THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2399, 22 February 1900, Page 50

THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES.

- Bt Pasqtttn. TUESDAY, February 2*,. Messrs Morris and Jones, in advance of Messrs Fitzgerald Bros. Circus and Menagerie, arrived last week by train from Invercargill to make the necessary arrangements for the opening of the show in Dunedin. The show is at present playing in Hobart during the carnival time to enormous bushiest ; and all the latest European and American novelties will be introduced for the fii'cit time iix Dunedin. The Steele-Payne Axistralian Bellringers, on Sunday night, held a very successful concert in the Agricultural Hall. The hall was well filled with an appreciative audience, which called for a number of encores dxiring the evening. The Rev. Charles Clark will shortly commence bis farewell tour in New Zealand. He was cominp; out direct by the s.s. lonic, but could not s^c-ure a cabin owing to the number of oflicars feoing to South Africa; so he took passage in the Oriedt linec Oroya, but, at the request of the mayor (Sir Charles M'Eaclsarn), broke his journey at Melbourne to preach a sermon in the Town Hall in aid of the Empire patriotic fund. The collection amounted to £67 105, the expenses being defrayed by Mr Clark. The popular lecturer is now coming on by the Monowai, which puts in at IMilford Sound, and will bo accompanied by his old manager, Mr R. S. Smythe.

J The quaint Japanese opera, " The Geisha," with its sparkling music, picturesque Eastern scenery, merry, almond-eyed Jap. tea-girls, funny little brown men, and a dash of good old ocean in the person of hali-a-dozen naval officers, is fetill running to crowded houses at the Princess Theatre. Notwithstanding the huge success of the Jap. opera the management (owing to the short season) are compelled to take off 0 Mimosa San, Roli Poli San, Wun Li, Reginald Fairfax, Lady Constance Wynne, and her bevy of English beauties on Wednesday night to make way for Blinky Bill, Mamie Clancy, Ichabod Bronson, the Belle of New York (Violet CJrey), and the host of others who go to make up the merry musical comedy, "The Belle of New York," on Thursday night. The season closes with a "Contingent Night" on Saturday next, at which performance the whole of the fourth contingent will be present. There is to be 'a matinee performance of " The Belle of New York " on Saturday afternoon, the gross proceeds of which are to be handed over to the Ota,go and Southland Contingent Fund. Miss Maud iDeatty (Mrs Milbourne) and her husband are paying a flying visit to New Zealand. There is just a possibility that the popular Pollard Opera Company, at present making things exceedingly pleasant ior the operaloving patrons of the Princes-, will leave for Australia on the conclusion of their Auckland (season at Easter. There is also some talk of their occupjing .the Princess, Melbourne, during Mr J. C. Williamson's six weeks' season. Mr Sydney Braey, who has been trained for the stage in Australia, has proved himself a neat dancer, and has become a sound musician under his father's tuition. The young artist carries with him the good wishes of his , many friends here, and is certain to profit ' by his noy in London, where he has now gone, and where, as the son of two such wellknown artisls as Mr Henry Bracy and Miss t Clara Thompson (Mrs Bracjij, a cordial welcome is assured. I The British Soldiers' Wives and Families' ] Association benefited to the extent of £4000 from the proceeds of a performance at "Wynd-, j ham's Theatre on November 14. When hisj tory comes to be written one of the features J of the Transvaal war will be the way in j which the entire theatrical profession has { stepped up to assist the " boys who do the fighting." The members of " The Trip to Chinatown Company left New Zealand for America by the 'Frisco mail boat yesterday morning. Miss Zoe Karkeek, late of the Pollard Opera Comj pany, and her sister, '" Countess," are also ■ passengers for America. A line from Will Jameson, touring manager of Montgomery's Kinematogiaph and Concert Company, informs me that the company j has been on tour throughout the goldfields I district, where business has been very good. I The Kinematograph Company are due here J in March, opening in the Princess for a six nights' season on the 9th of that month. Mr Richard Stewart, father of the " only " Nellie Stewart and of Richard Stewart, through here this month with " The , Trip to Chinatown " Company, is one of the veterans of the Australian stage. Mr Richard Stewart, senior, is the genial treasurer at the i Theafre Royal, Sydney. j Mr Thomas Fitzgerald, of Fitzgerald's 'Circus fame, drops a line from Colombo on. j January 19, to the effect that he is on his i way to Europe in search of a new comparand further novelties in the menagerie line for i the colonies. Mr John Fuller reports excellent business from the vaudeville company in Christchurch, and Mr John Fuller, jun., excellent ditto from the Choral Hall, Wellington. -Mr Tom Edwards has broken out into patriotic verse, to which Mr Walter Fuller has put an appropriate air. We shall shortly hear the new patriotic song in Dunedin. On March 14 Messis Fuller will celebrate their anniversary entertainment at the Alhambra Theatre, Dunedin, when big things are promised. Time, on this occasion, has surely, not flapped his drowsy wing! Mr Fred Bluett has written an exceedirjly | funny parody on the gentleman whose mnicl has gone astray ("Tl-e absent-minded begjrar"). It is entitled "The Absent-minded Lodger." The parody sung by Mr Bluett at ;ths Choral HaJl^ Wellington^ goes with c

