THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2262, 8 July 1897, Page 39

THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES.

By Fasquin." Tuesday, July 6. •.* Professor Bristol's educated horses ap- ', peared for the last time at the Princess Theatre on Saturday. The matinee for children was largely attended in the afternoon, and there was a fair audience in the evening. The peiforinance on : both occasions greatly interested and amused ( the spectators, who showed their appreciation of the wonderful sagacity exhibited by the animals ' by frequent and hearty applause. • . •Mr Frank Lincoln, the American humourist, of whose previous visit here eight and a-half ' years ago our readers will have pleasant recollections, opens at the Princess Theatre for a ! short season on Wednesday night. A northern paper, referring to one of Mr Lincoln's enter- . ments, said: "'A little nonsense now and then is relished by the wisest men/ and Mr Lincoln's 'nonsense with a thought' is being ' relished by large audiences at the Exchange ' Hall. On Saturday night, despite a heavy downpour of rain, the house was filled in every part, and for over an hour and a-half the great ' laugh-maker ' kept his audience in a constant . ■tate of merriment. They giggled, they tittered, ' they guffawed till their sides ached ; then they applauded and went off into caohinnatory convulsions. Mr Lincoln, from the moment he begins his monologue, is en rapport with : his audience. There is never a dull or dreary j moment. As he puts it, 'If one thing don't catch on, he tries another.' If he notes that the story he is telling does cot appeal to his ' hearers, he takes up the burden of another, but ] before doirg so his reproachful 'You'll be sorry ; yet that you didn't see that ' creates a -ripple of merriment and prepares them for the next joke, , whioh never fails in its mission. A ' turn ' which lasts nearly two hours is necessarily a heavy strain upon a public entertainer, but . Frank Lincoln is as fresh and jolly and goodnatured at the last moment as at the first, and his manner as much as his matter is moat enjoyable/ Seats for the Duuedin season can be obtained at the Dresden warehouse. *.• Local playgoers will be interested to learn that Mr and Mrs Brough and their dramatic company will lsavo Melbourne for New Zealand on the return trip of the Mararoa, and will commence their farewell tour of this colony on the 24th mat., when they will produce " A Woman of No Importance^' at the Princess Theatre. The Dunedin season will last 12 nights, and " Nanoy and Co." "The Notorious Mrs Bbbsmith," " The Solicitor," ■• Fedora," "A Pair of Spectacles," "Niobe," and " Daady Dick" are attractions that are promised. * . * A considerable time has elapsed since Messrs Williamson and Masgrove have sent anything in the way of musical and specialty companies to New Zealand, so that the visit of the " Mats a " Company, whose performances are on these lines, should be welcomed. The... " firm," . whoss statements are invariably accepted in good faith by the public of this city, announce that patrons will find in the company " the most amusing, most talented, most entertaining, and absolutely the most ex- | pensive coterie ot artists " that has ever visited : New Zealand under their management. Judging from the names published, these remarks appear to be amply justified. Heading the list of a great number of " stars " is Miss Alice Leamar, tbe clever little lady who j was here some years ago with the famous London Gaiety Company. Then there is Mr John i Coleman, a celebrated comedian, dancer, and humorist, whose "scarecrow" dancing has been co popular in the neighbouring colonies ; the three Delevineß, remarkably clever groteoque artists ; Mr Frank Lawton, whose' whistling solos whilst with tbe Chinatown Company caused quite a furore ; little Gulliver, a miniature vecaiistand comedian, who is slightly over three feet hy;b ; tho Wintertou Sistern, mandoHnists ; Mr Ernest Fitts, a very popular Australian baritone ; and Mr Leoni Olarke, the " Cat King," who has nearly 200 trained cats, rats, mice, canaries, cockatoo?, hares, monkeys, and other animals, which go through a variety of clever and amusing tricks. It may be mentioned that with the exception of Miss Learner it will be the first appearance of these artists in this country. The season, which is for six nights only, will commence on Monday next, July 12. The plans will open at tho Dresden on Thursday morning. * . * The Charles Harper Tivoli Company, at present appearing in Westralia, has the Leslies and Alf Lawton as cornermen. • . • Mr George H. Wood, " the somewhat different comedian," has joined Moore and j Burgess's Minstrels in London. Tbe press ! describes him as being "real quaint," and also states that " he leads up to his humour in an original and workmanlike style." No mention, however, is made of his Australian wife, Miss Marion Ainsworth, who will be remembered by Tivoli audiences. * . * In an interview, of which an account is published in the Lyttelton Times, Mr H. Wells, a well-known Christchurch musician just returned from a visit to England, drawing a comparison between music in New Zealand and in the old country, thinks we are nearer to the English standard in vecal than in instrumental music, for the reason that, while we have made vast improvement in both branches, it is in the latter that England has moved so rapidly. Our best vocalists wonld, with a little polish, hold their own with any but those absolutely in the front rank at Home, and in this theory Mr Wells is supoorted by the opinions of intelligent New Zealandets who have made music tbeir profession in London. The average New Zealander is, if anything, rather more musical than the average Englishman, and Mr Wells has come back thoroughly imbued with our appreciation of music of the highest class. Mr Herbert Parry, Dr Stanford, and others whom he met at the Royal College of Music "all appeared (c think that, judging by the quality of those who had already passed through their hands, there was a great future, for New Zealanders in the world of mus ; c, aud Dr Stanford expressed himself astonished when he heard details of the music performed in New Zealand." It appears that students from Victoria and other colonies are able to obtain ' admission to the Royal College by means of scholarship;, while there is no such opportunity for New Zealanders, and it was suggested that Mr Wells should obtain the co-operation of a few wealthy New Zealanders in found : ng a scholarship. • . * In the action broujht by a music-ball agent against her for the recovery of certain commission on an engagement procured for her at London P&ltce Theatre, it transnired that

