THE STAGE IN AUSTRALIA.

Otago Witness, Issue 1950, 4 April 1889, Page 28

THE STAGE IN AUSTRALIA.

NOTES BY SOALFAX. Melbourne, March 25. " The Union Jack " has done very good business during the week in spite of all the adverse criticism, and is evidently set in for at least the usual four weeks' run. No possible complaint can be made over the mounting of the piece, and the snow scene alone is worth the price of admission ; lut the dialogue is weak, the incidents are unnatural, and the humour is forced. It is stated that the piece cost £1200 to put on the stage. Miss Kate Bishop and Mrs Bland Holt, as the two heiresses who get into a world of unnecessary trouble, deserve much praise ; and Mr Wilmot Eyre has begun to be more of an actor than he appeared at first. Mr Bland Holt and Mr Harry Leston, as the humorous sailor and soldier, kept the piece lively, and the rest of the hundred-odd in the cast do what was ■ expected of them as well as they are able. I am very glad to notice that Mr George Miln has succeeded with " Richard III " much better j than many people expeoted, and that vigorous play is to be kept on for another week. It is rather a pity that Mr Miln has not been able to secure a better company to rapport him, but I suppose good Shakespearian actors arej rare now. Modern aomedy is not a particularly re- j liable training for blank-verse tragedy. When ! it comes to merely wearing a fair wig, a fashionable suit,, and an eyeglass, Y?e have any number of actors who could pass examination ; but put them into tights and doublets, and give them a sword instead of the eyeglass, and— like the people who fell out of the balloon— where are they ? Mr Miln is strengthening the first favourable impression made by him every day, and we are looking forward to his next production, which will most likely be " Hamlet," and, before long, " Richelieu." "My Milliner's Bill " and " Mamma" fill the Bijou Theatre nightly, and the merry crowd* j who come to see Miss Annie Taylor as the domineering mother-in-law who was once in the ballet, and also inhale some of the wafted odours of the " steak and onions " from the adjoining kitchens, go away merrier. The little difficulty over those said kitchens has not been settled yet, but the matter will end amicably. The present Brough aud Boucicault season ends on Friday, and the company then goes to the Academy of Music, Ballarat, for a few weeks, when " Mamma," " The Private Secretary," and "Sweet La,vender" will amuse the inhabitants of the auriferous town. Miss Lilian Gilmore is ' now fully on the way to an early reappearance after her attack of typhoid, but she is still in a very weak condition, and is just commencing to grow her hair again. I do not expect that she will j appear on the stage here again, as her marriage is dated for August next. Mr Harry St. Maur and his comedy company open at this theatre on Saturday in " Bootels' Baby," an adaptation by Mr Charles Bradley of the well-known story by the lady who writes under the name of John Strange Winter. " Erminie " has been doing pretty well at the Princess during the week, and Miss Fanny Liddiard has been earning golden opinions in the title role. Mr Cellier's operetta, " Chanty Begins a.fc Home," concludes the bill. Miss

