MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14853, 2 December 1911, Page 4 (Supplement)

MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC.

BOOKINGS.

HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE. December 2 to December 9—Auckland Competi ' lions' Society. December 26 to "The Speckled Band." December 30 to January 13—11. B. Irving. '•■•' '' •' ' 1912. January 26 to February 15-New Comic Opera Company. April 6 to '20—"Everywoman" Company. May 6 to 25—" Chocolate Soldier." .lime 2* to Julv 6—Pantomime. July 22 to August "The Blue Bird." September 30 to October 12-Oscar Asche-Lily Drayton. , 7

The Auckland Competitions Society's second annual festival is now well advanced, and ii number of contests have been decided during the week. At all sessions in His Majesty's Theatre there have been large attendances, and with a largo number of Southerners competing the competitions have aroused ' great interest throughout New Zealand* The festival will be continued next week.

Mr. P. Newbury, the famous tenor, arrived in Wellington this week after an absence. from New Zealand of about nine years. He tomes to fulfil an engagement with the Royal Choral Society, and during his six weeks' stay in the Dominion will probably make > a concert tour, in which case he may be heard in Auckland.

Mr. Joseph Blascheck, the great English humorist, will commence his tour of New Zealand at Dunedin on December 26, and will visit all the principal cities in the Dominion with his popular entertainment, "Society Snapshots:"

The pictures screened by Messrs. MacMahon and Lodder at their recentlyopened Queen's Theatre have been attracting large audiences during the k week. Excellent programmes are submitted daily between'll'a.m. and 11 p.m.

A matinee in honour of the popular actor, Mr. G. S. Titheradge, was held in Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, on Thursday last.. The veteran actor has been 32 years on the stage, the major period of which experiences was before Australian audiences. Mr. Tiiheradge is now living at Vaucluse, spending his days in the enjoyment of his hobby, horticulture.

Madame Kirkby Lunn, the great contralto, opens a big season in Australia next year. This artist has appeared in almost "every •grand opera house in' Europe and America, and has sung with the greatest celebrities in modern operatic music.

The popularity \V. S. Percy has been winning by genuinely funny characterisations in musical comedy work for a number of years has been advanced another step by his handling of the Huntley Wright part in the J. C- Williamson production of "The Girl in the Train," at the Sydney Criterion. The role is one of the longest ever handed to a comedian, and the general verdict in Sydney is that Mr. Percy has "made good."

It is interesting to note that New York managers arc sending to London two complete productions and companies. The attractions are "The Pink Lady," "and "Ben Hur." both of which are to be staged by J. C. Williamson, Ltd., in the course of the next year. . ,

According to a New York paper .Madame Fmima Calve has been engaged by the Shubert management at a salary of £900 per week.

An amusing episode is recalled by Madame Melba regarding one of her early experiences. It was not long after her debut in Brussels as Oilda in Rigoletto that she began to study Delibe's opera, " Lakme." under the personal supervision of the composer. Madame Mclba's pronunciation of French was apparently not up to the requirements of the directors of the Monnaie, and the question was being considered whether she ought* to sing in " Lakme " at all. The point was being discussed one day at a meeting of the directors, and in their perplexity they .sent* for the composer. Delibes was furious when the possibility was mentioned that Melba might not appear in his opera. He pounded the table and cried " Sho will sing. She may sing in Chinese if she likes, as longs as she sings my opera." Madame Melba was really rather backward in French at the time, so she devoted herself to study for no fewer than six hours a day under one of the best teachers fin Brussels, and, appearing in " Lakme," scored a sensational triumph.

Commenting upon Miss Tittell Bruno's appearance as Claire Foster in "The Woman in the Case" at the Coronet Theatre, London, the Standard remarks: —" Miss Tittell Brune, who sustained this part for some time during the West End nut of the play, reaped a great personal success. Most people will remember that the crucial moment of the play is reached in the third act. when Claire, plied with drink, confesses to the murder round which the play revolves. This scene, which may be said to be one of the most powerful and dramatic in any modern lay, showed Miss .Tittell Brune's powers to their very best advantage. Her impersonation was excellent."

■It is rather a-curious fact that all over Europe the dominating personalities of the theatre to-day are producers rather than actors or dramatists. In Germany HenMax Reinhart, the imaginative presenter of Greek tragedy and Offenbach operabouffe, is the man who matters. In France M. Antoinc, the director of the Odeon and and the producer of "Julius Cjesar," is perhaps the greatest intellectual force in the theatre. In England Sir Herbert Tree, among the older men, and Mr, Granville Barker, among the younger, are the individuals of most influence and virility.

Of all the professions— except the Bar, which is in most.cases a, slum—that of music (says a London paper) is the worst for a living. The past season has had its list of concerts given by young people, who have collected enough money, to hire a. nail and give away tickets to people who may come and listen and may go away and talk to other people who may hire them. . The musician's dilemma is perfectly well known by the society entertainer. She knows that tlie younthful executant wants to be heard. And as a business woman, she reflects that she can provide the hearing. A. programme, is arranged, and the aspirant is brought m with enthusiasm. She dresses finely, she plays her best, she attains compliments and a supper, and she has hopes that this triumph will lead to success. It never does. She has spent money on dress,, but she never, never gets a paying engagement out of the woman who got her services for less than nothing

The following was written in 1824:— " Everything has improved within the last century except the drama. . Why is this? Because even thing else is free; the stage alone is a subject of monopoly. All the success of a dramatist depends on the taste, caprice, avarice, or jealousy of the managers of our London theatres. When a dramatist has presented his production to the London manager, it is likely to be left neglected; for above two hundred dramas are yearly offered to each of our great theatres. If .therefore, the author has not great influence and t some reputation, it often remains even unperused." ■ • ■ ': Musico-Dbamatict/s. ".';