FOOTLIGHT FLASHES

Evening Star, Issue 12205, 25 May 1904, Page 7

FOOTLIGHT FLASHES

[Bt Caxl Bot.] Mr Ben Fuller informs me that those issociated with him in the vaudeville business in Wellington, Christchurch, and this City intend to leave no stone unturned to merit a continuance of that support which lias been extended to the firm in the three centres for months past. To that end arrangements are being completed for visits from prominent artistes on the variety stage. The Swifts, a trio of English comewill appear in this CSty on June 11; and Tod Callaway will renew acquaintance with Dunedin patrons a week later. Lennon, Hyn-|in, and Lennon and the Misses May Marlow and Rose Belmont have been re-engaged, and will inaugurate their second tour of the colony on Saturday week at Wellington, where Scott and Wallace (Irish comedians) are due to appear the following week. Mr Barrie Marschel and company began a short season at Timaru on Monday night with ‘ The Lady of Lyons.’ At a meeting of the Dunedin Choral Society’s Committee, held last evening, the question of the visit of Mr Watkin Mills, the eminent basso, was discussed. The chairman explained that the bon. secretary had received *word from Mr Spencer Jones that, owing to the Wellington Opera-house not being available for the dates which the Wellington society required, it would be necessary for Mr Mills to go direct from Invercargill to Wellington, and thence to Christchurch, thus altering the dates of Mr Watkin Mills’s appearance in .Dunedin to September 5, 6, and 7. The question of the works to be rendered on this important occasion were gone into, and it was ultimately resolved that ‘The Messiah’ and the ‘ Creation ’ be the works, a? in both of these there is some splendid solo work for the bass, and in which Mr Watkin Mills will be heard to great advantage. The ladies and gentlemen who intend joining the society for the remainder of the year, and will thus be afforded an opportunity of singing in conjunction with the visit of this eminent basso, are reminded that early application to the hon. secretary is necessary, as the Committee have already received numerous requests for membership. Mel. B. Spurr’s first recital in Auckland created a roost favorable impression. In the course of its notice the ‘New Zealand Herald’ says:—“Mr Spurr is one of those exceptionally talented artistes the like of whom one may travel far afield to match. His unqualified success was too definite and spontaneous to be mistaken for anything else. The audience were in sympathy with him from the outset, followed his versatile efforts with zest, laughed or grew pensive as he willed, and at the end were loth !o let him go. Some mm have the power to rivet the attention of their listeners upon them without tjie smallest striving after that effect, and Mel. B. Spurr is one of these. In the truest sense he is an original abovrt all things. Musician to his fingertips, wit, mimic, humorist—he combines the arts of each, and superadded is a gift of facial expression that we have seldom, if ever, seen equalled. To those who hold_ tho theory that an artiste singlehanded cannot entertain an audience throughout an evening without the interest and amusement slackening, Mr Spurr will prove a revelation. He will speedily explode any fallacy of that sort. His repertoire contains a cure for well-nigh every craving' of the amusement-seeker, from the epicurean to the most careless. A genial individuality instantly makes him the bosom friend and boon companion of everyone in front.” Herr Friedenthal wired from Auckland on Monday;—“ Leaving to-day per Sierra for Sydney. Kindest regards to all friends. —Auf Wiederschen.” Mark Hamhoiirg was at Warsaw last month, and he intended touring Brussels (where Boris Hambourg is studying) and Berlin at the close of his recitals there. Mark Hambourg, in a communication to Mr Lemmone (who piloted him through New_ Zealand last year), mentioned that he was in the best of health and spirits. Of the Sydney theatres the- best patronised lately has been the Royal, where ‘The Great Millionaire ’ has had a long run. Mr Bland Holt is now rehearsing ‘The Golden Ladder.’ ‘The Light That Failed has been withdrawn at Her Majesty’s, On Wednesday two performances were given of ‘The Lady of Lyons,’ with Mr Cuyler Hastings and- Miss Chevalier in the chief characters. On Thursday and Friday ‘ The Christian ’ was revived, and to-night ‘Sherlock Holmes’ is down for reproduction. Mr Hawtrey’s company has been performing ‘Little lord Fauntleroy’ at the Criterion, and the Perman Pantomime Company are appearing in ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ at the Palace. The Tivoli artists include Mr Nat Clifford (“the Nimble One”), the two Bells, and the Empire girls. "The Pierrots occupy the Queen’s Hall, and Fitzgerald’s Circus is still with us. The latest Paris sensation is the “Circle of Death,” in which a man rides not a bicycle but a horse. The circle is like nothing so much as a huge basket, tho bottom of which has been taken out. The circle is lifted, the sides - straighten out, and are vertical enough to make riding round it a most dangerous operation, especially for a horseman. The performer gallops round the open hole in the centre for several minutes; man and horse appearing as flies hurrying along a wall. ‘The Marriage of Kitty’ is the play in which Mr J. G. Williamson introduced his new English comedy company to Sydney playgoers at the Criterion Theatre on Saturday last. At the head of the company is Mr Wilford Draycott, who has a first-class English reputation. Miss Florence Hamer is the leading lady, but Miss Rose Musgroye played the principal of the two female parts in the opening production. The other members of the company include Miss Florence Le Clercq, Mr Fred Permain, Mr Athol Forde, and Mr Thomas Foster. Miss Annette Kellermann, a lady swimmer, met with a painful accident at the Bijou Theatre, Melbourne, on Saturday, the while giving an exhibition of diving into a tank containing 4ft of water. She was in tho act of turning a somersault into the water, when the snapping of the springboard caused her to fall heplessly head downward into the water. Her head was knocked heavily against the bottom of tho tank, and the tendons of the neck were injured. Miss Kellermann was confined to her bed for several days. After Miss Kellerman’a accident in tho diving exhibition at the Melbourne Bijou on Saturday, the 7th inst,, the gallery, disappointed in the main part of the show, were inclined to be disorderly during the first part of the programme, which was put on with a good deal of confusion. A number of childish dancers were (reports the ‘Argus’) handicapped by having to dance to the musio of a piano which

sounded as though'it were being played somewhere in the bowels of the earth. A fencing bout between Miss Athelstane and her pupils proved a popular item, though an earnest voice in the gallery, continually imploring one of the combatants to “ uppercut with the right,” showed that its owner was longing for a more strenuous style of fighting. Mr Oolenso, in reciting 1 How Rubinstein Played,’ had to meet a good deal of interruption, and ‘he was betrayed into the indiscretion of “answering back.”

