AUSTRALIAN STAGE GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 2274, 30 September 1897, Page 39

AUSTRALIAN STAGE GOSSIP.

(Specially Written roa the Otago Witness.)

De,vr Pasquipt,— Miss Ada Juneen, the old-time Dutch artiste, intends touring M&orilaud with a varie'y company. From one of an inlerasting series of articles entitled " fi-reat Fii es of Sydney" (No. 2— The Prince of Wales Theatre) published in the Sunday Times, 1 take the following: —

The Piince of Wales Theatre was burnt twice in the course of a dozen, yeais, loss of life being recorded on each occision. On the first occasion — October 3, 1880— the conflagration started in a neigh Viouri' c, building, aud when the brigade arrived the flames had spread to the western gable of the Prince of Wales Theatre, fmt catching near the green room. Within half an hour the theatre walls collapsed, several parsons being enveloped in the ruins. Besides the destruction of the theatre, oth».r places wholly or partly de-troyed were Holmea's Bilcery, King street (whoie the fire originated), Barkhausen's Hotel in Castlereagh street, Ralph .Tolino's n Princes of Wales Hotel, and several other places. The theatre building was the property of Mr Liycoclr, M P.. who had recently purchased from Mr Neile for £30,000, and Mr Rayuer had only just become lessee. Mr Rayner lost £200 woith of wardrobe, one of the orchesira a 'cello valued at 50#s, aud Mr M'Gowan and others of the company were a'so loseis. The damage, roughly estimated, was £40, G00. "Tne Hunchback," with which th« theatre had been opened live years previously, was the piece announced for production, and, oddly enough, the after piece was to be " A Very Serious Affair." The first Prince of Wales Theatre, which coat about £30,000, was built by Mr Joseph Wyatfc, who, on the expiration of his lease of the Vjctori t, of which he could not get a renewal, decided to establish a rival house. It was capable of seating, one account said, 3000 (?,) persons, and the stage was ncaily 100 ft in depth. Catherine Hayes, Auna Bishop, and G-. V. Brooke had sppea'-ed in it. The theatre war -reopened on May S3, 1863, two aud a-half years after the lirst conflagration. His Excellency the Governor, Sir John Young, and his wife were present at the opening performance, the bill being Flotow's ilvd-act op*ra "Martha; or, Richmond Fair in the Days ofiQuecn Anne," by La glen's Onera Company, among the artists being Madame Lucy E'cotr, Mias Georgia Hudson, Messrs Squires, Fargarson, F. Lyster, and Kitts. The building was regarded as one of the be;t the colonies had erected, and was after a prize design by Mr J. F. Hilly. The front was not injured by the first fire, and it also Withstood the second. The theatre, which was of a semicircle shape, was capable of "accommodating 900 persons comfortably, or on a crush double that number." The dress circle and private boxes provided for 400, and the upper circle and gallery for fivm 600 to 800 persons. The Btage was 9Sft long and 60ft wide The seond fire, which broke out about 3.30 ou the morning of January 6, 1872, was discovered by the wife of the watchman connected with the theatre, who slept on the premises, and was awakened by the cracking noise, aud who rushed through the theatre with her child in her arms to give the alarm. The fire started in the property room, and by the time the brigade arrived the whole of the interior was in flames. In this fire 11 persons were injured, and two died. The one item saved was the books of the pantomime "The House that Jack Built," of which a matinee was to have been given in the afternoon. All the dresses and appointments and the instruments of the orchestra, likewise a valuable collection of manuscript belonging to the leader, Mr Walter Rise, were burned with the building. The loss on plant and property was £2000. The theatre, which was not insured, was the property of the Fitzgerald family. The short history of the theatie after the fire of 1860 given by the Sunday Times writer wan that Lyster re-opened it with opera a3 stated above, then put on drama with J. Jefferson, who was not a financial success. Fred Young played some time, and became a favourite, hid untimely death biipgmuch rcgrettel. George Coppin opened a season with Professor Anderson, and introduced Madame Celeste. Oharle3 Kean, Mrs Kean, Barry Sullivan, Talbot, and Walter Montgomery followed. Then came Charles Matthews and the Zavistowskis. Things had not been prosperous just prior to the fir*, but the pantomime, in which £400 wasspent, was expected to make amends. When the house was rebuilt it was called the Royal. This also was burnt in Juoe 1891, while Messrs Williamson and Musgrove were in possession. Tho Royal is still in evidence, however, on the old spot,- >'and is now under the management of Maggie Moore and H R. Roberts

