THEATRICAL & MUSICAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1956, 20 August 1891, Page 32

THEATRICAL & MUSICAL NOTES.

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The Juvenile Opera Company brought a very successful season to a clobo on Saturday night, " The Pirates .of Penzance " being produced on the last two nights to crowded houses. On Friday night many had to be content with standing room in the circle, a very unuoual occurrence of late. The result of the reduction in prices has amply demonstrated the wisdom of the course adopted, and the management have every reason to be satisfied with having listened to public representations on the matter. As in the case of the other pieces staged during the season, " The Pirates " was capitally put on the boards. There were many very bright features about the representation of the opera, not the least gratifying being the success achieved by Miss L. Everett as Mabel. The music of the part is more than moderately difficult and would severely tar the powers of some artistes of considerable ability and experience, but this young lady, greatly surpassing her Efforts in either of the previous productions of the company, fairly overcame the difficulties that she had to meet. She scored indeed what may be called an instantaneous success, and her first song, "Poor wandering one," the trills in which where admirably executed, evoked a double encore. She was heard to even greater advantage in her solo in the second act, " Oh, leave me not to pine alone," which she rendered with grace and feeling, well deserving the emphatic encore that the number received. Miss F. Russell acted efficiently as Ruth, and sang her song, " When Frederick was a little lad," with good effect. Master Alf. Stephens whose proved abilities secured for him a particularly hearty reception, had not in the part of Major-general Stanley the same scope for the display of his powers as in the two other operas that have been produced during the season, but there "were some capital touches of humour about his impersonation, and the patter song was sung in excellent style, eliciting an imperative encore, but the lovely song, " Softly sighing to the river," with its effective rippling accompaniment, was not sufficiently suited either to his method or to his voice to be equally successful. Miss E. Ziegler, who was oast as Frederick, was suffering from a severe oold, which detracted materially from the merit of her performance. Had she been in voice, Miss Ziegler would probably have made a decided hit in the part, for her acting was good, and her delivery of her lines in the dialogue clear and intelligent. Master H. Quealy made good use of his opportunities as the Sergeant of Police, and the song, "When a felon's not engaged " and the " Tarantara " chorus were both encored. The same performer was very amusing in the first aofc as Samuel, which ! part was filled in the second sot by Miss B. Maokay. The Pirate King was represented by a performer who made his first appearance with the company and whose name was set down on the programme as W. Feroy. This was evidently a juvenile of an elder growth, who sings well and correctly, but without much fire, and who has a lofty disregard for the aspirate letter. The song "For I am the Pirate King," suffered from being sung in a somewhat lifeless manner, but the king's share of the " Paradox" trio, was well rendered. Misses L. Stephens, A. Gildale, and W. Wilson sustained the parts of Mabel's three leading sisters. The audience broke in upon a chorus to give little Miss Stephens a reception, and it was a great disappointment to them that she had not more to do. She was warmly applauded for the song " Let us gaily trip the measure," and also for " Rule Britannia," which she Bang at the termination of the opera, when a beautiful tableau was presented. The chorus did their work well, the maidens' choruses being distinctly better than the pirates', which were not always steady. • The policemen introduced some capital " business," and a perfect roar of laughter was caused by the mixed sizes of the foree — the penultimate member of the rank being the most diminutive boy in the company, and coming to tbe elbow of his neighbour. The opera was mounted in splendid style, and the excellence of the scenery obtained due recognition at the hands of the house.

The performance of " Macbeth " for a corn* plimentary benefit to Mr W. G. Carey and Miss Cynthia E. Carey— who arrived in Dunedin as members, some weeks ago, of the Standard Dramatic Company— attracted a very fair house to the Princess Theatre on Monday evening. Mr Carey, fairly carried the house with him in his impersonation of the Thane of Cawdor. His was a painstaking and intelligent representation of a character which has been played by every aotor of famous name from the time" of the Restoration down to the present time. In his soliloquies Mr Carey was very powerful, but in all respects his performance was a good one — though, no doubt, on several points there may be difference of opinion as to whether he took the right view — and it stood out all the more prominently because of the generally inefficient support accorded to him. In essaying the part of Lady Macbeth, Miss Cynthia Carey undertook a severe task, for not only have all the most celebrate! actresses in the serious walks of the drama made it matter of conscience to play Lady Macbeth— and have played it with not unvarying success — but she has physical disadvantages which militate against her representation of the character. She battled gamely with her difficulties, though, and there was probably not a person in the audience but was surprised to find her give such a satisfactory delineation of the part as she did. Mr A. O. Hanlon's Macduff was an impersonation marked by much earnestness, but the performances of the others who having taken part in the Masonic Dramatic Club's performances now sustained the same characters as then call for no remark.

