THEATRICAL. NOTES BY PASQUIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 1602, 5 August 1882, Page 24

THEATRICAL.

NOTES BY PASQUIN.

For I am nothing, if not critical. The man that hath not music in himself, Lot no such man be trusted. — Shakhspharh.

' [Contributions from the Prof esden chronicling their movements and doings are respectfully invited.} Provincial and Interprovincial. There has been a dearth of amusements in Dunedin; during the past week, , amateur theatricals and a Glass-blowing and Waxwork Exhibition being, amongst the most important items to be noticed. The crut-named entertainment was given at the Lunatic Asylum on Friday the 21st ult, and was to a certain extent valedictory in character That is to say, we have now seen the last of those Pleasant gatherings in the Asylum Hall with which the Sheridan Dramatic Club was periodically assodated. Both the inmates of the institution > and the , numerous visitors that were wont to flock thither on these.occasionsusedto thoroughly enjoy the amuse-l ment provided for them, and the entertainments ZumeU at one time almost the appearance of social •gatherings. Now all this is to be a thing of the past,; She snug little hall is to be turned into a war d, tod, the scenery, &c. removed to Seachff. A word might 'be said in passing about this scenery, which is of its YinT excellent well designed, and admirably suited, '^^^t^U^itti'teqiAva. Would that ■our theatres could boost of equally good appointments The performance on Friday commenced with • "The Turkish Bath" a farce, long established in amateur favour. Messrs J. Stevenson, Ghas. Umbers, Robt. Sin, A. Schott,,H. B. Smith, and Miss andMaster Ward sustained, the characters, and with the usual' allowance for stiffness and other inevitable' Hhortco'mines, acquitted themslves well. A shortj musicalprogramm6followed, Mr Ibbotson singing ;|'The , Diver " Wy acceptably, Mr J* Stevenson tackling a recitation. 4 The Death of Marmion,!' and Mr Feltham performing a cornet solo, "Brise dcs Nuits.': This latter was duly appreciated by the audience and an) encore followed as a matter of course. " Bombastes, 'FurioßO"— the' characters sustained by Messrs Schott, H ' B Smith, C. Umbers, arid Miss Ward— brought the! oroeramme to a conclusion and sent every one away ( ,lv high' good 'humour. Everyone— that ia to say.l 'except the performers and a few personal friends, who became the gueiits of Dr Neill at supper, and were, duly thanked for their well-directed efforts. I wb'odroffe ana Kreitmayer's Waxworks and Glass-, • blowing Exhibition, which opened at the Lyceum on • Monday evening, is not entirely a novelty in Dunedin,; many, having even recently had an opportunity of, • visiting it at the Christchurch Exhibition. The most Btriking features in the exhibition are undoubtedly! 1 the working' models in glass of steam-engines and; ' other machinery, which are kept in operation, and are 'inarvels'of skill. Professor B. Mills also has a newj -process of -instantaneously engraving on glass by, ■ toeans of an ordinary pen dipped in hydrofluoric acid. The show is altogether worth the very moderate ' price charged for admission. I I learn with pleasure that we are to have another, Short season of opera at the Princess', commencing on, the 19th inst. The troupe has been organised by, i iSienor Carmini Morley, the well-known tenor, and, Mr Gardner is to act as advance agent. The works to be produced include " Trovatore," "Maritana.'j 11 Isidora," (an opera of Signor Morley's own composition) and "The Barber of Seville." The season will only extend over a fortnight. ' . Mr Burdett-Howe struck into a new line in Christ-j church, and presented last week a drama evidently in-, tended to rivet upon itself the interest and anxietj excited by recent doings in Egypt. "The Bombard-j ment of Alexandria" is a work the' authorship of, which stands unconfessed (although a shrewd guess, might be made), and the chief point in the production worthy of praise is the excellent scenery of Mr Willis,! to whom due acknowledgment should be made before' the actual merits of' "The Bombardment" are con-| 'Bideted; One paper says of it:— Mlf life in that EirvPtian city