Mis* Lottie Collins is being paid for her services some £70 a week. A salary at the rate of considerably over €3000 a year is a large one (says a Pelican critic), and if Miss Collins's performance at the Palace Theatre may be taken as a fair sample, of the wares she has to offer, I cannot help considering that the money is worth the singer. • . • One of Bland Holt's supers at the Melbourne Royal is reputed to be a Toorak heiress, with £15,000 a year in her own right. Such people simply take the bread out of the mouths of the less fortunate, and it is to ba regretted that managers do not refuse to engage them. — Sydney Referee. • . ' Heredity again, and in a very marked degree (writes Mr Clement Scott). Mr Leo Trevor, the promising young dramatist who hss just given to Arthur Bourchier a play on the subject of " Dr Johnson," and a good character part into the bargain, is a lineal descendant of David Garrick. His grandmother was a Miss Gwrick, and her father was David Garrick's heir-at-law and son of Djivid Garrick's brother George. Leo Trevor's second name is Garriok, and his father has often heard his mother speak of David Garrick's widow, with whom she was very often at Hampton. This was the good old lady who, before her death, gave a handshake from David Garrick, which desended in the next; generation to E. L. Blanchard, who was very proud of it, as is recorded in his " Life." •.* "Last Call" sends me the following items : — E. S WilUrd has just concluded "the most successful artistic and financial tour he has ever had in America." He was to return to England in the St. Louis on June 2. Julia Marlow and Robert Taber have also closed their present tour. John Hare and his company left for England in the Britannia. Henry Miller has sailed for Europe to dispose of the foreign rights of " Heartsease." Madame Lillian Nordica will return to America in September, in time for the Maine Musical Festival, after which she will begin a tour of 40 concerts. Lillian Russell has received an offer from Doyly Carte to appear in his London opera productions. Miss Russell's last London appearance was at the Lyceum Theatre in " The Queen of Brilliants." At Daly's " The Circus Girl " is proving a big success. As Dora Wemyss; Virginia Earle "gave one of the best impersonations of her career — sweetly ingenuous and thoroughly sympathetic." The stage management of J. A. E. Malone was admirable in every respect. Dan Leno has left for England after a most successful American visit, and expressed his intention of revisiting that country on the first opportunity. An old Australian favourite, Rose Dearing, is kindly mentioned in a recent Mirror, and a pretty picture of the artiste adorns one of its pages. , Nat C. Goodwin will produce " The Taming of the Shrew " next season with Maxine Elliot in the role of Katherine. Mrs Henry E Abbey has sailed for London, and contemplates accepting the offer of. Mr George Edwardes to appear iv one of his companies. Yvette Guilbert has been married in Paris to Dr Max Schilter. Olga Nethersolo has closed her American season at Philadelphia. Louis Nethersole says that when his sister returns to America again — which will be the season after next — it will - not bs under the Frohman management, owing to her dissatisfaction with many things connected with her tour. Isabelle Urquhart has signed a contract for a tour of the Keith circuit. 1 LUNEDIN AMATEUR DRAMATIC CLUB. The Dunedin Amateur Dramat : c Club made its reappearance on Friday night in the military drama " Neck or Nothing," the occasion being a benefit j to the club's coach, Mi- A. Burton. There was a I fair attendance, arid the performance, although : it suffered somewhat in consequence of insufficient rehearsal, was on the whole well received. "Neck o- - Nothing" having been staged several times in Dunedin, it is unnecessaiy to here sketch the plot. Mr M'Conaell nude a mediocre Colonel Egerton, his pulpit style of speaking marring his ■ personation of the character. The part of the Rev. Paul Davenant was happily allotted to Mr J. Mi»ckay, but he would do well if he leaned less heavily oa the prompter. Some of the other performers might also profitably take this adv.ee to heart. To" Mrs Helen T)unbar was entrusted the character of the Countess WoroDZoff, and to Miss Nell Ogden that of her daughter Nadine. Both ladies fully justified their place in the cast. Miss Ogden creating a particularly favourable impression. The company was assisted by a fife and drum band and * squad of volunteers, some of whom looked decidedly ill at ease. An orchestra pleasantly diversified the proceedings.