Plays – Players – Pictures

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 102, 26 October 1929, Page 27

Plays - Players - Pictures

THE SHOWS.

Town Hall-

Organ Rer.al, every Sunday. 8.30 D.ra. Glannlni, _»)rano, 2nd and 4th November. Westminster Glee Singers," to-night and Monday afternoon. "Hiawatha." by Koyal Choral Union. 7th to 9th November. Opera House— Pictures. "Journey's End," 13th to 21st November. VJ.W.C.A. Hall, Boulcott street— Repertory Society, to-night. • _._. <3_ij<_i>*»- ---* Nicola In season. Majestic—Pictures. :" Regent—Pictures. De Luxe Theatre—Pictures. Paramount Theatre—Pictures. King's. Theatre— Pictures. ! -rtcraft Theatre—Pictures. Our Theatre—Pictures Shortt's Theatre- - Pictures. Britannia Theatre—Pictures. • Queen's Theatre— Pictures. Princess Theatre—Pictures. Kilbirnie Klnema—Pictures. Sir. ; Charles Berkeley, who- was for ■ forty-one 'years 'connected with the .T. C. Williamson Arm, and who has been a resident of Tauranga for the past three years, has disposed of his property, and is leaving for Sydney, where :; ho may reside, as his daughters have settled there. Muriel Starr, supported by Harvey ~ Adams. arid others, is appearing iu the '„ sketch "Compromised", at Sydney 5 Tivoli. '.-■'...'■ ' .. £ Ernest Lotinga, noted English come- '? dian, and a big company * will arrive-' •'. in Australia soon to appear under the '. J. C. Williamson direction. The opening musical production will be "August, l-l-i." ,-.„ Lucille La Verne, an American actress who made herself famous in "Sun Up, "is. to appear as Shyloek in "The Merchant of Venice" in London. She contemplates making a world tour in "Sun Up." ■It is: satisfactory to know that' arrangements have been completed for a' second tour of Australia and New Zealand .by -the celebrated pianist Baekha_s. The tour will commence in Australia next April, and will be 'under the direction of'Mr. E. J. Graveetock. ,' When-Lance Fairfax finishes his present contract with Williamsons ho intends to proceed to America to try his . luck with the talkies. -.;• Vaudeville and revue will bo resumed at His Majesty's Theatre on Tuesday • with the premiere performance of the "Whirligigs" Eevue Company, which . '"■ has been appearing with marked suc- " :. cess in -the South Island for the last ; few months. The comedian is Hector St. Clair, with .Tack Kelleway giving able assistance. Nat Phillips, is- the 'producer and character comedian, while Kitty Stewart, Stella Lamond, Bessie-Blake, and Sylvia Gardiner attend f. the vocal side of tho entertainment. Al Mack, Cecil Scott, and Les Wartbn also figure in the personnel. Following the: disbanding of the Prinee;Godden musical comedy company, three-, of its most popular members, Elsie Parkes, Betty Lambert, and Len Rich,-have been drafted into the Freddie-Forbes Company, , which will produce!' t__ Prihce-Godden repertoire and.other shows, as yet unknown to New Zealand, at tho ordinary, revuo charges. This company commences in Christchurch early noxt month. Mr. Bert Lee, vocalist and sketch artist, lias rejoined the Frank O'Brian .' "Revellers" Revue Company, of which he was a member when the company toured New Zealand. This, brief, absence from tho "Revellers" revue was ' spent in a musical comedy company, but ' on its breaking up, Mr. Lee has again resumed with his old company. How R.;C. Sheriff, the author of the remarkable' war drama "Journey's End" (which J. C. Williamson, Ltd., is presenting to New Zealand audiences shortly), succeeded in writing such a wonderfully realistic play is probably due to