THEATRICAL & MUSICAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1903, 24 July 1890, Page 32

THEATRICAL & MUSICAL NOTES.

Contributions from tho Profession ohronlollng their movements md doings are invited. AH communications to be addressed to " Puquln," Otago Witness Office.

A private letter from Auckland atateß that Bicknesa in on© form or another stuck to the members of the Williamson, Garner, and Musgrove Opera Company up to the time they shook the dußt of the colony off their feet. After mentioning the accident sustained by Mr William Elton while out riding after rabbits, and from which he fortunately recovered sufficiently to appear once more on the boards before the company left, the writer sayu:— "The prima donna, Miss Menvale, was also laid up with la grippe, and had to bo relieved for some nights, the company having to put on 'The Mikado' at very short notice on account of her illness. All the ' boys have been laid up more or less en the trip up, and they say they never saw suoh a trip for Bickness. However, all's well that ends well, and everyone was pretty well convalescent ere they quitted Maoriland. They did fairly well bore." The writer also mentions that Wirfch Bros., of cirens fame, have started a riding school in Auckland, pending the arrival of their Wild West show. . A three-act farcial drama entitled "That Billet Doux," by a Dunedin author, Mr H. Omstead Stentiford, will probably be produced either in Dunedin or Melbourne at an aarly date. As might be anticipated from Mr Stantiford'Blong connection with theatrical matters, the work has many pleasing points, and thobe who have had the privilege of looking over tho MS. are of opinion that it will bo a decided hit. _. , . Mr Wm. Millar. Olaremont, Littleburn, writes as follows with referenco to an extract which appeared in this column a oouplo of issues back:— "ln your remarks on voioes which appeared in the Witness of the 10th inst. you state that Mozart heard Luorezia Ajugari, go three toneß above Gin alt. May I ask if it was Cor O sharp ? Inoredible as it may appear to you, I hare a daughter poßsesßiug a pure soprano voice who goes up to the double Cm alt on my piano. My instrument iB not quite a full tone below concert pitch, She astonished MJbs Rosso by sustaining the B flat at concert pitch when she herself only took the D in alt. My daughter goes with a clear tone down to G below the treble atave. Her v«ice is remarkable for being even, musical, and clear throughout the whole compftSß. Should my statement strike you as being tall I Bhall be glad to afford you tbe opportunity of judging for yourself if you choose to pay me a visit. lam giving a concert at the City Hall on the 28th mat, when my daughter will sustain this wonderful G in alt in one of her songs, ; " Can tab " writes as follows in Tuesday's Daily Times : — I think in reference to the statement that " ' Chums ' is the first contribution to the dramatic literature of New Zealand" (Sir G. Grey), that attention Bhould be given to tho following gentlemen who, to my knowledge, wrote playß in New Zealand before j perhaps Mr Christie Murray began his career. { Some, I know, wrote more than 25 years ago for the stage, viz. :— B. L. Farjeon, R. V. Whitworth, Sir J. Vogel, B. T. Gillon, George Darrell, F. Hume, John Howe, Tyrell, Sesrfelle, and Carmini Morley, the last two being opera writers, to say nothing of the numerous dramatic poets, &c. i