THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2522, 16 July 1902, Page 68

THEATRICAL AN D MUSICAL NOTES.

By Pasqczst. TUESDAY, July 15. When the Pollard Company again visit Dunediu (which they do in December next, having secured the Princess Theatre from Boxing Night to January 22) the principal attraction, I have authority for stating, will he> a pantomime on a truly gorgeous ecale. There are- several other big attractions for the- Christmas and New Year season of the Pollard Co., but I am not at liberty to divulge their nature. Fred Seager, late manager for P. R. Dix, \m& accepted in engagement with a touring company for India. Mr Tom. Pollard leaves' New Zealand shortly for Australia', hio mission being 1 to arrange for new people and new pieces for New Zealand. Sevesal attractions are ! under offer, and when Mr Pollard returns | it will be with something, startJiug. Tenor Charles Career, of the Pollard Opera Company, who h«t« been, connected with, thui institution for upwasda of four years, terminates his engagement at AuGkland in November. It is Mr Carter's intention to proceed Home ,i-< shortly after his contract with Mr Pollard expires as possible, there to study voice-cuLruro and elocution under the best masters for a period of two or three years. Knowing' that the popular tenor has that obj.ect in view, and wishing to further his effort 3in that direction in a practical way, the musical section erf Dunedin, purpose tendering Mr Carter a compb mental y benefit. This is to take place In. the Garrison Hail on December 19. and will be something out of the ordinary concert programme? I learn that similar complimentary benefits axe to be tendered Mr Carter in the northern towns. Several well-meaning ppople have advieod Mr Carter to remain wficre ho is, as there are scores of tenor 3inger? walking the- streets of. London tc-day. These people evidently believe that going Homo means competing in an already overstocked market. What if there are tenora walking about London looking for a square meal.* That fact Purely is not an argument agam.,t a young New ZeaiL'inder going Horn« to study. Therefore, go Borne, Carter, and good luck to your ambition! Patrons of the dress circle of Dunedln Princess will miss the> carpet which led up to that part of the Jiouee - also they wrllmias the friendly cloud of dust which used to arise, from the said carpet This is to say that the- microbe-producer has- been done away with, and good clean deal substituted. Miss Alice Edgar, of the Pollard Opera Co., who lias been seriously indisposed for several days, and did not proceed with the company to Invercargill, made- her reappearance in "The Messenger Boy" on Saturday night, and was. accorded a most nattering reception, the house cheering the popular artiste to the echo. Harry Musgrove, through New Zealand with the- Grand Opera Company, and more recently manager of the World's Entertainers in Sydney, has left the American show and taken a vaudeville co. out on the New South Wales roads on his own. Circus proprietors Wirth Bros, have been giving their Auckland patrons tho old-time "cirout drama." '"Dick Tur pin's Ride to York" for several nights and days pa&t. The death and burial of Bonnie Black Bess are the features of the show. More Australians for the Smoke : Miss Hope Mayne and Miss Cecil Engleheart sailed for England a few days ago to try their luck on the London stage. Miss Mayne's father was one time manager for Brough-Boucicault, and i 3 now with comedian Thornton. Miss Engiehearfc was a «weet-voiced vocalist with, Williamson's Comic Opera. Pollard Opera Co. brought their sixweeks' season at Dunedin Princess to a close on Monday night, when the ©verpcpular '"Florodora," wheTo the perfume eome-g from, was produced. The management of the Pollard Co. have every reason to be satisfied with the business done during their sojourn in Dunediu. They leave the city with many pleasant recollections and a determination in the future to do as well by Dunedin as Dunedin has done by them. During the season just closed, which extended from May 24 to July 14, with the exception of four nights in Inveroargill and two in Gofe, the company produced "The Casino Girl," "La Penchole," "JPlorodora," "I* Maseotta*" "Xb&.Bout s| Ssrife*"

