MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15234, 22 February 1913, Page 4 (Supplement)

MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC.

BOOKING®. HIS MAJESTt'S THEATER. To-night—Sickard/ Vaudeville i Oo.'■ /' ' . _''.'.;.';■ February '24 March 8— C. Wmkniftoa,--Lto., - " Gefc-Bich-tyiSek - Wellington!. • . March,lo ;to Allan Doone ■r i ... • March. 24 to April I^ 3.- C. Williamson, Ltd. , May 9 to,Branscombe Co. ; ■ i ; ; . : -ii.'- . May -22; to June 7—J. O. Williamson, • War June 9 to Juno 25—Geo. . Marlow, Ltd. ; v June 26 to * July u— O. Williamson, Ud. , . July 7 to Allan Dodne. . - ; .August. 4 to 16—J ,0. WiUlanuon, Ltd. Auguit 28 to September 27—Branscomb* Co Octohcr lto 11— J. C. WilUamion, Ltd- ;. : . It is now definitely arranged that Mr. Lewis ■ Waller, the London romantic actor, will open 'in ■ Melbourne in July. His leading lady is Miss Madge V Titheradge, ■ a daughter of >' Mr. ' G., S. Titheradge. Amongst the plays which Mr. Waller may produce aire "A Butterfly on the Wheel," *' Bardelys the Magnificent," and " Henry ; V."' ' . ' '.' " ' , ' . ;.;■;' Brennari's Amphitheatres, Limited, have engaged :: Zif, the clever ' cartoonist, whose work has appeared in numerous illustrated Australian papers, for their rapidly-grow-ing vaudeville/ circuit. Zif made his initial appearance in this species of vaudeville entertainment at: the Sydney National recently, and ; made -a' decided impression with'his clever brush work. /* ' ; The first production in Australia of "The Count of Luxembourg," the music Of which is by Lehar, who wrote "The .Merry/ Widow," will be given at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, on Easter Saturday night. / ,; The New Comic Opera Company will go straight to /Melbourne after its New Zealand tour, and will first open in a revival for a few nights of that popular comic '.'success', "The Chocolate Soldier," which will have all the. characteristics of , a new , production from' ! the fact that it will be presented with a I cast entirely different to , the one. that "up-. i pearedi in it when first staged in Mel- ! bourne. Miss Florence Young will ap- ! pear as Nadina. "The Chocolate Soldier" will open on March 15. ■ " ;; - ", . ,'.. / ' : "Carmen,".with 26,000 votes, heads the . plebiscite of a French journal on popular music. "Traviata" was at the bottom of the pole—sooo only. ; Here is joy for the modern music critic. / Even great artists are very sensitive on this question of capillary attraction. Paderewski, recently crossing on a North German Lloyd .to America, sat on deck with" a friend. An American tourist passed, and whistled—l quite admit vulgarly"Get Your / Hair Cut," and " Paddy" immediately went to the captain and cancelled a recital he was to give for the Seamen's Fund. That passenger was sent to Coventry for the rest of the voyage. - , 1 Chicago has now under construction 110. new theatres. Seven of them are firstclass houses, with a seating capacity averagings 1200 persons. The others range from SOU to .800,,. and average more than SCO. This means an increased seating capacity for Chicago theatres of 60,000. - The total seating/ capacity, of the theatres now operating is 34y,300.. With the. contemplated increase this will •go up to 408,300, or. one theatre for each 3055 population. Mrs. John Biilington, the "mothor" of ''/British stage, has now entered - her Bath year, after nearly 70 active.,years as an. actress. •"/' She ' is. the /last remaining stage link/:with/ "the great Macready,' ; Jeiierson, and Bon Webster/ Irving, Toole, Nellie Farrea, and all the stage /favourites of : the 'last two generations have been ner companions / and. ;:v i rienids. - Mrs. \ John Billtngton's memory /is a history -and inti- ■ mate record, the. stage for ;t & last 60 or fstOfeycars.