THE STAGE. THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 2356, 20 April 1899, Page 47

THE STAGE.

THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES

C«*tHbuU«ii from tbe Pro-feMica <-hr»olclia« tk*irxcrtmrMtt Mi-i <*etmx« are In.lted. All c»miuuui?mtkm> to cc mdSrciied f *»«iuin," OtafO TTitoewOn-ce. PRINCESS THEATRE BOOKINGS. Pollard's Opera Company, May 20 to Jtmo 2. Williamson and Musgrove, July 17 to 29. B. Brough, August 16 to 26. Bland .Holt, September 38 to October 28. K. Henry, Christmas.

Bt Pasquin. Tuesday, April 28. Although now in their sixth week, the attendance at JHiller'fl "Waxworks at the Alhambra Theatre shows no sign of falling off, the new programme on Saturday drawing one of the biggest houses of the season. The St. Georges introduced their fine new set of sleigh-bells. Their selection was one of the gems of the evening. Misses Jeannie Johnston, Lydia Walters, Messrs Fred Bluett, E. Powell, Win Sylvain, Tom Curran, and Ben Fuller are all popular favourites, and are likely to draw for some time to come.

The Dunedin Choral Society's first concert of the season "will be given next Friday evening in the Agricultural -Hall, when Hill's ■"Hinemoa" and Ocnven's "Song of Thauksgivirig" will" 'be rendered. The solos in ".Hinjemoa" have been allotted to Mrs B. H. BurnX, of-Christclvurcli^sopranoJj Mr J. Armstrong (tenor),. and Mr. .T. Holgate (bass) ;nnd, taking *a^ line -from recent practices, a treat is in- store for- the music-loving public^ This is the first occasion On which "Hinemoa" has b"een performed in Dunedin, but it has been" given in" both Uhnstchiirch and Wellington, .and pro.ved ■» great success. With the choir, under .the conductorehip of Mr James CcoirJjs, and -the orchestra -under the leadership of Mr E. Parker it ought to be equally successful here.

At Wellington last week the Chief Justice granted an injunction restraining, until further order, Messrs Marriot, Leighbon, and Dalgleish from performing or advertising a performance of the drama "The Sign of the •Cross," the respondents to give 48 hours* notice of any application for the dissolution of the injunction

Miss • Florence Seymour, at tho head of a dramatic company, began early this month a season at the Theatre Royal, Hobart. The opening production was Scudamore's sensational drama, " Ups and Downs" of Life." The company includes, besides others : Messrs George Rowlands, Edwin Lester, Misses Adelaide, Henningham, and Poole. Ovid Musin yrrites in praise of two students at the Liege Conservatorium, Rudolf Xorenz, of Sydney, ' ant 1 Mies M*Kay, of Maryborough (Q.), who are now studying at the Belgian school.

Nearly £800 was raised in England for F. Maccabe, and an income of £2 per week has been bought for him. In the preface of his newly-published edition of " Othello,^' Mr Rignold reminds playgoere that the first great Othello seen in Australia was Gustavus V. Brooke, who, within five days of his arrival in Melbourne, ■played the part at the Queen's Theatre, with 3lr R. .Younge as lago., Mr Burford (who Btill flourishes in Sydney) _as Cassio, Mx Rogers as . Brabantio, Miss Fanny Cathcart as Desdemona, and Mrs Charles Young as Emilia. This W&s in February, 1655, and in May of the same year " Othello " was .staged with the same cast in Sydney. Mr Hignold adds r — " Mrs Young went to England a couple of years later; appeared at Sadler's Wells under Mr Phclps as Julia in * The Hunchback,' made a hit, got a divorce from her husband, married Hermann Vezin, and became a favourite. It may interest the ■public to know that the difference between the salaries paid to stock actors in those days and these is so great that Mr Brooke, in speaking of the subsequent secession of Miss Cathcart from his company,- complains of * her ingratitude in so doing after I liad raised her salary from £100 a year to £12 a ■week.' "What sort of a Desdembna would a *tar^acior now obtain for a hundred a year?" Since the days above referred to, when an aotor-Tnanaj?er could " reach down a star " at some £2 a week, A-ustralia has seen Oharles Eean, Barry Sullivan, and "Walter .Montgomery »* the valiant Moor.

An interesting circumstance iv connection I with the -performance of " Olivia " by Miss Ellen Terry at one of the London theatres •the other -day was the first appearanoe 01? the -stage of Miss Ellen Terry's granddaughter, Miss Rosemary Craig. In connection -with the adaptation of " A Tale of Two Cities " to the stage by the Rev. Treeman "Wills, it is interesting to 'note that the London theatres have not had, until now, a clerical dramatist since the Itev. Henry ■White wrote and the late Samuel Phelpß produced at Sadler's Wells his two plays, "-teudal Times'" and ''The King of the. Commons."