was anything like what the piece under notice represented it to be, its bombardment was an act of common humanity." Another says it "was ' without exception one of the most fearful scenes of BtaKO carnage and destruction ever witnessed here, and it will be long ere playgoers forget the reckless expenditure of powder and the enormous explosions caused by the guns of the irpnclad squadron." The , characters included a British soldier, an Israehtish merchant, a "Jewess, and Ourabi' Pasha. Mr Jewett ''had the distinguished honour of appearing as Ourabi, 'and the' Times says :—" Though we have never seen Ourabi Pasha in the flesh, -we are content to believe ■■ that Mr Jewett looked, the part to perfection. He , ranted through it, and was as stagey as he. well could be but ttiat.probably was the author's fault and not, his "' Mr Howe's season closed on Saturday last, and. he'tobka'behent'before his' departure, appearing in the title roU of " Rob Roy." ' The musical portions of, the drama were' rendered by the members of Signor •,C*rmim.Morley's Opera class. , " Mr Bland Holt and the World combination, opened, at the Theatre Royal, Christchurch, on Monday last; and were received "by an overflowing house. The; papers Bpeak well of the performance. j "Ben Allah," the illusionist, who recently got into ' gome little trouble up country, has opened at the Gaiety, Christchurch, and was met on the first night ■by a crowded audience. "Ben Allah" modestlyj . .describes himself as the "Premier ventriloquist of the ..world" (Maccabe of course not excepted), and, is 'moreover, very clever at certain feats of conjuring and sleight of hand. "It is, however, very question- - ablo," remarks one paper, "whether the spectacle of two boys with their hands tied behind their backs, mouthing at apples huspended from strings, is a very edifyJ ing sight.*' It is upon the matter of gift distribution that " Ben Allah" seems to fall foul of bis audiences. He has not the open handed liberality of Zulu Thompson, and the production of a meagre quantity of very Indifferent looking presents, excites the wrath rather than the'gratitude of his patrons in the pit. On the evening of this performance, too, an incident occurred, which renewed attention to the necessity of proper outlets from our theatres. 1 11 During the interval," says the Times, "at about 9.30 p.mthe fire-bell was heard ringing, and the utmost ' co'nfUßion prevailed. Several women fainted, and > another, with a child in her arms, rushed from the circle - idown the stairs leading to the door at the south-east corner of the.building. This being locked, the woman ' in fright dashed through a window close by on to the 'pavement, both she and the child having the good J iortuno to escape with a few bruises A man in the < circle broke one of the windows, but a survey of the height of the " drop " prevented him from attempting it;. while two other men, also in tho circle, were seriously coutemplating their chance of escape by ( ' climbing between the rafters and the ceiling. The crush' at the exit of the circle was very great, and that no one sustained terious injury is owing doubtless to the fact that the more sensible portion of the audience "kept their seats, and that the ala>m was only of short dura' ion. A similar scene prevailed in the stalls and pit. There were, at a moderate estimate, nearly 1000 persons in the Theatre. The only means of exit for the former was by a staircase 3ft lOin wide. The exit from the sta'ls is by a door scarcely 3ft wide, and from the pit two narrow passage-ways lead to the double main doors. It will be seen from the above that had there been any real danger from fire in the Gaietj Theatre, the consequences would have been serious." Mr J. L. Hall and company have concluded a very , 8 tort second season in Wellington, duriug which "Our Dad," "Rip Van Winkle,' and ''Our Giris" were performed, the latter piece under the patr jnage of our legislators of both Houses. Mr Hall's imper- • gonation of Rip is spoken of in the highest toims, and even compared with that of Jefferson by the New Zealand Times, a compliment for which, if Mr Hall is not grateful, he must be hard to please Indeed.

