FOOTLIGHT FLASHES

Evening Star, Issue 15515, 10 June 1914, Page 7

FOOTLIGHT FLASHES

[By Loititreb.] Mbs Murid Stair, the American actress who played here in ‘ Within tho Law, 1 will terminate her engagement with J. C. Williamson,. Limited, this year, and is due in America in December. The "Smart Set ” entertainers now under the Branscornbo management commence a New Zealand season at Invercargill this month.

Sir James Barrie, author of ‘ Peter Pan, 1 is said to take more than a spectator’s interest in tlte moving picture business. It is alleged in an English paper that £50,000 o, his savings is sunk in various motion play enterprises in the United Kingdom. The Fuller-Brennan management inaugurated continuous vaudeville at the National Amphitheatre, Sydney, on Monday. Forty-three imported artists, who have finished their contracts with the firm, will return to England this week. Sixteen new acts arrived last Monday to replace them.

Mr de Spong, the well-known teacher of elocution in this City, supplied the bulk of the costumes used by the amateurs in ‘The Country Girl. 1 When 1 Vwlle-r-Br-ewnan management bring “ The Four Lamys” to Dunedm (and that -will bo shortly) they will be throwing into the public domain what is admittedly one of the-most brilliant aerial acts on tho world’s vaudeville stage. The Lamys were to have opened in Sydney, but owing to the smallness of the stage at the National, tbev were sent to Melbourne, where they barf an almost unparalleled success. Mbs Ethel Irvine, the English actress, who plaved ‘ Lady Frederick 1 and 1 The Witness For the Defence 1 in New Zealand, will produce Sardou’e ‘La Tosca when she again essays management. The well-known manager, Mr George Duller, will pilot ‘The Rosary 1 company through New Zealand. , The death at Bournemouth (tng.) ot Mr William Greet, manager and lessee of the Lyric Theatre, in .Shaftesbury avenue (London), is Mr Greet, who was 62 vears of age, was originally an officer of marines, but resigned in order to take up tire theatrical business. 1 Mr Galsv.-orthv’s * Justice * was played ! the other night at the Thalia Theatre in Hamburg, and had a very strange reception. The powerful scene in the third act which shows the horrors of solitary confinement proved too much for many of the audience, who wont out during the performance hissing and whistling. ‘KJsmet’ is having a glorious run at the London Globe, and there is no word vet of its withdrawal. Mr Oscar Asche recently met with an accident which prevented" him from taking part in this vear’a performance of * The Taming of the Shrew 1 at the Stratford-on-Avon festival. Every actor and actress who visits New York has experienced some difficulty with the Customs officials and their methods. One actor of the old school, after undergoing some hours of suspicious crossexamination regarding his baggage, was leaving the dock, when a young official accosted him. “Anything to declare?” he sharply asked. Furious with rage, the stalwart drew himself up and dramatically exclaimed: “Declare? Yes, siree, I’ve a devil of a lot to declare; but, by gad, sir, I’d be ashamed to say it before a kid like you.” In Toronto last year the Press agent for 5 Milestones ’ gave the story of the plot to a typist to copy. It described the play as taking place in three periods—--1860. 1885, and 1912. “Date this for Washington,” he said; “we open there the sweet young thing of a typist met him with a condescending smile, and remarked : “I noticed "a mistake, so changed your copy to read up to date. You mentioned 1912, but as you play ‘Milestones 1 in Washington on January 6 I altered the date of the last act to 1913. You never thought of that, did you ?” she added gleefully. Madame Nordica is reported to have left a quarter of a million pounds 1 worth of jewels and other property to her third Imsband, Mr George Washington Young, a New York banker. This would probably comprise the whole of her fortune, musical “stars” having a penchant for putting their cash into jewels.

