THE AUSTRALIAN “TWANG.”

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1617, 25 February 1903, Page 49

THE AUSTRALIAN “TWANG.”

A DISQUALIFICATION FOR THE STAGE. The fact that Mr Williamson will probably find it necessary to look afield for a successor to Miss Carrie Moore in his Comic Opera Company, calls attention to the limited, supply of talented ycung people available in the branch of theatrical work in which there is most demand for it. Successful Australian performers in comic opera and musical comedy are like angels’ visits. For instance. in twenty years, the Australian stage, so far as comic opera is concerned, has produced Miss Nellie Stewart, Miss FlorenceVoting, Miss Violet Varley. Miss Florrie Graupner, Miss Ethel. ITaydon, Miss Fanny Liddiard, Miss Carrie Moore. Miss Rose Musgrove. and Miss Ida Osborne. At all events, these are the names that most readily occur to the mind. The supply of recent years has been very limited, and there is- only a small reserve of young Australian players in Mr Williamson’s' big organisations from which a selection could be made to fill the place of Miss Moore, who, after all, fs only making her way to the front rank of her profession. A manager once sapiently observed that good actors and actresses did not bloom on -every bush. True, they do not. But the present position is that there are not even respe-ctable buds about, or, if they are, they propose to "blush unseen.” That is precisely what neither the managers, nor the public, who. apart from its own enjoyment, will on occasion take a patriotic interest in the productions of its own country, do not want them to do. What is the reason of this small output of operatic talent, and the deficiency also applies to tlie other branch of the profession—the drama —when the demand is so great? Mr Williamson supplies one reason, which, However, lias been heard before —"An objectionable and horrible colonial accent” is his opinion why so many young women do not succeed on the stage. There are, he reports, plenty of girls of attractive appearance. wlio have also good voices, but they can neither speak nor sing correctly. Time after time, girls who, in other important respects, have given every promise of achieving success, have shown themselves to be possessed of "a frightful twang,” that would completely destroy the effect of whatever talent they' had for the stage. The manager lays the blame at the door of the schoolmaster in the first place, and at that of the music teacher in tlie second. "The school teachers ought to be thoroughly ashamed of themselves,” vigorously comments Mr Williamson upon this cause of the highly objectionable defect in the speech of the young Australian. And he is also equal condemnatory of the teachers who. while devoting attention to their pupils’ singing, that is as

to tlie vocal production only, allow them to mispronounce their words, and. leave unchecked nasal and throaty peculiarities of delivery that must prove ruinous to the success of the pupil who seeks fame, or even a living, upon the stage.

The people, he reasonably argues, who desire to adopt the stage as a profession, Miouhi. at least try to qualify themselves fer it in "such an important respect as he points out. Study the words, said the late Sims Reeves, and understand their meaning before you attempt to sing them, and in these few words the famous tenor said all that rvas necessary, instructively, on tlie. point. There are other reasons wily important gaps in companies like Mr Williamson's cannot bo filled now as readily as they were many years ago. The artistic aspirations of many seem to be satisfied with the highly exciting existence of a life in the chorus. This, at least, is a manager’s opinion of main* who have not risen from the ranks because they will not study hard enough to fit themselves for the opportunities which managers claim are always offering. “Why do I repeatedly have to go elsewhere? Because I cannot get the right kind of talent here,” says Mr Williamson. “I am always ready to give them an opportunity of proving themselves, but they are disqualified in the majority of cases for the reasons I have mentioned,” he adds. The manager’s estimate can be understood when it is remembered with what mechanicalness and monotony some .young ladies of the chorus repeat their lines. This charge, however, must not be universally applied. There are others who do much better, and, as a matter of fact, as well as they can. But Mr 'Williamson principally considers that the faulty school training is why so many young people become so "twangy” and "slangy,” and therefore unfitted for the stage, where the language should bo spoken “trippingly on the tongue.” .

Miss Carrie Moore, who lias been with Mr Williamson’s Comic Opera Company for so many yc-ars. and has risen from tho ranks of the chorus to the- position Qf principal, leaves for London in May next, Mr Williamson having agreed to allow her to forego the remainder of her contract with him, in order that she may accept an engagement with Mr George Edwardes. Miss Moore first attracted the attention of tlie manager as the little girl who so brightly sang "I don’t won’t to play in your yard” in "Djin Djin,” and from this small beginning M iss Moore, who was taught dancing and singing at Mr Williamson’s request, lias had a successful career, until she now fills the important position of one of the principals. of the company'. An experience of London and other large cities should be of great value to Miss Moore, .who has shown herself to be possessed of undoubted talent, which, if properly disciplined, should lead to a marked advancement of her position in her profession. Mr Williamson will probably fill Miss Moore’s place with a player from England or America, and he has already entered into negotiations to that end. — Sydney "Daily Telegraph.”