THEATRICAL NOTES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22172, 27 July 1935, Page 10 (Supplement)

THEATRICAL NOTES

I COMING PRODUCTIONS Town Hall August I.—Auckland - Choral Socioty, " Judas Maccabaous." Auguat 7.—Gladys Moncrieff Concert. August B.—Yehudi Menuhin return Benson. August 21.—Secondary Schoola Concert. August J2.— Royal Auckland Choir Concert. | Concert Chamber I I September o.—Littlo Theatre Society, S j Eight Bells." j His Majesty's Thoatro i To-day.—Nelllo JBruinley Company seaj son opens. August 14. Leelit Dloy Benefit Concort. 1 Lewis Eady Hall | September Mueio Society's Concert. | THEATRE AND CONCERT HALL j r One of tho most interesting experiences of Winifred Lawson, tho Eng- | lish soprano of the J. C. Wiliamson, I Limited, Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company, who plays Elsie Mayuard in " The Yeomen of tho Guard," was when tho audience comprised Red Indians in the Reservation at Calgary, Canada, where tho Prince of Wales has his ranch. Tho dark facos, utterly devoid of emotion or expression, surmounted by tall feathers, each squatting form j swathed in a blanket, made an improsj sion upon Miss Lawson she will not j easily forget. " Membership of a Gili bort and Sullivan Company," Miss Lawson, "is a wonderful passport around | tho world, since tho operas are accopted : and enjoyed in tho Far East, America, i Canada, South Africa, and Australia." i Some timo ago a London music-lover i discovered in a second-hand bookshop j tho. music of a little-known comic j opera, and told his friend, Sir Barry • Jackson, about it. It was Frederic ! Clay's score for W. S. Gilbert's "Prinj cess Toto," which was seen at the : Strand Theatre in 1876, with Kate ! Santley, W. S. Penley and ! Venne in the company. Sir Barry has ; been waiting for an opportunity to revive the piece, and has now decided to present it at Birmingham for a fortnight. The scene of "Princess Toto" is "Nowhere" and its time "Never," and Gilbert wrote it shortly after "Trial by Jury" and before "H.M.S. Pinafore." Frederic Clay composed the popular song "I'll Sing Thee Songs of Araby," and it was ho who introduced Gilbert to Sullivan. ' l • —— The present year is the centenary of the birth !of Samuel Butler, who, < though ho wrote nothing for the stage, j was at least influential at second-hand j in the English theatre by reason of the ideas that passed from him to Mr. Shaw. A dramatic version of one of the best-known novels of tho century, his "The Way of All Flesh," is j now being prepared by Mr. Brian Hill j (an administrator of Butler's literary estate) and Miss Laura Wildig. Mr. i Hill says there is a "terrific question ! of compression." The novel is an ex- I \ tremcly long one, and ranges over two 1 : generations. Thore are, according to J Mr. Hill, two separate biographical j skotohea of Butlor himself in it. He! drew upon himself not only for the j character of tho young hero, but also j as Edward Overton, the friendly elderly i guide to the hero. A forthcoming musical comedv event j of unusual interest will be tiie first j production in Australia by J. C. Wil- j liamson, Limited, of "Ball* at the f Savoy," from Drury Lane, London, I with the famous Hungarian comedian, j Oskar Denes ; in his original role, as j created by him in Vienna and London, j As Mustapha Bei, attache at the ! Turkish Embassy, he has tho rollicking : ; type of part in which ho excels, and for ! I which ho has become world-famous.. An- ! I other feature of particular interest will ! j bo the appearance of Mabel Gibson, tho • | well-known Australian artist, who will • i make her first appearance since her re-; i turn from abroad. Sho will appear in t ' the principal feminine role of Made- , [ leino, which she also played in tho Eng- j lish production. Miss Gibson is well-' I remembered by playgqers in several j musical productions, including " The | Vagabond King," "This Year of Grace," and Gilbert and Sullivan operas. A sonata, written by Mr. Eric 801 l for violin and piano, and performed by Mr. Vincent Aspey and tlie composer, will be an interesting item at the Royal Auckland Choir's next, concert in the ! Town Hall on August 22. Mrs. John 1 Farrell, soprano, and Mr. Stewart Har- | vey, baritone, will be two soloists whose : appearance on the Auckland concert stage 'will be welcomed. Among tho ; items to be given by the choir, under i Dr. W. E. Thomas, will bo the "Blue ! Danubo" waltz, sung to a new trans-j lation; Sir Granville Bantock's "Down > Among the Dead Men"; "King of J Worlds" (Dard-Janin), and one of those delightfully humorous ballads al- j ways associated with a Royal Auckland j Choir concert, " The Spider and the I Fly." " The Lorelei," "Angel Song," j " Awake, Thou Pretty Dreamer" and "Freedom of Song," will be other numbers. Seven out of the eight songs ! < to be given by tho choir will bo "first j < performances." ; i