PLAYS AND PLAYERS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1202, 15 March 1895, Page 16

PLAYS AND PLAYERS.

“ Here come th‘e actors, Bui, Bub." , —Hamlkx The theatrical editor of the New Zealand Mail will be happy to receive and print route dates and any “other information concerning the movements of companies. A post card giving “ route dates ” for the week is recommended. Address all communications for this column to “Lorgnette,” New Zealand Mail office, Lamb ton quay, Wellington.

NOTES BY LORGNETTE.

The Royal Comic Opera Company's season terminated oh Friday evening last, with a performance of the evergreen “ Mascotte," which went very well ou the whole, though there were not wanting evidences of carelessness on the part of some of the artistes which we are now quite accustomed to see on the concluding night of a season; This should not be, but it frequently is, and in this instance both Messrs Laur-i and Vernon ‘ ‘ slummed " their pifts The same thing was • noticeable in Mr Vernon’s Koko' on} preceding evenings. On the othe* hand, Mrßrownlow gave us the best Mikado we have seen in Wellington, and the same may be said of Mr Tapley’s Nanki Poo, which was a perfect revelation. V: ,vS

\> ■ $ - 'K' \ ~ i • Summing up the Wellington, season it may be'said that Miss Nellie Stewart Bcored heavily in every piece in which she that Miss Florence Young showed aii alNjround improvement, and has evidently made decided strides in her profession since slib. was here last. Miss Young will bb heard of in a good London qompany before long, or lam very much mistaken. Miss Marietta Naan is v . a Capital ljtble comedienne, and ‘the only thing ..to be regretted in this connection was that we saw so little of he it., In “Ma Mie Rosette" «he acted in the most sprightly and amusing of manners, and what little she had to do in “ The Mountebanks" was done excellently, As to Miss May Pollard, the less said about her various ‘ performances the better. Neither vocally ripr dramatically was she up to the desired level, aiid iii one or two pieces she was lamentably deficent. : \ . •; b • - • So much for the ladies, now for the sterner sex. in Mr' Brownlow we were introduced to one of the finest all round artistes ever ,enlisted under The “ Firm’s ” banner: His is a spleqdid voice, of great power and although I did not like his excessive use of the vibrato, and his fine stage presence is also greatly in his favour: Uuiikp many good singers, he can act well,'.and he is one of the most Conscientious of. artistes, never *‘slurrp iping” his parts, but always being en scene, and working his hardest to make the piece »*. go." Mr Taple.v also won many favour-. able opinions.' r He has a strong tenor voice, enunciates ' very distinctly, but offends occasionally by an excessive use of the tremolo. He acts very well. I liked him in every thing he did, and most especially in the V Vicar of Bray.” H-s voice has not the. sweetness of that of Mr Bracy, when the latter was at his best, but he has many qualities which prove "him to be a well tiained and accomp'ished artiste. Both;Messrs L*uri and Vernon have, 1 make bold to say, fallen off, especially the-latter, who has acquire 1 a style of “ walking through ” his ptrrs in an which to me w>ts almost irritating, it may be that Mr Lauri’s parts in the various pieces produced did notaffoid him the same - opportunities that he has enjoyed on previous visits of making a hit, but .whether this is so or not, he certainly failed to amuse his audiences so much as he has done on former occasions. Messrs Rosevear and Lissant each did good work, but Mr Sydney Deane was seldom at his best.

" Taken 1 -all round the pieces produced were not of so attractive a character as in the past. “ Paul Joneß " and. “ Mam’zelle„Hitoucbe" were, to ray mind, the greatest drivel imaginable, and the first acts of “ The Mountebanks ” and the “ Vicar of Bray ” were more calculated to serve as sleepiiig draughts than to amuse. Oh for another “ Gondoliers." The various pieces were, as usual, handsomely dressed and mounted generally, but the chorus left much to be desired, and as to the.personal attractions of the nominally fairer portion' of the rank and file they were; $o says local opinion of a presumably, expert character, by no means up to the martl >The season, I hear on good authority, was of a highly satisfactory Character character’ from a financial point

of view, and Wellington has well maintained its reputation of being the best “ show town ” in the colony.