The news of Sarah Bernhardt's wonderful success has already set Mr Irving by the ears. I understand (w.i^es the Daily Times Home correspondent) that he was wailing to gee how the experiment of doable prices would succeed ere he wonll commit himself to a voyage to Australia. Indeed he told Toole that if Bernhardt succeeded he would go out, and so you may have him shortly in Melbourne and Sydney at least. £800, the papers tell ue, was in the house the first night of tba divine Sarah's appearance. She couldn't draw a house within miles of that in London. When she plays at the Lyceum at the ordinary prices the house is well filled but not overcrowded, and the Lyceum will only hold £400 all told. Then, too, £513 was the first eight's "take" of the Gaiety Company in Melbourne. If this goes <n, emigration will ae'j in from the Strand ontwards. Everyoae unites in denouncing the folly of Miss Nellie Stuart in throwing np the part of B ebee in " The Nautch Girl." Her successor, Miss Lenore Snyder, is conspicuous for looks, but nothing much else. Anyhow, she is now a known personage, whereas she was one of a multitude before. And Miss Nellie Stuart remains one of a multitude. I have good reasons for knowing that the real reason why she threw

up the part was because she thought Jessie Bond was too strong for her. She wanted the part of Chinna Loofa cut down, so that Jessie might not shine too brilliantly, and when DOyly Carte peremptorily refused, she went off in a huff. She'll never get a chance like this again. Myra Kemble opens in Wellington with a strong dramatio company on tbe 28th prox. "Dr Bill " and " Jane " are among the pieces whiob will be billed, and the company will be piloted throes the colony by Mr Joe St. Glair.

Writing of the reoent death of J. K. Emmet, an exohange saya :—" During the few days of Bemi-healtb he enjoyed while in New York be had arranged with Ramsoar, who ia a thorough musioian, to write him the score of a new song, wbioh he intended to introduce in a pieoe he was to produce daring the coming season. The words were to have been written by Emmet, the song being entitled ' la there room for me,' the story on which the song was to have been based being the plaintive plea of an orphan girl for admittance to a boya home in London. A few hours before tbe last attack of sickneßS * Fritz' desoended to the parlours, and, seating himself at the piano, played an accompaniment and sang the lullaby that is bo intimately connected with hia fame as an actor. It~was tbe last aot of whiob. be was conscious, although frequently in bia delirium he would break out in snatches of hia favourite melodies. The residenta expected that some day he would settle down among them and make the place bia home. He was already in negotiation for the purobaße of a villa aite." Annie Rooney appeared at a Glasg )w Polioe Court recently, oharged with creating a disturbance. Bnt no Joe turned up to pay the fine.

Mrs Soott-Siddons will, it is said, return to the stage next Beason, and bring with her a new play. A company wbiob inoludea 60 artists, of whom Mias Leonora Braham, who a few yeara ago visited Australia, is one, has left England for South Amerioa. Its specialty ia English opera. Many in Ofcago who have a kindly regard for Marion Willis and her husband J. F, Eeogb, will be pleased to read the following paragraph from a Taamanian paper :— " Miss Dora Keogb promises to become a olever actress. With - youth and a pleasing presence on her aide, she has also inherited much of the histrionic talent of her mother, but she should apply herself more closely to the study of elocution." We learn from Table Talk that Mra Woods (nee Essie Jenyns) is now touring in Norway with her husband and baby boy, and is expected to return to Newcastle in her husband's yacht somewhere about Christmaa time. Mr W. J. Holloway, who was so heart-broken over the loaa of his step-daughter, ia getting a substantial solatium in tbe form of royalties on the many plays he has secured the right to in London, one of the most successful being that of " Jane," whiob is [shortly to be produced in Australia.

Old Dunedin theatre goers of the sixties will be pleased to learn that Dolly Green ia still to tbe fore, as the following paragraph from a Home paper shows: — "The 'Lancashire Sailor,' by Mr Brandon Thomas, is a serious and even pathetic pieoe, written with a nice literary flavour in tha dialogue, and is very well aoted by Miss Edith Chester as a blind girl, the author aa the seafaring hero, Miss Dolores Drummond, and others." The most recent production at the Theatre Fran^aia, ia " Griaeldis," a version of Bocoacoio's story. It is by MM. Silvestre and Morand, and has achieved a great success, though the characters and dialogue are by no means fin de sieole. One of the obaraoters, Satan, admirably played by M; Ooquelin, would probably find his very existence denied by most French playwrights. The Griseldis is Mdlle. Bartet.