-- "'■ :'She can remember lorig-ior-gotten, plays and triumphs, and can recall I now Charles Dickens himself once said to her: when she acted, in "N 6 Thoroughfare," ' orte of his*plays, "1 never thought would have cried or shed a tear at mv own work as I have been made to do oy Mrs. Billington." : She can recollect," too, her/first appearance—now 70 years ago-— the theatre in York; as Lydid in '* 'lne Love .Chase," arid how, soon' alter, she met : her' future husband, .Mr. John Biilington, with .whom,' under Mr.' J. L. Toole's famous ;management, she scored so' many stage successes. ; Trie Kaiser has had a moving picture theatre installed in the palace at Potsdam, 1 and entertained a company of distinguished' diplomatic; and military guests after 'dinner there in the first week of December. - ' ■','•' •:.-;• Two companies ;of ;, Spanish „ theatrical performers are being ..organised to visit the J. tjnitod States this year., ! One will give a j series of the / most famous works of /the ! ancient and modern Spanish playwrights I. and the other will play, modern comio opera and Spanish; musical comedy. Miss Lily Brayton rested for two nights during the season of "The Taming of the ; Shrew" at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne. i It was the first occasion that she has been temporarily out of the cast since her initial visit to Australia.) : ';/:/' , j'j American firms, which for some years | have held the film markets of the world— hence the abundance of the Wild West pic-tures—-are sparing no expense to retain their hold. The Edison Company, for instance, have spent £20,000 in building a studio. In Chicago the Selig Company employs 400 persons in their studio, and out in the -far West they have enclosed nearly 4Uu acres, in which lions, tigers and all kinds of wild animals live a natural life, and are nsad in. the production of thrilling wild animal stories. The atages used by some of the biggest firms both in the Statea and on the Continent are often as big as the floor space .of Drury Lane Theatre. The wardrobes are of enormous proportions; one company, the Selig, has 7000 costumes of all countries always ready, while a aiaißc of costumiers is always at work making now; costumes. ■ . : : —- >. . ' t Formerly a well-known Gaiety actress, Miss Maud Hobson, has just died in London. Bom in Australia, she ma4e her first appearance in " The Forty Thieves" at tho Gaiety when her uncle, Mr. John Hollingehead, was interested in the ownership of the theatre, and Nellie Farren, Connie Gilchrist, and Kate Vaughan were the great stars. A year later she left the stage on her marriage with Captain W. B. Hayley, with whom she lived for a time in the Sandwich Islands. Here, on one occasion she lived on the native dishes and wore the native costume.' She was Maid of Honour for a time to the Queen of Honolulu. , Afterwards she returned to the Gaiety under Mr. George Edwardes's management, and appeared m "Faust Up to Date," "In Town," and other pieces. Her biggest success was as Alma Somerset in "A Gaiety Girl," and later she took part in "Three Little Maids" when that piece was taken on a world tour by Mr. George Edwardes's company, playing the part of Lady Mallory. ' For some time in London there has been an agitation for the abolition of the queue system, and recently a vote was taken of , the people in the gallery and the pit of the Lyric Theatre. They were asked to vote ■ on tho retention of the queue, as to ; whether they preferred waiting inside the theatre, and as to whether they would like to be able to book their seats. There were 432 votes for the queue and nine against. In favour of waiting inside the theatre were 384, with 40 against; in favour of booking 354, with. 38 against. An illustration of the ups and downs of life is a£brded by the career of Michael , Field, at one time a vaudeville performer. 1 He was one of the "Two Mikes," knock- I about comtdians, who visited Australia at a salary of £70 a week each, and- gave a series of performances at the music-halls. Now he is a ■ London bootblack, with a stand in Southampton Row. Muaoo-DBAUAMCTra. - ... ;... .--• ■~ •,-■-, --.•:■ ■,-■'.'■ ~1. '-'-■■ '■ ' ' * , ■' -'; ■ .