FOOTLIGHT FLASHES.

Evening Star, Issue 13145, 29 December 1908, Page 8

FOOTLIGHT FLASHES.

[By Call Boy.] The late Mr J. F. Sheridan was an exceedingly clever female impersonator, of which his Widow O'Brien and Mrs Dooley were excellent illustrations. Other parts in which he has appeared in Dunedin at various times' since Christmas, 1884, are Marks ('Uncle Tom's Cabin'), Captain Crosstree (' Black-eyed Susan,' burlesque), Dan Rafferty (' When the Lumps are Lighted '), The New Barmaid, Peer Potts Point Morgan ('Lady Slavey'), Jim Cheese, a London eos;er (' T-:o Earl and the Girl'), Dick Whittington pnntomima. King Dodo, and Cinderella. As showing how unexpected Mr Sheridan's death wnf he only last week accepted an engagement for a tour of the Dominion under Mr J. C. Williamson's ausni-ccs.

There was all the heartening glow of expectancy which goes so far towards making an entertainemnt a success noticeable in the vast audience which thronged Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, on .Saturday, the 19th inst., on the night of the premiere of the new Christmas pantomime 'Jack and Jill.' The crowd of theatregoers who had gathered themselves together were buoyed tin with the hope of string a performance in all poinU'i equal to. if not decidedly better than, all preceding attractions of a .-imilar kind. I'i'cm the' moment, the curtr.in res;; and tiie Demon in stentorian tones gave vent to his de-' nioniaeai wi-h for th" downfall of mankind, until the dazzling march of the jewels, which brings the pantomime to a conclusion, the piece was followed with keen interest, interspersed v. ith wurm welcomes to the old favorites and newcomers in the cast, hearty laughter at the humorous sallies of the comedians, and genuine applause and admiration for the many beauties of song and dance and scenic effect with which the piece is so abundantly studded. Mr Gilbert, as the economical Baron Bounce, has a. part right into his hands, Mr Harry Shine and Mr Victor ' oydiill contribute largely to the aboundlg laughter of the evening, Mr J. M. amphell. in the role of the Widow ...obble, showed his proficiency and experience in " Dame" parts, Mi's Stella Gastelle as Jack and Miss Stella Selvoumc- as the Prince are exceedingly well placed, while .Miss Fanny Dango makes an altogether dainty and delightful Jill. The remainder of the cast is capably filled by artists who are for the most part old and tried favorites, and when praise and admiration -is being meted out it is well to remember Mr Gerard Coventry, to whose unremitting and indefatigable work the success of the piouuction is largely due. During the bearing oi a charge of attempting suicide at Highgate Police Court recently it was stated that the accused—a musician—had been driven to it by ihe tyranny, of the conductor of the orchestra he played in. The accused was Francis Henry Purse, aged fjfty-thfec. Mr Freke Palmer, solicitor, stated that accused was first bass viol player at a West End theatre, and the conductor, a foreigner, had made his life «. misery. He had sworn and even spat at him. Purse was highly strung, and a long course of bad treatment had entirely broken him down. Several members of the orchestra were in court. One gave evidence,- and said that Purse was not particularly selected for the treatment. Sir Francis Cory Wright accepted Purse's promise not to repeat the attempt, and discharged him. advising the orchestra to make united representations to the proprbtor of the theatre. Mr Beerbohm Tree has entered into a working alliance with a now organisation styled "The Afternoon 'Theatre." which will utilie Hi.s Majesty's (London) for matinees on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. A start was to have' been made during the second week of the current month with Hauptniann's • Hannele,' to be produced under Mr Tree's personal superintendence. The long-fought campaign in Italy against the- matinee hat at theatres hae finally triumphed in Milan as in other big cities. The Prefect ha« reinforced an ancient bylaw, according to which all ladies witnessing public entertainments' in theatres and music halls from any part of the house, with the sole exception of private boxes, are obliged to remove their headgear under penalty of expulsion. The management, however, is obliged, on its part, to make suitable provision for the storage of ladies' hats free of charge. Thu< simple solution of a. sore grievance has met with the cordial approval cf all pave a very insignificant minority.

