DRAMATIC GOSSIP.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LXXXI, Issue 10309, 30 March 1894, Page 3

DRAMATIC GOSSIP.

The English jubilee of Dr Joachim, who made -bis London Aibut in 1844, will’-' celebrated on March 28. - ' , ' It is stated that the late Mr Henry Pettit, the Adelphi dramatist,, has left a fortune of something like £40,000. Adelina Antonio, at the London Aqua* rium, throws a-trlple somersault backwards from-the top of'the dome into a-aet ninety ‘ feet below. Mr j. L. Toole has started a prize competition among the members cf his company for the best title' to the new farce which is to succeed Walker, London.' The New Year has opened badly.ja London, for of all the pieces running, on Jan. 1, bub one-third survived to Feb. 1. This is quoted as “ the most disastrous month on record.” Since the opening of the sew Queen’s Hall, London,- the prices for admission to Boosey’s Ballad Concerts have been lowered to 5a 3s, 2a and Is-—an all-round reduction of one-third. ;• :.- v-i-Mrs Beneoke, a daughter of Mendelssohn, residing atPotter’s Bar, near London, possesses the original MSSi ’of the Elijah, valued by the British Museum at from sis to twelve thousand pounds. The immediate consequence of Henry Pettitt’s death has been a rush, upon .the Messrs Gatti, who have been inundated with manuscripts and offers of manuscript from melodramatists of every class. • • •• Eobert ,Buchanan’s new play, The Charlatan, in. which Mr Tree appears as • a hypnotiser, a species of Herr Paulas, : but “ compact of inconsistencies,” hafi' achieved a moderate success at the Haymarket. , A clergyman depicted in The Old, Jew, Mr Grundy’s new comedy at the Garrick Theatre, is made to remark that "We go to Hie theatre to hear sermons”—to which comes the obvious retort from the Jew, “Yes, and to church to see theatricals.” Eosina Yokes, one of the famous Yokes family of actors, died in London on Jan. 29. She was forty years of age and went on .the stage at the age of six months. . In 1877 she marcied Cecil Clay, and retired from the stage for a time, hut returned again. Not long before his death Henry Fettitt was at work upon his new play for the Adelphic, which was to follow the successful Woman’s Revenge j hat there is no possibility of his work being completed, by another band. As a fact, little more.. than the scenario of the new piece- was finished. Edouard de Bfeszke, who is appearing with Madame Melba and other well-known, siugera in opera in America, is described by a New York paper as “ gorgeous as ever . —gigantic in stature, tremendous in voice, the most triumphant, superb, dashing devil who ever came down to make mischief here . below.” The following are the . latest quotations for some London theatrical shares (Jan. 4, 1894)Alhambra £lO shares, ' £2O; Empire (pref.), 15b, £5 10s; (ord.), 10si £3 10a; London Pavilion (ord.), £5, £6 10a; Tivoli, £6, £9lss. Gaiety Theatre onepound shares at same date were down to eight shillings. Amongst numerous presents sent him bn', his eighty-first birthday, Henry Bussell received a musical-box which grinds out eight of his most popular-songs u Cheer, Boys, Cheer,” “ Life on the Ocean Wave,” “Te the West,” “ Woodman, Spare that . Tree,” “Britannia, the Pride of the , Ocean,” “The Old Arm Chair,” “The Maniac,” and “The Ivy Green,”. M. Paderewski was, it is said, th's recipient at Christmas of a miniature grand piano, of ebony, the tiny keys being of silver, with “black” keys of gold.. If playable at all, the instrument promisee to be rather hard to the touch. Senor eate, on the other hand, had a present of a watch shaped like a toy violin. According to one of the French papers, the great Spanish violinist now possesses at least , thirty gold watches. Enormous figures (says the “Bra”) are ; quoted—all, of course,, in the strictest fidence—as representing the offer made .to . i Mrs Langtry by the management of the -i; Empire; Theatre if she would appear in f ; those tableaux vivamts whose production (if -; we may credit some “ who - ought? 'to - ; know”) depends upon her. consent. • ■ According to some authorities, a salary representing some £2500 a month was the offer made to Mrs Langtry; and at present, as it would seem, not accepted by her. The “ Kouta-Kouta ” dance, as danced at the Trocadero by Vita, a lady who is ■ described on the programmes as being one of the sensations of the Chicago - Fair, suggests the serpentine in a limited degree, but the dancer makes greater asd’ l more graceful use of her body than is' 1 ■ usually seen in the execution of the other ;. whirling measure. A Mephistophelean ' poseur is used as a sort of foil for the lady, who, it should be mentioned, is possessed of marked personal attractions as well as delicacy of motion. In the newly published life of the late Fred Leslie it is stated that ha started'his career at £1 a week. Next year (1879) it - was eight guineas; in 1880, £l2; in 1881 (while on tour in America), £25; in' 1882, £2s;> in 1883, 1884, 1885, £4O; in 1888. £SO; in 1887, £55; in 1888. £6O ; in 1889 ; and 1891, £100; and in the prospective • engagement for the past year, £l2O. He, wisely made it a rule to puj by half of • what he earned, and was therefore able 1 when ho died to leave hia children the :. handsome fortune of £16,118 16s lOd. Mrs Kendall, according -to a contempo- •. rary.istheauthoroffcliefollowingAmericsa. ■ experience" Leaving the theatre I found that it was raining cats and dogs. I was in a dreadful dilemma. I had ao goloshes, no umbrella. The coupe stood thirty yards’ away, and between it and me lay a nasty big mud puddle. I was just on the point of calling to Willie, when suddenly I noticed that about twenty men in evening clothes were waiting beside the coup 4 'to catch a glimpse of mo as I passed out. As they caught sight of me standing on the ' threshold in perplexity, twenty crush hats • were whisked off with one consent. There was a click like a diminutive roll of musketry as the hats were shut, and then, as one man, the well-dressed battalion advanced, and laid their hats down in the mud, thus forming a series of stepping-'' stones, which reached to my carriage door.” -