"JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK."

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 100, 29 April 1937, Page 21

"JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK."

"Juno and the Paycock," which is to be produced by Mr. Leo dv Chateau for the Wellington Repertory Theatre Society from May 17 to May 22, is generally considered one of the really great plays of this generation. Its comedy is uproarious at times; its pathos provokes deepest compassion; its .tragedy is stark and bitter; and its spiritual beauty transcendent. The anticlimax before the falling of the final curtain is profoundly moving and the last scene of all is a master stroke of dramatic effect. It is believed that the production will mark another milestone , in • the history of the theatre in New Zealand. Mrs. Charles McDonald is arranging some beautiful Irish music appropriate to the play; according to a lady from Dublin, now resident in Wellington, the setting is authentic; Miss Pauline Shqtlander is again superfo vising the dressing and the following r _ specially-selected players will strive to t o deserve the honour conferred upon id them in appearing in the first Scan st O'Casey play ever presented in New ■d Zealand:—"Juno" Boyle. Mrs. G. C. a Boyes; Johnny Boyle, B. R. O'Brien; j. Mary Boyle, Mrs. George Swan; "Capa tain" Boyle, Leo dv Chateau; "Joxer" >" Daly, Jim Crawford; Maisie Madigan, r- Mrs. C. Anderson; "Needle" Nugent, C. r- Edgar; Mrs. Tancred, Mrs. Sydney :ir Tingey; Jerry Devine, Arthur Ashleyle Jones; Charles Beh'tham, G. R. Powles; )r Irregulars, F. M. Renner and Patrick a Feeney; furniture removers, R. Gilki : ss son and Cedric Wright; itinerant, T. 0, Megan-Williams; neighbours, Margaret Mary Harris, Miss Davison, and Catherine Forde.SPECTACULAR SCENE. ■,j Hundreds of barrels of crude oil, y. spread on the waters of an artificial ie lake, were consumed with fire for one }_ of the spectacular battle scenes in RKO !t Radio's "Michael Strogoff,'; in which > r Anton Walbrook, Continental stage d and screen star, is making his Ameri,6 can film debut. . The fire sequence c takes place during the storming of a h Russian stronghold, by Tartar.rebels, n A lake 500 feet square was'cbnstructed, > 0 in the San Fernando Valley for the IS scene. Fire walls twelve" feet high en1, closed the lake, which'guarded the apn proach to a Siberian palace. Two companies of fire-fighters, . one from the studio and the other from Los Angeles, stood by to guard against any spread of the flames. • . VERSATILE STAR. Gladys George, famous for. her stage ■work, particularly in a recent New York presentation of "Personal Appearance" (sparkling comedy about a screen star), has become almost as famous a screen personality overnight as it were, following on her amazing work in the problem play—"Valiant is the Word.' for Carrie." In this she"plays a rather notorious lady who becomes, 'foster mother to a family, and finds herself; confronted with problems on: morals as they affect the coming generation. Miss George is booked for a London season as soon as her engagements ■ in. ■ the States will allow Gilbert Miller : to bring her across the Atlantic. THREE DIRECTORS. Three directors have been contributing special varieties of skill and experience to the filming of "Stolen ~ Holiday" at Warner Bros. First Na- . tional, ushering in, it is said, a new scheme in movie production. This Kay Francis picture, one of the company's ] most important current productions, will give directorial credit to Michael ' Curtiz, who controlled the major por- ' tion of the film. In order to free Curtis ! of the burden of handling certain j scenes in which no principals of the ; . cast took part, and to take advantage ] ■of the special talents of two other directors, "Breezy" Eason and Bobby ' Connolly at various times have direct- 1 ed separate units of "Stolen Holiday." ! Scenes in a Parisian fashion salon in ' which models displayed their wares to | ' music were staged by Connolly, the ' . famous dance director. . In the same setting other shots of the models and , all scenes in which Miss Francis, ' : Claude Rains, lan Hunter, Alison