For a time at least we may expect an offseason in theatrical matters, At any rate there are no booking of any importance to report in connection with the Opera House. Perhaps this is just as well, for we have had somewhat of a surfeit of late, and although the Opera House people may not like a dull season the tradespeople will, I feel sure, be none too displeased.

At Dunedin the Albert Lucas Company appear to be doing well at the Princess Theatre with “ Jeannie Deans,” an adaptation of the “ Heart of Midlothian.” The tide role is played by Miss Frances Ross, a lady who is favourably known in Dunedin in connection with Shakespearian recitals. Mr Alfred Greenaway plays George Robertson, and Miss Ina Lawrence Effie Deans. At the City Hall the Kennedy Company lately produced the sensational drama, “ Crider the Gaslight,” Miss Lilia Wylde and Mr Kennedy taking the principal part?. “ The Black Flag" is to be the next production.

Fitzgerald’s Circus is to winter in the colony, so the Otago Daily Times has been informed, the two principals pro deeding,to America and the Continent, to engage new talent.

Mr Fillis, of circus fame, has, I hear from Sydney, written to Mr Allan Hamilton, who was his agent in advance during the first New Zealand tour, to say that he is doing splendidly in South Africa, but that it would take him until the end of March to work off the “dead horse ” which was the result of his later Australian experiences. After that he would once more be “ on his own,” and hopes to make a good pile in the Land of Diamonds, where he is very popular.

Prior to her departure for America, Maggie Moore plays a short season in Sydney. Her Adelaide season is a great success. Verily the bouncing Maggie is one of the greatest stage favourites Australians have every taken to their hearts.

Mr Hoben’s very clever Irish football song, Crom-a-boo,” is to be sung by Mr Lauri during the remainder of the Opera Company’s tour in New Zealand. It is also, I believe, being sung in The Firm’s Melbourne edition of their pantomime, “Cinderella." It ! ought to take well at Home, where, so I understand, Mr Lonnen is to introduce the you g colonial’s production.

Mr Bland Holt is, my readers will, I am sure be pleased to hear, to make another descent upon this fair country of ours towards the end of the year, opening in Wellington in Decamber next. Messrs Brough and Boucicaulb will in all probability follow with a comedy season. Until then we shall probably have to coutent ourselves with second-rate talent.

Sarcastic par. from Bulletin : —Madame Belle Cole's Concert Company was recently snowed up in a train on the Inverness (Scotland) railway for fourteen hours, The cold was intense, so the company probably took turns at sitting next to massive Belle Cole to thaw themselves.

It is a fine thing to write a successful play. Young Haddon Chambers, the Australian, whose latest play, “Jbhn-a* Dreams/! was the subject of so much discussion in ihe Old Country pres<>, is said to have netted £IOOO fee from the piece, and yet it only ran for six weeks. When Chambers first went to London from Australia he lived in a garret off the Strand, arid subsisted on 18s a week The whirligig of fortune.

