MUSICAL and DRAMATIC

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13967, 28 September 1918, Page 3 (Supplement)

MUSICAL and DRAMATIC

Rarely have New Zealand theatregoers had an opportunity of witnessing a drama j so novel" in conception or so weird and; mystifying as " The 13th Chair," which is to be produced in Auckland on October 26, by a company, headed by the Ameri- : can actress, Miss Margaret Wycherly. An atmosphere of mystery and excitement is sustained throughout, and thn climax is unexpected. Hpiritsa'iflin plays a large part in the story, and it is in the role of Rosalie La Grange, a queer old medium, that Miss Wycherly achieves her greatest success. That dainty and charming young actress, Miss Lizette Parkes, ■ who first appeared here in " Peter Pan," and who was leading lady with the PlimmerDeniston and Julius Knight Companies, is one of the leading members of the company. She plays the character of Helen O'Neill. Mr. Brinsley Shaw, an American actor, was specially engaged by the Williamson fo m for the part of Tim Donohue, in the production. This joung actor as said to g:*e a fine, compiling study of the man of law and iron. According to t. New York writer the film actress who is attractive is more fascinating still in the spoken drama. In commenting'upon the return to the stage of Mr, and Mrs. Sidney Drew, he says of the lady:—Mrs. Sidney Drew proved to be the most refreshing ingenue seen in many seasons when she appeared in "Keep Her Smiling," at the Astor. Of course Mrs. Drew, one regret:! to recall, hfts appeared in the " fil-lums," but thin may bo forgotten in time. Her snreness : n stepping into the humorous complications developing from the demure acquiescence of the aged cashier, her husband, in trying tc live on a ridiculously small wage, and at the same time gratify her costly wish ?, was amusing all the way through the performance. Her voice added conviction even to some of the irrelevant scenes. She was much prettier than in the "-canned" form of black and white acting, while her manner, of which there was no suggestion in the limitations of photography, lingers pleasantly in the memory.

Mr. Walter George's Sunshine Players are described by a Christchurch paper as being undoubtedly the most entertaining, tho most attractive, and the most talented little company on the Fuller circuit since the introduction of revues. Mr. George's combination really provides first-class musical comedy in miniature. Good stage effects and excellent production are features of the company's efforts, while practically every member of the cast and chorus is possessed of a good voice.

Mr. Halo Hamilton, tho American comedian, who was here with°hia wife, Miss Myrtle Tannehill, a year or so ago, is to appear in Metro films. The first production is to be "Five Thousand an Hour," by George Randolph Chester, the author of "Get-Eich-Quick-Wallingford."

Miss Anita Stewart is leaving .Vitagraph, and is henceforth to release through the First National Exhibitors, whoso pictures are controlled in the Dominion by the New Zealand Picture Supplies, Ltd.

Miss Irene Franklin, once well known in local vaudeville circles, and now a prominent New York "star," and her husband, Burton Green, have sailed for Franco with the first entertainment unit sent by America's "Over There" Theatre League. Whih under the direction of the Y.M.C.A. each will receive about 10s a week— probably, about one five-hun-dredth of their professional salary.

Messrs. J. and N. Tait have taken over Grcgan McMahon's Repertory Theatre enterprise, and in future will finance repertory productions in Melbourne, Sydney and elsewhere, retaining Mr. MoMahon as general director. The intention is to give matinee, and where possible evening, performances of the works of Shaw, Galsworthy, Ibsen, and other intellectuals, the casts, or the nucleus thereof, beii.g supplied by Tait artists, while the energetic brethren will also furnish the theatres, scenery and staffs. The scheme will give the young firm a chance of testing »nd training promising amateurs, whilst providing an outlet for the suppressed genius of the regular pros., who feel that their art is not getting its full opportunity in the ordinary work.

Mr. Allan Hamilton, who provided many and diverse attractions for Australia and New Zealand audiences in earlier days, writes from London describing an appalling slump in the show market, which came like a thunder-clap, and has got steadily worse every week. Nothing seems to shake the stability of Oscar Asche'g "Chu Chin Chow," his amazing, and not undeserved, success being one of the wonders of the age. Notable exceptions may also be quoted in " Nothing But the Truth" and "By Pigeon Post" the latter a 'modern war comedy, in which Madge Titheradge looks chic in a military French uniform as a surgeon on active service.

" Who Killed Spencer Leigh?" Did the hand that brought him to his death, again thrust home the knife which killed Leigh's friend? In the drama "The 13th Chair," said to be the moat cleverly constructed and wonderfully effective of its kind which has come out of America, these questions are answered at the end of an evening of thrills and startling situations.

Miss Maggie Moore has a fine comedy role in "Business Before Pleasure," the new Potash and Perlmutter comedy which is playing to big business in Sydney.

Miss Ethel Morrison Maginnity, who was prominent in amateur bodies in Wellington some years ago, will make her reappearance here with J. C Williamson " The 13th Chair" Company. Since her amateur days Miss Maginnity has appeared successfully with the Williamson management in comic opera, Gilbert and Sullivan, and other works, in comedy with the Marie Tempest Company, and now she '»..- proved her versatility by having achieved distinction in the character -i Mrs Crosby in the sensational play.

America's Over There Theatre League had sent 75 players to France at the end of August. Twenty-eight actors and actresses, without costumes, properties, or other accessories save those which they wore or could carry in their pockets, started for Europe to entertain American soldiers and seamen in the Young Men's Christian Association huts and. where facilities are available, in Knights of Columbus huts and Red Cross hospitals. Those first to go over were divided into five units. Those will be booked from Paris, and each unit is to tour practically the entire American expeditionary forces. Each "company" will give a different entertainment. The repertory is to vary from little plays to vaudeville, and each entertainment is an hour and a-quarter in length. ,

When Lord Byron described hi* tawdy " Manfred" as a misbegotten" and " quite unsuitable for the stage" he reckoned, necessarily, without London's twentiethcentury Stage Society. That organisation, greatly daring, revived the work of Dniry Lane 'Theatre with a large measure of artistic success. The tragedy of the nobleman Manfred, who sold himself to the devil after committing unspeakable sin, is perhaps the gloomiest ever written. It is also one of the worst constructed in the technical sense of the theatre, for no clue to its motive is provided until the concluding scene, As Byron intended, it would indeed be intolerably dull on the stage but for Schumann's beautiful musical setting, says a London paper. The noble overture and the delicious preludes to each scene, added to a vivacious choral ballet of spirits—all rendered and contributed by the Beeoham Opera Company and Symphony Orchestra—combined to give a stalely impresslveness to the tragedy, which would probably have surprised no one more than the poet himself. Manfred, barbed like Hamlet, with ft Byron collar, and even more introspective than the Dane, waE finely declaimed by Mr. Courtney Thorpe—a difficult character notably well performed. ! Musico-DBAMAiioue,