. A blaok opera troupe, all the members of which are negroes, baa been performing at Hamburg. The prima donna, named Maria Selika, is known as the " blaok Patti." There are 50 artists in the troupe, all genuine blacks. An English journal remarks: — "In 'L'Afrioaine' the ' black Patti ' would be all there, but what about 'La Dame Blanche ' or the • blonde Titania ' or • Mignon ' ? " Mr Leonard Irving, like his brother, Mr Henry Irving, jun., has resolved to follow in his father's footsteps, and adopt the stage aa bis profession. He had been intended for the diplomatic service, but tbe glare of the footlights has seemingly proved irresistible to him. A rival to Sara— Signorina Eleanora Duse —a young Italian actress upon whom the mantle of Ristori appears to have fallen, 'ban made a great sensation in St. Petersburg, where she has been playing in Shakespeare's "Antony and Cleopatra," "Camille," " Odette," "Fernanda," " Romeo and Juliet," 11 Francillon," and most of the pieces in whiob Madame Sara Bernhardt is so distinguished. The Russian correspondent of L'Arte Dramatica claims for La Duse superiority over her great French rival ; but then he is a compatriot of tbe former, and just now France and Italy are not on friendly terms. Those fin de sieole productions of the modern stage, the boy and girl aotor, are now distinguished in New York aa " aotorines " and 11 aotoretteß,"

It was announced that Mr Charles Warner had scoured the colonial rights of the new Drury Lane drama "The Sailor's Knot," but Mr Bland Holt, it seems, is the luoky individual.

Madame Melba (says a Home paper of a late date) reappeared as Juliet on Tuesday, and looked as charming, sang as sweetly, and aoted as stiffly as ever. Another case of a born singer being plaoed at a disadvantage fey her lack of histrionic ability. Figaro is responsible for the following :— 41 One of the beßt stories of Toole's Australian tour has not yet been told on this side of the Equator, not even by the veteran humourist himself, at leaßt in public. It so happened that Sir Charles Halle preceded Mr Toole at a leading goldfields centre in Victoria. Mayors of golden cities are very lavish in their hospitalities, and insist on every distinguished visitor quaffing ohampagne in the town hall, This particular mayor was more remarkable for bis good sooial qualities than hia scholarship, and in proposing the health of the eminent Manchester musician he persistently pronounced the surname of Sir Charles in one syllable— ' Hal'— until he was nudged and corrected by a learned alderman. After a few weeks Toole oamo along that way, and the mayor was resolved on not layhfg himself open to publio correction this time. He would ba sure of hia two syllables with the ' aocent on,' and so our ever-green friend of King William street found himself pleasantly referred to throughout the mayoral speech aa Mr ♦ Tooley.' " From a spectacu'ar point of view, the present revival of "The Oorsican Brothers" at the Lyceum is very splendid. I suppose Mr Irving thought it absolutely necessary to mount this old fashion el pUy with tbe utmost magnificence, or it would stf nd no chance with fiu da siecle audiences, even with himself as tha vre'rd brothers, Of coune the supernatural has still a fascination for many paopla ;

but apart from the principal characters and Chateau Renaud, there ia no human interest in the piece. But that scene at the opera on tbe occasion of a bal masque is a triumph of stage piotorial art, and, if memory serves me rightly, far more elaborate than it waa 10 years ago, Mr Irving's acting as tbe brothers Franohi, especially aa Fabien, is among hia best efforts.

In Mr Edward Stirling's "Old Drury Lane," mention is made of an actor named Wilson who, while performing at Swanaea, got strangely confused. Discovered/in one scene tied to a barrel, and floating on the |sea, he ■hould bave Baid, with appropriate melancholy, "For 15 hours I have been floating on this dreadful sea, toased to and fro." But, forgetting himself, the victim of the barrel whimpered, "For 15 yearn I bave been tied to tbia tub, tossed up and down by the relentless waves." Whereupon a voice from the gallery exolaimed, " Stop, stop, Mr Wilson ; tap tbe tub, and let's have a drink ! "

By order of the Mikado, European musio baß been for some years cultivated in Japan, and Mr E. W. Mason, a gentleman resident in that country, baa recently paid a visit to Leipzig at the Mikado'a expense for the purpose of inspecting and making a report upon the modes of teaobing prevailing in the in stitutiouß of that city. European instruments are now used in Japanese orchestras, and large strides have been made towards Europeanising Japanese music. Formerly the five-note soale and monotonic musio was only in general use in Japan, but now the European soale is in course of adoption, and harmony is being studied.