Home and Foreign.

It iB reported in New York that Mr Sims Reeves ha-, been engaged for an American tour next autumn. It is, however, decidedly improbable, and needs confirmation.

Air Barnum, the great showman, states that his profits for last year were £80,000. lie has been busy ft London, recently, inspecting various possible " pitches " for what he characteristically calls " The Greatest Show on Earth." The Agricultural Hall, Islington, ha 4 taken his fancy, and it is probably there that he will open. Mr Harry Jackson has joined with Miss Lotta, the American burlesque actress, in purchasing, for £2000, the American right of Messrs Reaclo and Pettitt'a new Adelphi play. A very pretty quarrel is in progress in London between Mdme, Christine Nilsson and Mr Ernest Gye the manager of the Royal Italian Opera at Covent Garden. Mdme. Nilseon exchanged letters with the manager, as she says, " for the avowed purpose of Showing the directors of the opera company that she was Willing to slug at Covent Garden," and a proper ooa*

tract was afterwards to be exchanged. Mr Gye, however, took legal opinion, and was advised that the letter was a sufficient contract. The terms were, it is believed, £210 a night. When the full contract arrived it contained new stipulations, which Mr Gye was unwilling to accept, and Mdme. Nilsson's solicitors called upon the manager to withdraw the advertisement As however, the advertisement in question, had been settled and agreed to on Mdme. Nilsson's behalf, Mr Gye refused to do so. The artist then "withdrew her offer" and inserted the counter adverment stating that she was not engaged at Covent Garden. Mr Gye's reply leaves matters pretty -much as they were. It seems that Mdme. Nilsson's anonymous friend thrice applied to Mr Gye for an engagement for her. On the second occasion, Mdme. Nilsson coolly made it a condition that she should have two of Mdme. Patti's parts. On the third occasion Mr Gye put the conditions into writing, as he deemed, it "only reasonable to require Mdme. Nilsson's tignature as a guarantee of good faith." Mr Gye adds that by Mdme. Nilsson's proposed new contract a 1 breach of any of its onerous conditions rendered him liable to a fine of over £20,000. Both parties have rushed into print, and into law. There appears to have been a malicious attempt to hinder the production of Wagner's novelty " Parsifal " at Beyrouth, whither Herr Neumann departed at the close of his London season. _ The report at first spread, was that small-pox was raging at Beyrouth and that 1 the performance would therefore be postponed, a 1 rumour that was entirely groundless and was doubtless intended to prevent timid people from attending.. The ground waa then changed, and a new rumour wasj circulated to the effect that the performance would not take place till the autumn of 1883, as Herr and Frau Vogl, finding that several other artists were to ! alternate with them, had thrown up their parts of Parsifal and Kundry. This report is, it is believed, an invention, and in any case the withdrawal of two artists would not delay the production of Wagner's opera for a single day. Signor Ernesto Rossi had by last advices reappeared at Her Majesty's Theatre in King Lear, a part which he sustained in London six years ago, supported by his own countrymen. On the present occasion, however, an English company have been engaged, and it is somewhat surprising that polyglot performances of Shakesperian tragedy should prove so successful. It was feared that the unfamiliarity of the Italian cues necessarily given by Signor Rossi would lead to mistakes and hitches. However, though the rehearsals were for this reason exceptionally troublesome, no such contretemps occurred on the opening night, the nearest approach to it being the premature kneeling of one of King Lear's daughters, who, having knelt too soon, rose to her feet, and at the proper moment knelt again. as soon as Siguor Rossi has left her Majesty's the theatre is to be occupied by an " Uncle Tom's Cabin " troupe, the most striking features of which are the real freed slaves who are to figure among the dramatis personce, and the real sleuth hounds who will hunt down the fugitives coram populo. After a brief— very brief- lease of life, Messrs Lingard and Searelle's piratical "Wreck of the Pinafore," to which I alluded last week, has been withdrawn from the unappreciative London public. It may hi remembered that this sketch was first produced in Dunedin some years back. Mr George R. Sims' long expected romantic drama "The Romany Rye," was produced at the Princess] Theatre, on the 10th June, and was received with genuine delight on the part of a large section of playgoers, and with earnest remonbtrance on the part of the critics. " The Romany Rye," is pronounced rw pulsive in spite of all its cleverness, for the simple reason that it displays an elaboration of squalid, realism, which is not justified by any dramatic necessity. "It may," says one critic, " often be use-i ful and thoroughly legitimate in plays of this scope to introduce representatives of what is called low lifej They may be wanted for the sake of contrast as well as in order to further the development of a sensational plot. But in "The Romany Rye" we are kept in their society without rhyme or reason. In several instances they do little or nothing to help on the 1 action of the story, whilst their sayings and doings are about as edifying a3 those which take place in the course of a fight outside a gin-shop in St. Giles." In short in this instance Mr Sims and his manager, Mr Wilson Barrett, are accused of having deliberately pandered to the more degraded tastes and instincts of their patrons., and they are but coldly congratulated upon the undoubted success that they have scored) For it is a success. So admirably has the piece beerj prepared for the stage, so well are its principal characters played, and so clever are its changes and effects in scenery, that it never for a moment becomes dull or tedious. In spite of the strictures of the more refined, it seems exceedingly probable that at any rate a pecuniary success has been scored. j Mr DOyly Carte, it is said, thinks of sending Mjf George Grossmith (Bunthorne) to New York next season, his place at the Savoy Theatre being taken by Mr J. H. Ryley, who is said to resemble him. \

