THE STAGE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2454, 27 March 1901, Page 54

THE STAGE.

C«trlbqti«ni from (he Pro'ession cb-ODiclio? thffr r. oraacnt* ml <<oin~i ire !n>Uel. All conimuai'ationi U be aldreued "Faiquin," Otttfo V.'ltness OBcr. SHOW BOOKINGS. FEINCESS THEATRE. GanLek Club, March 27 Montgomery's Kmematograph, June 2-1 to June 20. Pollard Opera Company, August 1 to August 31. Charles Hawtrey's (" Message from Mars ") Company, December 5 to December 14. Stanford Dramatic Company, December 15 to December 30. Brough Comedy Company, February (1902). ALHAMBRA THEATRE. Percy Dixs Gaiety Company, permanent. AGBICULTTJKAL HALL. Professor Northcote's Pepper's Ghost Ce— March 13 to 31. TO CORRESPONDENTS. iIDLLE. Rhodesia, Fitzgerald's Circus.—Leunarcli, the circus performer, is alive, and ia an inmate of the Dunedin Benevolent Institution. In'quibeb, Wellington.— 'l) The lady in quesr tion was born in Adelaide. (2) She is no relation to M:ss Eva Wilson, lute of Fuller's I Company. (3) No trouble; •write again. j Mohe Green Room.— (1) You are not the first green Toom Johnnie whose ideas have not been able to swim a stroke. ; They do get shattered behind the footlights, clo they not? Tell your friend?. {■!) Miss Eva Wilson was, per letter to hand, at Bendigo. Comlmimcat? there. ! Bob, Dunp-Kn.— No trouble to sn^-er; iU finding the joke that is not theie which gives "Pasquin" a, feve?ed brow. Mona.— Yes, quite young. Lesi by a month.' | than eight years ago Miss Nanco O'Neil v.-os ! an eighteen-year-oM g^rl, scarcely ■wearing long frock's, and -with ncr h<ur at the nape of her r.eck. Now you know her ar.e — a month o£f 26. i' 2) Misa Nance O'XpiJ is merely a> norn de theatr° ; Miss Gertrude Lamson is 3ier proper name. Aliiambba. — Past worrying ; often think on glancing through exchanges whether "Pasquin" is keally writmg for the O.W. No serious objection to writing theatrical pars for Great Tired Paragraphists. They (the pars. — not the G.T.P.) will prciMbly be recognised in the Cheat Hereafter. PROS.' DEPARTURES FOR THE "WEEK. Mr W. Williams, for Chnstchuroh. Mrs W. Williams, for Chris Vchuvch. The Wjlhams Quartet (4), for ChrMohurcli. Mr Cass St Loon, for Christchuich. Mias Lily Octavia, for Melbourne. THEATKIOAL AX» MUaICAL KOTES By I'asqttin*. TLTLSDAY, March 26. j A picture cf special intereat to the tiieatriI cs.l profession will be found on ono of our [ illustrated ivges in this we°2:'s issue. One | glance at the gioup p'-'otogmphod avd re- ( produced will he hardly sufficient to grasp the j fact that all the gentlemen depicted were ia ! Dimedin on Monday, March 4, 1901. Such, j however, was the case. It was certainly a f red-letter day in the theatrical annals of Dunj edin when Kuch a group — the leading lights ia ( the Australasian theatrical world — should be gathered together in one town. The opportunity was too good a one to be missed. The Witness photographer and "Pasquin" weie told off to get a picture of such a rare ga-ther-ing. Result, a splendid illustration. whicH makes an interesting and unique theatrical souvenir of one day in Dunedin — Monday, March 4, 1901.

There were no less than three invalids in Fitzgeralds' Circus when the Big Show arrived in Dunedin on a bleak Sunday morning recently: — Ernie Shani, the pet jockey, was lying ill in Invercargill ; Cassimor St. Leon had his leg badly injured and had to have th» limb put in splints ; and Aougust. the clown, also had an injuiy to one of his legs, the dog-bull, Black, with which Aougust does the Spanish bull-fight act, having in a moment of savagencss bitten him in tho leg very severely, showing distinctly 23 teeth mark?. When Tom Fitzgerald met the show and saw the injured carried out he faid to "Pasquin" : "I came down to the station to mept Fitzgerald's Circus — not a Ked Cross train."

If any further proof were wanting that tha Williams Quartet had established themselves in the hearts of the patrons of the Alhambra. it wa* very much' forthcoming on Saturday last on the departure of the north express for Christchurch, when theie was gathered a, host of captured hearts to say a fond good-bye to the favourites.