Augustus Thomas, tbe brilliant young author of "Alabama," aaya that the now famous play waa inspired by the song " Down on the farm," played on the piano at the Lambs' Club, New York, by E. M. Holland, the talented oharaoter actor lately here with A. M. Palmer's company. Tbe beautiful strain seemed, he aaya, to float through bis brain till be slept, and in a dream saw tbe falling-down gate and the cannon lying amid crumbling atones, tbo Bcene gradually working itself into the perfect plot of the play. This air is played within tbe houae on the stage during one of the most touching aoenea in the aeoond aot. Mr Thomas made his first succesß aa a playwright by the dramatisation of Mrß Burnett's "Editha'a Burglar," which he afterward successfully expanded into the four-act comedy-drama " The Burglar." Madame Melba made her first appearance for tbe present London season at tbe Italian Opera on 2nd June in Gounod's " Romeo et Juliette." Her improvement from last year is very remarkable, and the tremulous tones of three years ago have given place to tbe pure production of a musioal and resonant voice. Her singing alike in the trivial mußio of the waltx air is tbe first act and the impassioned strains of the third and fourth were admirable. Jean de Reszke was an ideal Romeo, and tbe reßfc of the oast waa exceptionally good. She waa subsequently to Appear as Gilda, in "Rigoletto." A prominent New York music teaober ia authority for these facts :— " There are no less than 2000 singers employed in the choira of wealthy churches of , New York who receive but Idol a week each for their services. About 1000 are paid 2dol, and leas than 200 receive 4dol a Sunday. This means attendanse at morning and evening prayers, at least one rehearsal a week, and occasional work at tbe sociable or reunion, for which the chorister receives a plate of salad and a biscuit, or a saucer of ice cream and a lady's finger. There is a great deal of money in religion, but it does not appear from the above faota that tbe choir has a very large share of it. Mdlle de Vere, the Patti of church choirs, gets lOOdol a Sunday, whiob is unprecedented in tbe church world of music."

Nine thousand dollars ia named aa the Bum the dancer Otero took with Lor from Amerioa. Her gains are surpa3sed by thoae of Carmen* oita, who arrived there two years ago praotioally penniless, and who is said to be worth now at least 50,000d01. Ibsen is responsible for much. The other day an eminent judge, thinking to give some friends a treat, sent bis servant to Bond street to book seven stalls for "L'Enfant Prodigue." Tbe servant, forgetting the name, asked for seven stalls " for tbe foreign play," and received them tot " Hedda Galbler I " Aa the error waa not discovered until too late, the party went to the Vaudeville ; but at the end they unanimously asked their boat what they bad done that he should deliberately inault them. That eminent judge has been struck off the viaiting lists of three families. The San Francisco News Letter is particularly severe on J. L. Sullivan, as will be seen from the following paragraph :— " Men and Woman" begins its fourth and last week at tbe Baldwin, Monday night, with fair prospects. It is a noticeable fact that no falling off in the attendance at respectable performances is caused by the crush and jamb of sporting men, bravos, butchers, and bullies in the auditorium, the lobbies, and even the sidewalks of tbe temple wherein is enshrined the big brute called John L, Sullivan. The reason is that tbe reputable portion of the community, whiob would like to put itself on a level with the contingent aforesaid, is not so good at pußbing and fighting, and bo can't get in. ... Judging by tbe crowd at the Bush Street Theatre, there must be money in matter that mind has never aohieved. Let us hope bo. It mußt take a bier pile to reoonoile a gentleman such aa Duncan B. Harrison ia reputed to be to playing aeoond fiddle to a burly and brainless sloggor," Mias Alice Gomez, the distinguished singer, waa married on June 2 to Mr T. H. Webb, at St. Mary Abbot's, Kensington, London. There ia quite a romance about the wedding, for it waß from the bridegroom that the bride received her musical training at Calcutta, prior to her appearanoe as a vooalißt. Mra Webb, aa she now must be oaUed. quickly won all hearts when ahe first Bang in England. In the Royal Academy this year there are two portraits of the sweet-voiced Eurasian. ■

In the show at the Crystal Palace upwards of 20 wild animals take part, but the feature a that they perform together in one great cage. The tiger literally lies down with the lion, the leopard gambols about with the polar bear, and the cheetah is on amicable terms with the boarhound. Moreover, when they are tired with playing like a company of kittens, the animals lie down to sleep in the same cage. When they ate awake they achieve, alone and in combination, some really remarkable feats, To Bee a couple of lions playing at see-saw, a tiger on a tricycle, and a bear acting the part ot a clown at a circus, ia a great novelty. At the bidding of the trainer 12 of the animals form a pyramid, and a couple of barneßsed tigers draw a chariot containing a lion covered with a cloak, while two boarhounda aot as footmen. As the cage in which the performance is piven at intervals is 40ft in diameter, all tbe spectators have a full viaw of it. The show ia as entertaining as it is extraordinary, and, with the other attractions of the palace, will doubtless ba quite irresistible to the publio during the summer season.

A Moscow paper saya: — "Mr Prj'nsKlantaky is a new pianißt who is making a came for himself." He aeoda it badly,