THEATRICAL & MUSICAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1502, 28 August 1880, Page 20

THEATRICAL & MUSICAL NOTES.

By Puok.

The burlesque of " Ixion " has been added to the bills of the Princess Theatre during the week. Mr George evidently desires to become the "boss" showman of the Colony. Rumour saya that he has a very large interest in the Pantascope ; and, besides the War Diorama, he is running a mechanical diorama and some views of Glenrowan fighting transferred to canvas by Mr T. Nicholson, of Dunedin; Mr A. J. Towsey's concert at the Garrison Hall on Monday night was well attended. I hear that Signor Morley contemplates Bhortly producing some new work of his own, and the operas of " Lucrezia Borgia " and "The Daughter of the Regiment." The principal female characters will be BUBtained by two lady amateurs who have already gained high and deserved praise for their operatic performances, and whoße reappearance will be eagerly looked forward to. At a recent concert at Sydney a feature was a cornet solo, for LSO aside, between H. M'Mabon and W. H. Thompson, late of Simonsen's Froliques. The judges were Signor Giorza, Messrs Hector M'Lean and W. Cook, and both competitors played aa a test piece a composition written for the occasion by Mr Luscombo Searrell. Thompson was the winner. A letter received in Sydney from Signor Majeroni says that he is gradually recovering j that he acts as agent for his wife ; and that they contemplate an early return to the Colonies. The burning of the Lyons theatre is now proved to have been the result of the drunkenness of the firemen on duty. They were bo drunk that they could not find the hydrants when the fire started 1 When Herr Richter conducted the "Lohengrin" performances at Her Mj»jesty's,lthe cast was but little different to previous representations. Madame Nillson, as the heroine, was simply perfection; Mdlle Treanelli and Signore Galassi and Behrens, in their old roles, were as good as ever ; but the Lohengrin of M. Candidus was remarkable only for its tameness. Mr Gye's other " tenor of the future"— Signor Benfiatelli, of Milan— proved to be the pos sessor of a very sweet but light tenor, suited more to the concert hall.

The Queen never loses an opportunity to be gracious to Americans. A current incident, by way of example, has been mentioned. Mrs Osgood has received the Royal command to sing at the next State concert. Now this lady has a delicate organ, and she never runs the risk of appearing in a low-necked dress. It was therefore to her a matter of much personal anxiety when she was requested to eing at the royal concert. But in the midst of her many engagements the chance of taking cold impelled her to have her case mentioned to the Queen, about whose insistence upon strict Court dress a good deal has been written of late. The Queen returned the answer one might have expected from bo genuine a woman and so great a Queen :— " Let Mrs Osgood come in the dress that will be most agreeable to her."

There is an absolute dearth of amusements in the "tight little island," but MrW. H. Richardson will shortly open the Royal, Hobart Town, with "Unole Tom's Cabin" by a " double " company, selected, I understand, by I. Dodge. Misß Jeannie Winston, formerly of the Melbourne Opera House, is making rapid progress in public favour in the States. After a successful season in Philadelphia she went to New York, and when the mail left was playing with great credit to herself in Suppe's new opera of " Boccacio." She sustains the title role, and her performance is spoken of as » remarkably clever one.

The Melbourne papers— and they are most likely to be correct— give Router's telegram of the 19 th as chronicling the death of Adelaide L. Neilson, the celebrated Shakespearian actress. This youngjlady had almost completed a highly profitable and successful tour of the United States, and was on the eve of her departure for the Colonies. Her death must have been awfully sudden. She made her first appearance in London at the new Royalty Theatre in 1865, playing Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet." As Cymbeline, Rosalind, Pauline, Imogene, and similar characters, she was second to no contemporary actress. After her Australian tour she was to be married to an American gentleman— at least so the New York gossips said. Misß Neilson was possessed of a large fortune. " Pinafore " at the Melbourne Opera House is likely to have an excellent run, and bring a good deal of grist to the mill being jointly run by Messrs Lyster and Williamson. "Andante," in the Australasian, praises very highly Messrs Riccardi, Verdi, and Farley. The latter interpolates a song, " We tars that o'er the ocean sail," in the dog-watch scene, which pleases alike his comradeß and his audienceß. When he finishes Bill Bobstay, the bo's'n, is made to say, "D'ye hear him, mates? The heart that oan tip us a ditty like that air is the heart of man, a good liver, and one d 1 the lights of the service, notwithstanding that his shoulders is at right hangles with his 'ips, and his knees ia halways a strugglin' for perceed-' ence." Misß Royal is complimented for dressing Hebe as a prim and elderly spinster. "Andante" does not consider Madame Hereee'a Josephine the best seen in Melbourne, but he admits that it ia so good that no reasonable fault can be found with it.