Criticising the members of the Henry TSracy Opera Company in " The Bohemian Girl," a Perth writer has the following :— " Nobody in the cast is very good excepting Henry Bracy, who sings most exquisitely . . . always in tune, which could not be said of auy other person in the cash . . . Mr Rilfe's lovely voice suffers from his want of knowledge of the vocal art.-juatas his shapely figure is thrown away by his awkward manner. His Flore3tein is not very bad. but it might be a lot better. Mr John ForJe does not know all the business of Devilshoof, or if he does he cuts it out. It is not quite consistent with probability that the same pair of red bathing drawers he wore when he stole Arline at the age of three should be in such splendid condition 16 years afterwards. In this particular, though, several of the company are careless, Count Arnheim, Thaddeus, and the rest of them wearing their clothe 3 for ever. Mr Fred Wentwortb, as the Count, was a distinct disappointment. He saug fairly, but acted badly, lisped, and moved like waxwork. Mis Bracy was dramatically perfect, J)ut the light mezzo-soprano voice, which won for her so many friends is no more fit to sing the music of the Gipsy Queen than is a penny tin whistle to render the ' Hallelujah ' chorus. Miss Barley sings sharp, but she sings piettily. She can't act, but shs will by-nnd-bye. To be pretty and promising is all you can expect from such a nice— such a nice girl. Next to Mr Bracy, the star of the performance is Bandmaster Pack." Millie Herl.ert, Ivy Kinnaird, Floriie St. Clair, Bob Bell, Hosea Easton, Tom Cannam, and Wilfrid Stewart are at the Bijou Varieties, Freem Amy Johns, Ada Maven, Ethel Sullivan, Pat Melton, Ted Herberte, James Wilkinson, and Horace Lingard are at the Town Hall, Freemantle. , , ._ , . Little Lillie South last week played Paul in "The Octoroon" with Henrys Dramatic Company at Sydney Royal Standard. Miss Laura Keene played Dora Sunnyside ; Miss Bilhe Howard, Zoe; Charles South, Dido; H. N. Douglas, Poindexter, and Robert Henry, balein Scudder. ..__ _ . , The two leading characters in "My Friend from India" and "A Night Out," although one U a cockney barber and the other a French master builder, are so much alike in Mr Harry ,Paulton's hands that is impossible to tell t'other .from •which.

Mr George Titheradge, of the Brough Companjfc leaves for England iv February, 1898. Writing of the Henry Bracy Opera Company in " The Bohemian Girl," " The Old Playgoer" it Clam's Weekly has the following :— " What an old girl, what a very old girl, and, on the whole, what a dear old girl is ' The Bohemian Girl ! ' And she looks it, too, though Mibs Mabelle Dnrley is young and fair and spi ightly, and would be a charming vocalist, too, if she had not a tendency to sing sharp now and then. Fancy a Bohemian girl, or any other girl, hanging the skirt of an old frofck on a cbair that she may admire it and look at it and contrast it advantageously with the pink gown she is weariug, while the skhnrcy article she pretends to love so much would not have been valued at 3s 6d in its palmiest days— long ago. " It is popularly supposed that the Bohemian girl owes her lengthened existence to the pride of piima donnas and the piotoction of the public. Do not believe it. The present writer has known scores of Bohemian girls, of all ages, shapes, and »ize--. Miss Romer, Miss Poole, Miss Louisa Payne. Miss Lucy Es-cptt, Miss Emelie Melville, Miss Lillian Tree, Miss Bah ! what is the use of reprinting an operatic directory of soprano singers ! But he never knew one that did not shudder and shiver at tho necessity of singing about the ' vassals and serfs at her sy-eye-eyed,* or that did loathe the thoughts of the 'knights upon bended knee-he-he.' The real truth is that the Bohemian girl owes her vitality lo the insistence of the leading.' tenor, who loves to mash the susceptible hearts of the feminine portion of the audience with his tender warblings about the 'hollow hearts that wear a mask'— the heart being such a convenient place on which to fix a ma&lc— and to pvophosy that ' they'll remember him.' Remember him? Rother-1 They cannot forget biro. .They go home at once and write pretty, little notea with violet ink upon pink and perfumed paper, and this is the kind of thing they say :—: —

"Dear Sir, — Your charming vocalisation and graceful acting have long made me anxious to form your acquaintance. Unfortunately, some friends of mine, who know you very well and have promised to introduce you to me, are out of town, and I am compelled to introduce myself. ]f when you leave the theatre to-night you will stop for one moment at the Town Hall corner you will see a closed carriage. As you pass its window whisper the word ' Vera ' and I will reply ' Jack.' — Youis lovingly, .V. " It hardly seems as if a man could be so base, but the handsome tenor generally turns ovef tbe note to his wife, who has, you may be sure, been looking at him with particular inquisitiveness while lie read it, with the rem irk, ' Jack, indeed ! I'm Jack of this,' to which the lady replies, 'The hus-y ! But lam sure I know the hand— it's that bold-faced So-and-So.'"

Pro'essor Charles Moriitt (of Rickardg Biograph Company), who is billed as the " leading wonder-worker of the world," performs some clever sleight-of-hanfl feats, but this allusions puffer by comparison with the "Vanity Fair" of Mr Carl Hertz, and on the whole it must b» admitted that the latter is the better artist of the two. -Sunday Times.

I >'Rlrov and Lynne require some new business. The Flying Jordans have reformed for their Maoriland tour, which will be under canva3, and opens at Auckland, September 21. Alfred Dainpier commenced a farewell Sydney season of 12 nights at the Lyceum with " Robbery Under Arms " billed for six nights. ( Ida Holbein, Emmie Morrinon, the Mayfteld Sisters, Mons Kmil Lazern, Will Bovis, Jamen Mooney, Ernest Brinkman, and Chap. Bovia are on tour with Bovis Bros.' Elite Burlesque and Specialty Company. Ada Delroy'a company opens its Weatralian tour at I'erth first week in October. They theng* east.

