MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15516, 24 January 1914, Page 4 (Supplement)

MUSICAL AND DRAMATIC.

BOOKINGS.

HIS- MAJESTY'S THEATRE. January 24 to February 2-Geo. Stephenson's Pantomime. February 3 to February-14-J. C. William- - son s " Within the Law" Co. March 9, to 29-Geo. Willoughby's Co. •v. ,1' > May 2J - c - Williamson. May 18 to 30-Geo. Willoughby's Co. i June 1 to 20--J. C. Williamson. June 27 to July 11-J. C. Williamson. • July 18 to August 7-J. and N. Tait. August 15 to August 29— J. C. Williamson. September 3 to 21—Geo. Willdughby'a Co. September. 28 to Ictober 10-J. C. William-

The"J. C." Williamson revue; " Come Over Here," the first to be staged in' Australia, has proved very successful in Sydney. In it are included a host of the firm's best artists gathered together from their various musical companies, in addition to some leading English people. From first to last "Come Over Here : ' ia a succession of. wonderful and gorgeous spectacles, scenic effects, and stage marvels. One sees a thrilling motor race with a, train, the • engine and' motor finishing on the stage.' Then there is a delightful scene of the Venetian Carnival at Manly, in which ' some • bewitching ■ beauties walk right into real water and.disappear. There is the spider and butterfly scene, in which Fred Leslie, as an uncanny-looking spider, captures the ' beautiful i•' butterfly,' Ivy Schilling, on a huge spider web that is wonderfully realistic. Throughout the production the people' on the stage are in close, touch with the audience, and. some humorous,scenes are,enacted.in the auditorium. " Come Over Here" ; made a sensational success. > *.

■ Miss Madge Titheradge, who added to her successes by her recent performance as. Lady Mary Carlisle'! in " Monsieur Beaucaire," at the Melbourne Theatre Royal, i 6 a firm believer in the efficacy as well*as acceptability of the "happy ending." " Considering that the-function of the stage is essentially to interest and amuse, as well as to entertain," explainied ■Mass Titberadge, "I don't see why the conventional happy . ending -to a play should be considered, under various circumstances, unsatisfactory from the artistic point of view. Mind you, I do not say that a nappy ending should be intro duced if it is right against the spirit of the play, and is not a reasonable conclusion to the sequence ■of the story, but wherever possible, I consider,' the. ending to the play should be such as to send the audience awayMn a happy frame of mind, lake Monsieur Beaucaire,' for example. in the book, as written by Booth Tarkuigton, the story ends with the parting of Beaucaire and Lady Mary, whose romance is at an end. The play has the happy ending of the two being united. I -need not ask which ending the audience prefer. I think it will be conceded ; that there are few plays that finish without the happy ending which have reached a long and permanent success.. They are not'the' sort of plays that audiences go to see more than once." ~ ~;..,

. That, McCormack.igramaphone; records are amazingly popular is the invariable discovery of-John McCormack wherever & S°, e . £ \ During his tour of,New,"Zealand which is now concluding he made a point of visiting an old i Maori identity: whosewhare.l is an object of: interest in - the neighbourhood. • On approaching the domicile of the elderly^native-the Irish tenor was. profoundly amazed to hear the strains of "I Hear You Calling Me," as. sung by himself for ; a . well-known gramaphone company. Recentlyiih' Vancouver . the brilliant- Irishman i had a similarly entertaining experience. He , had' engaged a cabman to drive him a short distance?tb his, ; hotel, and when"cabby* charged him two; dollars for the journey he objected that the fare was'too high. ''High," said cabby.bitterly. "Don't, squeak, Mr. MtCormack. ' Tw 0 dollars" is,";whH ; T'haveto pay for your rcc&rds." 0 : > » ■-■ After a ' brief vseaaon in ; Sydney, ■ Mr. Lewis ,Waller • and ; his .company depart for Strath Africa to appear there * under 'theJ. C. Williamson," Ltd;, management. Mr Waller's' production of " Monsieur- Beaucaire " at) Melbourne Theatre Royal pro-vided-the -crowning triamph) of. his season m.that city, and -at every., performance jhundreds of people.had to be turned away.

In view of the present craze for the tango, which is represented in the black and' white scene in, "The Forty Thieves' " at Melbourne Her Majesty's, it is an interesting fact that the first two English artists to perform this much-discussed dance on the London ' stage were 'Gert? Latchford and George Grossmith. ' Mies IT-etcbford 'is a striking figure in "The Forty Thieves" at Melbourne Her '.Majesty's, in- which she appears as the-Rose of Persia in the first act, ..subsequently disclosing herself in the very latest Paris fashion, inc'-.-ding ■ the famous head-dress of jewelled lace, enveloping the head and face, which she introduced for the first time op. the London , stage. To wear this successfully , requires exceptional ' beauty. And Miss Latchford accomplished the feat with ease: . '

All the song, successes of Harry Lauder, who commences an Australian • tour next year, were written by the comedian himself Lauder is never at a loss for a subject for a song and will often build ,a ditty out of some trivial incident in tie streets. It was while gazing out:of the window of his lodgings one dismal day in Glasgow that he. saw a foolish-looking lad whose desultory ■ progress down the street gave tho comedian the material for "The Saftest of the Family." "Tobermory," another of ; his triumphs, - was inspired by the sight of two Scotch youths going away for a holiday, though " Tobermory is a pure invention and was only put in because it had a funny sound. Lauder, by the way. always rehearses his new songs first in "the family circle, and if they are successful tßey are tried on an audience. Mrs. Lauder is the critic at these song trial,? and what she disapproves of is never heard of again.

" The best of the three spectacular plays we have had during the present season " is how "Joseph and His* Brethren" was described by a leading New York critic. "Sir. Parker has arranged the Biblical story in twelve scenes, the interest of the narrative is maintained all through, whilst the intrigue of Potiphar's wife is t'> a genuine intensity of drama. The scenic investiture of the play, which will be staged for the first. time in Australia at Melbourne Theatre Royal on February 14 by .1. C. Williamson, Dtd., is unusually beautiful. Especially memorable is the third scene of the fourth act. which discloses the gigantic pyramids- of Egypt beneath the mystic rising of the moon.

Wirth's circus will commence a short season in Auckland on March 21 nest. M. G. H. Petersen will again be here as touring manager.

Compared to Mdlles. Genee and Pavlova. j Miss Maud Allan, the celebrated classical dancer, is distinctly unusual,- for she rarely makes use of the effects by. which those two artists achieve their Successes. Like Isadora Duncan, Lady Stewart Richardson, and similar dancers <;i the cult, she is chary of employing ordinary scenic effects, rather pinning her faith" ou the simple pictorial effect of curtains, cleverlyarranged and varying in colour. according to the mood of the dance she is to depict. Each of her dances is different in mood and character and there is no greater contrast than that between the gentle gaiety of her Spring Song Dance and the tragic remorse of Salome's Dance before Herod. Maud Allan prides herself on her variety, and during her evening's entertainment she depicts the whole gamut of emotion in a wonderful way.

The -svllabus for the fifth annual festival of the Christchurch Literary and Musical Competitions Society ha« now been issued. The committee has secured the services of Mr. J. Ure and Mr. J. H. Honkins. both of Melbourne, as judges in the musical and elocution sections respectively. The programme has been thoroughly' revised since the Inst com petitions and is now the most comprehensive vet issued by any society. ..... . . . J MT/SICO-DBAMATICO3.