Signora Dusb has just terminated an engagement at Athens which has been an en'ormouß success, the •principal theatre Tieing crowded every night. The chief attraction "was her Tmagnificient acting in the translation ■of Sophocles' " Antigone. The proposal to play the tragedy among the ruins of the very same theatre in which it was first produced 'in the 'fifth century B.C. had to be abandoned on account of the inclemency of the weather. The Senatus of Glasgow University have '•gread to confer the degree of LL.D. upon Sir Henry Irving. Sir Henry has .already rtctived similar degrees at Cambridge aud

Dublin. Such honours to an actor are unprecedented in the annals of; the British stage.

The title of Mr Pinero's forthcoming new comedy, to bo produced by Mr Hare at the London Globe Theatre, "The Gay Lord Quex," Tecalls the fact that this distinguished dramatist and also Mr Henry Arthur Jones, generally follow the lead of Charles Dickens in the choice of quaint names. Some of these havo been taken from ! real life, so to speak, as the Ebbsmith controversy proved, and Que,x iteelf ia understood to be the name of a thoroughfare in Kilburn.

English mnsical composers, says a writer in a Home paper, often complain rather peevishly of the lack of good "worth" suitable for setting as songs; but" they are to be pi lied rather than blamed for their' blindness. M. Korbay, a Hungarian, has "discovered" the musical value of some of Mr Henley's poems, which he has set \o music. They will be issued with a cover designed by Mr Sargent. But where are the eyes and intellects of our own crmposerti? Why do they allow such plums to lie picked from the pie by foreign musicians?

Jean de Eeazke, having collected all the money necessary for tho establishment of his proposed new Opera house in Paris, has abandoned^ the idea, and proposes to found a new conservatoire instead. Colonel Henry Mapleson lias been appointed secretary, and the new building is to include a model theatre wh*re debutantes aro to appear before press critics, opcta managers; and theatrical agents. Successful pupils will receive diplomas signed by Jean de Iteszko, " which," says the modest prospectus of the scheme, " will serve as an artistic passport throughout the lyric world." From abroad comes the news of the production at Munich of Siegfried Wagner's opera, " The Bearskin Man." To jiulge by reports which have Toached me, says a writer in a Home paper, and from the foreign correspondents' ptatements in the daily press, the production was not an emphatic^puccess. There seems to be no dcluLt that the father's mantle' has not descended to the son. There is said to be no originaHfcy, no individuality whatever in the music. The "flashes of superficial cleverness " which abound " have a borxowed air," says the Daily; Telegraph. At the recent production of Mascagni's new opera " Iris,-" the Scala Theatre at Milan was crowded to its utmost capacity, despite the fabulous prices that we^e charged, being 110 leas than 50 francs for a stall and 500 francs for the boxes. Contrary to expectation, Meecagni did not conduct. The orchestra •was led by ToFcanini, who was received with great applause. The opening chorus, " Sunrice," was well received, the music being original and striking, and before the prelude was completed tho ujjplause became an ovation. The first act wnt» marked by the success of the tenor's solo, " The romance of the son of the sun," which was received with prolonged encores, and was Bung thrice. For the remainder of the opera there was much left to be deßired, and after the fall of the curtain on the first act there was little applause. The soprano, Mdlle Lucia d'Arclee, gave an excellent representation of tho heroine, vocally and histrionically, and waa frequently applauded. The proprietors of Madame Tussind ai d Sons' Exhibition have just pui\iha»>ed the organ U3ed by "Viscount Hinton," the claimant to the Toulett peerage. Tho gentleman in question is' now giving sittings to Mr John T. Tußsaud for hie portrait model, which it is intended to place by the side of it. dressed in the clathe3 he lias recently been wearing whilst out ou his rounds.

"The Court Scandal," the new play at the Court Theatre, London,, is a great success. It ie adapted from the French by Mr Aubrey Boucicault, and has been produced under tho direction of hig brother, Mr Dion Boudcault. i^iosfc^people imagine that Wilson Barrotl is one of the few lucky lessees who made money out of the Princess Theatre. But Barrett really concluded his pojoum there owing £40,000. Most actors would have promptly solved such a mass of difficulties in bankruptcy. But not so, Wilson Barrett. lie sot to work to pay off every penny, and did so, though it took him years and years. Now he ie by way of malting a. fortune. The rojoicings over poor old Toole's recovery were rather premature. He is again very ill at Brighton. As a patient the veteran actor has long been the despair of his medical attendants. Whilst bedi'idden he can be coerced into virtue, but no sooner doei? he get the least bit hotter than he'B in mischief. As a great opthalmic said . " What can you do with a volatile septuagenarian who is discharged convalescent from a hoppilal at 3 p.m. and goes to the theatre at 8*" That rascal Toole did this.