the fact that he served for several years in the Great War as a private in the East Surrey Regiment. He was only seventeen when ho joined up, and this now world-famous drama is founded on his own personal experiences in the trenches and dug-outs in which he and his comrades sheltered for many long, weary months. This is Sheriff's first effort at play-writing. Estate in England valued at £9835 was left by John Hartley Manners, of New York, the author of "Peg o' My Heart" and other plays. He left the . residue of his property (including con- •_' siderable property abroad) to his wife, .Laurette Manners, Miss Laurette Taylor, who made her reputation in the title role of "-Peg o' My Heart." Tho play was credited with having earned more royalties for the author than any play in the history of the theatre. In London alone it had a run of 500 performances. Mr. Manners, who was an actor as well as a playwright, was a native of London, but spent his days in America. "Peg o' My Heart" was first played here with the delightful Irish actress Sara Allgood in the title role. The cast- of "The Five O'Clock Girl," the fast-moving musical comedy, which Mr. John Tait said in a recent interview would probably be the Christmas attraction for New Zealand, will be one of the strongest ever sent ocross the Tasman. Helen Patterson and William Valentino play the leadx ing juvenile roles, and the funmakers are Alfred Frith, Gus Bluett, and Cecil Kelleway. Then there are also charming Winnie Tate, John Dunne, -Tui Black, Ivy Parker, Mary Rigby, Lucy Greenhill, Frank Leighton, and the specialty dancers Pat and Terry Kendall, who have created quite a sensation in Australia. The chorus and ballet are particularly effective, " and the whole production is one of which the firm of J. C. Williamson is deservedly proud. "The Post's" London correspondent writes on 12th September: News comes from America of the gratifying success of Mr. Lionel Ince. He left England early this year for the United States, , and .made his headquarters in Boston. Mr. Ince is now finishing a summer season with the Rice Players at Martha's Vineyard Island, .whieh has included some interesting plays, including "The Rivals," "The Taming of the Shrew," "The Patsy," "Ten Nights in a Bar Room," "Just Suppose," "Three Wise Fools," "What Anno Brought Home," "Peg O' My Heart," "Meet the Wife," and a new play produced for the first time on any stage called " Miles M'Carthy," by A. E. Cobb, who went especially to supervise the production. It is a very interesting Irish play founded on history and'is very dramatic. , After the season Mr. Cobb made the New Zealand actor a present of a beautifully bound volume of the play with the autograph of "To Lionel Ince, from A. E. Cobb.—A Father Paul who created a part beyond my fondest expectations. .- Not an aetor, but a prie.t." This is one of the major parts of the play, and full of really fine eloquences. After the! season finishes, Mr. Ince will go for two weeks' vacation to New York be- I fore starting rehearsals for the winter I Mr. : Alfred Walmsley (Dunedin) has 1 decided to go on tour with the Car] Rosa Opera Company, and has signed ; a contract to appear in parts with i . them until Christmas, writes "The j Post's" London correspondent. Mr I Walmsley was granted a further year's exhibition at Tho Royal College of! Music, but, in view of his tour in opera > he had to decline this honour, which he naturally greatly appreciates. Indeed Mr. Walmsley has received every eneouragement and kindness from influential men connected with the Royal