The veto placed on the matinee hat at the Queen's Theatre, London, has proved thoroughly successful, and it is confidently anticipated that the new regulation wUI be extended to all the houses under the syndicate's management. At a recent matinee of the 'Belle of Brittany' only one lady declined to remove her" hat .in compliance with the notice printed on the admission ticket*. She stated blushingly that it was "impossible," and retired from tbe theatre. One of the most prominent specialties of the Mack and Jill' pantomime is the giant rooster act by Mr Walter Stanton. During the five minutes or so that the huge bird struts the stage the audience are convulsed with laughter. He is, indeed, ridiculously like an ordinary, everyday barn-door chanticleer, strutting about and drinking in orthodox fowl fashion, while his fight with the little game cock is ludicrous in the extreme. Altogether Mr Stanton's impersonation fully merits the encomiums which have been passed upon it. When Mr Bcftock. of Royal Menaeerie fame, heard cf the parlous-- condition of the nonagenarian nephew of the great George Wombweil. he asked the chaplain of the Showman's Guild (the Rev. T. Home) to remove the old man from Edmonton, workhouse and to place him in a comfortable home, which has been done. Mr Bostoek l'"i> undertaken to provide the old man with ten shillings a week for the of his days. As illustrating the extensive, business being done by ..omc of the London theatres this autumn, Mr Martin Harvev had bookings- in advance, to the tune of £SOO for his two performance.* of 'The Only Way," while for "The Flag Lieutenant.' which'is' the big attraction at the Playliouec. a fingle week's bookings at one of the city I libraries amounted <tcT£4o4. * J Mr Ben Fuller sends the following itfms ! of interest:—"" Dear Call Boy. Returned to Wellington on Christmas Day from a jaunt to Australia, in the cour.se'of which T fixed up with Mr Macintosh, the promoter of the Burns-Johnson boxing contest, to display the pictures of it thiough NewZealand. • It slirmhl be a most interesting series, and most elaborate preparations were made for the taking of it. The preliminaries as regards the training etc.. were perfect examples, so the picture should be unique. Mr MTntosh retains half the lights in the Dominion display. I offered the syndicate £2,000 for the sole New Zealand, rights, with a proviso that the offer was! off if the contest went les6 than ten rounds, but they would not sell right out. [ have booked His Majesty's, Dunedin, for the first vacant date, February 22 to 27. Mr Fuller, sen., enjoyed his trip round the world immensely, but, like most travellers, Is glad to be back. It is probable that I shall be the next (and only remaining) member of the family to make the trip. My departure is provisionally fixed for February. Brother Walter writes from London that he and his wife are having an enjoyable time. Poor Johnny Sheiidjui, we dined together at a mutual friends house in Sydney a, fortnight ago, and I could not help remarking how cheerful he was. He spoke of a tour through the Dominion, commencing in April, but, alas, it was not to be."

At the Sydney Theatre Roy.nl on Saturday, the 19th inst., the Julius Knight Company opened their season with a grand xevival of "The Sign of the Cross.' The revival promises to be a specially interesting one. To begin with, the part of Marcus Superbus is one in which Mr Knight appears at his best; then it is enhanced by the first appearance in Sydney with this company of Miss Beatrice Day,who played Mercia, and the return after" a fairly long absence of Mr Eajrdly Turner in his old part of Glabrio; while the rest of the cast, carefully selected from the list of old favorites, gave a remarkably even and well balanced performance of the popular play. Great praise, is due to Mr Colemau and Mr Goo. Upward far the beautiful and

varied scenery which they have prepared! fpr ' Jack and Jill.' When it is stated that I the amount of work put into the first act idone equals the whole of that displayed in ' Humpty Dumpty' eome idea will be formed of the merits of this year's piece •so far as the scsnery is concerned. Tha culminatdng point is reached, however, in the gorgeous palace scene at the last, when the stage kr one muss of color, higli columns of lustres and revolving mirrors reflecting from every ]Kiint the brilliant and varied coloring displayed in the grand j Jewel March. . Mr Granville Bantcck has succeeded Sir Kdward Elgar in the Chair of Mudc at Birmingham University. At one of the London Polico Courts the other day a Russian named Silverman was charged with doing wilful damage at the Shoreditch Kmpire, and with assaulting the manager. It transpired that prisoner, who is a powerfully-built young fallow of twenty-one, is the leader of a ''claque.'' whote only object is to 'create trouble if they are not rcco.'ni ed and " arranged with." On this occasion the management refused to make terms with the "claque," so Silverman created a. row in the upper balcony, and during th? mclen tint ensued a. heavy door wzr, broken off its hinges, while nmnger Pitt ier-.'i\vd a hlov.- heliml

