The Deadhead's Diary

NZ Truth, Issue 579, 22 July 1916, Page 2

The Deadhead's Diary

Frederick Coleman is doing the war lecturing stunt m South "Aws" just now. and his "fawtagraffs" air adahning the press there. Some Yank, Coleman. "Gingernut" Daisy Jerome is at present gracing the boards at Fullers' Majestic, Adelaide, and. m the same show, are the New Zealand favorites, Paris Greene, Brown and Sorlle, and | Merlyn and Perona, j Mr. S. Bernard, who for some time has been manager of the King's i Theatre (Wellington), has relinquished that position, writer understands to go into camp. Meanwhile, they would appear to be shuffling the pack again up at the head office, but, at; time of writ- , ing, a successor has not apparently been determined on, though Charlie Blake is mentioned. Manager Latham, ! of Everybody's, was (when "Deadhead" blew m on ; Wednesday) doing his demdest to run his own show and. The King's, to the manifest and imminent j risk of his life, though "Brudder" Billy Burton was looking very busy. In the J. C. Williamson production ! of "On Trial" at the Criterion Theatre, Sydney, is a recently-arrived English actor with .the title of Royal Player." This is Frank Elliott. By an old British Act of Parliament the title of "Royal Player" is' conferred on actors who, before reaching the age of 40, appear for three consecutive seasons at Drury Lane as leading men. The distinction also carries a yearly sum for life, enough to make the holder Independent. The honor is very highly regarded and coveted. Indeed, few attain it. Mr. Elliott is the first actor m 25 years to gain it. The parts he play- j ed were m the lead "The Whip," "The Hops," and as Nobdy In "Everywoman." m which role he followed H. B. Irving. For some time prior to the produc- ! tion of "Romance" at Melbourne The- ' atre Royal, Madge Fabian, the leading lady, who is apearing as Cavallini, the Italian opera .singer, achieved a reputation for eccentricity by constantly being seen with a small, pet monkey \ \ perched upon her shoulder. Adelina, that Is what the monkey is called, figures m "Romance" as the pet of the opera singer, and m one particular i scene has a pathetic interest. To render the monkey docile to enable her to handle it and make it appear as If it were really her pet, Miss Fabian kept it with her constantly, both at her hotel j and In the dressing-room. When it is not on t he stage l it is basking m the warmth of an electric radiator and entertaining the artists with its grimaces and tricks. j There is, apparently, one person m Melbourne who will not attend the performance of "Romance," staged by J. C. Williamson Ltd. at the Theatre Royal. A few days ago the management received this letter: "I see an announcement that you intend to play a drama at the Theatre Royal m which a young clergyman is seen making love to an actress. I wish to emphatically protest against such a proceeding. 1 am a good churchman, and to me the spectacle of a clergyman In contact with the stage is abhorrent, and 1 hope that some action will be taken. It is an ineult to churchly people." The indignant writer was apparently un- i aware of the fact that the love of the j clergyman for the opera singer was an element for good, and altered the whole life of the prima donna. The management took the trouble to point this out to the objector, as well as to bring under his notice the fact that it would need a vivid imagination to assume that the appearance of a clergyman as one of the characters m the play could be made objectionable to church-goers. :: :: :t A movement which is deserving of all support possible from both public and theatricals is the raising of funds to equip the