THEATRICAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 1762, 29 August 1885, Page 23

THEATRICAL.

J^or X ,»in nothing, if not .critical. Theniaji tbkt hath not music in himself, Lfttno'suohWiah be trusted. < •f" ! ' »."( ■'.; ■ • — Shakespeare. ■ * ' ■ ' ■ i

(Contributions from the Profession chronicling their movements and.doingt are invited. All communications to be ad4r,esed to " JPasquin," Otago Witness Office.) Mr W-,H r Thompson has continued to do good business, at < the, Princess Theatre during the I week bj.'means. of his ' Zulu War diorama and gift distribution. The Egyptian War is promised this week. The only other noteworthy entertainment in Dunedin,was the Garrison Band's concert on on Monday, night,, when, their- performance of the contest music for the Wellington Exhibition fairly surprised even their own admirers. The improvement ;made- is very striking, and the Garrison Band's chance in the competition looks very good. „ . > Mr Wybert Reeve's company played "Im- < pulse " and" Diplomacy " to large audiences in the public hall, Oamaru, on Friday and Saturday last., They opened in. Timaru on Monday evening with' Sardoii's "play. Miss Edith Appleton made a hit as "Jo" in Auckland .towards the " close of "The Silver King " company's season. . Mr j,onh L #adcliffe'and Mdme Pauline Rita proceee'd'toWellingtqrij.to give entertainments in the Exhibition jßuilding'. Mr Appleby, .it seems, is thinking of abandoning comic, opera,, for ; a- time at all events, aud organising .^ooipedy company to support him in his own pieces.' Mr Fred. Thorne, so well remembered in the Colonies,'.' is! still /playing at his brother's theatre in London— the Vaudeville, and has made a decided hit .as Benjamin Tozer in "Loose Tiles.""., ; , v ' ' '„ „ " ! Among, ithe, passengers by the mail steamer to San'Frajicisco, which left Sydney onAugust ! 13, thesyo^ey Morning Herald states, was Miss I Lenob^the' manageress' for Mr D'Oyley Carte, who for the last seven years has superintended the production of Messrs Gilbert and Sullivan's operas in, London, thejprovinces, and in America. Associated " intimately with the authors, and learning $xeir . exabib ideas as to the way their work spould 'be carried out— Miss 'Lenoir, as soon as 'the London company is fairlyembarked, starts with, a second company for a tour, and having set that in. motion returns to the metropolis for another company, then to' America', and BQ."on»,in one' continuous round. Her special visit ty> Australia was to prepare for the « Mikado,'' ofvwliicb. Messrs Williamson, Garner, and Musgrb've have the right, and which they intend to, produce here in about three months. Every detail of the stage business, costume, &c, has been" carefully gone through, and the busi-' ness having been, concluded, Miss, Lenoir hurries • on to San' Francisco, where Sir Arthur Sullivan awaits her.' The "Mikado" will be at once given iv York,, Sir Authur himself conducting,on.the,first night. Miss !Lenoir is so favourably impressed' wjth what she has seen in Australia that she, has made representations to Sir Arthur Sullivan which may induce him to ioumey,hojneVards via Australia, and thus give Sydney, the same privilege as New York, Le., of having the opera conducted by the composer himself on' the' -Opening night. ' Advantage was taken of Miss l/enoir's visit, arid her experience' in musical 8 niatters, to inquire for a conductor qualified ,so' take'charge of the two musical societies' which will soon need a musical director, and Sir ' Arthur, Sullivan's advice has also been sought in 'the'inat^er. The result of Miss Lenoir's representations ''to, Sir .'Arthur 1 Sullivan will be atfaisd with; lnterest; ■ '"" ;■ ' ' ' • The combination' which is' nbw called the London~jpbnU'c ? pDera Company has undergone considetabte'ch'ainges'.'and is now 1 " run " not by Mr Dunning, but; by Mr Howard .Vernon ( in partnership with-'Mr M'Larfen,'a w,ine-merchant of Sydn^yf It nicWdesMr T. B'.'Appleby,'He'rr Juncker,' Mfi>ns.'Lbredan ? ' Mr Johnson, Mr Geo^ Dean, MisVAftHie Scnaderi' and others of its original, 'members^ but' lttiss/Elsa May'is 1 nowprima donna, and the ranks /are recruited by the addition of ! Mr Fred Dark' and Mr Venion himself.., . t. -„■•,.. „ - Bad luck^ lias teen following the company, however, and at' Geelong f the other day Mr Vernon had-'to appear in court to answer the suit of Mr' Appleby, who 'claimed £20 for one week's salary Sue from July 27 to August 4. The plaintiff in his 'statement said he had been engaged for' eight weeks, but at the end of the fourth week he found, his salary was not forthcoming. 'fHe declined to appear unless paid, but agreed 'to wait till a quarter past eight to give the management an opportunity of paying out of the Jakuigs.'! the' company' were drawing good nouses he had been unable to get his money. I Mr Verrion. admitted the debt, but said the .company had had ,a 'series of misfortunes, including ','an accident to himself which resulted in two or three broken ribs. The firm were doing their best, and did not wish to pay Mr Appleby and ignore the claims of those who were sticking t to them. The, Bench said they hadnotKing to do' with, the company's arrangements, and, would give a verdict for the amount, allowing" the 'plaintiff to use his own discretion about obtaining payment of the money. , Mr Alfre'd'Moul, who is now settled in London at the Musical Exchange, Bond street, writes to the Age as .follows :— " lam hoping to be able to arrange for the.visit to Australia of. a firstclass opera, company, arid with that object in . view have" written to "several people^ in Melbourne (amongst' others the Opera, House directorate), asking for their co-pperaiion, and . -ci^possiU? Jfof^'the 'formation of a. guarantee. Ifaad. i; 'iß, I" think, an essential feature jiji.wie scheme to enable us to secure the class! of i'alent I should wish to send out. I feel sure thaVl may 'rely upon yo^ir knid assistance and support, i, Of course the scheme as'yet is in embryo.,, N,ext week I 'sb.all send you our musical,' prospectus, "which will show you that we have^ajSplendid'.list' of first-class artists under our' Management more or less, many of them, m&eqd/emplbying us as their sole agents.. The latter capacity we' hold' for the Royal Italian Opera^-the, Carl Rpsa Opera Company, and we "are 'in active business * rapport with Strakosch, Duff, and Pond, of America. 1 1 will give me very great satisfaction to be able to send out to Australia an, opera company which will fully merit patronage and your support, and I trust to be able to accomplish it." • The young , men of Harvard have been severely bitten' with' the mania for amateur acting, and. .recently' relieved their mental tension by playing "Julius Osesar." The one great fault they found with the drama was that there were not enough parts in it, and as they all wanted .jbo, be Caesars or Anthonys, this caused ' some perplexity. . However, the active and intelligent stage manager hit upon a way out of difficulty,,; They should take it in turns to play fm? foP? 1 ** 11 *' parts, going on for an act each. The result, .is said to. have been confusing. When the audience had grown accustomed to