the ear. Prison.?;" vent to gaol for fieve'l days, being unable to pay the iine of 4Cs and cozts. Shoals of photographs are pouring into the London "Daily Lxpress' office in response to the offer made by Mr Seymour Hicks to give theatrical engagements to the twelve most beautiful women who are successful in the competition. The photographs which have been sent in shew a rising standard of beauty, and it is interesting to observe (hat a' large number of young women of bktli and education, antl in some cases amateur actresses of talent, are trying to secure the posts which MiSeymour Hicks offers. Altogether. Mr Hicks undertakes to pay £7.2oo'in salaries to the twelve ladies during the three years. At the last moment the St. Peter'sbun.police authorities prohibited the performance at one of the principal theatres of Oscar Wilde's "Salome' under an assumed title. The house-had been sold out, and the audience had assembled. The performance was prohibited in virtue o( the statutes relating to the prevention of crime and the preservation of civic order and public tranquillity.—Reutcr. Mrs Bandmann-Palmer. with a speciallvselected company in England, orwned her sons new theatre at Bombay., and afterwards inaugurated a evele of Shakespearean plays at his Calcutta, theatre. At Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, "Hie Merry Widow' still holds sway, and the grectt Mareovian attraction on the, 28th inst registered its 200 th consecutive Australian performance. On the 2nd January 'The Duchess cf Dantzic' will go up at this theatre, the performance promising to be particularly smooth and attractive'because of the additional time allowed for rehearcals owing to the long run of ' The Merrv Widow.' A novel addition to the staff of a London treat re is an interpreter, whose cervices are placed at the disposal of anv cosmopolitan audience. He appears in uniform, is easily distinguished in tlw house, and will tell anyone, in anv ton<'u<\ any little detail connected with "the progiamine or actois that foreign curiosity or interest may suggest. Miss Helen Trix, an American varietv artist, who has been doing a " turn" at the London Oxford, dresses in white, and as die makes her entrance she takes off her hat and gloves, singing a song meanwhile. Then she sits down to the piano and accompanies herself with a whistling obligate. She also sings two other num" bers, but her whistling is the chief featuie. of her " turn." 'The Terrible Tomboy.' the musical comedy with which Mr Alfred Scott (professionally known as Alfred Wood) recently toured the English provinces, was a tcrribl"' failure, for he declared in the Ixmdou Bankruptcy Court the other day that he lost about £4OO in two months on it. Hi> discharge was suspended for two years. It is worth noting that Mies" Beatrice Day. who made her first appearance with the Julius Knight Company as the Princess Flavia in "The Prisoner of Zencla,' practically began her stage career in the ■-•amc company and at the same time as Evelyn Millard, who created the part with George Alexander in London. That was in the Beerbohm Tree Company, and .Miss Day is ratter proud of the fact That f.ho was the virtual founder of what is to-day known as the Tree School of Dramatic

