THEATRICAL NOTES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22391, 11 April 1936, Page 4 (Supplement)

THEATRICAL NOTES

COMING PRODUCTIONS THEATRE AND CONCERT HALL HIB MAJEBTY-8 THEATRB To-day.—Stan ley McKay'i International Vaudeville Company. Williamson Dramatic Company When the Williamson dramatic company, headed by Elaine Hamill, comes to New Zealand next month, there will be an excellent cast in support of the charming New Zealand actress. Miss Hamill will be associated with .two New Zealand-born actresses, Miss Ethel Morrison, formerly of Wellington, and Miss Enid Hollins; and the cast will also include Phyllis Baker, Erna Living, Lloyd Lamble, Harvey Adams and Campbell Copelin. The repertoire will include Emlyn Williams' notable crime play, "Night Must Fall," which is still drawing crowds in London, where the author himself plays "Bab,y Face Dan ; Keith Winter's tragic "Shining Hour, and the amußing, light-hearted comedy, "As Husbands Go." The season begins in May. rilm Player on Stage

The popular screen player, Robert Donat, who took the leading role in "The Ghost Goes West," which was shown in Auckland recently, was recently seen for the first time as an actor-manager in the West End, London, when he opened at tho Queen s Theatre in "Red Night,by James Lansdale Hodson. He' had just finished a very successful tour of six months in the provinces in the play. Donat appeared as a private soldier in the war, and most of the scenes were laid in France. There was a cast of 23, which included John Mills, George Carney and Meriel Forbes. Dominion Girl's Progress

The New Zealunder, Lesley Crane, is determined tc rise above the small part chorus beauty, nays a Brisbane paper. To this end she has arranged to tour Northern Queensland, playing pjromin«;nt parts in George Sorlie's new dramatic company. These will include leads or ingenues in "When Parents Sleep," "Married by Proxy," "Whispering Friends," "Son of the Woods," and many others. Miss Crane gave up a small part in "Anything Goes" to take this chance of wider experience. She was last seen in Brisbane with Cyril Bitchard and Madge Elliott, who discovered her ability while in New Zealand.

Dr, Merton Hodge's Profits According to the theatre correspondent of the London Daily Express, Dr. Merton Hodge has not made a large fortune out of "The Wind and the Bain." His share of the profits will be less than £IO,OOO. "I am satisfied with what I have made out of it," he said, "but I have to smile when I see fantastic figures quoted. With the aid of Pamela Frankau I have turned 'The Wind and the Bain' into a novel. Hollywood is to make a picture of it. And as far as I am concerned, that will be the end of it. I do no,t think I will write about the characters again. I have another play completed—something entirely different —about life in a military settlement." "The Wind and the Bain" has been seen by about 750,000 people in 20 different countries. It has made the reputation of its author and several young actors and actresses. A Blind Singer-Oomposer

May Sabeston Walker, a blind musician, appeared both as singer and as composer at a recital given at Grotrian Hall, London, recently. Technically her singing was of a high order, and in songs calling particularly for delicacy of sentiment, the pure refinement of her tone was very satisfying. Her art, however, is that of a miniaturist, and it was impossible not to feel that some of the songs in her programme needed not only a more substantial tone, but also a more forceful expression of the singer's personality.