THE STAGE IN AUSTRALIA. Notes by Scalfax.

Otago Witness, Issue 1958, 30 May 1889, Page 28

THE STAGE IN AUSTRALIA. Notes by Scalfax.

Melbourne, May 21. How are you off for weather down your way now ? We are getting a few assorted samples of wet and cold, and a cheerful storm prophet here gives it as his unbiassed opinion that we ■ are going to have something original in the shape of floods and storms this winter. This is rather saddening, but our one great hope lies in the fact that his prognostications never come off, and his forecasts go by opposites. Theatrical business has been quiet, as usual, only more so, and I have really very little news to disburse, but what little I have I shall proceed , to pour into your enchanted ear. This is poetical, and adds tone. lam a great admirer of tone. " The Yeomen of the Guard " is now being announced for early withdrawal from the Princess, where it is now an admitted failure. When I mentioned last week that " Falka " was to follow it, I expressed considerable doubt as to the accuracy of my information, and threatened the informer with certain penalties. He has since met his doom, as I have ascertained that ihe very ancient chestnut " Boccaccio " will follow Gilbert and Sullivan at a very early date. This was the opera the late Mr A. T. Dunning brought from England, and opened his operatio season at the Opera' House with a few years ago. How the members of that company are scattered now : Miss Kate Chard and her husband, Mr Deane Brand, are on tour in England ; Mr T. B. Appleby is lessee of the Theatre Royal, South Shields, N. 8 ,; Mr Loredan is teaching music in Geelong ; Mr Van Ghele died a lunatic in Batavia ; Mr Knight Aaton has had to disband his opera company the other day in Queensland; and poor Mr Dunning himself is dead. His wife is licensee of the Earl of Zetland Hotel, a good house in Swanston street. Miss Annette Ivanova, the second prima donna of the original company, was going to India with Mr Aston's company — only they never got so far. Mr Dampier and the never-ending " Shatnus O'Brien" still excites the Irish mind at the Alexandra Theatre. There has been a second and greater " national night," at which the Irish delegates were present, and joy was unconfined. The Celt is nothing if not patriotic, and when he goes to the Alexandra and gazes on the not particularly pleasant faces of real emissaries from the " ould sod," he just gets up and humps himself, and if he can get anyone to disagree with him the world is just then too good to live in. Professor Kennedy is continuing his mesmeric seances at St. George's HaJl, and now takes people from the audience, puts them into a cataleptic state, and then, shows that they are quite insensible to pain. This sort of thing takes well just now when we are full of the tragedy attending the thought reader Irving Bishop's death, upon which Mr Kennedy has a few words to say, and those few words aid business somewhat. Last night Mr George C. Miln devoted to a benefit for the unfortunate burnt- out B.s, Messrs Brough and Boucicault. The Governor and Lady Robinson (as you are, no doubt, aware ehe has arrived, and there is a fair prospect that we may have her for a few years at Government House)j!gave their patronage, and there was a uU audience, members of which were fuller at

