (Vordi), "Faust" (Gounod), "Lucia di Lammormoor" "(Donizetti), ; "Norma" ' (Bellini), "Mignon" (Thomas), "Fra Diavolo" (Auber), Lohengrin (Wagner), "La Favourita" (Donizetti); "Ernoni" (Verdi), "Barber of Seville" (Eossini), Un Ballo'in Maschcra (Verdi), "Carmen" (Bizet). Excepting for concert versions of {fraud operas, it, is eight years since Wellington audiences have had tho privilege of hearing opera/ and the season will bo a big musical event. iloweVcr, the repertoire is rather an unusual one. Puccini is not represented, and tho two onoi-act operas "Cavalleria Buatieana" (Mascagni) and "I ■ PagHacci" ' (Leoncavallo) are also strange 'omissions in view of their excellence and. popularity. Opera buffe is represented by "Fra Diavolo." and 'it is rather untfsual to have Wagner figuring iii'the .repertoire of nil Italian (Sorhpany. The Italians never seem to Tjeat^home with tho German composer. „ ,T.he Nelson Amateur Operatic Society .has just completed arrangements £or'producing "Tho Belle of New

York" in October next. Mr. Lester Brown will be tho producer. Yvonne Banvard, tho comedienne of "Rose Marie," is going into vaudeville with her own act very shortly. Sydney and Melbourne Tivoli dates have not yet been, fixed, but the act is being prepared. ; In a first-night critique of "The Student Prince," the "New Zealand Herald" says:—"First impressions of the little Dutch actress, Miss Bepp.io de Vries, were highly favourable. A capable artiste, whoso personality, at all times winning, hesitates between tragedian and soubretto, she danced and flirted, laughed and -sang, to swing round with surprising easo to, the pitiful outpourings of a broken heart, reaching their maximum intensity at the close of the second act, when her lover prince, torn from her to attend the Court, leaves her in a state of frantic bereavement. Her voice has a suggestion of tremulo, and she ■ enunciates her r'a with tho engaging roll that comes to one who has not been born to the language. Mr. James Liddy is thoroughly worthy as her partner. Flaxen-haired, fresh-comploxioned, lie makes .a stalwart hero, using a voice of good quality and power in solos and duets' with Miss de Vries. He knows how to make his speaking voice throb with emotion and uses it in the traditional operatic style. His . best ■ work was done in the vision scene in the third act. ' Miss Adele Crane made a popular appearance in the role of the princess, and sang with fine effect the duet with Mr. Frank Webster. . The latter, whose role was a small one, gave some inkling of his capabilities in this duet. He will no doubt be heard of to better effect later in the season. Miss Ve"ra Spaull was amusing and charming by turns. Her comedy was linked with that of Mr. Arthur Stigant, who played tho fool as the prince's personal attendant in his customary meticulous manner. Mr. Hedley Hall did some fine work as-tho, prince's kindly old tutor, his vocal solo receiving deserving recognition. Mr. H. Browne's voice was an' asset in tho student songs, Mr. P. Cory was capablo as yon Mark,, and Miss Millie Engier was amusing as the Grand Duchess." The Community Singing Committee of Auckland is busy completing arrangements for the winter season. The first gathering will be held at the Strand Theatre on 13th June, when the' Mayor, Mr. G. Baildon, has* been invited to act as chairman. The Rev. Jas-: per' Calder has been appointed leader. The song-book will include several novelty numbers beside the old favourites and modern compositions. At the request of many regular attenders it has been decided to include a night function during the coming season for tho benefit' of those who find it impossible to attend during, the lunch hour. The Hawera' Orchestral Society has no less than fifty-five playing' members. , ' The- next artist to appear in New Zealand under the direction of Mr. E. J. Gravestoclc will- be Shura, Cherk.assky, the famous boy pianist. Of this player the "New York World" wrote: "It may be said at once that in this boy is lodged a talent for playing the piano hardly equalled by any but one, perhaps two, virtuosi now before the public.'^ . ■ * ' , \ Swift retaliation .against English actors has been taken in New York by the Actors' Equity Association,,for the British, Government's refusal-to permit Miss Alden Gray, the American actress, to' play in "Married Bachelors" because she entered England without a contract. The American association, at a meeting attended by 800 members, decided to put a corresponding ban on English actors going to the United States. They will be permitted to work there on contracts, arranged previous to their arrival, but they will be allowed to act.