FOOTLIGHT LFASHES.

Evening Star, Issue 13099, 4 November 1908, Page 6

FOOTLIGHT LFASHES.

[By Call Boy.] It is seldom that even the firm of J C r: WiUiamson, with their many attractions, have two companies opening on tJie some night with pieces absolutely new to the j city they are appearing in, but this was ! the case on Saturday last, when the production of ‘ The Scarlet Pimpernel ’ at' Her majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, will synchronise with that of ‘The Prince of Pilsen ’ at the Princess Theatre. “The Mikado of America,” as the musical . comedy has not inaptly been termed in view of its prolonged popularity in the! United States, has been considerably strengthened since it was first produced in Sydney. Wirth Brothers’ Circus will revisit Dunedin at the beginning of January. The feature of the zoo is the live giraffe (the first in Australia), imported at a cost of £I,OOO. The “ ring ” items include several startling turns from America and Europe. From Berlin comes the Sydney brothers, who throw back and forward somersaults on bicycles and motor cycles; from Paris the Les Crottons; Horn Madrid the • brothers Gam on and their performing dog. How hard it is to please the tastes of the London theatre-goers! And managers declare that the task is getting more difficult every year. As the late Willie Edouin used to say in regard to some of the farces he produced: “ They die of laughing, but they don’t comes in.” Such facts (remarks the London ‘Telegraph’s’ critic) are hard of explanation. One can only suppose that there is some occult influence at work which even the expert is unable to diagnose. Take, for instance, ‘Paid in Full,’ produced at the Aldwych. A stronger or more interesting domestic drama, despite a somewhat weak fourth act, London has not seen for a considerable time ; yet there was not a sufficient number of* theatregoers to ensure it a run of more than three weeks. It is the fortune of war, but one cannot help deploring that so strong a piece should have to be added to the number of lost causes. Miss Ivy Salvin, who recently initiated an action for breach of promise against the husband of Miss Carrie Moore (Mr P. LJLi J i ff wood ) —which was afterwards settled out of court—is severing her connection with the ‘Belle of Mayfair’ Company in Sydney, with a view to being married in Melbourne. The bridegroom to_ be is the son of a gentleman prominently associated with public life in Sydney. They will live some distance from Melbourne, as Miss Salvin says she prefers country life to the stage. The Welsh Male Choir are due in Dunedin at the end of February. „ Hilda Spong will return to the legitimate” stage next season, and will act in a new play by Cecil De Mille and Witter Bynner, the authors of the. playlet ‘Kit,’ which Alias Spong Lae been acting in the variety houses of the United States. Margaret Anglin and the exceptionally popular company supporting her bade good-bye to Melbourne playgoers, represented by crowded and delighted audiences, at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Twelfth Night ’ has proved all the fancy that enthusiasts painted it, and its choice bits of poetry, as well as its rich humor, were given in turn the fullest scope. Margaret Anglin herself, as Viola, was most tender, joyous, and winsome, entering into the fuii'that followed her assumption of a boy s disguise with delicious abandon and treating the more sentimental passages with grace and sweetness. Altogether 1 Twelfth Night’ proved a fitting terminal to the most memorable and most stimulating dramatic season Melbourne has had for years. ‘ The Golden Wedge j the new Peruvian comic opera, written by the author of ‘A Moorish Maid,’ and composed by Mr Thomas Humphreys (both of Auckland), will be seen in New Zealand in the course of a few months. The Australasian rights of the opera have just been secured by Air Tom Pollard, to whom the “ book ” 'and music have been forwarded, so that the work may be put into immediate rehearsal. In closing negotiations- with the two collaborators, Air Pollard stated his intention of producing ‘ The Golden Wedge ’ in the Dominion in February or Alarcli next, and possibly prior to that in Australia. Madame Ada Crossley has been drinking the draughts of popularity in generous measure, all Gippsland having apparently turned out to do their own particular property honor. She returned to Melbourne for a solitary appearance in oratorio (‘Elijah’) at the Town Hall on Saturday last, and for two concerts in Carnival Week—one on Cup Night and another on the afternoon following. .Thereafter she goes via various country centres to Adelaide and West Australia. The last mail from America, delivered a few days ago, brought the latest issue of ‘The Theatre,’ a well-known New York theatrical magazine, which contained an (appreciation of Alaude Adams in ‘ Twelfth Night,’ the reading matter concerning which surrounded a portrait of Alargaret Anglin, then on the eve of producing the same piece in Australia—a curious coincidence. ‘ Diana of Dobson’s,’ produced for the first time in Australia at the Sydney Theatre Royal last week, proved entirely to the taste of the crowded house assembled to sample the work of the new dramatist, Aliss Cicily Hamilton, who jumped into fame so quickly when Lena Ashwell staged her play in Ixmdon at the beginning of the year. In the name part Aliss Tittell Brune is said to have been as charming and sympathetic as she has ever been in any of her roles, “ Sunday ” not even excepted, and deserved every* ounce of the appreciative recognition lavished on her by the audience from her first scene in the mean, bare dormitory* of Dobson’s Drapery Emporium to the last on the Thames Embankment, famishingly devouring a slice of bread and a cup of coffee “shouted” by* a friendly policeman who had known her companion in misfortune when he was a captain in the guards. Aliss Bnme received most adequate support from Air Thomas Kingston and the rest of the cast, which included Airs Robert Brough, Air Gregan M‘Mahon, Aliss Emma Temple, and Aliss Valentine Sidney. As it is intended to produce ‘ The Girl from the Golden West ’ before the season finally closes, the rim of ‘ Diana of Dobson’s ’ must necessarily be a short one. The other day* Afessrs J. and N. Tail received a letter containing an idea which had certainly never before struck them. It was to the effect that they were losing a chance in bringing the Welsh choir on to the stage in evening dress instead of in the working miner’s costume. “In fact,” concludes the letter, “if you could give them each a pick and sfiovel, a safetylamp, and a miner’s kit, Tm sure it would create an immense success.” It is, perhaps, hardly necessary* to add that the writer of the letter must have had a good deal of experience of circus advertising. The researches into Australian history and conditions which Air Henry Kolkef. of the Maragaret Anglin Company, is so keen on making, have led him to take a great interest in our seasons, and especially in the causes and effects of droughts. He has a cure for them which at any rate has the merit of originality. When the next big dry spell comes along he is sure that J. C. Williamson would be hailed as a public benefactor if he sent ‘ Zira ’ on tour to all the drought-stricken districts. “A sure rain getter,” he describes it in expressive Americanism. It poured in torrents all the time ‘ Zira ’ was played in Sydney, and its opening night in Melbourne was in the middle of magnificent rains, which fell practically over the whole State, and which continued til! very nearly the end of its run. It will be interesting to see whether Adelaide (now being visited) will also conjure up a disturbance —Air Kolker is betting that it will. ‘The Girls of Gottenbarg’ made an emphatic hit in New York, but the success of the piece paled before the success achieved by Miss Gertie Slillar in her original part of Alitzi. On the first night, even after the fall of the curtain, the audience insisted on recalling the clever, vivacious. actress, and insisted on her repeating one of heir song-dances before they would leave the theatre. Her success was very pronounced.