Miss Julia Kuight, who will be remembered as one of the exhibition singers, has secured one of the leading engagements with the Nellie Stewart Opera Company now in Sydney. The company comes to New Zealand before Christmas. Madame Melba scored a triumph in " Bsmeralda." All the. members of the Royal Family in London witnessed the performance. Sho visits St. Petersburg in the winter, and then goes to America during the Chicago Exhibition. A Rome correspondent of the Graphic writee: — " All the musical critics of Italy who have been present at the first four representations of the new opera, ' Cavalleria Rusticaua,' agree that a new musical genius has been discovered. The author— a young man of 26, of Leghorn, teaching music at a school iv Sicily, with a salary of lOOfr (£4) per month—composed the whole opera in 50 days. The structure is masterly, and the melody rich, flowing, purely Italian. The press salutes in the young man the continuator of Rossini's and Verdi's genius." Play " She Stoops to Conquer ""in modern costume and you would find it an outrageous farce. Treat "School for Scandal" in the Batne fashion, and most of it would seem extravagant, while the immortal screen scene would be found so tragic that the audience would undoubtedly resent Charleß Surface's ill-timed levity, and probably hiss him off the fltoge.— World. i Mr DOyly Carte losea £10,000 on hia " Gondoliers " Bea3on, whioh is about coming to a close in New York. Theie doeß not aoem to be the slightest truth in the wicked statement which is going the rounds of the English press that Madame Patti introduced " Home, sweet home," into the mad scene of " Lucia." It is, however, a fact that in Rossini's "Barber" she sang the " Shadow " song from "Dlnorah," and, Becondly, " Home, sweet home," besides, for the usual doublo encore, "Coming thro' the rye." Another well known prima donna undor similar provocation introduced into this opera the grßat American lyric " Please give me a penny, sir," followed for an encore by " The old folks at home," • A Btory concerning an English aotor who was a member of a company recently snowbound in the Sierras while en reutt from California to the East is told by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Before their train was pulled out of the drifts they bad been reduced to eatiug the coarse fare of the railroad labourers, and got little enough even of that, bo that thoy all had a magnificent hunger on when the train reached a small station at which there was a reßtaurant, and the Englishman was the first to find a Beat at a table. " Bring me in a hurry," he said to the landlord, a burley Western man, a porter-house steak, some devilled kidneys, a brace of chops, plenty of vegetables, and two bottles of Bass' bitter beer." The landlord stuck his head out of the dining room window and yelled to somebody in tho rear apartment : " Say, Bill, tall the band to play • Rule, Britau nia ; ' the Prince of Waleß ia here." Miss Mabel Harrison, a lady who lately distinguished herself by her splendid rendering of Queen Catherine's famous scene at the Royal College of Musio, won from Mr Irving the remark : "You all, with one exception, say your pieces, you do not feel them, and that oxcep tion io Miss Harrison, who has one of the most sympathetic voices that I ever heard." Miss Harrison has been appointed to the post of elocution mistres3 at Datcholor's large school in Oambarwell.