"The Gay Parisienne," "The French Maid,** "In Town," "The Belle ©f New York," "Maritana," "La Poupee," "Gondoliers," and "The Messenger Boy." All the pieces . were staged in- the P. 0.. Company'a best ■ style, and the acting suffered little at the Lands of the one-time juveniles. Principal feature of the season was the production of musical comedy "The Messenger- Boy," which had never been, previously produced in Australia. The- comedy caught on. from. ' the rise of the curtain on. the first night, a and has gone with a big swing on every ' subsequent production. "The- Messenger ' Boy" is one of the brightest pieces in the co.s portmanteau, and will be the mean* i of bringing in untold wealth to the P.O. treasury. Judging from movements of No. 2, Co. of Americans (World's Entertainers) — thejr liave just concluded their season afr Mcl; bourn© Bijou and entrained Jor the States, via Parfeh— N&w Zealand is not to be viaifced^ by this show, as reported in these columns afcretime. Original information, came from proprietor Rial when through Dunedin with No. 1 show recently, who said 1 that the Americans (some are Australian-Americans) w-ould pad it back to the State* through Xew Zealand, starting at this end. Tho gentlemanly representative of American vaudeville i 3 not one to go back on a country which has shaken hands with a big •financial shake the No. 1 show. This to ■oay chat prosont writer is of opinion that anoths-r combination from where the- "Combines" grow will visit Maoriland anon. Pollard Co. had an experience in Gore, ! where they performed far two nights last week. Opening- on the second night, the electric light, usually so reliable, went back on them, and acetylene lamps had to be 'brought into requisition to see the piece on a portion of its journey. Later on theelectric light wa« got into working order, and everything pioceeded satisfactorily. The dressing rooms afforded no such luxury a3 electrio light, and many of the company had to find their way into their various wardrobes by the aid of a tallow-dip. The company showed in <he Town Hall in Gore. An election took place on the second day of tho Pollards' lisit, and while the company were rehearsing- electors wer& droppingin to record their votes; also som« dropped in without recording votes, and saw the rehearsal just the same Bough's farewell season in Sydney commences on July 19. Esmond's comedy, When We Were Twenty-one," is set aside for the opening bill. Lovell has joined' the company for the East, vice Cecil Ward who hikes up the Brough mantle in Australia. M'dim* Florrie Rhodesia. the "lady • Cmquevalli," who took her circus name from the fact of being one of the six riders sorted out by circus proprietor Frank Fillis tc escort the late Cecil Rhodes through Capetown on his return from Rhodesia, ia still with Fitz. Bros. Circus, and will tour Ne\r Zealand with tho show during the approaching swnnier. Bounding billiard table artists Kelly and Ashhy, late of. World's- Entertainers, have ' dissolved partnership. Kelly has been, on1 caged by P. R. Dix fpr the New Zealand circuit, opening Wellington, on Monday next. i A fairly repr-espntative- off-shoot of ~\Tan I Burg' 3 Dramatic Company, recently showing in Christchurch, is now on tha down south , roads. Comedian Harry Baxter, of many othor shows, i« working up the necessary excitement farr the company, which is called the Globs- Dramatic Company. "Tie'--et-of-T/oave Man" is the firsr rssay and future productions will be jrauged by the numJjoi? of tickets of leave sold on the opening night, AHoppthc-r, the- company of 12 performe-rs should run drama at cheap prices with success sufficient to warrant their staying in the country any number of nights to come. Cirou« proprietors Brop. Tom, and Dan FitzgPrald contemplate another swoop on New Zealand with their bur show in the Riunr^er. Lasfc tour throH^b, fcbfise islands the bro^. swoopr>d nearly £3000, and are • nre-nared to do. it ncrain with a biiygrer, brighter, find better <-how. Feature of the coming Sawdust Show is the " evole whiz," new to New Zealand. This act is done in a huee r baj^-et-vhaped structure the =-irl« g o f which alone at .in ansrlp of fiOdecr. Round this "mueh-banked-up" track four cvcli«ts (the Panzcs) race at *>xpres* soeed. performing many new tr'cks en route : principal trick is. of oour?e. stavina: on tlit* bike at an anarle of 60 while "whizzincr" at speed varvinjr from 60 miles an henr to 60 hours a mile. Lattw i« ii-arv difficult, as imv ovclist who has ridden in a "slow" race knows. Besides, the "whiz," there- are othor act? eauallv sensational. T!i<» ebow will rw» welcome. a<* much on account of Tom a.nd Dan as anybody else — but the show -will be welcome. \fr Clifford Walker.. *he wpll>nown <=oci«»rv en«wta'"«r. arrived' in Dmipdin by the Monowai on Wednesday mornins from Tasmania, after an abwne^ of rnanv months. Immediately on arrival Mr Walker calWl in at this office, and in conversation with! him the writer learned that the well-knowrt "nfrprtainpr "iet with a arreat rpfpption m Tasmania, where bo crave «ov«ral smrp<«!=fnl Twformanees. It is Mr Clifford WnTWa intention to eive a 6Pn>s <~f ppWtainmPnta in tho prinf'"'' l t-ownh in "Vow Zealand, neginr.injr at We-lliujytcm. whither he prope*de<J on THur.«dav last to make the necessary arranorements. Gem from Free Lance:— "Pollard'? put up a record by running for six weetn* in riunedin with 'The Messenger Boy.' Throuehout the season the Princess Th««i*re was crammed, and many people wer*> disappointed. Pollards open with ' The Yes.. seueer "Boy ' in Wellington on the ?6fch inst. They also brino- ' The Rnnawav GirL which hai. up to r>rrw. not been s*>«n even, in Airafcraiia." " Six " wppUb in Dunpdijt with " Tho Messenger Boy "! ! ■ Methinkswhen Mr Pollard reads t.hat " throughout th<> season the Princ63s Theatre was parked, and many people wp-re disappointed." he will he lookiuf? for Mr Footlierht with a large, two-edared free lance. Of course, disappointed' at not ep+tine into the theatre i* meant, but why didn't. Free Lancer say so. and not have all this -worry? Also, "They" (meaning Pollard's Opera Company) "bring ' The Runaway Girl.' which ha*, up to now. not been seen even in Australia." "Tlw» Runaway O-irl " not oven been seen in Australia! Whr. "the. Girl" of the clearintc-out tendencies has been runningawav in Australia for the past four monthsAgain, Poffards have not got "The Runaway Girl." For a paragraph of 10 lines the Lance man has lanced it to mince-* meat. • - Some May B.T. criticisme. occasioned by her Pi-Fi in "A Chinese Honeymoon,",,— One Australian paper, with a reputation, for temtjerinn jttstice with jt/sttce. sans: "Miflf May Beafcty saved the situation fre-