scream. Mr George Williamson will sing it at the Alhambra Theatre, Dunedin, shortly. Mr Ben Fuller, I am very pleased to chronicle, is now convalescent, but very weak after his six weeks' confinement to bed. He has been ordered to the Cold Lakes by his medical adviser, and starts this week for Paradise (Terrestial, Otago). His many friends wish him a speedy putting on of flesh (Ben i lost over two stone during his illness) and a speedy return to active service. It is probable that the Maori opera " Tapu," written by Mr A. H. Adams, and [ composed by Mr Alfred Hill, w ill be produced '■ by Mr Williamson at Sydney at Easter. This , Is the work on which Mr Adamc, a New Zea- , lander ot distinction, has been engaged for some time. An alarming accident occurred during the performance of " The Geisha " at the Queen's Theatre, Leeds, recently. Miss Muriel Chester, the Mimosa San, and Mr Harold Thorley, the Reginald Fairfax, had hardly appeared on the balcony of the scenic teahouse when the flooring gave way, precipitating them both j on to the stage — a distance of 10ft or 12ft. I Luckily neither of them was seriously hurt, I and Miss Muriel Chester pluckily proceeded ' with her. part. j Dear Pasquin, — Seeing a par. in this week's "Witness- re hoa'rdiiigs at Palmerston North by J. L. Wrlshire, I wish for state that Wat- , son and' Co." have all the principal hoardings , in that town, in which I hold an interest ; j and I am sure the profession will not pass us i by. Any of the profession travelling wiJl find that by patronising Watson and 'Co. ' they will receive fair treatment, and not be subject to charges (for the size of the town) ', which have been in the past outrageous. I , am at present on tour as touring manager for '< Montgomery's Kinematograph and Concert j Company, and my partner, Mr Watson, in , my absence will cater for the profession to | their satisfaction. We hold 12 hoardings, 12 ' x 16, in all the principal positions. — I am, etc., Will Jameson, Montgomery's Kine-ma-tograph Company. Clever as we are in lighting our stages at Home, particularly at the Lyceum, Her Ma- j jesfcy's, and Adelphi, America has recently gone one better than us, and (started a novelty which I (Clement Scott) think will revolutionise stage lighting. 1 saw it first on the opening night of " Sherlock Holmes " at the Garrick Theatre, and I believe the invention is due to the busy brains of William Gillette and Charles Frohman. The effect is pro- ( duced by a wonderful combination of the electric and calcium lights, a happy blending or union between the two. The scheme is 'to darken the theatre absolutely and completely a second before the curtain goes up, and in fanc;y to do away with the idea of a curtain at all. The orchestra has finished. < The theatre is in total darkness! Hey, presto ! we see before us a bright-coloured and ani- ' mated picture. The rolling up of the curtain is dispensed with. Tediousness and delay are avoided. The pause of darkness is just the shock that the imagination requires. Then comes the scene, and we are transported in a second to another world. !

