A CHAT WITH NELLIE FARREN AND FRED LESLIE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXV, Issue 9142, 25 August 1888, Page 3

A CHAT WITH NELLIE FARREN AND FRED LESLIE.

A writer in the Sydney Morning Herald, who had an interview with these two stars of the London Gaiety Company, in Melbourne, says : —At one o'clo;;! v I was ushered into the pleasant sitting loom; Fred Leslie was there alone. _ His manner is entirely easy and pleasing, his conversation cultivated and composed, and he is altogether interesting. He naturally began to siwak about the voyage out from London, and of the first impressions of Australia. He said he had been astonished at many things, and not the least at the marvellously clever and businesslike way in which they "managed things out here. The tram system, he thought, was admirable. Mr. Leslie has been struck with what .he called "the marvellous management ' shown at the Flemington racecourse. Last Saturday he had gone to see the great | Steeplechase, and said he, " They are a long ! way ahead of us in England in this sort of [ thing; and what crowds! " I ventured to tell him of what Cup time was with its hundred thousand people. And the ladies ! I touched upon the ladies ! Well, here Mr. Leslie was a little shy. He thought them " fine j and healthy, and all that sort of thing." He did npt seem to be able to trust his judgment on this theme. Turning to the people, he said : " I think the testes, of the people here are refined. They havo strong artistic inclinations. They will not stand such rough-and-tumble things as they do in England. They do not want things too broad." "And quiet?" "Oh, yes, very quiet and orderly. The first-night audiences are not at all bad; loss trying than the London or country audiences by long odds." L asked him if they caught points quickly. " Capitally ; they are very alert, though of course not so much as they would be if they were more used to character burlesque." " It is surprising to me," he said, " that they have taken so quickly and decisively here to it. It is an acquired taste." This was verified later in the afternoon by Nellie Farren. She was simply but very becomingly dressed. One was at home with her at once. Among her "birds, and flowers, and pictures she chatted on, and from larrikinism to broad thoughts upon the dramatic art she was equally suggestive. J, have always found good actors and actresses so. They have an alertness of intellect and a mental perfection which are the outcome of the imaginative instinct in them. And regarding larrikinism! "Oh," said she, "there is a 3tudy for you." "Isn't he clever?" Doesn't he pronounce judgment on you quickly ?" I can't forget my first night here." " There they sat in the gallery with opera-glasses, actually opera glasses, and I could feel them saying by their actions, ' Yes, that's good enough so far, but what else can you do? " Naively she touched upon their manner of dressing, and she wanted to know what they did for a living. She did not think they were quite like the street arab. They were too ola for that, and not old enough for the London rough. "And the way they talk to us in the streets," she said, "is amusing." "They are perfectly good-natured and orderly, though. Why, the other night one fellow began to talk to us on the stage, and the rest shut him up like lightning. They won't stand any nonsense. They are great swells in their fashion, with their high heels, their silk handkerchiefs, and their slouch hats." We talked of burlesque and their acting in it. Nellie Farren said : " People sometimes blame me for acting in burlesque; and they think it is inane, that it is bosh, and is not high art; but (quaintly holding up her three fingers) there are three arts in burlesque, and in its place it is just as high artistically as the legitimate drama, it is, dear sir." "People must laugh," said she. " They don't want to think much nowaday.'' Referring to putting things on the stage, Nellie Farren said. "You must put them on well now. The people will have it." ' "Yes," said Leslie, '' and they are willing to pay for it. Look at our prices. Who would have anticipated that no grumbling would ever be heard about the extra half-crown on the dress-circle tickets, that we would have packed audiences at that." This led to a chat about Henry Irving, and the chances of his'coming to Australia. "Come," said Nellie Farren, "of course he will come. The publication of the Gaiety receipts will bring over every good company in London. They will.say, 'If the Gaiety Company can do this, what cannot we do?'" 'But," I said, "will it pay Irving to bring all his company and his magnificent scenery ?" "He won t bring all his company, and he can't bring all his scenery," replied Nellie Farren. " Why. in ' Faust the cathedral was actually built in papier-mache on the stage. The doors were great heavy things, and every portion of the buildings wete built out as if they were put up to last a hundred, vears." "But do you think Australia, so far off as it is, would be sufficient to induce him," said I. Fred Leslie laughed, " Why, Henry Irving has set out to conquer the world dramatically, and he will come here as sure as you are alive." "Yes," quoth Nellie Farren, "and I shall come again too. I shall come if for nothing else than the holiday. I have been in the habit of taking my holidays in England, and then gettihg no good out of them by singing at charity concerts and all that sort of thing, but now I shall just get on the dear old Liguria, put myself in Captain Dixon's care, and lazy through . a five weeks' voyage." There in not room here, , nor have I time to tell of many other things that were said by these intelligent and genial artists. We had discussed the prevailing colour which women affect so much here just now—the red ; the queer people who were seen at the Governor's Ball, the growing tyranny of the workman in this country, the pretty bangle with the silver coin attached that Grattan Riggs hail given Nellie Farren as "first pay" in Australia, of the honour of being photographed with the "infernal machine ' stuck at the back of one's head, of that noted photo, of old Dion Boucicault in "The Shaughraun," which was taken under the condition that if the photographer crossed a aertain line chalked by the actor he would nave his bead blown off, and the result of which was that the photo, was one of the best ever produced. He chatted about the generally bad cuisine in the hotels of Australia, ana of Sydney lodgings, of the splendid dresses in " Esmeralda," and of the "anticipating" power of Australian people. Fred. Leslie was particularly eloquent upon this theme. He said they were doing everything here for the future. Their theatres, their public buildings, were all too large for.the population, but would they be in 40 years "Yes, only think," said Nellie Farren, '50 years ago this was a wilderness, and look at just look at that (pointing across the street), there was 110 building there when we came, and now a great brick structure stares you in the face."