MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8538, 11 April 1891, Page 4 (Supplement)

MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC.

The second concert of the season and the first concert this year by the Auckland Choral Society takes place on Tuesday evening in the Choral Hall, Haydn's *' Creation" is the work to be performed, with the following caste: Mrs. Tayler and Miss Bleasard, sopranos; Mr. A. L. Edwards, tenor, and Mr. Archibald Tayler, bass. Sir Arthur Sullivan has completely captured the Friederich Wilhelm tStriidtisches Theatre. His " Yeomen of the Guard," in a German translation, has been drawing delighted audiences for some weeks ; and ■before Christmas a German version of the "Gondoliers" was produced, and was received with such enthusiastic approval as to lead one to suppose that it will form one of the chief attractions during the remainder of the season. If Shakespere spells ruin for the lessees of English theatres, such does not appear to be in any way the case in Germany, as from the tobies published in the new Theatrical Almanac for 1891 it seems that in ISS9 there weie 822 performances of Sh.akesperian plays; in ISSS there were 717 ; and in ISS7 there were 679 of such representations. The most popular of Shakespere's plays seems to bo " Othello," which Mas given S.*>7 times during the nine years ISSI-S9 ; next came " Hamlet," with Sl6 performances, and the " Merchant of Venice," with 693. The pieces least often given were : "All's Well that Ends Well" and the " Merry Wives of Windsor," with only a single representation of each during -the same period. Mr. Sampson Fox, who gave £4,"), for the building of the new Royal College of Music, the first stone of which was last year laid by the Prince of Wales, has resolved to increase his already generous donation, in order that the entrance hall may be decorated with marble, and thus foe more worthy of that which promises to be a remarkably handsome edifice. At a recent fine performance of " Israel in Egypt," given by Mr. Barnby's choir, .the expense of a couple of bass singers was saved by having the duet, " The Lord is a .Man of War"—the only piece in the oratorio for which solo basses are requiredsung by the whole of the male voices ! The effect was superb, even if it was not altogether in harmony with the score.

Miss Eastlake, the heroine of many a melodrama, appeared at the New Olympic Theatre on the afternoon of February IS, in the title role of "A Yorkshire Lass," a drama written for her by J. Wilton Jones, author of the graceful dialogue, "On an Island." The new piece is apparently of the kind to " stir the hearts ami kindle the sympathies of provincial audiences, who are not very exacting as to their dramatic fare." The "Yorkshire Lass" is said to abound in familiar characters and to repeat well-known scenes. But, as a working play, it will be none the worse for that. It ■was favourably received by the audience, the author being cordially called at the end of the play. On the same date, but in the evening, Mr. G. W. Godfrey's pretty -comedy "The Parvenu" was revived at ■the Globe Theatre, with Mr. Harry Paulton as Mr. Ledger, M.P., a character originally sustained in London by Mr. G. W. Anson, and afterwards repeated by that admirable comedian in Australia, The popularity ' of "Our Plat" at the Strand Theatre being exhausted, after a run of over a year, Mr. Willie Edouin lias fallen back on the amusing " Turned Up," in which he plays Carraway Bones, a pare associated in Australia with the name of Mr. Robert Brough. . Mr. Augustus Harris, the energetic and enterprising manager, recently concluded arrangements to take over Her Majesty's Theatre until .the end of this year. Thus, for the first time in their history, the three great opera houses of London — Covent Garden, Drury Lane, and Her Majesty's— are now under one management. Mr. Harris has, however, no intention of presenting either opera or drama at Her Majesty's, He at present proposes to make such slight alterations as will render the house suitable for concerts, and, besides himself giving o;?er me concerts supported by many of the artists of the Royal Italian Opera, the theatre will be available for hire by other concert-givers who in the height of the season will find it difficult to secure dates at St. James' Hall. In the collected edition of Mr. Alfred Austin's works, now being published by , Messrs. Macmiilan, the volume devoted to "** Savonarola" contains a new dedication of that tragedy to Mr. Henry Irving. Addressing that actor-manager, Mr. Austin, after alluding to the "unprecedented development" of the " artistic presentation of the drama " in our day, justly says "of this refined and elevating movement you have been the most strenuous agent and

conspicuous figure." Mr. Frank Thornton, whose performance in the popular " Private Secretary" is well known to Australian playgoers, was announced to make his reappearance in London, at the Grand Theatre, Islington, on March 9, in the character of the amusing Robert Spalding. Sir. Henry Arthur Jones, author of the successful "Middleman" and "The Dancing Girl "and many another good play, delivered an interesting lecture in London on February 26, entitled " Play-making, with some thoughts on plot, design, and construction." The chair was taken by Mr. William Archer, the able dramatic critic of the World. •*' The Dancing Girl," by the way, is proving an immence success at the Haymarket Theatre. The booking at the theatre alone, in two days recently, independently of the libraries, amounted to nearly £700; and, when the last mail left. London, seats were being eagerly sought for the end of April. "The Middleman" is going well in Germany. It has already been produced in a cumber of the large cities. It was brought out in Vienna in the middle of February, and Herr Barnay, the celebrated German actor, will produce it at the Berliner Theatre, Berlin, very shortly. The same author's "** Judah " and " Wealth " are also to be presented in Berlin in a few months' time. These plays will be followed by " The Dancing Girl." Part of Waterloo House, Pall Mall, is being converted into a bijou theatre, where it is intended that hieh-clas3 drawing-room entertainments shall be given twice daily. The "society actress," Mrs. ChurchillJodrell, is announced to appear here in a racing study entitled " Jocelyn," written for her by Colonel H. J. Sargeant and Mr. Neville Lynn. "Round the Ring," a circus drama,by Paul Meritt, has been produced with every sign of success at the Theatre Royal, Hull. One of the most important provisions in the London County Council's new Theatre Bill, says a London contemporary, is that under which the owner, and not the tenant, is in the first instance to be liable for structural alterations deemed necessary in the interests of public safety or convenience. As was to be expected, the managers who recently met to concert a plan of action in common approve of this reform, If carried, it will obviate a frequent injustice, and leave no excuse on the part of managers for resisting needful changes. Mo theatre ought to be allowed to be without exits on both sides of the stalls and pit, not leading to narrow winding staircases, as on the prompt Bide of the Lyceum, but passing with ample ■breadth direct into the street. Where theatrical property is built in with shops or .taverns, increasing the risks of panic from fire, this simple and obviously necessary rule isanore than ever important. Mrs. Kendal (says a San Francisco paper) has, apart from her histrionic talents, achieved two distinctions in America—it is eaid that she has a better complexion and dresses worse than any Englishwoman who has visited this country. The ingredients which go to make up Mrs. Kendal's prescription for a smooth and satin skin are stated to be 10 hours' sleep out of the 24, a walk of at least four miles in tho air every day, brown bread, no coffee, no- sweets, vigorous rubbing in cold water, and a few of the simplest and most harmless of toilet articles. Miss Jenny Hill, the well-known musichall artist, who has just left England for a long engagement in the United States, has a lovely home at Norbury, near Streatham, Surrey. The house is an old-fashioned timber-built one, and has beautiful welltimbered grounds, through which a stream | flows. On the estate Miss Hill grows many thousands of cucumbers and tomatoes during the season, which duly find their way to the London markets. Thus the indefatigable lady supplies the London taste both on and off the boards. . Mcsico-Dramaticus. *»■" All communications intended for this column should be addressed "Musico-Dramaticus," Ueilald Office, Auckland, and should be forwarded as early as possible. •