Skip- 1 worth, and other principals participated, Curtiz was at the director's post. ' Eason directed rioting scenes on out- 1 ' door replicas of Parisian streets, with ' many hundreds of extras. j [ : . < \ EDUCATING THE CHILDREN. i •■■.:,■■ E ' San Franciscan children were re- :. ', cently made conscious of the vital i world of music when Ernest Schelling, s j conductor of the New York Phil- 1 ; harmonic Society's Children and 1 .Young People's concerts, directed the i : San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in ;i .' a series of four concerts. The recitals •:; ;" took place in the mornings, from 10.30 f •to 11.30. Besides conducting, the New \ York visitor acted as speaking com- ■ mentator, giving sketches of the com- ',; posers' lives, descriptions of the >i various instruments of the orchestra and of the music played. Coloured slides were also shown. -A remarkable 5 . child pianist, Laura Dubman, was s soloist at one concert; she is now 12, ~ : and was making her first appearance ;? in her native city in four years. Laura ?: had four, years' study in New York ■:■ with' Olga Samaroff Stokowski and ?■ Sasha Gorodnitzski, and is a very ?'. promising performer. f: STILL RUN& THE 'STREAM. ; The Chinese fantasy "Lady Precious : Stream," like the famous brook, looks ; : like running for ever. It dries up :? occasionally, but reappears blithely :■ again. Altogether there have been \ over 1000. performances ■at the Little ■■;. and Savoy Theatres, London, and s Nancy Price,' of the Little Theatre, ; recently faced with the failure of "The ' King and Mistress Shore" (Clifford ':■'.. Bax), revived "Lady Precious Stream" ?. with Joyce Redman as the heroine. It was a big success at the Little Theatre, with matinees of "Alice Through the Looking Glass." S. 1. Hsiung, the author of the fantasy, played the Honourable Reader. He has written another play, "The Western Chamber," and its first, production was in China, enacted by Chinese actors in English. LIKES HOLLYWOOD. Cole Porter, the composer of numerous catchy songs in the stage musicale : "Anything Goes," and perpetrator of lilting melodies in the Hollywood film • "Born to Dance," likes the film colony because nothing is impossible there. The noted song writer, when inspecting the script of Eleanor Powell's starring vehicle "Born to Dance," found the following on one page: "Props needed: The U.S. Navy, one Pekingese dog. and one stand-in for Pekingese dog!" As Mr. Porter remarked, what about a stand-in for the U.S. Navy as well? ; ; PROMISING WELLINGTON SINGER. At present pursuing his musical studies in Wellington is a young singer who promises to go far in the concert world. Mr. Barry Hamilton possesses a voice of rare lyric sweetness, exceptional power and range, and critics who have heard the young vocalist predict great things for him. More will undoubtedly be heard of this singer, who embodies many of the qualities of artistry, and musicianship." AMERICAN ACTRESS FOR LONDON. "Rex Judd" is a pen-name that hides the identity of two well-known men of the British theatre. Their latest play was presented at the St. Martin's Theatre, London, recently, with Mary Morris, a celebrated American actress, in a big dramatic part.

ENORMOUS SETS,

Merle Oberon, wearing a sensational costume, has started work at Denham Studios oil London Films' great Roman picture, "I, Claudius." The scene was the enormous circular hall.of Caligula's Palace in Rome. The Emperor, Emlyn Williams, lies on a couch decorated with- magnificent wild animal skins. Kear him in the middle of the highlypolished tile floor sits his wife, Caesonia, played by Leonora Corbett. Celigula is played with a . goldenthronged whip and watching the beauliful.Messalina dancing for him. Charles Laughton, as Claudius, sits on the floor, patiently enduring they vicious Caligula's baiting. For many months designer John Armstrong has been working on the fifteen dresses Merle Oberon wears during the film, and made by Madame Karinska. ' Perhaps most- striking is that in' the Roman ballet. First "rushes" reveal ■. Charles Laughton rising to great comedy heights in his scenes at the opening of the film.