A correspondent of the New York World has seen fit to write to that paper, a very bitter attack on Mr Irving and Miss Ellen Terry in Romeo and Juliet] The one, he says is "ludicrous," and the other "ridiculous." It is worthy of note that the other New York papers are protesting against so meaning: less an attack.

Mr H. E. Abbey is at present in London settling the details of Mr Irving's American and Canadian trip in the fall o( next year. He id also making himself well acquainted with the capabilities of the Lyceum Theatre, which will be practically under his management during the six months' absence of its ordinary tenants. During that time it is expected that many of the principal American favourites will appear, including Misses Clara Morris, Mary Anderson, Fanny Davenport, and Maggie Mitchell ; and Messrs John Gilbert, Raymond, Florence, Kankin, and Edouin. of these the greatest interest will undoubtedly attach co Miss Clara Morris, the Sarah Eernhardt of the United States. From all accounts, the attraction of novelty is most certainly apparent in this actress' efforts. She has undoubted talent, but she also trie* not unfrequently to make eccentricity and oddity do duty for genius. Audiences have learned never to be surprised at anything she may do. It is nothing now for her to stop in the midst of some impassioned ouf-f burst upon the stage, and walk quietly up the stage; and turn down a lamp or a gas jet which may have seemed too high for her, or she will check herself in some dramatic crescendo to pick up a pin, or to put an ornament straight upon a mantelpiece or sideboard. An actor, who had often acted with her, said that at first her tricks were embarrassing. Once, as he was wooing her in the most intense dramatic style, she coolly re-arranged the bow of his white tie, which did not quite suit her. On another occasion she amused herself, whilst he was lashing himself into a stage fury, in picking off little bits of fluff from his freize coat. "It is all right when one is used to it," said he, " but at first it sadly put me oft" my stroke." Miss Clara Morris, too, has a most treacherous memory, or, at anyrate, has a most irritating manner of failing co remember her parts. She is absent-minded to such a degree that she often spoils a scene by failing to And yet, as I have said, she has at times flashes of real genius. Her recent appearence in a very melodramatic version of Mr Hardy's "Far from the Madding Crowd" v, as not one of these occasionp. The play generally, and her part in it in particular, as Bathsheba Everdene, failed altogether to please the audience.

Mdme. Modjeska leaves England soon after the termination of the present season at the Haymarket. It is probable, however, that she will appear in several iresh pieces before her departure. M. Sardou is writing a new play for Jldme. Sarah Bernhardt, in which she will appear at the Vaudeville during the coming winter season. It is to be a play of the present day, and Mdme. Bernhardt will once more die upon the stage. A decided novelty in the way of competitive examipations has been hit upon by the directors of the Alexandra Palace. It seems there is to be a " champion amateur actor "in London. It is not yet decided under what precise conditions the competitive performances will take place, but they are bure to be full of the most laughable incidents. 11. Damala the husband of Mdme. Bernhardt, has adopted the stage name of Jacques Darrall. A buileeque on "The World" has been produced in America entitled " The Earth."

Another female .Hamlet is announcod, Alma Stanley by name. , liiu lii-bt of M. Louis Figuier's scientific dramas (that on the steam engine) htis been producud at the Jaite, with a not very satisfactory result. The piece is called •' Denis Papiri," and is devoted to the glorification of the Frenchman of that name, who is alleged to have anticipated Watt in the discovery of the steam engine. Just as our Watt is traditionally supposed to nave thought out the steam engh c whilst sitting in front of his fathei'a kitchen fire, either baking toast or idly watching the tea-kettle boil (authorities differ as to which), so Denis Papin is said to havo received his inspiration when just about to akim the pot-au-feu prepared "by his valet, his attention being arrested* by the mysterious elastic force which waa stroni? enough to raise the lid of the vessel employed ; and this scene is duly represented upon the stage -with real pot-autfeu, in deference to the realistic tendencies of the age.