Art. Miss Day started it amongst the members of the company, most of whom, are now playing leading'parts in London, and Tree himself took the keenest interest in it. Signor Salvini, the famous tragedian, was invited to be present at the Rift-ori matinee arranged by Mr- H. Becrbohm Tree for November 30, and replied in the following terms:—"l am very much indebted to you for not having forgotten me in your memory, and for the honor -which the committee for the Rktori matinee wish to bestow on me at the memorable matinee for the benefit of the monument to be erected to the memory of 6uch a great and never-to-be-forgotten artiste. I have done, and should like to continue to do, everything to pay homage to my most beloved friend Adelaide Ristori, arid should have loved to accept your invitation to be on the stage- of His Majesty's Theatre the day that Mich tribute is paid by the forcmct-it English artistes; but, alas"! such a great wish cannot be fulfilled, as T am practically an invalid, and the doctor will never allow me to undertake such a. journey in my eighty years. It. is with the greatest sorrow I am compelled to renounce the pleasure to satisfy our common wish, but if I am not present personally I > hall certainly be there with my heart and soul." My London correspondent, writing on November 20. siipplio; the following: Auguste Van Biene. well known in NewZealand and Australia as the 'cello player of ' Broken Melody' fame, went into the streets one morning this week with his 'cello, and played and collected as he did fert-y yeais ago. Van Biene played in j several well-known London thoroughfares, | including Arundel 6treet. off Coventry! street, J)rmy lane, the Haymarket. and '■ Pant-on street. The sum he collected was} 15s 2d, and this-, augmented by a £5 note, ■ ho will ssnd to the Music Hall Artists' Benevolent Fund. Forty years a-_'o this week a ragged and starving boy of newm-1 toen was discovered playing in Hanover square by the late Sir Michael Casta. The great musician, struck by his wonderful execution, .stopped and asked him win- he wa*playing in the gutter, and Van Biene rcpliid ''Paiceque j'ai faim." As the result Van Biene was engaged as- one of the 'cello players in the Covent Garden orchestra. He then vowed that every year on the anniversary of his deliverance from poverty and starvation he would go back to the streets and play ; and up to now he has -never broken his vow. ■—Music Hall Art.ista versus Proprietors.— An interesting test case affecting music hall artists' engagements was heard at Stockton (England) before County Covrt Judge Templer, Kelso and Company, of London, suing John Batty, proprietor of the Grand Theatre, at Stockton, for damages for alleged breach of contract. In October of lavt year plaintiffs contracted to perform at defendant's theatre in August of the present year. During the great engineers' strike the theatre was closed, and in ac- j cordancc with the agreement between Mr Batty and his artists he issued a notice stating that thiough trade- depression his he.use would be closed, and that therefore all existing contracts were null and void. It was claimed that defendant was entitled to close his theatre and to cancel contracts during the time it remained closed. The house was opened in August wjth drama, but under the lesseeship of a Mr Montgomery, who took it for a year with the option of renewal for another twelve I months. According_to the terms of their ' contract, plaintiffs could only be allowed to fulfil their contracts ''subject to the theatre j being in the occupation and the poaession .of the management " Defendant had contracts with 130 other artiste, all of whom i were satisfied with the notice they had received of the closing of the theatre. 1 Dr Djoughty, who appeared for plaintiffs, f-.aid that this sort of thing was taking : place all over the country, and music hall artists were seeking to put a stop to the practice of music hall proprietors engaging

artiistcs at long dates', barring them from appearing within a certain radius, and at their own will saying: '" Ob, I shall not go on viich thie business; I 6hall close the theatre, and all contracts must be off." His Honor said when the artistes put their names to the agreement they did so with their eyes open and a full "knowledge of what they were doing, and could not therefore have anything to complain of if they were treated according to the term's of the contract. He therefore gave judgment for defendant wi'h costs. Leave to appeal was peremptorily refused. —The "Two Primroses'." — The action brought by the "Two Prim-, roses" (known off the music hall stage af» the Misses Edith Mary and Florence Elizabeth Atkinson, of Ingate terrace, Queen's road. Battcrsca). to recover from the Surrey Vaudeville Theatre Company, Limited, compensation for personal injuries, terminated in Mr Justice RidJey's Court in a. verdict for the ladies. But that did not finally cKttle the cU'.-'-e. The artists' eiee was that on October 30. 1905, as they were finicking their '"turn" of tinging and dancing at the Surrey Theatre in Blackfriars road, a heavy curtain was negligently lowered, and that it struck them both, Edith receiving lasting injuries-to her spine, and Florence a blow on the head from which she still felt pain at times. The- theatre pronriciois denied that the curtain struck either of the girls, and claimed that if there wae an accident it was not due to- the negligence of the company's tcrvants. ■ They further pleaded that the girls were in common employment with their other servants. The jury, after considering their verdict for an hour and a-half, found that Edith Atkinson's accident- was caused by the fall- of the curtain, and awarded lief £705 compensation. As to Florence Atkinson, whilst not satisfied-that she had received personal injury, they thought, her entitled to compensation for lo:s| of employment caused through her sFster's accident. She was therefore awarded £l2 16s 3d. Mr Harry Dobb's application for judgment on this finding was opposed by Mr Harold Brandon (for the defence) on the ground that there was a question of law to be argued. The Judge said he must hear counsel on. the point of law relating to common employment, but he I could not do so that day, as the argument would probably occupy considerable time.