How Australian audiences do spoil a star actor from London if he happens to catch , their wayward fancy, writes "Lady Kitty" | in- the Adelaide Critic. Julius Superbus Knight acquired such a haughty feeling when out here that it bumped up again&t the stage manager of a production in which he had a good part en .his return to London. The con- ; sequence is, Julius is '" testing. " It is said I that no one saw the sun for about three days i after his return to the City of Big Smoke j because^ his swelled head got so dreadfully in the way. Mr Clement Scott, writes to the New York Herald : — In every age there is a j>eriod when the world of art becomes a trifle mad. The decadent and degenerate period of the nineteenth century is a symptom of periodical insanity, Tjut it is merely temporary, and will pass away. How I chuckled to myself when I was told in 1893 that " The Second Mrs Tanqueray," written by Pinero, the first distin- | guished convert to serni-Tbsenism and mystic | art, was an " epoch-making play," whatever that may be, and should be considered the dramatic masterpiece of the century. Why, "The Second Mrs Tanqueray" will be dead, buried, and forgotten in the literature of the stage when plays like " Money," " London Assurance," "Richelieu," "The Lady of Lyons" — with all its claptrap — "East !Lynne." and "It is Never Too Late to Mend" are still bright and vivid stars in the blue vault of dramatic art. Pinero' s counterblast to all he had done before, and done excellently, for the English stage was not a particularly good sort of play, nor a particularly bad sort of play. It obtained its initial popularity owing to the fact that the leading character suited the temperament j of Mrs Patrick Campbell. The part was the woman. There was no getting away from it. Mrs Patrick Campbell was as exactly fitted j "with Mrs Tanqneray as Mrs Bancroft was with Polly Eccles and Naomi Tighe, or as Mrs -Kendal is with the Elder Miss Blossom. "While reciting " The Absent-minded Beggar " in Adelaide, Miss Maud Williamson was nightly called to face a running shower of 'coins. One of the coins (a- copper) struck Miss Williamson on the eye, injuring it very severely. "Stroller": Writer was a member of a small co. touring the West. The manager left three of us stranded 300 miles from Sydney — penniless, and all credit wrecked. Company j had been billed 100 miles further down the : line. We three stranded ones, gave a &how in j the town we were left in — raising our fares to j this second town. Arrived there again penni- | less. . All hotels required payment in advance. One of us, a lady, had a brooch, but pawnshops were unknown. At last, a friendly squash-seller negotiated a loan. Then we took , the hall, got the bills left at the hotel by our i absconding agent, billed the town thoroughly for the large-cast melodrama previously announced, and opened. I took the money, the other man the tickets, and the lady jumped' up and down and made turmoil behind the curtain, and battered things on the floor to represent the alleged co. She al=o played an overture behind the curtain. We raised the latter and discovered a breakfast table set in a landscape — all we had, and I and the lady went on for a comedietta — in deadly fear. They deemed to enjoy it in a bewildered sort of ,way. Then the other man went in to explain, and we gave them songs, recitations, anything for another hour to a chorus of jeers, Loots, and catcalls. At the end we lowered the curtain, got out by the back way, made a detour to our lodgings and counted the money. It panned out — fares to Sydney. We got away while the town was still considering whether to tar and feather us or sool a dog on to iis. — Bulletin. - - ! Mr Dan Leno, in the Chri»tmas number of the London' Music Hall and Theatre Review, gives some of his reminiscences: "I once saw a, very funny thing in the provinces," he says. "One of the turns was contributed by .some performing birds, amongst which were half a dozen peacocks, who expanded and folded their gorgeous taite to an accompaniment by the orchestra. It was a lovely sight to see hirdts so beautifully trained, and all of them

gifted with such a, splendid ear for music, that they all kept perfect time. It was apparently a most marvellous piece of animal training, and one heard all round remarks as to the years and years of care and trouble the trainer must have spent before reaching such a pitch of perfection. But an awful thing happened. One night, when the band struck tip their particular music, the peacocks calmly strutted off the stage, but left their tails behind them. The birdless tails continued to close and expand with precise regularity until the curtain dropped. It appears that the birds had no tails at all of their own, and the fake ones were worked by a boy pulling a string from the side. The man 1 had forgotten to fasten their feet to the stage."