Then the wrath of the “ gods" overtook him; he forgot his lines, and retired indignantly. After the interval' peace reigned in the gallery, but several of the performers “ billed ” were missing from the second part I of the programme. Mr Edward Lauri, who has just reached Sydney after a visit to England to procure new, pieces for Mr George Stephenson, reports that he bad to neglect an opportunity of securing ‘The Earl and the Girl,’ which vfas doing enormous business at the Adelphi, because its succees depended too much upon "free” songs and interpolated ■ numbers certain to reach the colonial variety theatres before the play itself can. do So. In the same,way, Mr Land had ‘His Majesty’s Guests’ under offer, hesitated for the same reason, and on arriving in Sydney was justified in his caution' by discovering that one of the principal songs. ‘Six little bnrgukrs,’ bad*already been anticipated. Besides ‘The Rose of Riviera (which he witnessed in Manchester), Mr Lauri secured ‘ The Skirt Dancer,’ a pretty operatic play with music by Trotere (composer of ‘ln Old Madrid ’ and a host of popular, refined songs), and bought ‘ The Dandy Doctor,’ by Edward Marris, which is defined for the Strand Theatre. The rights of ‘Le Voyage en Suisse ’ was purchased from Mrs Charles Lauri, as well t s the pathetic, wordless, musical play ‘L’Enfant Prodigue ’ (composed by Wonner). This pantomime play had a great run in London with a French company, and Mr Lauri has himself appeared in the 'chief character with English artiste. The “Tom Nawn Polite Vaudeville and Comedy Company,” who appeared at the Palace Theatre, Sydney, on May 14, undo the direction of Mr J. C. Real, are a strong combination. Headed by Mr Nawn, the company include the Tossing Austins, jugglers and pantomimists; Mr Pete Baker a dialect comedian; xylophone specialists, banjo experts, and the Rosebud troupe of comediennes. Mdlle Gemma Bellincioni, the famous Italian prima donna, has been retained to create the principal soprano parts in the three operas that have been selected for the first prize in the Sonzogno competition. The final choice will he announced after the public performances at La Scola, Milan, this current month. Oddments.—Miss Susie Vaughan finishes with the Williamson Dramatic Company at Hobart this month and leaves for Home. Two other members of the ‘ Admirable Chichton ’ Company, Mr Edmund Gwenn and his wife, Minnie Terry, sail in Jane.—The Beerbohm Tree Company have begun another season in Sydney —Miss Linda Raymond, having been engaged for the leading part at the London Adelphi next autumn, leaves Melbourne by the Miltiades on June 4. She will be accompanied by one of her sisters.—William Anderson has secured a new drama ‘ A Woman’s Cross Ways,’— The London Gaiety Company had a great opening on Saturday week in ‘Three Little Maids’ at Melbourne Princess’s. The financial success of the season is assured.— The Willoughby-Geach Company, prior to disbandment, are touring the Queensland provinces. Two dramas written by the Queen of Rotunania (‘Carmen Sylva’), entitled ‘Marivara’ and ‘On the Due Date,’ have been successfully produced at Innsbruck.— George Washington Moore (Pony Moore) is the oldest living minstrel in England. He was eighty-two on February 22.—John Oliver Hobbes (Mrs Craigie) had two new plays produced during April. One was staged at a West -End house, and is called ‘A Time to Love.’ The other, ‘The Flute of Pan,’ was produced by Miss Olga Nethersole.—Mrs Kendal, Miss Ellen Terry, and Mr Beerbohm Tree form a ‘A Merry Wives of Windsor’ group in a picture painted for the Royal Academy exhibition by Mr John Collier.—Dr Richard Garnett, the famous : man of letters, has written a play, with Shakespeare as the leading character, for production at_ a West End house.—Sam Mayo, a music-hall artist, is a bit of a hustler. In one evening recently he appeared at the Empire, Liverpool, at eight o’clock, and at the Palace, Manchester, at 9.45.^ —Sir Henry Irving has just stated his opinion that the actor who can make his feelings a part of his art has an advantage over the actor who never feels, but who makes his observations from the feelings of others. Such an actor, continues Sir Henry, “must have a greater power over" li;s audiences than the passionless actor

who gives the most artistic simulation of the emotions he never experiences,”—Mr Andrew Carnegie is reported to have said; “ I have no intention of endowing a theatre m this country or anywhere else. Ido not believe in endowed theatres.”—The will of the late Frank De Jong, the well-known manager of Johannesburg and Cape Town, has been proved at £3.ll4.—Moiloy’s new theatre in Perth is almost completed. It is a very imposing structure, with a holdingcapacity of 3,ooo.—The Italian newspapers announce the forthcoming production of two new operas founded on Marie Corelli’s novel Vendetta.’ One will be seen at Bologna and the other at Turin.—A late New York paper is responsible for the statement that Mrs Langtry will visit Australia next year. —Maggie Moore hijs been appearing ia The Widow from Japan’ at Port Adelaide.