STAGE FOLK

Evening Star, Issue 22596, 13 March 1937, Page 5

STAGE FOLK

* Lilac Time ’ is to be tho Easter attraction at His Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, and will bo played by J. C. 'Williamson Ltd.’s Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, including Mr Leo Darntou, who has been specially engaged to play the part of Schubert. Ivan Menzies, who played this part in New Zealand, is compelled to leave for Loudon, where he is duo to arrive before the Coronation. As his stay in Australia has been already prolonged

many months beyond his original contract, he cannot stay longer. ‘Lilac Time ’ has been an extremely popular revival wherever it has been played, and it is anticipated that'this Melbourne season will meet with general approval. The new canvas theatre of Mammoth Productions Ltd. began its Australian State-wide itinerary in the Upper Reserve, Bendigo, on Saturday night (February 27) under auspicious circumstances. A very large audience greeted J. C. 'Williamson’s show, ‘ 'White Horse Inn.’ All were amazed

at the- lavish scale on which the entertainment was presented, as well as the size and comfort of the tent, the dimensions of the stage (60ft by 00ft), the varied and effective lighting system, the remarkable revolving stage, and the extent of the wardrobe (its value being estimated at £7,500). The beautiful scenery of the Austrian Tyrol, with its chalet-studded hillsides and snowy Alps, made an exceedingly pretty background. The company numbered fully 100, and the . ensembles were colourful and spectacular. The ballet work was a feature, and the singing and acting were of a high class. »In a blaze of glory Colonel W. de Basil’s Monte Carlo Bussian Ballet made their farewell appearance in Sydney on February 26 and sailed for New Zealand the following day, having completed one of the most consistently successful seasons ever given at the Theatre Royal, Sydney. For nine weeks the theatre was crowded to for every performance, and the receipts created a record for recent years. The season could easily have been extended for several more weeks, but owing to pre-arranged plans it was not possible to extend it any further. However, Mr E. J. Tait, a managing director of J. C. Williamson Ltd., in a speech from the stage of the Theatre Royal at the end of the season, expressed the Firm’s intention of bringing back the ballet for a return season some time in June next, after they had been to Brisbane, in which city they are due to commence on May 8 next. One of the outstanding concert attractions this year to visit Australia and New Zealand will be Benno Moiseiwitsch, the famous Russian poet of the piano. He is undoubtedly one of the most popular of the great artists who have visited this country, and it speaks volumes for tbo bold be has on musiclovers that his forthcoming tour will be the fifth time that- he has visited

Australia and New Zealamt. , Benno is duo to commence his tour in Perth in May next, alter which he will visit the other capital cities. -Mr Moiseiwitsch intends to include several new piano -works in his programmes, and these will add to the attractiveness of his concerts. The season of the Russian Ballet in Auckland is proving a veritable triumph lor the members of Colonel W. de Basil’s Monto Carlo Ballet. Night after night the Williamson-Tait theatre in the northern city has been crowded. Audiences there, as in. Australia and other parts of the fvorld where the ballet has created a furore, have

■watched the dancers’ evolutions with spell-bound absorption. Sylphs in billowing white, hitting daintily to Chopin music; Leon Woizikowsky in his death throes from a sword-thrust, and his almost maniacal frenzy; Helene Kirsova in a charging mazurka partnered by Igor Yousskevitch ; Nina Raievska as the beautiful slave in the hectic ““ Scheherazade ’; and Valentine Blinova in adagio dancing that is pure aid—those are but a few of the surge of impressions carried away by audiences that have to go hack 10 year to the

witchery of Pavlova, and further hack than that to the porcelain beauty of the adorable Genee, to find a parallel to the present season. The technique of the ballerinas and their male colleagues is amazing, and it is no wonder the visit is creating a sensation. After Auckland the company goes to Hamilton on March 18, New Plymouth March 19, Wanganui March 20, Palmerston North March 22, Hastings March 23-24, Masterton March 25, Wellington Easter Saturday, March 27. to April 10, Christchurch April 12-21, Timaru April 22, Oamaru April 23, Dunedin April .24 to May 1. Opening at His Majesty’s Theatre on March 22, after 'a successful northern season, the Conors and Paul Revue Company (in conjunction with Sir Benjamin Fuller) introduces a number of old favourites as well as new players to Dunedin audiences. Heading the company is that lively and original comedian, George Wallace, who heads 35 artists in the outstanding vaudeville