-.only in the part, for which the contract was made. Should they go to America seeking .employment there will be nothing available. At th s end of a play's rivn the actor must return home or remain unemployed there for six months. Alien actors who are in America under the quota system will be considered residents. No action is proposed against complete companies who come to play and leave as units. Should any actor be there without having been entered on the quota ho will be suspended after Ist November if he has not been there two' years. The strength of the Equity Association to enforce its new,ruling is assured, for its ban on any individual actor has all the force of excommunication. \ Mr. Alexander Marsh, a well-known Shakespearian actor, has just arrived from the Old Country to join Mr. Allan Wilkie's company, and will be seen in Sydney during the forthcoming season. Mr. Marsh has toured his own company in England for some years. An interesting production due in Auckland shortly by the players of the Little Theatre Society is""Lilies of the Field," a delightful play by Hastings' Turner. It was such a success in London as a'comedy that it was re-written and set to music as a musical comedy, in which Dorothy Dickson played the lead. Following is the cast which will interpret tho comedy in Auckland:— The Eev. John Head,-W. H. Graham; Ann, his.wife, Constance Clark; Katherine, Margot Finlayson; ' Elizabeth, Joy Bartlcy; Sirs. Booke-Walter, Susan M'Callum; Bafnaby Haddon, Montagu Steelo; Bryan Ropes, John N. Gordon; the Hon. Monica ' Flane, Cicely Eussell; Lady Susan Bocker/ Ysolindo M'Veagh; Wither, Robert Finlayson. The play will bo produced by Miss Tjna Dysart Buddie, Miss Peggy Hovey will A "super-cinema," seating 62Q.0 persons, on the lines of thc-Eoxy Theatre in New York, is to be erected in the heart of London's West End, within the next two years. It will cost about £1,500,000. Mr. Archibald Sclwyn, the New York theatrical magnate, and Mr. 0. 8.. Cochran, of London, are responsiblo for 'the scheme. Mr. S.elwyn said recently that a site had been bought and plans and specifications prepared. Mr. Cochran is to be managing director. Miss Nora Bayes, tho popular comedienne, died in tho Jewish Hospital, Brooklyn, New York, recently. Her death is a great shock to her public, for only the day before she went into hospital she sang in two benefit performances. She was 47 years of age. She was known popularly asy Laughing Nora." Both, England and tho United States admired her as one of the brightest of comediennes. Her song "Has Anybody Herd Seen Kelly?" went round the world. Miss Bayes was born at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and made first appearance in Now York, going to London in 1905. At the concluding performance of .1 three-months' engagement at tho Palladium in 1923 tho audience was not satisfied till she had sung 35 songs. ' ' Auckland is to have a new picture theatre, according to an' announcement mado by Mr. T. O'Brien in Dunodin this week. In three months' time, when tho Empire Theatre at Duncdin was completed, said Mr. O'Brien, ho would undertake'a much bigger proposition at Auckland. He had leased five sections of the Civic Square, with a total area of three-quarters of an acre, on which' a modern theatre and a large number of shops would bo built, at a cost of about £100,000. The new Auckland theatre, he announced, would be tho biggest in New Zealand, with a seating capacity of 3000, the Empire

Theatre at Dunediu, which was now progressing rapidly, being tho next in size. While Auckland's new theatre will bo or! the atmospheric type, said Mr. O'Brien, tho stylo had not yet been decided on, but it would bo in cither tho Spanish stylo adopted for the Capitol Theatre at'Sydncy, or the Indian,desigu, which is to be used in decorating tho Empire Theatro. "The Little Snob" has for its foundation tho poor family who' educated the daughter beyond their own sphere of life. May M'Avoy plays the lead with a strong supporting cast, which includes Robert Frazer, Alec B. Francis, Virginia Leo Crobin, John Miljan, and Frances Leo. Tho chief attraction in. New York rocently was Irene .Bich in "The Silver Slave," adapted by Peter, Milne from Howard Smith's story. Howard Bretherton is the director and members of the supporting cast include Audrey Ferris, John Miljan, Holmes Herbert, and Car? rol Nyc. "The Silver Slave" has a!