Whenever Harry Lauder has set out to be serious and sentimental in his song compositions, he has- never been able to realise his intention. Once lie made a brave effort to write a sang that would make men feel sad and women damp-eyed, but his mischievous comic sense got the better of him, and he devised a ditty that made even him laugh. The eong is now well known to many an amateur singer as 4 We Parted on the Shore,’ and it was the sight of a small ship battling against the waves during a heavy gale that gave Lander the subject for his composition. The comedian was travelling from Aberdeen to Dundee by train at the time, and the clank of the train wheels supplied the time for the melody which was running through his head. The words of the song were quite serious and sentimental, bin his sub-con-scious comic self-suggested a line 44 It’s years and years and years” which made the song quaintly humorous at once. So the song became definitely comical, and when rendered by Lauder in character it goes as well as any in his extensive repertoire. Mr Peter Dawson, the English baritone, has arranged for a second Australian tour, commencing about the end of June. Ho will bring a full English company, including Miss Annetta George (soprano), Mr Furniss Williams (a Welsh tenor), and Mr Darrell Liszt (a pianist of note). Mr Edward Lauri, in conjunction with Mr Harry Day, has been presenting a novelty revue, 4 Hullo! Everybody!’ at the Finsbury Park Empire Theatre, Bristol (Eng.), with Miss May Beatty as one of the stars. An English critic says: — 44 Miss May Beatty has always been popular, but here she strikes quite a new note in the scale of success. Her work has a great deal to do with the attractiveness of the revue, and in conjunction with Mr Georg© Clarke in a 4 silly ass’ part she is responsible for much of the fun, as well as scoring heavily on the more serious side with her singing. In ’Roses’ Miss Beatty has a very telling number.” According to Mr Charles Millward, lead.ing man in ’The Argyle Case,' the growth of the moving-picture business has been a boon to the mediocre actors and actresses of America. The mem here of the profession with standing in the firstclass theatres have never gone in for this work, except in cases of a special starring picture of a play associated with their name. 44 As an art,” he says, “it is quite distinct from acting. The worst actress in the world may be a huge success on the screen, while the best actress might be a hopeless failure. It is a matter of appearance very largely. Miss Ada Reeve dses not like th© American way of showing disapproval of artists. She says that they have a terrible prejudice against English artists. “They always boast that they do not hiss in th© theatre,” she remarks, “ but I believe I would rather they did that than to sit glum and silent, so that you can feel their coldness, and —what shall I call it?—antagonism. When you are singing songs that you know have been successful elsewhere, and have caused laughter, you find these people sitting silent. To use one of the Americanisms, ’lt just gets me sore!’ They go to the other extreme when they like you.” Harold Bauer, the great pianist who commences his first Australian tour next month, has often been described as a German, though, as a matter of fact, he was born in England and acquired most of his musical education in Paris. Germany has had nothing to do with the development of hia musical genius. He was born at New Maldon, near London, in 1873, and studied both the violin and piano in England until he was 18 or 19. Then, on the advice of Paderewski, whom he is now declared to surpass in sheer technical brilliancy, he went to Paris and tried to get a living by personally canvassing for pupils among the haut bourgeois. As is well known, the violin was hia first string at this time, but he was later advised to stick to th© piano, as it was more suited to his style and temperament. Bauer still plays the violin, however, and occasionally in Paris gives private violin recitals to his friends.

To renew acquaintance with ‘Kismet 1 •was delightful, says an English scribe. The famous piece,'admirably, played and staged with all its atmospheric suggestion of the real East, exercises its old charm, and I, ‘ for one, found unabated interest all through. Asche will, I should think, run ‘Kigmet’ clear through the season, and, to judge by present and the booking, this should be the easiest task imaginable. After ‘ Kismet 1 the firm of Asche and Brayton are to produce a play the central figure of which is a Zulu. , On Thursday last week the council of the Actors’ Association of Australasia presented Miss Ellen Terry with an illustrated address and a bouquet. Mr George Titheradge, the gave the great actress the address, and Miss Beatrice Day handed her the bouquet. The wording of the address was as follows:—“We, your brothers and sisters in the art of which vou are the undoubted queen, offer you, on tehalf of the actors and actresses in this country our hearty greetings on your arrival in'this, the Mother State of tho Commonwealth of Australia-, Your claims to reign supreme in our hearts are based on no uncertain or ephemeral foundation. For years you have in the groat centres of our civilisation and before, our American cousins held undisputed sway as the greatest representative of all that is noble and inspiring in that complex and difficult art, whose mas-tery requires a lifetime’s devotion. To even mention the many creations with which you have adorned our stage would bo to embrace nearly all stage literature, and in paying you this humble and sincere tribute of admiration and welcome to the home of our adoption we rejoice to know that we can still, acclaim one to whom tribute has been paid by all the English-speaking people of the earth, and who is to us our dearly beloved Ellen Terry, queen of our hearts, as the established leader in the art we all love eo dearly.”

Frau Betti" Vanini, a Viennesel actress, who nearly all her life played comedy parts, celebrated her 100 th birthday ip the Austrian capital on April 25. It is barely 15 years since she retired from the stage'. She was the recipient of sheaves of letters from all classes of Viennese society congratulating her on joining the ranks of the world’s centenarians. Tho old lady read all the letters without the use of glasses, and replied to most of them in tier own handwriting. Mme Adelc Genee signalled on April 25 her approaching retirement from tho stage by a characteristically generous act. When her farewell season at tn© London Coliseum was announced, seven famous dancers, including Pavlova, organised a movement to present her with a keepsake, but she replied expressing a strong wish that the money subscribed should go to augment the fund being raised for lopsy Sinden, a one-time popular danseuse. There was a great demonstration at the Coliseum when the letter of the editor of the ‘ Era ’ announcing Genee’s decision was thrown on the screen. It was couched in these terms: —

The treasured affection of my English public is the most precious keepsake I could wish. May I, then, ask you to allow me to hand over in my name whatever sum you may have received to the noble fund you are raising for the relief of one of'my sister .dancers, whom ill-health incapacitated some, time ago? I mean that charming artiste, Miss Topsy Sinden. She has pissed through a'vale of tribulation, but is now happily getting better, and nothing would give me greater pleasure than that I should be a small medium of conveying to her in some tangible form the thanks of the great British public whom she has for so long delighted with her aid-.—Genee.