The Deadhead's Diary.

NZ Truth, Issue 474, 18 July 1914, Page 3

The Deadhead's Diary.

The English rights of "Antony and Cleopatra," that magnificent picture now showing at the King's Theatre m Wellington, made a record. They reached £ 8500 for three years. The next best to this was "Quo Vaddis," which produced £7500 for all liJie. - .■.'/». , * ■ • In"The Argyll Case," shortly to be produced m New Zealand by the J. C. | Williamson Co., Ltd., Joe Manning, i one of the characters, says, "Is that fellow, Hurley, a criminal lawyer?" 'Tec Kay ton' replies, "They are all criminal, Joe.". "Age cannot stale her infinite variety." "Deadhead's" old friend, Maggie Moore, is to appear m "The Argyle, Case." . Heigh-ho! it is a far cry to the first time he saw her as Lizzie Stofel m "Struck Oil." This time she will b.e —on the stage —Mrs. Beauregard, a black cook, as broad as she is long. In one act she says, "I was with Mr. Argyle 'bout a hundred years." Then- 'Tec, Kayton ventures the remark, "You must have been very much attached to Mr. Argyle." Furiously indignant,, she lifts her roll-ing-pin threateningly, and shouts, j look here, Mr. Detectionairy, \don't you put no scandal on me!" -V It happened at a theatre m Melbourne. The King, aged and infirm, was blessed with two sons. He was pacing up and down the stage, with a wearied, troubled look, exclaiming, "On\ which of these, my sons, shall I bestow the crown?" Immediately came a voVcc from the gallery, 'jWhy not 'arf fi crown apiece, guv'norr' •V •: ■ # ■' * "• ■ ■ JimnW Doyle, head of the Health [ Department m the Wellington City Cduncil.Vwhose authority no one will dispute.fin matters pertaining to athletics m Wueral, says that the Crot-ton-Kremka.|Roman ring act, now m its second\week at His Majesty's The- j atre, is th^ best thing of its kind-he has seen. Braise like this'from Jimmy speaks volume^ indeed. ■• V' * .'■ •■■■. Fred Nib\o> and Josephine Cohen, announced m last week's diary as being among thelforthcoming attractions i with the J. C\;Williamson Company, have signed on with "the - firm" for another year. This news will be wel- j corned by all theatre-lovers. This popular couple wer<^ to have completed J their engagement! #Ith the J. C. next I August. This extension of their stay •will give them threeiconsecutiye years south of the line^-a^ record for any actor or actress iri Australia. Fair but forty Maiud^Allen has been at it again.'This time she has written a book, "My Life and Dancing." In it she says some queer.'ijhings, and m one passage'reaches th<& limit: — I do sometimes think^iat I was one with those ancieqil dancers, ' whose duty m life it tobs to express m motion the hqi>t&, fears, passions, regrets which ireose m * men's and women's 'hearts, and found expression m moVfements when the world was younger and simpler, and more accustomed to what Carlyle has called allifeorts of sodden sinceritiesV 'W Ughf Worse than Ada Warn, and her Salvarmy self-advertising, f;; . ; '" • • • p,: /Ethel Turner's Australian ||dyll, "The Seven Little Australians," <|ir at last to find its way to the staged It has been dramatised, and, up-to-'flate, over 100 ; boys and girls have appffjed to Beaumont Smith for roles iri",'|fie forthcoming production of the play\% Sydney. Evidently there Is no dearm of aspiring'theatrical talent among^ the young fry m the Commonwealth.'^ • • • ■ "v. Rumor has been rife of late thatf Florence Young, so well and favorably known to New Zealand audiences, had. deserted the stage. Advice, however, has reached the Dominion that the announcement was premature. After a short retirement for recuperative purposes, Florry will again be seen m active work. • • • Dorothy Beresford. a native of Wellington, tried her luck m England some time ago, under tho stage name Stephanie Dale. \ Among other engagements she appeared with Russell Vaughan m Liverpool, Hastings, Windsor and Leeds. "But I could not stand' the cold," she saya. She returned. to Australia early m 1913. • * * The burglar act, so > effectively staged at His Majesty's Theatre last week by Hayman and Co., was the scene of a most laughable contretemps on Saturday night. The crook was stealthily stealing through the window, with his electric torch making darkness 'just visible m the room. Dead silence reigned among the spectators m the auditorium when, suddenly, the stillness was startlingly broken by a shrill blast from a policeman's whistle by some mad wag In the gallery. The audience fairly screamed with laughter.