Interviewed on his return to Sydney by a representative of the Daily Telegraph , Mr Boucicault has given that journal a few - impressions of London plays and players Irving’s production of “King Arthur ’’ (ComynS Carr’s version of the Malory not Tennyson romance), did not impress him very favourably, but Mr B mcicault gives us good news when he assures us that it is more than like y that Irving will visit Australia in 189 ti. Mr B uciciult thought much of Mr Forbes Robertson, but declares Mr. Wyndham, the well:known comedian of the Criterion, to be the best actor in London. Mrs John Wood, whom he saw in “ The Derby Winner,” along with Miss Pattie Browne, he says'is funnier than any low comedian. Be considers Mrs Wood would be a great success in Australia. Mr Boucicault says Pinero has been working for a year at his new play, and hadn’t finished it when I left England. It was to have succeeded “Money" at the Garrick, but wasn’t ready, and so Hare had to produce first Grundy’s new play,-and then “A Pair of Spectacles.” Will it be a “serious” play ? Certainly. I think that the principal part in it gives even greater opportunity to an actress than Paula Tanqueray does ; it’s the best woman’s part ever written, in my opinion ; in fact, I think Pinero will have great difficulty in finding an actress in London to play it. Apropos, I saw Mrs Patrick Campbell as Kate Cloud in “ John-a’-Dreams," Haddon Chambers' new play. I was not at all impressed with her. An indifferent actress, with a strong personality, and a charming face—the appearance and style that compel you to look at her. But she has no technique, and lacking the careful

instruction Pinero would give her for “ The Second Mrs Tanqueray," her performance was anything bub remarkable. The best play Mr Boucicault saw in Lon don, at least in his opinion, was Jones’ “The Case of Rebellious Susan." The interviewer says -Bub then Mr Boucicault is very partial to Mr Jones ; admires his knack of spicing a drawing room play with melodramatic essences, his general “safeness" as a writer of plays. “ He’s the safest dramatist there is." “The Case of Rebellious Susan” is a very clever comedy, “ The Masqueraders" a social melodrama, and Mr Boucicmlt is enthusiastic about both of them. He liked “ John-a’-Dreams,” too, and thinks “An Ideal Husband” a good effective theatrical piece. Family Herald mate) ial, as you might say, treated with some of the pungency and stage cleverness of Sardou. One of Mr Boucicault’s many delightful “premiers” in London was that of “An Ideal Husband.” Mr Oscar Wilde (whom he knew well as a lad, it seems), was there, of course, his box garlanded with flowers, and gay with ribbons as though the Prince of W ties had been inside it instead of the author of the piece. It fell out that the audim-ce “called” Mr Wi'de. He came before the curtain, but was content to thank the performers. “In fact," he said, with magnificent assurance, “I’ve spent a very pleasant evening.”

The Hon. George Coppin, of Australian theatrical fame, will be 76 years old next month.

The Johannesburg Star states that Madame Camilla Urso, assisted by Mr Charles Saunders, Herr Benno Scherek, and local talent gave the first of a seiies of concerts there, in the Masonic Hall on February 11, to a crowded audience. >

Mr Stead in his Christmas Number of the Review of Reviews thus touches up Mrs :—“ Seated alone in the carriage, half buried in luxurious furs, sat Mrs Longton, one of the most notorious of courtesans of the Victoiian era. Wilkes .recognised her in a moment. He had seen her on the stage, where she posed but could hot act, and her wellknown face, with the smooth regularity of its features, and the absolute lack of any expression other than that of a somewhat stupid sheep, enabled him to identify at once the harpy who, having battened on the lives and fortunes of many lovers, was now hastening with her gains from the last man who had called her mistress. These were her boxes which were going away, and with her in her carriage she had her jewel case. She had taken good care to stow away every precious stone the late Earl had placed within her reach. There was no trace of emotion upon that-wooden and impassive face, as little as there was of passion in its owner, for Mrs Longton was one of those women who, from the very lack of all feeling, seemed the better able to play the fatal game of rousing the passions of those whom they seek to plunder.” But if a certain amateur bruiser, who lately died, happened to be alive just now it is probable Saint Stead wouldn’t write any more Christmas Numbers.— Bulletin.

The London correspondent of the Mail writes as follows under date January 19 : “ Both ‘Slaves of the Ring’ and “ Guy Domville ’ are failures, and the former will disappear from the stage of the Garrick to-night, the popular ‘ A Pair of Spectacles’ temporarily taking its place, Mr' Hare has been phenomenally, unlucky with his new pieces, even Pinero's delightful ‘ L-idy Bountiful,’ which should have run a twelvemonth, failing to attract. I hear Mr Hare meditates another revival of old comedy, probably * The School for Scandal.’

