THEATRICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18275, 16 December 1922, Page 8 (Supplement)

THEATRICAL NOTES.

London has been having a feast of music Lit el v During one week a month or so famous artists were to bo heard in the Empire's capital. They wore Hempel, Eeimors. Chaliapine, Kreisher, Tetrazsini, and Backhaus.

" My first act will bo to lay a wreath on the grave of mv very dear friend, the late Lord Northclitfe, whoso death I deeplv deplore." Thus spoke Dame Nellie Melbii when she arrived in liOiidon recently from Australia. The famous singer renewed her acciuaintanco with tho London public at the Albert Hall, on Sunday, November 12.

Mis.; Jean Mcvnell. the actress, appeared as usual in " the Island King " at tho Adelphi. London, en? night recently, after having been married at noon at Fulham Register Office. Her Lvidegroom was Mr. T. M. M. Stoi-ey. formerly an officer in the 21st Lancers, and at "one time vioecaptain of the " A " team of the Blackhe.ttli Rmbv Football Club. The bride wlu> was iittircd in a Russian sable coat, has appeared in Australia, New Zealand, and S-utii Africa, and with the late Mr. 11. U. Irving.

Albert. Chevalier's new play, "A Fallen Star." i- .based en his once-famous monologue ot that title. It is a play about plays and players, and is ful". of humour and pathos, 'much as was "My Old lhitch," the play which another famous song of yesterday inspired. There were no £1000' a week salarves when Chevalier iirst burst upon Londun with his unique coster imnersonr.ti. ns. At tho height, of his music-hall feme, when he was tho big ■•turn'' of the erenin:-. he drew a salary, varying from £}5 to £50 a week. To-day anarnsi of equal drawing power would want 20 times as.much.

Admirers of the popular Austrian composer of light opera. Fran;'; Lehar, will be interested to learn that he is engaged on another work, entitled. "Tho Yellow Jacket." He expects to produce it next spring. Herr Lehar, by the way, has a r>sM-rot which is a critical bird. Singers who iio to the composer to have their voices" tried arc frequently startled during the audition to hear the bird say, "Haw. haw, haw:" if their singing is bad. On the other hand, he clucks and c-!OS approvingly when the singer pleases him.

Although she earned big salaries, the late Marie Lloyd gavo so generously that her estate is believed to be comparatively small. During her music-hall career she earned mors than £250.000, but her purse was ever open, and much of this sum went tn needy friends. On her deathbed she made a "last donation of 10s. Three bequests are contained in her will. She has left to her brother, Mr John Wood, who was her business manaeer, £300, and to fler maid, who had been with her for several years, £100. The residuary legatee is her only child, Mis 3 Maine Courtney, daughter of har firsfc husband.

What is the annual output by playwrights in Great Britain ? From the experience of Mr. Barrv Jackson, producer of " The Immortal H"our," which opened at the Regent Theatre, King's Cross, recently, it would appear to be immense. Mr. Jackson is the founder of the famous Birmingham Repertory Theatre. " About twelve plays per week are submitted to us alone,"" said Mr. Jockson. " This makes 600 a year, and if other managements get the same amount, the total oifEput tan'St reach thousands-. Unfortunately for the future of the British drama, the number of plays written is no criterion of qualitv. One member of our company is detailed to read the plays, and he"fmds that only one- in 40 is fit to be set aside for a second reading. The proportion of these, in turn, found to be fit for production, is very small. Tho majority of the writers seem never to have been inside a theatre, and have no conception of the difficulties of staging a play."

Miss Phyllis Massey, a voung mezzo•oprano from New Zealand, has been meeting with conspicuous success on the concert platform in New South Wales and Queensland. Miss Massey went over to Sydney at the beginning of the year to stud- with Mr. Roland Foster, the wellknown professor of singing at the New South "vs ales State Conservatorinm, on the recommendation of Dame Clara Butt. Engagements obtained through him have included appearances with the New South Wales State Orchestra, the Brisbane Apollo Club, the Warwick Philharmonic Society, a stage performance of "Faust "' at the Conserva'torium, and a number of miscellaneous concerts. A Brisbane critic describes her voica as " a beautiful mezzosoprano of great range, purity ar.d power, comparable to that of Madame Kirkby Lunn." Both the Brisbane and Warwick Societies paid her the compliment of reengagement, and there is every indication that -Miss Massey will become widely known in the not far distant future.

That most wonderful of all actresses, Ellen Terry, is still bright and active in spite of the passing of the years. A well-" known London critic recently wrote of her:—"l came across dear Ellen Terry at lunch in the Samovar restaurant, where she usually takes her meals, next to her flat in St. Martin's Lane. Her memory is sadly failing, but, then, it was never one of her greatest possessions. But the dear old thing, 74 she is, was as girlish in her humours, almost skittish, in fact, that ehe kept me in a constant scream of laughter. I have received several compliments in my life, but her avowal that she would like to act with me—' You look so interesting,' she said—was perhaps the greatest ono I have ever re- *-; ,ve, . L , i I could do the love-making part r 'S M > J,, k "<> w - But, then, eviryone warships Ellen Terry. She finds it so embarrassing hat she never goes to a 5X D, fe , Jll V hcers w °ul«f .top the CvT ,1M f ,enn fo,lowed ab o»t whrth, \? days ' and when l ™^ d her whether there was anything she rcallv wanted of life she said ' Well? « i2 like that stupid more easily, and I wish there wasn't M much dust about the flat. Oh yes and I would like the advancement of mv children, both of them are so clever Of course, Gordon is a genius.' "

When the curtain went down on the last act of "The Last Waltz" at the Gaiety Theatre, the principal members of the company came before it and congratulated each other, writes a London critic. Then the curtain went up, showing a stage banked with flowers, and the company currio out and congratulated each otW again. Then Miss Jose Collins brought the English authors of the Siece, Mr. Reginald Arkell and Mr. Robert Evett, on to the stage together with some other gentlemen whose connection with the play was less obvious to me than it ought to have been, and congratulated them, and they congratulated her. Then everybody on the stage congratulated the audience. Mr. Robert Evett made a speech straight from his heart, and said it was all very wonderful. and Miss Collins made a speech and paid it was very wonderful. And Mr. Robert Evett got a kiss from MJss Jose Collins, but poor Reginald Arkell got none. I confess that when I saw Mr. Evett being kissed by Miss Collins I hastily reconsidered my decision never to take a first night call—but what if my fate should be Mr. Arkell's and not Mr. Evett's! The play began rather dully, but brightened up in the second act. Mr. Of car Strauss wrote the music. It includes some tuney bits. I pu*ht to add that some of the humour which tailed to move the audience excited the utmost hilarity among the chorus gentlemen, who deserve this tribute to their extraordinary powers of appreciation and discernment.