THEATRICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20880, 23 May 1931, Page 12 (Supplement)

THEATRICAL NOTES.

COMING PRODUCTIONS, His Majesty's: Coming. —" Bird in Hand," " The First . Mrs Frasor," " Mary Rose " (Ethel Morrison Comedy Company). Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company. "On the Spot" and "Loyalties" (Frank Harvey), Later.—" Follow Through," " Mr. Cinders " (J. C. Williamson Musical Comedy Company). Town Hall: June —Mischa Levitzki (pianist) August I.—Mark Hambourg (pianist) and Peter Dawson (baritone). Later. —Zlatko Balokovic (violinist). PLAYS AND PLAYERS. During his season in Melbourne, where he has been appearing at the Comedy Theatre in " Loyalties," Frank Harvey will have the opportunity of seeing his own performance. His talking picture, Cape Forlorn," is to be shown in Melbourne shortly. In this play, written by him, Frank Harvey plays the leading role. The action of t'he story takes place in a lighthouse on the coast of New Zealand. " Mischa Levitzki, the eminent pianist, excited such enthusiasm at his opening recital at the Town Hall, on Saturday night, that during the presentation of his programme he was recalled 21 times," wrote the critic of the Sunday Sun in the course of a glowing notice of .Levitzki's opening concert in Sydney. At the conclusion of his stay in the New South Wales capital, Levitzki will come to New Zealand, where ho will open his season in Auckland at the beginning of June, under the E. J. Gravestock direction. Since his phenomenal tour of Australia and New Zealand ten years ago when—as a mere youth of 21—he captivated the musical public with his magnetic personality and amazing technique, the pianist has developed into a very great artist, and his name is now one to conjure with in the musical centres of the world. The twelve nights' ran of " lolanthe" at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, is to be followed on Saturday, May 30, by that ever-popular opera, " The Mikadcj," which will be presented by ono of the best casts that has yet appeared during the Melbourne season of the J. C. Williamson Ltd., Gilbert and Sullivan Opera' Company. Ivan Menzies, will be Ko-Ko: Leo Darnton, Nanki-Poo; John Ralston, PoohBah; Gregory Stroud, Pish-Tush; Marie Bremrier, Yum-Yum; Barnardo Manning, the Mikado; Mary Hotham, Pitti-Sing; Nancy Horne, Peep-Bo; and Dorothy Gill, Katisha. The enormous preferential booking for this opera indicates its never-fail-ing popularity, and it is promised by the J. C. Williamson management that this will be one of the most notable productions of " The Mikado" ever given in Australia, and of an equally high standard as that of " The Gondoliers," with which the season opened. It is of coul'se the height of rudeness to ask an artist to sing for his supper, but Peter Dawson, the popular baritone, is always in great request at the clubs in London. He has a knack of telling stories that puts him in the front rank of raconteurs and he is always called upon to respond to the toast of Visiting Artists." Peter Dawson was a boy of 20 when he left Adelaide to study under Sir Charles Santley, but he has always kept in touch with his old friends throughout the years and never a record is made but he sends one out to half a dozen friends in South Australia. It is a tribute to the persuasive powers of Hugo Larsen, the young entrepreneur, that he was able to persuade Mr. Dawson to return to Australia for a concert tour. As a matter of fact it was the thought of appearing on the same platform with Mark Hambourg which finally decided the- Australian baritone. With Mr. Larsen he agrees that the old days of the exnensive one-man show are over, and that the public actually demands a concert when it pays for it. Their Auckland season will commence on August 1. An important theatrical event will be the first production in Australia of " The Calendar." Edgar Wallace's racing play, which will be staged at the Melbourne Comedy Theatre, this evening, by J. C. Williamson Ltd. The Calendar" has had a lengthy run at Wyndham's Theatre, London, and an interesting feature of that production was the appearance in it of Margaret Bannerman after her return from Australia. " The Calendar" should be of particular interest to Australians, for it deals with " the sport of kings." The story is written around a " dead 'un"— or. rather, a horse that was intended to be " dead" but was " resurrected" at the last minute. In " The Calendar " is a succession of dramatic scenes that, keeps the interest of the audience at a high pitch of excitement, one of the most notable of these being the stewards' room at Doncaster, when Garry AnSon (played by Frank Harvey) is arraigned on a charge of running a "dead" horse at Ascot. Associated with Frank Harvey in the cast will lie ('oral Brown. Dieudonne Waldron, Pirie Bush, Ilarvev Adams, Campbell Copelin. John Fernside, and others. The play will bo produced by George D. Parker.