It is a strong company that supports Mr Reeve at the Bijou, but the takings are not satisfactory. There are Miss Ada Lester, Miss Legrand, Mrs Woolridge, Messrs Joyce, Carey, and Stoneham, Mr Sam Emery made his first appearance in Melbourne on August 15tb, at the People's Theatre, in " The Willow Copse," playing the pare of Luke Fielding. He created a very favourable impression. Mm Beatrice has joined the company performing at this house, which includes the Halls, Miss Wiseman, Messrs Vincent and Theo. Hamilton. The Mammoth Minstrels were passengers to England by the Garonne, which left Adelaide on August 13th, They are indeed a strong combination. Tommy Hudson, Japanese Tommy, Sarony, Waters, and Kelly have joined them. The Adelaide papers speak well of Anne Mayor's Ophelia to Fairolough's Hamlet. The little lady's success is noted with pleasure by her many Dunedin friends. V Ristori recently played Mary Stuart at the Politeamo Theatre, Rome, for the benefit of a boys' asylum. The large theatre waa crowded, and when Ristori left it the Sisto Bridge, over which she passed, was brilliantly illuminated. Charles Wheatleigh is to be leading man and acting manager of the.Agnea Robertson-Bouoi-oault combination, whioh will be one of next season's attractions in the States. Catherine Lowia will Also be At the head of An opera com-

pany, and will be joined in the venture by he* sister, now playing in England. " The Lost Witness," by Henry Pettit and Paul Merritt, a four-act sensational drama playing at the Grecian, is a success. Sarah Bernhardt is to get 1000 francs a night for playing the " Dame aux Camelias " at the Paris Vaudeville. Blondin'a rival, Thompson, has been killed at Pesth by falling from a rope at a great height. „ , Madame Modjeska is doing such good business at the Court Theatre, London, that the stalls have had to be twice enlarged since her engagement began. A typographical error in my last notes may lead to some misapprehension. The Handel festival of 1880 was an emphatio success in regard to attendance |as well as from a musical point of view. The total attendance was 79,643, being 6500 more than in 1877 and about 800 more than in 1874.

R. A. Proctor, the famous astronomer, k at present all therage in the chief cities of. Australia; and it is only the principal places that he visits. Fair Science must hare frowned upon his birth, and so far in her contest with Art has got the worst of it j for before the celebrated Bcientiat, the brilliant pianiet Ketten "pales his ineffectual fires." The interest created by^ the Prootor lectures in Melbourne and Adelaide was unexampled ; bnt the excitement that his forthcoming lectures had caused in Sydney was really most remarkable. He waa not to commence before the 16th inst ; but two or three days before every ticket for every part of the School of Arts had been sold, and the repetition of the lectures was advertised before even one had been delivered. The price of the course of six waa a guinea, . and of these, be* tween four and five hundred had been disposed of. The papers state that from Sydney, the eminent astronomer would visit New Zealand via Melbourne. <

It is quite true that another attack of delirium has led to the consignment of J. K. Emmet (of Fritz renown), to the lunatio aßylum. The Adelaide Choral Union have given Abt'a cantata, " The Water Fairies."

The Dutch company that recently came over to London Were a frost ; and they returned to their gown land with nought save the good wishes of the select few, who, knowing Dutoh, were able to understand what was being aote'd. Itis stated that the company lost £1500 by the <trip.

