THE STAGE IN AUSTRALIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 1875, 28 October 1887, Page 28

THE STAGE IN AUSTRALIA.

Notes by Scalfax.

Melboukne, October \l.

Summer has come upon us with a mighty , jump since last week, and now we are iind-j ing out what hot weather is like. We have I had so much winter that we have despair- ! ingly handed over our summer suits to the adjacent hospitals, and now mourn our geiierosity in language as sultry as the ; weather. They are doing a fair smallpox trade over in Launceston, but the samples j sent over have not been up to expectation, | and have been returned to the exporters. Adelaide is having a good old time over the shipping strike, and New South Wales presents the unique spectacle of a high political official who has had such opportunities as fall to the lot of few men and yet is compelled to file his schedule. They do these things better in America. His constituents are the proper people to go insolvent. ' The Italian opera season at the Theatre Royal is still in full blast. We have had ?' The Huguenots " until we almost came to loathe the name ; but an occasional break of "Faust" saved us from gloomy despair. Not tbat there is anything to say against " The Huguenots," except that it is a nice opera to see— about twice. To-night Signor Pimazzoni benefits in "II Trovatore," and between the acts will sing " The Death of Nelson "in English. What I sigh for now is a tenor who will not sing that much, maltreated ballad on his benefit night. He shall have my hearty support, even to the extent of purchasing a ticket. " Ernani " will be produced to-morrow evening for the first time in 17 years. The advertisement gently insinuates that the" opera " seems almost written" for Signora Tagliava. If my summer clothes come home in time I will be there. i "La Fille dv Tambour Major " attracted a ; crowded house at the Princess Theatre on ! Saturday evening, and although the revival cannot take a place with some of the former productions, it is by no means, destitute of merit. Mr Knight Aston essayed the role of Monthabor, the Tambour-major ; and with, vivid remembrances of Ffed Meryin and Edwin, Kelly, I must confess to a feeling pf disapppintment. The music is top low iot his'voice, and the part requires more aoting

than he seemed disposed to give it. A hasty study may, however, account for this. Miss Colborne Baber was the Stella, and sang with her usual ability, but the character is not one for her to shine in. The veteran H. R Harwood " kindly consented" to postpone his retirement from the stage and appear as the Due Delia Volta, and was ably supported by Mr John Wallace as Bambini. "La Fille dv Tambour Major" will be played during the week, "La Mascotte" being due on Saturday next, when it is hoped Miss Maggie Moore will be sufficiently recoveied to appear. , _ „, "Modern Wives" is successful at the Bijou Theatre, where its spiciness and repartee aTe much appreciated by cheery audiences who laugh as if there were no such things on earth as bills that fall due. The trend of modern comedy is to naughtiness. We go to the theatre to laugh and applaud doings which would lead us to hunt up shotguns were they performed by female relatives of ours ; and we listen with a smile to conversational jeux d' esprit we would not dare display before ,pur own lady friends, unless we were securely padded. It is a mad world, my masters ; and our affectations are the maddest part about us. "Modern Wives " will be repeated until further notice. "Sophia," the Lyceum adaption of "The Vicar of Wakefield" is to follow, with Mr G. S. Titheradgc as Tom Jones. Miss Fanny Brough, another member of the already large Brough family now in this colony, is on her way out, and is expected to appear in the new comedy. The Opera House remains closed, and will await the arrival of Mr Frank Clark's American Novelty Company. A farewell benefit was tendered there on Saturday to Professor Miller, the athlete, who returns to America. There was an amateur boxing competition, the final contestants becoming so excited that the police had to interfere and stop the fight. That is another of our mad phases ; the sums we are always ready to payto see a boxing match, and the delight it causes us to be present when two men, for filthy lucre, attempt to batter themselvesout of all recognition prove us to be mad. The Alexandra Theatre is also closed.

The Nugget Theatre has once more returned to the straight path of duty, and no longer flourishes as a skating rink of shady reputation where Chesterfieldian manners were de trop and bell-bottomed trousers de riguer, Miss Helen Vivian has taken this classic house, and opened with " The Wide, Wide World," by no means a religious drama. "The Lady Detective" is now running tc enthusiastic audiences of fifty-three, more or less. The Victorian Hall and St. George's Hall aro still held by the minstrel companies, who appear to be doing as well as can be expected. The admirers of this class of performance are waiting Mr Clark's company, who open at the Opera House on Saturday next. He has Mdlle Garetta, whose specialty is performing pigeons; Ouda, who is, of course, an unrivalled aerian marvel, Fields and' Hanson, and Wilson and Cameron, dnettists; Miss May Cameron, the Human Serpent ("pronounced by the medical profession as being truly marvellous"), and Mr Harry Cushman, negro specialist. That ought to capture all the stray oboli for a few weeks, Sydney news is also rather dull this week. "Harbour Lights" was produced at the Theatre Royal for the first time on October 8, and is the biggest attraction in town at" present. "Called Back" was revived at Her Majesty's on Saturday evening, and the public are tying themselves into knots wondering why Mr Rignold will produce played-out dramas when he has an attraction like "In the Ranks " in hand. " Ingoraar " has been doing well at the Criterion, with Miss Essie Jenyns as Parthenia. •' Shamus O'Brien " is a moderate success at the Gaiety, while the usual variety companies hold the Standaid and Alhambra Theatres. Mr Harry St. Mam's season at the Opera House will only last a fortnight, owing to prior arrangements with Hobarfc. He hopes to open an extended Sydney season about Christmas. Fisk Jubilee Singers are continuing their concerts at the Town Hall with the customary pecuniary results. I should say that they are about the most popular combination we have had for years, and ought to pay an export tax on their net receipts. Thic is an idea 1 can confidently recommend to Colonial Treasurers in want of a new means to increase their budget statements. On dit that Mr Goorge Suazelle and MiHerbert Reeves, the latter the son of the great and only Sims, contemplate a raid upon these shores with a little two-handed entertainment; and that Mr Fred Maccabe sighs once more for a sight of our green fields, and the opportunity to clutch our jubilee coinage. " Table Talk" gives, this week, an interesting account of the death of Mr David Kennedy, the Scottish minstrel, who died on the 12th October 1886, at Stratford, Ontario, Canada. It is extracted from a volume of " Reminiscences" of the deceased, gentleman principally contributed by his daughter Marjory. His death was occasioned by Canadian cholera, and, says the record, " we had only a week's nursing. There was nothing gloomy about his death ; nothing bitter about his memory. It was the peaceful end of a beautiful* life. His wife and daughters were all round him when he died, and sang him two verses of his favourite hymn. Mr Locke Richardson is continuing his recitals at the Assembly Hall ; and Major Dane, the American orator, opens his campaign at the Freemasons' Hall on the 24th inst., the subject being " Constantinople, the Goal of Russian Ambition." It may* yet happen that Constantinople shall prove the gaol of that aforesaid " inordinate desire of superiority or power," as the lexicographers have it. A week or two ago I announced the approaching delmt of our Australian artiste Miss Nellie Mitchell Armstrong at the Theatre de la Mounaie, Brussels. A cablegram to-day announced her complete success, quite a furore arising on the fall of the curtain.

About a month ago a well-mown actor appeared in a country- town as " Richard III." Amongst the audience were several farmers. When Richard exclaimed: horse \ a horse ! my M&tgdom for a horse ! * one old farmer nudged his neighbour^ and whispered, " That's an old joke. I've heard that before." *