College, including Sir Hugh Allen, Dr. Malcolm Sargent, Sir Thos. Beecham, Mr. Dawson Frere, and others. Mr. Walmsley has found his visit to London of great benefit and very full of incident, and he expects his tour with the Carl Rosa Cotapany to be its crowning point. Ho is still anxious to return to New Zealand as soon as he can. "There was a short time at the beginning of my stage career when I was very unhappy. I can laugh at it now, but at the time I could not, for London gave me 'the bird.' They would have none of me. After I had sung to London audiences three times at Covent Garden, and had been whistled off the stage three times, I told myself I would never sing in London again. But two years later I was asked to come back to sing tho role of Lueia, and I came back. I had been successful abroad before that, but the winning of Covent Garden audiences made me unutterably happy."—Statement by Dame Nellie Melba. Ronald Colman has told the story of his arrival in New York: "I bought a second-class') passage to America. I arrived in New York with" 37 dollars, two letters of introduction, and. three clean collars. All the picture studios were closed, as the result of a bad slump in. business. Someone told me it was cheaper to live in Brooklyn than in New York, so I wont over there and located a cheap rooming house. When I had spent my last dime for coffee and had gone hungry for two days, I got a part in 'a Schubert show, which consisted of my stepping out and speaking two lines. The show flopped after two weeks. But I got two weeks'- pay at 75 dollars a week. Then I went home again to my very last quarter, then a dime, and finally to. a nickel, which I used for car .fare to New York, where I succeeded in obtaining the part in 'East is West.' " Ho now receives a salary of £1000 per week, work or no work, for the next few- years. His first alltalking picture, "Bulldog Druinmond." : described as very nearly perfect aud- | ible screen entertainment, and is at present sweeping America. Tropic scenes of great beauty, shark thrills, and other details of life in the tropics, embellish a love story, in "The Pagan," Ramon Novarro's latest picture, ' which will be seen shortly. This picture, adapted from the famous novel by John Russell, was directed by W. S. Van Dyke, who directed "White Shadows in the South Seas." In it Novarro's -voice is heard for , tho first, time, singing "The Pagan Love Song." The east includes Renee Adorec, Donald Crisp, and Dorothy Janis, and the production waj made in its entirety iu the islands. The company passed-weeks in Tahiti and in the jungles to film this romance of tropic life. It was because she volunteered, with her taleute'd sister, Lcpta, at a benefit concert in Des Moines, lowa, a few J months ago that Lola Lane, who plays I the load in "The Girl from Havana," j obtained a chance to 'demonstrate her abilities. They came'undor the notice of Gus Edwards, famed vaudevillo producer. The Lane sisters were engaged and soon became prime favourites. For some time, in fact, ever since I music began to play such an important I part in moving pictures, Universal has contemplated making a musical romantic drama of a subject written around the life of Rouget do l'lsle, who was the composer of "La Marseillaise." With the signing of John Boles as one of its premier stars, the production of the story by Houston Branch and George Manker Watters became practical. Special music to surround "La Marseillaise" is being . writton by Charles Wakefield Cadman. Universal will call tho story "La Marseillaise." Jeanne Eagel's first all-talking drama, "The Letter," is a sensational drama, with Singapore asdts locale. O. P. Heggie, Reginald Owen, and Herbert Marshall are featured players. » Monckton Hoffe, who wrote for the stage those considerable successes "A Little Damozel," "The Faithful Heart," and "Ambrose Applejohn's Adventure," wrote the story for the British picture, "High Seas." This film boasts of a very strong cast, featuring Lilian Rich, the British star, who recently returned from Hollywood to London. One of the "high lights" in the picture is a mutiny on board a tramp steamer. Lilian Rich plays the part of the daughter of the tramp steamer's mate. John Stuart plays' the part of tho son of a newspaper magnate, who is involved in a shipwreck, and mutiny at sea. Others in the east include the New Zealander, Winter Hall, and James Carew, husband of the lato Ellen Terry, who portrays the brutal mate. lThe much-discussed moving picture "Dawn," which unfolds tho life-story of Nurse Edith Cavell, who, it is stated, is made to "live again on the screen by tho dramatic genius of England's distinguished actress, Sybil Thorndyke," will be shown in Wellington shortly. There has been so much controversy concerning "Dawn" that especial public interest is sure to surround the appearance of the ; once banned picture. Mr. Winter Hall,' writing to • the "New Zealand Herald," states that Ronald Colman is the most outstanding figure the "talkies" have yet revealed. He further states that the New York criticß havo bestowed extravagant praise on Colman's first talking picture, 'I Bulldog Druminond," whieh has captivated London and Now York. It is said to be. very nearly perfect entertainment, and that thousands of America's masculine younger generation are endeavouring to model their diction on Mr. Colman's. The entire cast for Sapper's famous play was drawn from English stago playeTS. It is not generally known that Ronald Colman was one of tho "Old Contemptibles"—that "first hundred thousand" of England's army to land in France; he was also in the first battlo of Ypres. He was wounded at Messines, and filially discharged after two years' servico in France.