The reproduction of Verdi's "La For sa del Destino" at her Majesty's has not been sucoessfnl. The heroine was impersonated by Madame Maiie Swift, an American lady, of whom one critic says rather spitefully, "The audience certainly showed no signs of a desire to detain Madame Swift from her triumphs in the States." I am indebted to my lively friend of the Sydney Bulletin for the following items J— M'Lean's Troubadours are at Mailtand. Chiarini is travelling in North Queensland. Carlotta Patti ia going to Egypt. Alfred Dampier sails for England, by the John Elder, to claim a fortune just recovered from Chancery. Fairclough opens at the Royal, Melbourne, on August 28th, for a short season of "legitimate." Mrs' Lewis' Juvenile Pinafore Company opened at the Queen's, Sydney, on the 21st of August.

An English paper says that J. L. Toole has been offered the sum of 12,000 dollars for three years' entire right and control in America of the comedy " The Upper Crust." Mr Ws H. Norton, of New Orleans, has secured this , right. The dramatic cantata of " Hereward " is about to be produced for the first time in Australia by the Brighton (Melbourne) Harmonic Society, under the conduotorship of Mr Herz. The Salabury Troubadours are playing at Daly's theatre, New York, in a piece called ! " The Brook." One of their set scenes is an i exact reproduction of the grand saloon of one of those Amsrican floating palaces that will contain about 1000 passengers, and its cost. was exactly LSOO 1 The attractions at the Peel Park, Bradford, in aid of the local charities, were of the usual oharacter on Whit Monday. The fete in-, eluded the performances of Pindera' Circus Company and a "spiral bicycle ascensioniat " named Leonati. About 4.30 Leonati commenced his perilous task in the presence of some 60,000 persons. He made, several attempts to mount to the summit of his spiral Btairoase, and had reached about half the distance when he slipped off the edge of the narrow course, and only saved himself from a fall to the ground by clutching the plank and stays, and, with the bicycle grasped between his knees, he remained swinging in the air until assisted to the ground. Although slightly bruised, Leonati was little daunted, and again about 8 p.m. he made another ascent, reaching the summit in safety. Turning for the descent, however, and when at a height of about 16 feet, the bicycle swerved over the edge of the track, and he was thrown from hia seat. The bicycle fell, Leonati clutched at the spiral platform, but his grasp this time failed, and, amidst a shriek from the spectators, he came to the ground. On examination it was found that no bones were broken, but he had a wound on the head, a contusion of the side, and an injury to the spine. Mdlle Cornelie d'Anka, the popular vocalist, was recently married to a wealthy gentleman resident in Bradford.

In the Passion Play at Ober-Ammergau the ordinary system of ■' making-np " is altogether dispensed with. No rouged cheeks, no pencilled eyebrows, no whitened foreheads and noses, no wigs. This novelty in theatrical re* presentation is achieved by the simple plan of selecting performers who have a 'natural resemblance to the characters they have to play. There is a hint in this for other theatres than that of Ober-Ammergau. Great results may be obtained sometimes by choosing a performer specially adapted for a particular character.

Law habitually discounts poetry, but a case just decided by the French Law Courts is unusually prosaic in its treatment of a feverish subject-. The " Star of the Aloazar" sued the manager of that institution for wrongful dismissal, and in the course of the trial the facts came out. The star, whose name is Paula Brown, had inspired a grand passion which bob could not Bhare. The lover was pertinacious, and the star obdurate. Even the threat of suicide could not turn her to tenderness, and the threat was not only made, but fulfilled. On the Bth of March the lover occupied a place in the front row of the stalls, and while the lady was Binging he took poison, and then and there triumphantly died. The scene was dramatic and horrible, and the audience seem to have blamed the star. For nights afterwards she was received with hisses, and the management, taking a_ cool, common- sense view of the whole case, dismissed her on the spot, without even the compensation agreed upon in case of a rupture. The star accordingly brought her action, claiming in sll LIOO damages, and the Court allowed her L 25. For nearly a century nothing so sensational has been recorded. It is about that time since a young Polish count, who had been refused in marriage, asked his lady-love that she would, at least, give him the pleasure of one dance at a baU the next night. Sbj consented. Ifr danced a minute, and then went into a gwden and blew nil braim oot,