Mra Kendal'B " Dramatic Opinions/ which are sold in book form by the Banoroft Company, is a very entertaining little book. It is full of reminiaoenoes and anecdotes told in a most pleasing vein. The following from her little book will ba of interest to everybody -aotors.authon, andthe publiogen«rftlly ;-"I

may as well confess that I am not a good judge of a play or a part. I will tell you aninelance of my srross Btupidity, by reason of which I lost my hirsband and his partner a very larger Bum of money. I had sent to me, some long time ago, a play. I thought the idea was splendid, but I didn't like the way in which it waß worked out. One scene I found, I may Bay, absurd— namely, that a man should sit down and forge his wife's name in her cheque book, before her. I thought this was buou a blemish in the play, and so ludiorous, and suoh a bad starting point, that, though the rest of the play was clever, and the audience might forget that failing in it, still it would masa a bad beginning and would more or less rum the play. I returned it to its author, and told him bo. The play was produced at the matinee, It was an enormous success, and wflß eventually put into an evening bill and made thousands. Let me here blushinßly, and with the doepest contrition, say that that play wa<? called "Jim the Penman." The Home papers are all lavish m cneir praises of Mrs Langtry's Esther Sandraa, in the play of that namo. Figaro says :— • Mrs Langtry must surprise all by the power and foice of her acting in the part of Esther Sandraz, and this may be said to reaoh a thrilling climax quite early in the play, when, learning the treaihery of the man she has but too fondly adored, she -ears from her neck and arms the priceless jewels he ha 3 given her, and after denouncing him in a rage of passion and hot fury, like ft very Nemesis, rushes from the apartment in an excess of overwrought and uncontrollable emotion, a state which may _be described as one of hysterical paßsion. Mrs Langtry does not surpass this one great effort throughout the subsequent course of the play, and though her manner and style when we ?ea her as the * f emme de glaco ' aro admirable, with their cutting raillery, withering irony, and biting sarcasm, yet it is in the firat aot that Bhe is undeniably great, bo far as her acting is concerned. That she ia becomingly and beautifully dressed in every scene wherein Bhe appears, that she moves about and deports herself with an innate grace all her own, that her elocution is easy and most duloet-toned— all theße are faots, which need no mention, but which, when mentioned in conjunction with her undeniable dramatic powers, go far to secure for her a high place and position on the British stage." It iB stated that Mr J. L. Toole requires a guarantee of £300 per week to visit Launceaton. , , , , The prettießfc girl in the whole nest of beauties that sat in a box at a cunaio opera in BoBton: the other night, was one of thoae hrepros3ible creatures that famine or death could not control:— lt so chanced that the stout and bald gentleman pluyinp upon the basß viol stood immediately beneath tho box wherein the prettj* girl was sitting— so close to her, in fact, that the long handle of- hia -viol extended upward almost to her perfect nose. For some moments after the opera began the girl g&zdd interestedly at the instrument, without apparently listening to the music $bat progressed on the stage. Then, while no one but myself was watching, sho leaned forward and, extending a gloved hand, unset e wed several cf the keys at once. It was at an important time during a solo, while the viol was being usod as the principal accompaniment,, and the horrible discord* that moaned forth were more than the audience could bear. The prima donna stopped short in her song, the orchestra conductor banged his baton madly against his musio rack, and every player in the band lost his head, the result being chaos of the worst kind. And while this insanity reigned, the oause of it all, the pretty girl in the box, sat calmly baok in her chair, making faces of sorrow at the misfortune that provailed around her. The miEchiovous beauty looked fully aB innocent aB the best scholar in a convent school, and no one but she and I were conscious that she wos a litHe davil with the face of a saint, " Released," a one aot drama by C. H. Diokenson, recently produced at the Comedy Theatre, deals with the period when Communism held sway in the Parisian capital. Madame Lasalle and her supposed daughier, Marie, are living in apartments, and , Captain Paul Vallete makes an offer of marriage to Marie, who confesses thn.t she loves him, but refuses to become his Jlancee. This leads to explanations by Mario and Madame Laaalle. The latter admits that she was so anxious to retain Marie, whom she adopted, that; she had brought about a marriage between her' and her own Bon, Victor Leroux. For a month all had gono well ; then followed neglect, and finally cruelty and blows. Leroux then , beoame implicated in a case of robbery with violenoe, and was arrested and sentenced to five years imprisonment. Madame Lasalle and Mane had then come to Paris under their, present assumed name. After this explanation Paul retires, and Marie falls into a swoon, from whioh she awakes to find her husband by her side. He is fighting in the Communist ranks, but has fears that he is on the loping side, and therefore desires to leave Paris. He demands money from Marie, and informs her that, bavin? so luckily discovered her, she must perforce go with him. Marie refuses either to give him money or to go with him. Leroux thereupon robs her of her diamond necklaco ; but his mother, who enters opportunely, compels him to restore it. Baffled in his designs, Leroux leaves the house, is Been by the guard, Bhot at, and wounded. He fließ to Marie for refuge, but is seen and followed by the Boldieis. Marie shelters him in her own room, and refuses the guard permission to search the premises. Oa> tain Vallate appears, and she beseeches him to save her husband. He orders the guard to retiro, and after a Btruggle between the rival claims of love and duly he yields to the former. Just as the Captain is opening a door for Leroux'fl escape the guard re-onter. Leroux endeavours to reach the door, but his wound proveß fatal, and he dies in his mother's arms.