children's wards at the Auckland Hospital, now m course of erection. Some t,lrno ago our old friend Billy Boucr, Sid Beatty, and one or two more of the "b-hoys 1 , 1 permanently employed at His Majesty's, decided to do a little for the benefit of the sick kiddles, and they hit upon the idea of raising just enough money to equip the j new ward at the hospital. The amount I aimed at Is £3000, and as the Government subsidises the sum collected to the extent of 24/- to £1, it will be seen that the boys at His Majesty's i want to do the business thoroughly. So far, thanks. to most managers of theatrical companies putting on a matinee to help the fund along, also one or two efforts by local lights, a fairly good sum is already m hand, but there Is still a lot to get. Anybody m j the theatrical world who can offer a suggestion (or a sovereign or two) will receive a good hearing from W. Bauer, who, with others, Is grafting really j hard m a good cause. ! :i :j jj Madge Maitland, Fullers' latest star comedienne, who will visit these parts, shortly, supplies the following facts about herself:— She is Irish, not JewI ish. Her noso is misleading. Her father was wounded m the Zulu war and afterwards contracted consumption and died leaving herself and mother penniless. She held a job as stenographer till the stage lured her away, and she found a chorus girl's position at "eight dollars a week aud cakes." She got the cakes (board) but not the eight dollars and quitted. She got on to hor megaphone idea by accident. At a summer hotel a gramophone funnel happened to bo lying on the porch and Tor the fun of It she began yodelling through it. It woke up a man living threo mountains away. She put the megaphone into her act und threatened to sing ballads through it. AU hor friends advised her to stick to low comedy songs. But sho was obdurate and Bhe was right. Hor ballads, with which ahe concludes her turns, win all hearts. Even thoso who exclaim ugulnnt what Madge calls her "freak voice" cunt help belnK made happy by such ditties as "My Mother's Rosary." :: :> «* In addition to the news publlHh<sd In thoso columns last week, announcing that Ben J. Fuller proposed to enlist Tor the front shortly, we havo now received Hen's personal say on the subject. "As early its lust year I had made up my mind to offer my services." says Bon. "but 1 felt that the congested state of my business affairs waa such that It would bo unwise to leave at that time. Now that everything la In full swing. I think my action la merely that of the ordinary Englishman, and. I make no bones about U. Although 1 havo many relatives serving at the front, them is not one member of my father^ family taking an active part In the war. My paternal parent, of eourwe, i« too old; brother Walter's eyesight precludes his enlisting; John Fuller. Junr.. Is medically unfit, ami my other brother, tm well »« my son. nro too yuunfi. .So It full-s upon nw. Fortunately. I have been iU«;lar<-r5 an perfectly sound m wind und limb by two of Sydney's most eminent doctor*, why have congratulated me tipuu my con-dition--physically and otherwise," Hen In under no delusions n« to the value- of hia Korvlct'« iv the JSmplrt. KUchner tnuy be dead, but there la no need to abandon hope—there are others. '"There l«* much thai can bo done by v man In my position." continue* lien. "I'ersonitHy, I would lilte to Immediately walk into the tlrlnt! line, but this I know to be Impossible. It In Just probable that I will not «o Into ettmp for some months. Again, my »«rvke» ua mi organlxer whoultl be of Infinite value to the authorities, nml It m quite penal - We that I may make name kind of a reputation u« a recruiting officer."