Nellie Stewart has not f ally recovered yet, but she is very much better, and will be quite ready to appear in " The Yeoman of the Gaard " at Easter, Before that; however, we will have " The Pirates of Penzance," with Mr Maraocb as the Pirate King. " Every Man. for Himself " evidently suits the Alexandra patrons, as it is still played to good houses. Miss May Holt, however, has only a short time to stay here, and is anxious to produce "Men and Women," another of her own works, which is now in rehearsal. , Mr Dampier has been singularly fortunate at this house, and his enterprise has supplied a " want long felt " by a large section of our theatregoers.* The Metropolitan Liedertafel is to have a big night at the Exhibition building this evening and is going to make the place hum with melody in honour of Sir William Robinson, our Acting-Governor, who is an honorary member. A concert in the music hall will open the festivities, and a conversazione will follow, with light refreshments and orchestral music — little of the one and much of the other, 1 suppose, but wild horses will not drag from me which. Misa Lilian Tree Is to be the solo vocalist, Mr Frank Lincoln has finished his present series of humorous evenings at the Athenaeum Hall, and retires for rest under medical advice. He would have done very much better if he could have secured St. George's Hall. The Athenroum has not got much standing as a place of regular amusement. It is principally noted for concerts and balls. The gay and festive Maccabe— -between whose entertainment and Mr Lincoln's many people find strong points of resemblance — is with us once again. The fever drove him out of India, where he expected to do very well. Those exceptionally clever acrobats, the Silbon family, are now in Adelaide, and they have roused the ire of Mr Wybert Reeve by obtaining leave from the city council to give their entertainment on the Adelaide Oval, tat Reeve has written to the council about the damage done to theatrical managers who have theatres to let by such permits, and there the matter stands at present. Queensland news is quiet. Our old friend John F. Sheridan and the inextinguishable " Fun on the Bristol " have returned from China and Japan, and are working their way to Brisbane. Miss Marian Willis is playing sensation dramas at the Opera House, and a few minstrel companies form the balance of- the attractions. Sydney.— Mr Warner and " The Streets of London " are the Royal's offering to an extensive public, and the public accepts with more energy than '* Captain Swift" could work out of them. Mr Phil Beck and his new play, "Madam Midas," was Saturday's attraction at Her Majesty's ; and " The Glass of Fashion," a society comedy by Sydney Grundy— the London critics' treatment of which induced the author to raise his famous outcry about the theatrical ring— replaced " Betsy "at the Criterion. The Alhambra and other music halls have nothing particular to note. The double benefit tendered to Mr John Henniogs at the Royal and Princess Theatres on Saturday afternoon was not quite as successful as expeoted, the receipts from the Princess being only £138, but the Royal .topped over £275. I have already given you the programmes, and they were carried out with few breaks. The total amount of the fund now in hand is close upon £1000, and it is fully expected that it will reach high enough to supply a principal which, judiciously invested, will keep our oldest and best scenic artist from want during the rest of his life. Poor old John is looking very bad indeed, and I do not think he will ever be able to use his brush again. He speaks hopefully of his eyesight, but he appears to have no interest in life now ; all his heartiness and high spirits are gone. Mr Montague Lindsay Brown, better known as " Monty " Brown, the theatrical agent, was charged at the Water Police Court, Sydney, on Thursday last with assaulting the manager of the Bondi Aquarium, Mr W. S. Balfour, his wife, and some of the direotors. " Monty " had been manager of the Aquarium, but had been discharged by the Sydney directorate. On the 12th inst. he and Mrs Brown went to witness a show at the Aquarium, and some unpleasantness arose between Brown and the management. He went to the office to complain, but the door was \ slammed in his face. The window of the office was open, and Brown went to the refreshment stall and laid in a lot of tarts, with which he pelted Balfour and the others, disguising them in jam and stale pastry, and doing considerable damage. "Monty" has now to pay the neat little sum of £13 5s lOd for his novel revenge. Messrs Rignold and Allison, the lessees of Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney, have fallen out, and on Friday Mr Allison applied in the Equity Court for an injunction to restrain Mr Rignold from selling his interest in the theatre. The parties entered into partnership in March 1883, Allison giving £500 bonus for the privilege. The partnership was to continue until the expiration of the lease of the theatre. In December 1887 Allison gave Rignold a mortgage of £2402 over his estate and interest in the lease of the theatre. Allison alleges that Rignold has applied to his own uses a large portion of the partnership profits and owes him several hundreds of pounds. In January last a new lease of the theatre for seven years was obtained by Messrs Rignold and Allison. After the Cowen concerts, which cleared £1200, Allison ■went to Melbourne, leaving blank cheques for current expenses, and he alleges that Rignold used these to transfer some £1700 from the partnership account to his own. On the 4th mat. the partnership was dissolved, and the defendant advertised his interest for sale. Allison claims that Rignold has no right to advertise the interest for sale, that assets should be realised, debts paid, and balance divided. Also that Rignold should be debaired from selling his interest on March 28, and advertising himself as sole lessee of the theatre. For Rignold it is stated that if Allison will indeianify him against all claims and pay him £3000, he^vould relieve him from the contract. The injunction to postpone the sale was granted, and the c'sse came on again to-day, when it was agreed ttefc the partnership should be considered as dissolved f roni the 4th March last ; that accounts froai the commencement of the partnership be ta&ftn; that a receiving manager with security and^ salary be appointed ; that a decree for the sale of the partnership assets, with the approval of the Master in Equity, be granted ; Rignold to have power to lease the theatre for any period not exceeding three months; the management of the theatre from the 4th March to be considered as in liquidation ; and Friday's injunction to remain till further notice. This is the public part of the case, and I only wish I could tell you the private part of it as it has been told to me, but I do not see my way clear to it at present. Some day I may. Miss Amy Sherwin's expensive wardrobe was offered for tender on Monday last "in the insolvent estate of Hugo Gcrlitz," and was valued in all at £612 5s 3d. The dresses alone were rated at £463; and when I met the assignee of the estate and asked him whether the tenders were anyway up to the estimate, he used vile language and refused to speak. From which I con lude that the tendering, as I expected, was weak. Miss. Shetwin and Gorlit? are said to. be doing

well in India. That other musical insolvent, Mr Martin Simonsen, is running a concert com* pany somewhere in Tasmania. He is to have a : benefit concert in the Town Hall at an early date. . That well-known and popular comedian, Mr H. R. Harwood (his full name is Henry Roster Harwood Biggs), is going home to merrie England, and sold off all his wardrobe, manuscripts, properties, &c., last week. Mr Harwood was originally a carpenter, but he has been connected with our stage right back to the '50's. It is needless to say what an excellent actor he is ; his name is known all over the colonies. He married Miss Docy Stewart (the curious may be glad to know that Docy is short for Theodosia) about two years ago. He was a widower then, and his present wife was a widow, her first husband, Mr James Collins, having been dead for a number of years. " Jimmy " Collins was one time a wealthy .man, and his hotel at Ivanhoe was a great sporting centre, but luck was against him. All the Stewarts are married now except Miss Maggie, and she is, I believe, of independent means. There is^good story told of Mr Harwood. He is rather brusque in his manner, and can say biting things when he likes. A young and pretentious actor, who wanted to gain his favour, came, up to him one day and said : *,' What do you think of my acting? Rather good, isn't it?" "Well," said H. R. H.,"do you know, good isn't the name for it." That actor has not quite grasped the true meaning of that yet.