Air Edward Reeves, Australia’s talented elocutionist, will visit New Zealand early in the new year. Mr Roevcs has just concluded jx wonderfully successful season in

MpUxnirn©, where he «m greeted with very large audiences. His repertoire includes Cmarles Dickens's ‘ Christmas Card ’ and f‘ The Cricket on the Hearth,’ Ralph Connor’s ‘ Sky Pilot,’ and Sir Conan ADoyle’s ‘The Exploits of Brigadier Genud .’ all of which are two-hour recitals, and,are given entirely without the aid of note or. book. The Australian Press are united in their praise of Mr Reeves’s platform; appearances. and his recitals are de-j fitrihed as being of absorbing interest. Mr Bristow Draper married Queenie San-, ford, a chorus girl, two years ago. His) father, who is Lieutenant-Governor ofj Massachusetts, _ and one of the wealthiest] manufacturers in that State, disowned him, and compelled him to work as an ordinary laborer in a Vermont cotton mill. Net-, withstanding that he was accustomed toj live the life of a social butterfly, Draper) showed his grit by donning overall,, associating with the factory hands a* one of! themselves, and living until his wife in al humble cottage. When, a few weeks ago, the Lieutenant-Governor heard of the «d-l vent of a grandson, he became so curious *Ol see it. the ‘Telegraph’ says, that he invited his son and daughter-in-law and the infant to visit the family seat at Hopedale, Massachusetts. 'file Lieutenant-Go-vernor met them at the station, greeted the young father and mother until the greatest cordiality, and during the drive) home himself took cliarge of the baby. A sensation was caused in Paris on September 20 hyi.ti lieutenant in the Reserves Floating the manager of the Ambigu Theatre, and inflicting serious injury. It appear' Hint the, officer—Lieutenant Stien—who is a fhareholder in the theatre, had deposits! 20,900fr with M. Fraicberon, the Ambigu* manager, and some dispute arose concerning it. with the result that the lieutenant, who wasi subsequently arrested, fired four revolver shots at the manager. Miss Ada Reeve is a valiant champion for musical comedy, which, she says, provides a very important sjxiko in the wheel of civilisation, because it is constructed with the avowed object of temporarily relieving suffering humanity from everyday worries, and is successful in doing so. Avoiding the personal aspect (for she claims that she has to work her hardest to keep her place in tlio popular esteem), she says that; in her most recent enterprise—‘Butterflies’ at the I’London 1 ’London Apollo—she employs her experience l and best efforts to put before tbo public a piece with u distinctly moral tone. The moral of the piece is that life should be accepted as it is, and that if the individual has his ideas warped, or is influenced by bis present surroundings, he should consider that the world was not made for “ Number One ” alone. The principal characters (Podmore! and his family) make the vital (bat very) human) mistake of shutting their eyes to) the real blessings of life, while PodnK>rc,l in bis blind obstinacy, expects everybody in his immediate neighborhood to do the same.; Miss Reeve asserts with implicit confidence) that the great British public will always! receive light musical plays with affectionate regard, provided that they are properly staged and surrounded by a heal thy atmosphere. The halo of romance is over -the Borrotl- ■ Studholme marriage, to which I made brief reference in this column on Saturday*. The bridegroom is an amateur actor of considerable ability*, and he thought he wonld like to gain a little experience onj the professional stage. So he obtained anj engagement in a comparatively small pari in the musical piece called ‘My Darling,’' in which Miss Studholme was performing! in the provinces with her own company. The stage acquaintanceship ripened into a. warm friendship, which culminated on September 4 in the parties quietly appearing at the registrar’s office at Marlborough and becoming man and wife. So secret was the affair kepi that even the bride’s mother was not aware of the marriage till ■ after the event, though it is said that the 1 contracting parties had been engaged for : three years. The bridegroom is twenty- j seven years of age, and the bride thirtyone, both being described as of indepen-: dent means. The latter signed the regis- j ter as Caroline Mario Porteous, formerly) Lupton, the divorced wife of Gilbert J. Lupton. The marriage was a great surprise