Mies Lily Octavia, who carr.e over from Melbourne some months ago to join Professor Northcote's Ghct Show, left Dunedin for Melbourne yesterday by the Mokoia. Mi6B Octavia has been «uddenly called home on, account of illness m the famity.

Catsiihat St. 'Leon, another of Fitzgerald Bros.' Circus invalids, was a passenger by tho north express on Saturday for Christchurch, where he would catc'i the company prior to their sailing for Wellington. Young Sr. Leou has been invalided in Dunedin ever since the arrival and departure of the circus, at the Farmers' Arms Hotel, where lie received every attention. Cassimar St. Leon had the misfortune to badly injure the sinews of his leg 1 while doing a flying leap over the bayonets in Fitzgerald 8r03.' Circus. He is now prosvpssing more than favourably. No dovbfc there would be triumphal archos and fireworks in honour of the "forwarded on" invalid by tho members of the circus on Saturday. I£ not in ferns, creepers, and flower garland?, powder and fizz, at least in the hearts of the company. Change of venue at Easter — Dixs Gaiety Company, at present occupying the Alhambrk Theatre, move into the Princess for the Easter holiday?.

The Hay tors (3), pantomimic and eccentric artists, stars imported by and performing with great success under Harry Rickards. arrive in Dunodiii by the Monowai, and open with Mr P. R. Dixs Gaiety Company in the Princess Theatre on April 6. The Haytors have gone very big on the other side. Thi<» writer feels sure they will draw double theii salary on their opening nisfht in Dunedin. Miss Molly Bentley will bow her acknowledgments and probably trip over a few bouquets when she makes her appearance before a critical Dunedin audience on Easter Saturday night at the Dunedin Princess, under Mr P. R. Dix. Will the audience who assemble at the Princess on holiday Easter Saturday night be critical? I doubt it. However, Miss Bentley will receive the bouquets and applause just the same. All this by way of saying she is a good artist. The Linwood Sisters, song and dance artists, arrived in Dunedin by last night's express from the north and received a cool reception—from the weather. To night they open, nith gix/ § Gaiety Company s t th.c &