-, ready reached Australia and passed censorship. John Gilbert's latest production is "Man, Woman, and Son," which will be released throughout New Zealand shortly. Jeanne Eagles, the, celebrated stage actress of. New York, will ap-, pear opposite Gilbert. Ein'Tin-Tin's new picture, "Riuty of the Desert," is now completed, and will shortly bo released by Master Pictures in Australia. Boss Ledermar, who directed Binty in his last two pictures, "A Dog of tho Regiment" and "A Baco i'or Life," has had charge of the production work on "Einty of tho Desert." Among those who are to be seen in it are Audrey Ferris, Carrol Nye, Paul Panzer, and Otto Hoffman. ' . , In "13, Washington Square," Jean Hcrsholt and Alice Joyce are starred, while the supporting cast includes George Lewis, Helen Foster, Zasu Pitts, Helen Jerome ' Eddy, Jack M' Donald, and Jerry Gamble. The picture is from the novel and play by Leroy Scott." F. W. Murnau has started production on "The Four Devils," with Janet Gaynor in the leading role. In addition to Miss Gaynor are Charles Morton, Nancy Drexel, formerly known as Dorothy Kitchen, Barry Norton, and Mary Duncan, the celebrated stage and screen performer. ' Eichard Bartholmoss is at work on Fanny Hurst's well-known, story, "Roulette," the opening scenes of which take place in' snow-covered Russia. Lars Hanson'and Greta Garbo, two famous Swedish stage stars, will shortly be seen in Wellington in "The Divino 1 Woman," a story of the life of a great French theatrical actress. "So This Is Love," featuring Shirley Mason, William Collier, jun., and .Johnnie Walker, contains one of the most humorous ring fights yet seen in the pictures. The fight has not been treated in a slap-stick stylo, but in a serious manner, in which humorous side-lines have been'introduced. ' A complete' street of barracks was constructed for the army scene^ of "Finders Keepers," in which Laura La Plante' has the leading role. John Harron plays opposite Miss La .Plante. Others in the cast are Edmund Breese, Arthur Eankin, William Gorman^ Eddie Phillips, and Joe Mack. Wesley Buggies directed the picture, which was made from the magazine story of the same name by Mary Roberts Bhinehart. Ludwig Berger has begun -preparations for the filming of "Don't Marry," a film comedy-drama based on Bela Zen's story. Although this will be Berger's first American production, he already is well know in the United States, because of the success of his rhythmic ("Waltz Dream." This production is a romantic comedy-drama • centring about a girl with decidedly modern views. Her ideas of what constitutes naiveness sends her1 headlong into a mess of highly hilarious difficulties, but she wins out in tho end. Lois Moran has the leading role, with Neil Hamilton' playing opposite. Thirteen years ago, Adolphe Menjou was playing a "bit" in Olga Petrova's starring picture, "The White Feather," at-<the old World Film' Studios in Now York. He received • £-15 every seven days during the run of the production. One of tho £G-a-week players in the picture was. Evelyn Brent, at that time just a youngster with an ambition. Today they have just finished a new picture together, but their status and salaries differ considerably from those of 1915. Menjou is the star of "His Tiger Lady," and Miss Bront is his leading lady. Miss Brent is a featured player, and "during tho past.several weeks has appeared in suck productions as "Beau Safcreur," "The Last Command," and "The' Showdown." "The King of Kings" had a remarkably successful run iv Auckland. The | general beauty and. remarkably reverent treatment of this great production has been universally acclaimed. It has. been truly described as a magnificent photoplay, and quite different to anything yet offered on the screen. "-The King of Kings" is in the front rank of the'greater achievements of the screen: "La Bohcine," starring John Gilbert and Lillian Gish, will have its New Zealand, premiere at Auckland, on Bth June. This spectacular production

was adapted from the ■well-known' opera of tho same nanio. '.'Pay As You Enter" 5s a comedy drama featuring Louise JTazunda and Clyde Cook. Williani Demaresfc and Myrha Loy also play important xoles iv tlio cast. In writing of "Wings," tlio "Daily Guardian." (Hyduey) says: "There is an international broadness about tlio picture that makes "Wings" a big picture—big in the big sense of the word." Marie Prcvost lias been signed for the only feminine xole in "The Racket,", the underworld story starring .Thomtts Meighan.. Louis Wolheim Jias an important role. A unique 'feature of the Universal film de France extravaganza, "Prince of Adventurers," is the titling, which was written by the celebrated English nove-

list, Andrew Soutra. "Tho Prince of Adventurers" is . the screen rendition of "Casanova." "The Privato Life of Helen of Troy" is a delightful satire, with many ingenious twists. The general beauty o.E tho photography and settings—giving a remarkable insight into that legendary period of gods and goddesses, wherin the immortal Helen and her oft-sung beauty caused such havoc —is not the only outstanding feature of the production. Maria Corda makes a satisfying Helen, while Lewis Stone as the Jmsband and Itieardo Cortcz as Paris are responsible for lino work. • Polly Moran and Marie Dressier, the comedy team of "Callahans and Murphys," will shortly appear again in "Bringing up Father," based on the cartoons of that name.