Hugh D. Mclntosh's "Tivoli Follies" and Bert le Blanc's burlesque company, who are playing m Auckland, journed across from Sydney to Auckland on the same boat. Wonder if they played speaks? :: :: :: The idea somehow become prevalent m Melbourne that D. TV. Griffith, the famous producer of "The Birth of a Nation," had come out to, Australia with his great picture spectacle. Every day people called at the Theatre Royal and inquired for Mr. Griffith, with a view to submitting scenarios, or for other purposes, and many letters addressed to the Business Manager, Mr. Smith, and to Mr. Griffith himself, were received. One of these was from a wellknown University professor m another State, who desired to consult Mr. Griffith with, reference to producing an historical film, entitled "The Birth of Australia." As a matter of fact, so many manuscripts and letters came to hand that a special stall had to be put on to deal with them. :: :: :: Billy Cumby, of Cumby and Brown, the coon specialists, how appearing at His Majesty's Theatre, Wellington, recently had an unenviable experience while appearing at a town m America. In the previous act a stage trap- door was used, and the stage hands had neglected to secure it properly before Cumby appeared. The result was that he suddenly disappeared from the sight of the audience and was precipitated on to a hard, cold stone floor underneath the stage. "The audience imagined it was part of the performance," says Cumby, "and yelled with delight, and my partner was left standing by himself to his great astonishment. Fortunately, no bones were broken, but it gave my nerves such a shaking that 1 was unable to appear again for a week." :: t: :: There are, at least, two people m the amusement line m Wellington who should have been richer after Toki won last Saturday. •- One is a favorite Irish actor-manager and the other is the smiling manager of a continuous picture theatre. The comedian entrusted a two-figure cheque to a follower of the "Sport of Kings," and the follower got shut out of the tote. In the case of the smiling manager, he asked a wellknown hotel broker, who was m the queqe waiting to invest, to put a couple on No. 1, and handed him the two notes for that purpose, but the said hotel broker would not hear of it— was too busy, or some such thing, the tote lost the investment, and the smiling manager his diwy and his smile. However, the smile has now returned and still keeps the babies good at the matinees. : : : : : : The new Charles Chaplin films arrived by the s.s. Maitai. They are the first of the merry Charles since he began with the new firm, The Mutual Co. "The Shopwalker" is the title of number one. It does not require much imagination to realise what ' Charlie Chaplin could do m a fashionable ladies' establishment, when he really cuts loose, and he does cut loose, as a matter of fact, he" bolts. Everyone knows the suave shopwalker, with his oleaginous smile, his courtly bow and his drum major air, as he remarks to the "Tab customer," "Walk this way. please." Chaplin has a skit on every style of shopwalker, and each one is a scream, and without the slightest trace of vulgarity. Dan Leno used to be funny as a shopwalker, and Charles Chaplin . has many of Ban Leno's characteristics, but he begins where Dan left off, Wellington is to have the honor of showing the new film for the first time, and the Empress la the theatre that starts the riot, which is timed, for eleven on Monday morning. i: it i: Ben J. Fuller is having a splash as a motion picture producer. His first effort is to be called "The Veil of Kismet." What it is all about we don't know, but Judging by the title there should be a distinct flavor of the Orient jin the production. Ben is apparently discovering that making movies is not so easy, as some people think. The New South Wales Railway Department evidently has no inclination £o assist m the development of local enterprise. During the week Ben's movie contingent were preparing to use a railway platform to film a heart-thrrobblng farewell, but the officials would not allow them to proceed, despite their entreaties, so the "sad" scene had to be changed and taken by the side of a taxi. The next day the photographing of a street scene was essayed. The play required that excited newsboys should shriek urgent war news. One of the actors was to rush m and buy a paper. An ordinary civilian happened to be passing along the same thoroughfare, when he heard the cry of "extra war news," and not noticing what was going on, ho dashed up to gut a paper, and m his hurry nearly "outed" the camera man. tl tl 8! The brief announcement was cabled across from America last week that Josephine Cohan, wife of Fred Niblo. was dead. This news came as no surprise to thoso who knew Mrs. Nlblo, for of late years her life has beon ft long, weary battle against the dread white plague— consumption. The hope that the Australian climate might prove beneficial to "Josie" was probably the main factor that induced Fml Niblo to come to Australia, and hl« little wife bravely tried to take her place as his leading lady, but more often than not she had to lay off, %iul her public appearances wen* comparatively few und far between. Fred Nlblo and his wife werp an Ideally happy couple, and her death must have come as a cruel shock to the actor, who Is now the idol of Broadway, having achieved a sensational success m George M. Cohan's farce-comedy. "Hit the Trail Holiday." Mrs. Niblo was a Bister of Cohan's, who is a millionaireIheatrical producer und playwright. Just before the Nlblos left Australia for New York, hor brother presented "Josie" with the whole of the Australian royalties on "Get-rlch-qulck WalliriKford." a cheque which run Into many thousands of pounds. (