The general mounting of the play is but poor, and it is upon the machines a vapeur used to illustrate the various tableaux 'that the principal expense has been lavished. The failure of the piece is partly attributed to M. Figuier's inexperience of the stage, which is so great as to cause some of the situations meant to be most thrilling, to be received with shouts of laughter, partly owing to the fact, that the galleries were full of stokers, drivers, and mechanics, well acquainted with the practical side of the subject treated. Weber's " Euryanthe " has been produced at Drury Lane.

Mdme. Timanoff, a well-known pianist, has received a letter threatening her life, though for what reason is not clearly understood.

Messrs Gilbert and Sullivan will proceed to New York in October, to superintend the rehearsals of the new opera which is to succeed "Patience." The' work will be performed simultaneously in England. Rubinstein is reported to have accumulated a fortune of 5,000,000 francs. Mdme. Camilla Urao, the celebrated violinist, was last heard of at Montreal.

"The World" has been translated into German, and will shortly be performed at the Germania, New York. Dion Boucicault is to make an extensive tour in the United States next season. Two tigers belonging to the Circus Royal, on their way from Camden to Mount Holly, on the Pennsylvania Railroad, escaped from their cages. The keepers, unable to catch them alive, killed them bpth. W. H. Lingard's new piece for next season will, it is stated, include portraitures of Oscar Wilde, President Arthur, Ingersoll, Conkling, and others. W. H. L. flies high. , In the domestic affliction that lately befel Mdme. Christine Nilsson she had plenty of sincere sympa-| thisers, and amongst them the King of Sweden, who addressed her the following letter :— Dear Mdme. Nilsson.Rouzaud,— l am sure you never for one moment doubted of the very sincere sympathy I felt for you in the blow that has so recently struck you/ The sad news reached me after much delay, owing to my journey to Christiana, and when, last of all, I learnt the intelligence, it was late for telegraphing, and I preferred waiting until I could, without undue intrusion upon your trouble, address you a letter o( condolence on your very great and natural affliction.' Dear Mdme. Nilsson, I was deeply moved on hearing the sad circumstances that led up to your misfortune.' God alone can give you the strength of soul as well as of body to enable you to resist such a trial. But He will give it to you, lam sure, and I form 'the Bincerest wishes for you in the future. Still young, and in entire possession of the great artistic merit that at once founded and justified your fame, you will find irj your art a consolation, and an inspiration, a strength that the tribulation now afflicting you may even con| tribute, with the Almighty's help, to the further del velopment of your genius. You will be ena,' led, I hope, for years to come, to remain the great artist! doing honour to the country wherein you were born! But it is not so much in my quality as King of thai country, but rather as a musical amateur, and still more as your friend, that I do not hesitate to give expression to this prayer. Be assured, above all, of the sincerity of my sentiments, and believe me always) yours most affectionately, " Oboar." | London Figaro says "Hands all Round" is really an old story. A poem in five stanzas under the same title was published in the Examiner in 1852, its author! Mr Tennyson, disguising his identity under the pEeudonyni " Merlin." ' Levy, the great cornet player, has been performing in a series of concerts in New Orleans. j Messis Baker and Farron were by last advices to open a new season at the Standard Theatre, Ne\i York, in a new play specially written for them, eni titled •' Max Muller." i