Eroni Bros/ Circus, Menagerie, and Wild Beast Show is on the Murrumbideee.

Miss ■ lgx Baker, wife of Mr Walker Baker, who broke a rib while attempting a -" Bessie Clayton back kick" in Melbourne, is the original Jenny Hawkins in "Sailor Jack," a five-actdrama written by Mr W. E. Baker. Miss Olga Baker will be-re-membered in Dunedia as having contributed vocal items at benefits tendered to Mr Harry Gorman and Miss l.ucy Fras'er and Mr Martya Hugan. ' Harry Plimmer will play his parts with the Brough Company on 1 he eastern tour. " We have our tickets printed on stiff cardboard, and we expect them to last for months," said J. C. Williamson to the chairman of the Old Age Pension Commission. " But what about tha complimentary tickets?" inquired Mr Kirton. "Oh, we write them on waste piper." Mr Harry Hill, now a member of "The Sign of the G-.0-ia" Company, has written a play on Marie C >relli's " Bar-kbbas."

Miss Alma Stauley'a kiss in "My Friend from India" is said to leave the one whom she kisses (Cyril Kueightly) short-winded. Mark Hiunbourpr, the pianist, ia 18 years old, and his brother Jakoff two years younger. With 'Hudson's Surprise Party, shortly' to visit Maoriland :—: — Miss May Habgood, pianist ; Misses Lilian fitanbridge aud Violet JOUiot, balladisti ; Jessie Williams, skirt dancer ; Lia Rosslyn and the Thornton Sisters, song-and-dance artistes ; Mr Wallace King, reuor; Alto, juggler; Kearns and M'Kis?on, knockabout comedians ; Watkin and Sherwin, musical artists ; and the man who cau make you laugh by the flicker of an eyelid— Tommy Hudson. Hudson's Surprise Party closes its season at Adelaide Bijou on October 2. The Party, after playing two night* at Broken Hill on October 9 and 10, are booked as follows :— Launce3ton, six nights, November 1 to C; Hobart, four nights, November Bto 11 ; and .their Maoriland tour opens November 20. " Hire of piono, one we«k, £10," was one of tha little. items Carl Hertz's manager, Edwin Gcach, had to' part up in Kalgoprlie, "~the city of sand, 'sin, and soakus." - ' The Br.. cy Opcrjt Company introduce Macfarren'« " soDg/'-The beating of my own heart "in Balfe'a opera;' -^fl-'he Bohemian Girl." Balfe had a genius for tutiei but was the most slovenly of musicians, and could never manage a concerted piece tb save his soul.*' Macfairen, on the othev.band, was the most scholarly and skilful of composers, and his beautifully dramatic love song is as much out of place in the woik of his contemporary a-i a roasted snipe in a raspberry tart. Alias Darley, of the Bracy Opera Company, singa it pretty well, considering. She mixes \ip the firat and second verses, and putscadenzas in the wrong places, and otherwise muddles things. M iss Darley sings the song better than ' Isabel Web3ter, who it in Melbourne, and who was a great deal worse than Clara Novello, for whom the song was written. However, it is a very inappropriate song for a count's daughter, since tbe words were written by a peer (Monckton Milne?, Lord Houghton) and the music composed by a knight of high degree, Sir George Macfarren. Jake Friedman's Comedy Company fill iv Sun« day at Coogee Aquarium. Artists : Rote Hegarty, Ada Royelle, Collier sisters, George 11. Jonea, Joe Edmonds, Morris and Victor, George Marlow, JJob Stynes, and Jake Friedman. " Trilby O'Ferrall," the two-act musical extravaganzi written by Edmund Finn, music composed and arranged by George Pask, revived by Maggie Moore at Sydney Royal, August 29, was produced for ths fiSt time on any stage on Saturday, June 27, 1896, at the Theatre Royal. Melbourne, and was first played in Sydney at the Theatre Royal, with the same cast, Wednesday, August 5, 1896. Here ara the original and the present cast : — „_, „ "Trilby OFbrraix. Melbourne Royal. Sydney Royal. June 1896. August 1897. Maggie Moore Trilby O'Ferrall MaggU Moore Alma Skinner Jeannot O'Ferrall — " H. R. Roberts Sveugali H. R. Roberts Walter Rivers Gecko Walter Rivera E. B. Russell - Taffy — R. Kennedy Laird o" Cockpen Roy Cushing Laura Roberts Little Billee Laura Robert* Max Maxwell Zou Zou — C. W. Taylor Manager Kaw — J. P. West Rev. Mr Bagot J. P. Wes* Rosa Conroy Mrs Bagot Maggie Forde Miss Melville Madame Vinard — In the present revival Misses Beaney Gellatley and Hdie Hooper are the principal dancers. Im the original production in Melbourne Miss Daisy ! Coppin did the " Piorrot" dance.— Yours truly,