DRAMA OF THE DAY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17651, 11 December 1920, Page 3 (Supplement)

DRAMA OF THE DAY.

The Christmas attraction at His Majesty's Theatre, Auckland, this _ year, is to be the J. and K. Tait production of the musical comedy, "Irene." The season is to open on Wednesday, December 22. " Irene" will be followed by the first presentation in Australasia of a musical play called. "The Little. Whopper," which is well spoken of. At the King's Theatre, long closed, the Fuller Dramatic Company will open a season of stock drama on Boxing Night. The principal Christmas attraction lor Wellington is to be the J- C. Williamson Company, headed by Marie Tempest, who i§ to make a farewell tour of the Dominion. .Miss Etta Field, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Isidore Schneideman, of Auckland, made a successful debut in Sydney on November 25 as soprano vocalist at one ■if the concerts of the New South Wales State Orchestra, under Mr. Verbrugghen. Miss Field is the first pupil of the Sydney C'onservatorium of Music to sing at one of these concerts', which is in itself a distinction. The critics spoke in the kindest terms of her singing on the occasion referred to. It is interesting to note that Miss Field and Mr. Ernest Drake, the Auckland tenor who has made such a pronounced success in London, were at one time both pupils of the same teacher in this city. A London producer proposes to test the -willingness of British audiences to accept German plays by offering " Mie-Mie," a musical affair, which is chiefly the work of the German composer, Paul Lincke. 7t was first produced in Germany, and its successful run was suspended by the outbreak of the war. / - Mr. Charles Hawtrey recently made his reappearance on the London stage after 5, long and serious illness. He was associated with Mr. Gilbert Miller in the production at the St. James' Theatre of the new three-act comedy, " His Lady Friends. ' The approach of the J. C Williamson pantomime, " Humpty Durapty," is heralded by much activity at Melbourne Her Majesty's. All departments are now I hard at" work, and in every part of the j theatre sectional rehearsals are being car- : ried on, whilst the various workshops and manufacturing departments are very busy also. " Humpty Dumpty" will, it is claimed, be one of the most elaborate pantomimes the firm has ever produced, not only scenically (there will be twenty-three scenes in the two acts), but also by reason of the fact that 360 people will take part in it. The pantomime will be produced by Charles A. Wenman; Winnie Everett is inventing and arranging the ballets, marchings, groupings, etc. ; and the music is being composed and arranged by Victor Champion. Frank Dix, who wrote the " book" for the " Sleeping Beauty" last year, is again responsible for the libretto. Mr. Oscar Asche's new spectacle, '» Mecca," the intended first performance of which-in London has been deferred by the continued success of " Chu Chin Chow," was produced at the Century Theatre in New York early in October. Beauty and colour in an extraordinary number of scenes of wide variety, though all Oriental, were striking features. *In a ballet amid pillars reminding one of the imaginative pictures reconstructed at Thebes or Karnak, the youths and maidens of a Bacchanale danced until they swooned. This they apparently .did literally, -..swooning in couples all over ..the \. stage. .'■ ,

The following new plays ' are .to be staged by Miss Marie Tempest and Mr. Graham Browne during their ; New Zealand tour , opening in Wellington "at Christmas: —"The Great Adventure/' by Arnold Bennett; "The . Duke y- of Killecrankie," by Captain Marshall; "At •: the Barn/' by . Anthony ; Wharton,- • " Cousin Kate," by Hubert Henry <:' Davis, ' and "Mary Goes First," ;by Henry Arthur Jones. S ~" -..- '■ ■■""--: .'~* ■"-■-; :