Latest advices from the Cold Country reckon that Tittell Brune is fixing up with some big theatrical pot to cart several of her big English successes to Australia and probably Noo Zeo. * * * Ed. Biondelf, who .is appearing, as the "star-liner" with the BrennanFuller management at the Wellington Majesty's this week, is what is known as a "regular" fellow. That is, he has been m the show business for many years, and has played as head-liner m some of the biggest shows m America, and England. Personally, Ed. is a 'fine stamp of a performer, and one with whom it is a pleasure to come into contact. He has been ■>, through the mill, good and hard, and is now m the enviable position of being able to quit the show business for I good. He is, howeyer, still a young man and loves his work, and it will still be some considerable time before he makes up his mind to settle down.' He is accompanied, by a charming wife, who assists him m his act, and j is blessed with two comely children, a girl of six and a boy of four. The artists of celebrity due soon m New Zealand, are Miss Daisy Jerome and Chung Ling Soo. Daisy is very clever and mighty popular. The magLian bloke is quite a famous Chow and m receipt of a famous man's screw, £459 by the week; . He must be really something far beyond the ordinary when the Fuller-Brennan firm mean to shell outjthat. On Wednesday next . pantomime ex- i travaganza will once again hold sway m Wellington, when , "The Forty Thieves" will commit divers humorous j depredations, being finally discomfited by the wily Ali Baba, the dashing l Ganem, and the bewitching Morgiana, A host of attractions are promised, including a specialty of the most laugh-ter-producing sort by the Three Rubes, many excellent ballets t and the individual and collective efforts of ah exceptionally well equipped company. Mr. Barry Lupino, as Ali Baba, brings a delightfully fresh vein of fun into the theatre. He is already high on the monument of public approval. Mr. Edwin Brett wins his spurs afresh as Dame Cogia Baba.- From, a spectacular point of view, the pantomime surpasses any of its predecessors of recent years, the whole entertainment, being one of splendor and incessant joy. ; . ■ . •/••' •■-. •' "It has been noticed," said a Sydney paper, "that the girls m the pantomime of 'The Forty Thieves' are mostly slim. The girl with the large fleshy calves is conspicuous by her absence', whilst the slim, supple shape, lithe and sinewy, predominates." The reason, to a large extent, is that the girls are kept so busy that they, have not got time m which to grow fat. They* are 'm a state of continuous movement. .Practically every song is backed -with a hardworking chorus, and when the girls aro •'■> riot working they are changing their clothes. , In no other pantomime staged by the firm have the ladies of the chorus and ballet had ,to change, their costumes so quickly or so frequently. The dressing rooms resemble a costumtere's or a, wholesale dress store. As a rule the ballet ladies drop into 'the theatre when the production is running for a little practice m order to. keep fit. In "The Forty Thieves" they find they get all the exercise they want m. the evening performance. ' • .. • • .■•'•.■'■ The excellent production of "Paul Jones" by the Wellington Amateur Operatic Society has proved. the surprise of the season. It was time the new Grand Opera House graced \by a decent show, and- it speaks well i for Wellington's youth and beauty that \jyhen the . great J.C.W. Firm failed to ' provido 18-carat entertainment for. .so long the young bloods arose and at last - delivered the goods*. The production , was accredit to all concerned. And what a chorus! One >that, the professional Royal Comic Opera Co. of the good old daws might well have been proud. Mils Helen Gard'ntr, a Dunedln girl, receded the lively little Flora Graupner^whilst V. :.st,- >ieredith, : if ho were not Sfch a, good^lawyer m a lucrative practwfe, might well tako to the operatic st£gc for fame and fortune. Ditto to Dr/fjaales, and as for young Fullei — his future profession can bo forecast as easily; as the vagaries of Wellington weather^ The others— they were all good, e^ept perhaps the top note of Rufino dfy Martinez. The .orchestra was a trifle weak. But Tom Pollard should fell proud of his pupils. •$ • Victor Beck is now piloting the Smart Set through the South Island. That popular combination has undergone a Httlc|change — a few second- | raters havlng^been substituted by stars of greater magnitude. They are book- ' ed tor a season: at the Wellington Town Hall Concert Chamber m the near future. ♦ "-.■•'" • The environment of Wowaerlund has had the Inevitable effect on Millie Doris. In the full blush of her innocence she first visited these shaky i shores two years Jugo and convulsed tho • knuts endeavored to find her "Hot X Bun." Tholppinions expressed by the Y.W.C.A. ott v that popular ditty so shocked the lively little lady she swore by all the holiness of her life that she would sing it np more In New Zealaud. Now she lias forgotten It and taken to singing sentimental stuff like "Sn.ooky-hookem^" Shall we ever forKet^how the* "Bun"' rattled the rafters of nil tho theatres on the Fuller circuit? Mlllio made many a golden sovereign for that firm, notwithstanding the country's wowscrlsm. * * * Mlscha Ijlmun. the champion fiddler ut present In New Zealand, receives £260 a concert. The contract made for his Australasian tour was for 80 concerts, nnd provided that payment for the last ten concerts should be In advance. Whatever happened, the soul-stirring Mlscha was sure of some of the silver. Last year, which included a lour of the United States, ho netted £23.000. Mlscha loves the monleh. Me Is a Russian Jew.