Mrs Langtry has achiaved a wonderful success in her provincial tour. It is not alone that vast crowds have flocked to the theatres in Newcastle, Edinburgh! and Glasgow whenever she performed, but every} where the people have treated her to quite an ova} tion. She is greeted with the most vociferous applause when she appears at the footlights ; she is called upor to make speeches like a popular politician at al times and places; her admirers and supporters re move the horses from her carriage, and insist upot dragging her from the theatre or railway-station tc her hotel. More than all this, she is literally inundatec With showers of congratulatory epistles. Already poets and publishers have laid their works, bound ir the best morocco, at her feet; rare flowers and bou que's are lavished upon her in richest profusion, Sc much approval is apt; to be intoxicating. But in Mri Langtry's case it has had a stimulating effect. Her acting has certainly improved, and she bids fair toj make a genuine reputation as an actress. By the time she reaches Australia, to which country she i^ bound via America as soon as her tour through the English provinces is ended, she will have become an ac{ complished comedienne. The difficulty will be for her admirers in the antipodes to rival the homage rendered her in the Old Country. ' I ■Mrs Langtry has added to her dramatic repertoire by playing Hetty in that once popular Haymarket comedy, the " Unequal Match," by the late Tom Tayj lor. Ab in "She Stoops to Conquer," Mrs Langtry has to play the dual part of a country girl and a lady of fashion, Hetty being a pretty country lassie whd marries into a station far above her; -the rest cf tha comedy being devoted to the dramatic exposition of the inconveniences and disasters arising from such a course. As the "Unequal Match" went well at Brighton, it is likely that Mrs Langtry will reproduce it from time to time during the provincial tour she has now entered upon. At Mr Dillon Croker's "Smoking Lecture,' to which I alluded last week, another anecdote was aIBO told about Jerrold which, although it has no bearing on the drama, is altogether too good to let slip. He was at the time bringing oul; a weekly journal, of which he was editor arid joint proprietor with Mr Tomlins, a well-known dramatic} critic (who, 1 it may be remembered, rose in the stalls on the first night of " It's never too late to rnpnd " and protested against the realism of the prison scene). One morning, it seems, the youth employed to put! the shutterd up and take them down, and make him-! self generally useful, was late in arriving, -it being past nine when he put in a hot and hurried appear! ance. Asked what his late arrivcil meant, he stammered a little, and made several evidently false excuses. When pressed, at last, for a correct confession, he exclaimed to his employers, " Well, gentlemen, I'll tell you the truth. It's just this ; I should have been in plenty o' time, but the fact is I went and sawr my, aunt 'anged on the way. I was nevor friendly with' 'er or nothink o' that, but I felt I ought to go out o( respeck to the fam'ly." Jerrold having listoned with perfect gravity to the youth's excuse, paused for some moments after his reply, and then said in his sternest and most solemn tones, "Very well, James, you will be excused this time, but please to remember in future that the motto of this establishment is always 'Business before pleasure.' ' Miss E. Farren took a benefit at the Gaioty recently, which was a huge success. The programme was varied. Her impersonation of the love-sick Kettle 3, in " Pampered Menials," came first ;_ then she sang that ever successful and most dramatic street-Arab song from " Aladdin," and finally appeared in two scones of " Fra Diavolo" as the dashing young brigand of that name. She subsequently appeared, too, in a scene from " The Hunchback, and Mr Charles Wyndham p ayed Modus to her Helen. Various other well-known performers also lent 'heir services. Mr Lionel Brough sane: a " norrible tale " of his literary and artistic failures, Miss Violet Cameron gave a most popular solo from " Boccaccio," and Mr Grossmith gave some excellent character sketching and mimicry.

Miss Ada Ward has commenced her American season. She opened at the Baldwin, on the 26th of Jur e, in a melo-drama called " Caryswold. ' She was at once received into popular favour, and the Press praise her warmly.

Mr Thomas Ryan, who visited Melbourne as one of the members of the Mendelssohn Quintette Club, has addressed to the Boston Evening Transcript lotters descriptive of the capitals of the various colonies. He regards Melbourne as a city with more of the American charasteristics than other Australian cities. He speaks in high terms of Melbourne architecture, and notices the most striking features cf the city. As to amusements, and music in particular, hu remarks that " Melbourne has quite a musical atmosphere and life, not elsewh' re to be found in the colonies," and speaks nighty of the Metropolitan Liedertafel, of its conductor, its concerts, and it-i audiences and of the apprecia'ion with which the efforts of the Quintette Club met at one of those concerts.

A "Russian traveller says that tigers are plentiful in Siljeria as far north as the homes of the reindeer and polar bear. They are larger than the Himalayan tigers, have hair five inchej long, and never migrate far south. During 1881 no less than 17,107 persons were exiled to Siberia. From May to September 10,757 reached Tomsk by water, 120 died on the way, 1 and six were born ; 1674 women, with 8002 ohildren, voluntarily followed their exiled relatives,