>[ 11 p.m. The programme was an extensive one, 1 1 and opened with an overture by the combined I orchestras of the late Bijou Theatre and the I Opera House. Then"- we had "In Honour , Bound," an adaptation from Scribe by Sydney Grundy, by the B.'B's company jareeitation by : Mrs G. B. W. Lewis; and then the popular adaptation of Austey's comedy, " Vice Versa," with a speech by Mr Brougb, who* is familiarly known as " Dismal Bob." Then came a aong by Miss Llewelyn, and the evergreen screen scene from " The School for Scandal," with Mr Titheradge as Charles Surface, and Mrs Brough as Lady Teazle. Mr A. S. Mayne was induced to follow with "Phil Blood's Leap"; and the graveyard ' scene from " Hamlet," with Miss Jordan and Mr Miln on the principal deck, concluded, the orgie. I might also mention that Mr Bducicault made another speech to thank Mr Milfa for his: kindness in giving them the benefit, and I reckon he has got that particular kind of speech stereotyped by now. The profits were good. Ib afppears to me (I am rather of a hard-nail' kind of person) that Messrs Brough and Boucicaul twill not come so badly out "of this fire as they at first expected. The triumvirate are going' to give them another benefit, and the Sydney contributions alone are expected to bring in over £500 up to present writing. Mr Miln continues " Hamlet " at the Opera House.; and the Brough and Boucicault com* j pany is to play " Bachelors " to-night and tomorrow at the Hibernian Hall. On Thursday ttie're will be no performance, and on Friday, Saturday, and Monday we are to be treated with" The Two Roses," in which Miss Lilian GHmore will make her reappearance after her attack of typhoid." The company then goes to Sydney, where ifi will play until the new Bijou is bujlt and ready for them. Mr Miln's attempt to bring the country people to the Opera Hoase on Friday and Saturday last by special train did not prove particularly successful, but he has gained the reputation of being both " a great actor " and " a better adviser ; " so I hope he is happy. ,Mr Arthur Garner's' new " Silver Falls " company and " The Pointsman " were not ready for business, on Saturday, and Mr Bland Holt has been enabled to give us two " extra special " performances of "New Babylon," at the Royal. "The Pointsman" is positively promised for Thursday next, which I may mention is a most ! unusual evening to open on with a new company and a leading sensation. 'Of this more anon, as the boa constrictor said when ho encircled the calf. ' ' ' The venerable Maccabe opened at the Athenronm Hall on Saturday as per contract, and is keeping up the " Begone dull care " during the week. He is now under the able hands of the well-known " Billy " Jinkins, who has bombarded me in broad'daylight, and requests me to state that the venerable has a very strong intention of opening in Dunedin before long. Get your guns ready — for Jinkins. Urbini and his fleas are still en evidence* and appear likely to keep so as long as any one here has a shilling to spare. Mr Frank Clark and his , "English" company are; still at the Victoria Hall. Burglars broke jnto that palace of minstrelsy on Sunday, and took the fireproof safe from a room level with the gallery to a place under the stage and tried to open it, but failed. The lock was sealed with some of the company's cheek. Anyway, although the, whole, night's takings were there they had to go away empty- j handed.- Possibly they cussed, The cyclorama of •• The Battle of Waterloo " is now open, and is doing well.. I have not had time to see it yet, but a number of pressmen who were invited to a private. view on Friday speak highly of the champagne of the proprietor. They say ,very little about the battle. I am, going op to sample.it myself this week. Admirers of Miss Nellie Stewart will be sorry to learn that she is very bad indeed, and it is feared she has something very wfon'g with her lungs. Careful readers will remember reading in this column, not very long ago, that Mr Horace D'Elmaine,' who brought a Maori "Haka" troupe here during Exhibition tiaie, and was sued by the company for wages due, and was! adjudged to pay £41 damages. A distress warrant was , issued, and application was made in the District Court on Tuesday, last. The case was then postponed so that the complainants, Kuru and Brown, might be brought from New Zealand. The case was resumed' to-day, when D'Elmaine stated that he hadtakep the troupe from Mr Reeves, of New Zealand, in the disappointed hope that they would be allowed to appear at the Exhibition. . He had lost £170 by the speculation, and fully convinced the court that he had no means or property to distrain upon. The case was struck out. The lengthy inquiry into the cause of the Bijou fire was concluded to-day, when the jury (as everyone expected) could find no reason for the outbreak. They agreed, however, that an officer should be appointed to examine electric lights in theatres ; that the Bijou was badly provided with fire escapes; that the Central Board of Health did not look sufficiently after theatres ; and that the metropolitan system of fire brigades under one head and the control of a board was necessary. There have been many curious facts elicited at this inquiry, one of which is that the Opera House is considered positively unsafe, and is to be proceeded against to-morrow; that the firemen who are supposed to be in charge at the theatres often have the very, slightest knowledge of their duties; that the apparatus id often defective ; and that the Cyclorama is supposed by the fire brigades' solicitor to " be more dangerous than the battle it represents." The charge against Mr Henry Solomon, for an alleged criminal assault on Miss Marion (an actresss at the Victoria Hall) at the Palace Hotel, came again before the court on Thursday last. Thecourt was cleared during the hearing of the evidence, and an attempt was made to prove that the shock plaintiff suffered from might have been caused by her stage duties. The defendant, an elderly man, kept up his previous appearance of being amused at the charge. He is now out on bail to the tune of £400 - - Last week I had to record the sudden illness of Miss Annie Taylor (Mrs Corless) ,while playing in " Sweet Lavender " at the Sydney Criterion, and now we learn that Mr A. I. Hilton broke down on Wednesday last, and has become so bad that he has had to be put under restraint. His. mind is affected, but it is hoped only temporarily. He came here first with Miss Marie De Grey's company, and after a trip to England was engaged by Messrs Brough and Boucicault, with whom he has been playing since his return. Mr Santley, the eminent baritone, commenced his Australian concert tour before a crammed house at the Town Hall this evening, in spite of the cold and steady rain. It is needless to say' he at once captivated his audience, and had to accept encores to every one of his three selections, of which " The Vicar of Bray " gave most satisfaction. Madame Cecilia Bentanie and Mr GK W. Poole, a flight basso, also made their first appearances and made good impressions. Mr Santley will become a great favourite here. He is a very quiet unassuming man, who states he has come here for his health and to make money, and totally declines to have anything to do with the brazen interviewer. Mr Charles Warner plays at our Princess "after the opera is over," and wjU open in "Captain Swift." Adelaide follows j and after '

that he goes on tour through New Zealand. "Sinbad tile Sailor," now at thb Sydney Royal, goes to Brisbane next, and after that to Adelaide. Mr Miln thinks, 1 of producing "Henry V "at the Opera House with more limelight than any predecessor. Miss May Holt with "Every Man for Himself/ at the Royal, and Mr Frank Lincoln at Garner's Booms are the' only Adelaide attractions. "Mamma," at the Criterion, is the only novelty in Sydney this week. •• Sinbad " and " The Romany Bye " still remain at the Boyal and Her Majesty's.