to the members of her company, who first knew of it through the medium of one of the evening papers. Mr and Mrs Borrett were standing outside the theatre when a newspaper lad came along crying the news, which caused them to beat a hasty retreat into the theatre. Another tragedy behind tbo scenes has i been the sudden madness of a music-hall { singer, Mine Gense. \ She had been en- j gaged at the Olympia (Paris), which re-i cently* reopened under new management,, and with fresh prospects of success. Shewas doing well there, bat lad elsewhere lost a good deal of money. The other evening at the Olympia her manner was strange, and she behaved in so extraordinary a way on the stage that she was asked to leave the theatre. Without changing her stage dross, and without putting a bat on, she jumped into a motor car and drove; to the Chatelet Theatre, where she sought out the manager, and cried to ham : “ l£on must lend me fifty francs. As yon see, I have not even clothes to my back." Then, before he even had time to answer, she was off again in her motor to another theatre, the Nouvcaules. Not being rereived there, she wont home, refused all food, and wrote strange letters by the dozen to everyone she knew. She had to 1 be placed in a private asylum. ) Mr George Alexander, the actor-manager, who at present holds a seat on the London County Council, has political aspirations, and intends to stand as a Conservative candidate for one of the London seats at the next General Election. Signor Caruso, having sold all his properties at Nice and Florence, including his fine villa at the first-mentioned place, is credited with intending to take up his permanent residence in London. Heal tragedies have been enacted in Paris theatres (says the Paris correspondent of the ‘ Daily Telegraph ’). While a. blood-and-thunder melodrama was being played at the Ambigu, the Parisian equivalent of the old Adelphi, a youngish man, M. Stien, went behind the scenes, walked into the office of the eo-lessee, M. Freydegond, and fired three times at him, hitting him once in the head and twice in the chest. He then fled like a madman, still holding the smoking revolver, and disappeared. M. Freydegond is in the hospital, and is in no danger, in spite of Ins injuries. M. Stien has been arrested, and expresses deep regret. The outrage at the time attracted little attention, owing to a curious circumstance. The revolver shots were heard behind the scenes, but no notice was taken, because at the same moment property pistols were blazing away in the melodrama before the footlights. M. Stien says that he lost his head owing to financial disaster, and did not know what he was doing when he shot at M. Freydegond. Ho had put all his savings. £6OO, into the Ambigu theatrical undertaking. The money was spent, and the enterprise failed. * The management was 1 reorganised and taken over by a new company, in which M. Stien had no part. “ 1 was ruined,” he said to the examining magistrate. “ I had only a few pence in the world, and I had not the courage, to go homo to my wife and children. who had not even bread to oat.” Mirelia Gynt, a Polish boy soprano, who was discovered singing outside a London public-house, has gone to the United States to fulfil an engagement at £4O a week. Some idea of the salaries paid to “top notchers” in the vaudeville line these dais may bo gathered from sonic recent legal proceedings in London, when the management of the Alhambra Theatre sought to obtain an injunction jo restrain Miss Ciseie Loftcs from engagement at tiro Coliseum. It transpired that in Mav, 1693, Mias Loft us contracted with the Alhambra Company to give her mimicry of leadrug artists for a period of twelve week-, at a weekly salary of £BS, the company having the option of extending the contract for an additional four weeks. The agree - I nrent was to operate in the summer of 1893, I but in that year Miss Loftus was offered a very remunerative engagement in the United Stales, and the Alhambra Company released her conditionally carrying out her contract with them mimediatelv after sire returned to England. In 1912 fihe came back, and was at once engaged to tail.port Sir B. Irving in ‘ Faust.’ The Alhambra, Company again waived their rights, and Miss Loftus revisited the States. On returning to the vaudeville stage ih;> year the Stott circuit offered her £250 a week to appear at the Coliseum ;n h?r mimicry “turn.'' The Court refuted to grant- an interim .iniaactioo.