hambra, when their reception will be somewhat warmer. Judgment reserved. George Rignold and Johnny Sheridan are inquiring for dates at the Princess Theatre. "Let 'em all." The following very interesting list of natives-nf-New-Zealand "Harrys" who adorn the prof esb. has been supplied by Mr Walter Bivers : — Harry Power native of Dnnedia (deceasid) „ Plimmer „ Wtlinglon „ Notm-n „ Donedin „ Hi'l „ Dunefiu „ Halt - „ Dunedin „ S.ocbw^ll „ Dunrdin „ BoLeits „ Awckland „ Maish»ll , Wellington (deceased) „ Russell „ Wellington „ Diver „ Wellington „ Giay (Littld Tlch) „ Auckland „ J**re't „ Dur>edjn „ Hoyt „ Duned'n (decessed) ■Roy Bain, a clever youngster who left Dunedin some months ago under the erratic — very — eye of "Scarecrow" Johnny Coleman, and who promised to develop into a clever kid, ia back once more in his native town. Boy Bain is now doing an amusing turn with Messrs M'Kisson and Kearns at the Alhambra. This youngster has a lot of talent and a lot of cheek — it is a neck-and-neck race. Talent will -catch the judge's eye first if Boy Bain sticks close to "CJncle." An interesting event to pros, will take place in Dunedin on Monday next. Mr Fred Bluett ("There's no place like home") is to be married to Miss M'Kechnie, second daughter of Piper M'Kechnie, of this city. Kia-ora to them both. . I dare not wisn them "Many nappy returns of the day." More to follow in next issue after the ceremony. Fred Bluett has (along with Will Watkins and Will Stevens), ever since the stranding of the ill-fated Ada Juneea show, been the Good Old Reliable of Fuller's Variety Companies. .Fred takes a well-deserved "ben." in Wellington on Thursday prior to coming on to Dunedin to join the Household Brigade. After the ceremony the happy pair (so the story goes) will fail for Sydney, where Mr Bluett will join, Ben Fuller's newly-estab-lished Empire Company in the harbour city. Poor old Johnny Tudor is in very destitute circumstances in Auckland. "Pasquin 1 ' will be pleased to receive ana acknowledge any theatrical (or other) mites that may come along to assist the good old "has been." Johnny has a brother in the Big Smoke, who will ccc to his future welfare if the kindly mummers will put, as the song says, "their little bit towards it" to defray his passage to London. There should not be any difficulty about that. Chas. Hoyt, who died lately of brain disease at a. palatial residence in 'Murka, represented the very cheapest kind of talent for making money by stagework. He figured as author, composer, and manager of such musical comedies as "Chinatown" and "The Milk "White Flag," wherein the human interest conrieted largely of the principal comedian's thirst for "cocktails." Looking Ijack upon "A Trip to Chinatown," the piece that yielded £20,000 a year to Chas. Hoyt for five consecutive years, one remembers nothing but its worthleseness. The characters were contemptible, the dialogue trivial, and the music third-rate stuff, whether original or otherwise. Hoyt only knows how much of it was not absolutely stolen from other third-rate musicians. The flat tenor's ballad (in " China.town") concerning Nancy — his fancy, sweeter than chicken" — ye gods! — belonged -to the lower order of coon songs. As for •The Bowery" song, "O, ' the bowery, the bowery, did you ever hear tell of the bow•ry?" — it was set to the tune of "O, the har-em, the harem, did you ever hear tell of tfie har-em?" composed by one Fred Gilbert, a music hall agent, in the '70s. Men of the Hoyt stamp are calamities. With the minimum of ability and the maxim Vim of push and impudence, they manage to bluff the public into accepting hogwash for humour. — Bulletin. The brothers Wirfcli, of Wirth's Circus, have sustained a serious and irreparable loss in the death of the leaping greyhound Fly, which took place while the company were travelling from the Thames to Paeroa last .week. The splendid greyhound, whose phenomenal jumping powers created such an impression in this city only a couple of months ago, was jjie choicest possession in Wirth's Circus — in fact, gold could not have purchased him. It appears that the do? in jumping over one of the trucks connected with the train in -which the company were travelling, miscalculated the distance, and had its legs so badly smashed that the poor animal had to be shot. Writer watched the jumping feats of Fly on several occasions while Wirth'g Circu3 wa3 in Dunedin, and could not help noticing the great change which used to come over the animal when any other ring-master but Mr Philip Wirth put him through his jumps. Under Mr Philip Wirth Fly was no longer a dejected circus dog on a wet day, but carried himself as one of the star performers, and went through bis act feeling that it was good to be alive. R.LP. Jamea Bain and his little company have been doing good business in the Waikato and Hawke's Bay. districts. Packed^ houses in many places long before the curtain rises has been the rule. This speaks well for Jimmy, and he ehould have a great future in front of him. He is clever and amusing on the stage, and decent and clean livine off. I wish him every possible success. Henry Dunbar, who is steering him, is proving himself a good pilot. Northeole's Novelty Combination continue to do payable bis al the Agricultural Hall.

On Monday they produced "A Christmas i Carol," Tuesday '"Faust," and Wednesday that good old-draw, "Uncle Tom's Cabin," into which a large number of spectrescopie effects are introduced. The various spectral comedies and farces staged during the season . have been the cause of much mirth, as by • the ghostly aid of the spectrescope very weird and mysterious effects are obtained. Church bazaar in toney North Island town I recently. Biggest boom in the Great Silent i Robbery Show a Penny-in-the-Slot. Crowd i walking over each other with both feet to i «cc the living pictures as shown in the Penny- , in-the-Slot. Fortnight later bazaar closed; i great success, chiefly owing to the living pict ture show. Slot machine iv street showing I same pictures as boomed at church bazaar. i Proprietor fined £5 for exhibiting indecorous i pictures! Recitative: "Such is the law —it • is —we've made it so." 1 Pretty principal boy, Ida Roslyn, and clever knock-about artists, Messrs M'Kisson and Kearns, have been under Percy Dixs New Zealand banner for 11 months. They ' came over for two. Not bad. Their engagement expires* on Wednesday, when they depart for Sydney, under engagement to Mr Ttarry Rickards. Alhambra patrons no longer "trip over the mat" (Witness back date), said mat being safely tacked down —as should also some Alhambra jokes —by Caretaker Sheridan, who has this playhouse in first-rate ,order. - J The days of Fuller's Empire Company in , Christchurch are numbered. The show will soon be remembered with the undying dead. The company goes over to Melbourne shortly, opening in St. George's Hall. More enter- ' prise, and good luck, Ben. j The Alhambra Theatre was well patronised last Monday in spite of the bad weather. The j vocal portion of the programme went off with | 1 evdry success, and the -i-ariovis performers ; , were liberally applauded by the audience. 1 The advent of the Linwood sisters, who make | ! their first appearance to-night, is Ifioked for- J ; ward to with a good deal of interest. i : 1 ' ' i i ; . . ; , , ': ' 1 i ■ , '. [ 1 1 • ' i 1 i ' i