JEFFERSON'S REMINISCENCES. In the new Century Mr Joseph Jefferson, the celebrated aotor, continues his reminiscences. He gives an amusing account of his visit to Australia in 1861. Mr Rolamo was the leasee of the Sydney Theatre, and received Mr Jefferson rather coolly—" You Bee, Mr Jeffries OQ| bog pardon, Jimmison, I mean — with all due respect to you, thero 'as been so many blswsted Yankee cornice over 'ere that wo are kind o' nick on 'em. You may be a hextra good lot for a'l I know, but lately the queerest mummers we've 'ad 'ay come from Amorikoe. This printed stuff you've got looks spicy— in fact, I don't know as over I see spicier but it don't prove uothiuk, does it ? " My agent here broke in with the assurance that I was a legitimate aotor and cofc a mummer. "Legitimate ! said tho manager. "Wall, that's the worst rot of all. The legitimate would wentilate my theeater on the first night ; and as for that dismal old guy ' 'Amlefc,' I wouldn't 'aye 'im at no price." „ ' ' TH E GBEAT HAOTOB FBOM AMEBICA." On going to the theatre ia tho township where he was playing, Jefferson found an orator on the steps orating thus : — " Oh, yen 1 oh, yea ! oh, yea 1 Step up, ladies and gentlemen ; now or never is your only chance to see the greatest living wonder of the age, Joseph Jefferson, the greatest Hactor from Amerikee. Bli power of pr.odn.oing tears rad smile* At vvm

and the same time is bo great that he caused the Emperor of Roushia to weep on hie weddin 1 night, and made her Gracious Majesty the Queen bust out laughin' at the funeral of Prince Albert, Ha ia the bosom friend of the President of Amerikee and the hidol of 'is Royal 'IghneßS the Prince of Wales."

A TEBBIBLE AUDIENCE. Having had a long rest from acting I returned to Melbourne to play a short engagement with my former partner at the Haymarket, and then Hailed for Van Diemen's Laud, now Tasmania. There was at the time I speak of, and ia now, a most refined society in Tasmania, though among the lower classes there was a strong flavour of the conviot element. I acted " The Ticket of -Leave " for the first time in Hobart Town, and there was much excitement in the oity when the play was announced. At least 100 ticket of-leave men were in the pit on the first night of ita production. Before the ourtain rose, I looked through it at this terrible audience ; the faoes in the spit were a study. Men with low foreheads and small peering, ferret-looking eyes ; some with flat noses, and square cruel jaws, and sinister expressions— leering, low, and cunning all wearing a Bullen, dogged look as though they would tear the benches from the pit, and gut the theatre of Hb scenery if one of thoir kind was held up to public soorn upon the Btage. The first act of the play progressed with but little excitement. Those men aeemed to enjoy the humorous and pathetic Bide of the Btory with great reli°b ; but when I came upon the stage in the second act, revealing the emaciated faatures of a returned conviot with sunken eyes and a closely nhaved head, there was a painful stillness in the houße. The whole pifc seemed to lean forward and strain their eager eyea upon the scone ; and aa Bob Bnerly revealed to his sweetheart the "seorets of the prison-house," thera were little mnrmura of recognition and shakings of the head, aa though they fully recognised the boal illusions that thfiy bo well remembered ; deepdrawn sighs for the Bufferings that Bob had gone through, and little smothered laughs at some of the old well-rememberad inconveniences of prison life ; but, then, Bob was a hero.

" YOU'VE BEEN "THERE." As the play progressed fchair enthusiasm increased. Whenever Bob was hounded by a detective or ill-treated by the old Jew, they would howl their indignation afc the actoru, and when he came out unscathed at the end of the play, a monument of perseouted innocence, they choered to tho very echo. This performance rendered me extremely popular with some of the old " lags " of Hobart Town ; and I was often accosted on the street by these worthies and told some touching tale of their early persecutions. In fact, they quite looked on me as an old " pal." These courtesies were very flattering, bub the inconvenience that I was caused by being poked iv the ribs and winked at now and then, as much as to say, "All righet, old boy, we know— you've been there," rendered my favouritism among these fellows rather irksome.