“Mr Beerbohm Tree and bis company have gone,.to America, where I expect our most versatile of actors will make a big hit, Mrs Patrick Campbell’s engagement at the Haymarket ended with the temporary run of ‘John a Dreams,’ and she was in the dress circle at the Lyceum on the first night of ‘ King Arthur.’

“In the burlesque of ‘The Babes of the Wood,’ due at the Strand Theatre to-morrow, Willie Elouin will revive ihe famous Heathen Chinee sketch which made his name in England, when, more than a score of years ago, he was the backbone of Lydia Thompson’s ‘ Blue Beard’ at the old Charing Cross (now Toole’s) Theatre.

Mrs Justin Huntly McCarthy (Cissie Loftus that was) will positively re-appear in London next May, and has signed for a lengthy engagement at the Palace Theatre, the terms being the same she now receives in America, viz., one hundred guineas a week.

“ Sir Augustus Harris has, according to report, offered even higher terms than this to Lady Clancarty (Belle Bilton), who will re-appear (if at all) as heroine of the next autumnal melodrama at Drury Lane.

Edward Terry opened his once prosperous theatre in the Strand, on Monday, with ‘ High Life Below Stairs,’ and a short three-act farce entitled ‘ An Innocent Abroad.’ Herein the comedian fills the familiar role of a respectable married man who has, in a weak moment, strayed from the straight path of matrimonial rectitude, and having sown the wind

I reaps the whirlwind. Unfortunately we have again and again met Mr Terry in precisely this predicament. His every grimace is an old old friend, and we know precisely how he will behave. The audience laughed as one laughs at. a recognised ‘ chestnut,’ but I doubt their recommending the programme at Terry's to their friends. To tell the plain truth, the days of old-fashioned comedians, with stereotyped manners and jokelets, are over so far as London is concerned Toole and Terry still draw overflowing houses in the Provinces, but their Loudon seasons are pro forma.

“ The arrangement in blank (sometimes very blank) verse of Ihe legend of ‘ King Arthur,’ which Mr Corny ns Carr has written for the Lyceum is exactly suited to that theatre, and blended with Burne Jones’ sceneiy and costumes, Sullivanesque music, and the picturesque acting of Forbes Robertson and Eilen Terry makes up a splendid spectacular success Apart, however, from these adjuncts, and played on a provincial or c lonial stage by an average troupe of mummers, I’m afraid it would prove but a dreary entertainment. The piece is divided into a prologue and four acts,

“Of the scenery, costumes and tout ensemble , it would be impossible to speak too highly. Even at the Lyceum we have never witnessed fever stage pictures or experienced a subtler sense of mystic romanticism. It is, I know, treason to say so, but Mr Irving was not an altogether ideal king. He looked grand enough for ahything in his coal black armour waving Excalibur aloft, but his mannerisms ( sp cially that weary drawl) were sadly out of place amidst such surroundings. On the other hand MrForbe3 Robertson, who might have stepped straight from a ‘Burne Jones’ picture gave us a Sir Lancelot to dream about. Here was a veritable hero of romance, nob e, virile, forceful, chivalrous, and goodly to look on and listen to. ‘No wonder Guinevere fell,’ said the New Woman, ‘to be true to such an Arthur with such a Lancelot knocking around was more than could reasonably be expected of her. ’

“ Ellen Terry has never looked lovelier or more queenly than as Guinevere, and such opportunities as the part gave her she made the most of. But one fancies the guilty queen must have been more of a mediaeval Mrs Tanqueray. Miss Genevieve Ward was just suited as the vengeful “ Morgan le Fay," and Mr Frank Cooper played Sir Modred admirably. All the minor parts had of course eminently capable representatives, and the stage management as usual is unrivalled."