a low-comedy girl. May Beatty has only a. crude -conception of a Cockney character, but her vigour, good humour, and intelligence enabled her to get away with the ljonoura in this case." Melbourne Punch thusly: "Miss Beatty has set the seal upon Ler reputation ac an actress." Apropos some paragraphs m a recent issue* of the Pelican on the subject of audiences expressing disapproval of plays by vocally emulating the example of the gentle goose, a correspondent writes to that journal: — "The subject is by no means a ■aevr one, as witness the article 'On the Custom of Hissing at the Theatres' which Charles Lamb wrote for the Reflector. Lamb described himself as 'one of those persons whom the world has thought proper to designate by the title of Damned Authors.' " He therefore spoke, or rather wrote, on the subject with feeling Whenever the gentle Charles turned his attention to the stage there was, as Dr Johnson would iiave said, "a habit of sibilation in the house." Nevertheless, although admitting that his plays were not worthy of a more favourable reoeption, Lamb protested against tho way in which tho publio thought fit to deliver their disapprobation. To quote his own description of the reception Accorded one of his plays: "Hang 'em, how they hissed ! It was not a hiss «ither, but a ©art of frantic yell, like a congregation of mad geese; with roaring sometimes like bears, mows and mopes like apes ; sometimes snakes that hissed me into madness."

The life of meirfbers of the theatrical profession in Germany does not by any means appear to be all beer and eldtfcles, if we are to take the following extracts from the engagement of a provincial artist seriously. Among the various "conditions" we find : "The director has the right to give two months' holiday — unpaid. This holiday may be split up by fractions of two days throughout the year." What a magnanimous director, to be sure ! He might have doled his leave out in fractions of a quarter of an hour! Again, "Artists must be suitably clad. They are forbidden to appear on the stage or in the street with dirty linen, torn clothes, or boots down at the 1

nee . . . No artist may accept food or drinks from strangers." What about the oranges that are hurled at them by a bored audience? "Male artists must help with scone-shifting and the removal of effects at need.

Miss Ruby Ray, out in Australia with 'A Message from Mars" Company, in which production she played Minnio Templar, taken through New Zealand by Mi?s Winifred Austin, forwards me a copy of London Tattler, containing an excellent portrait of herself and the following: — Miss Ruby Ray. who has just returned from a most successful tour in Australia as leading lady in Mr Charles Hawtrey's Comedy Company, has been engaged by Mr George Edwardes for his forthcoming production nt the Apollo Theatre, "Three Little Maids." Before leaving; for the colonies she appeared as Lady Violet ill "A Pantomime Rehearsal" in Mr Martin Harvey's triple bill at tho Prince of Wales's ; from there she went to Her Majesty's to play Lucius in Mr Tree's revival of "Julius Ca?Kar." Amongst tho repertoire played in Australia was Minnie Templar in. "A Message from Mars," Mrs Gillibrand in "In the Soup," Rosie Jocelyn in "Saucy Sally," and Daisy Arniitage in "Tom, Dick, and Harry." This is not her first appearance in comio opera. She was very successful as Iris in "A Greek .Slave" on tour.

Miss Nance O'Neil arrived in London on Sunday, May 23, from Kftypt, and a few -days later left for a health resort on the Continent, where she will rest for a few weeks after the hard work of her two years' tour of the world. Mr M'Kee Rankin has ■wisely ohosen Giacometti's "Queen Elizabeth" for the opening of the season at the Lyceum Theatre in September. This drama has not been staged in London for many years, so that the impersonation of tho American actress will be regaided on ita own merits as new.

MiS9 Fuller, sister-in-law of the celebrated Loie Fuller, has recently produced at the Oxford Musical Hall an electric sensation, called "Le Feu." Electricity, wind, water, fire, gauge, and mcchanioal devices are all requisitioned. The act, which occupies 20 minutes, is in three scenes. The first" two are beautiful in their effects, but the third is startling. A volcanic eruption is represented, and the dancer is seen in the midst of flames that play about her dress, which becomes, or appears to become, ignited. She fights the flames until exhausted, and then, falling Jn their midst, is apparently consumed.

Mig3 Amy Castlcs's success in Australia lias been received iv London with not a great deal of surprise. In England, concert end theatre managers speak of her London debut as the best "boomed" entertaiuinenfc driven in the metropolis for more than 20 years. Oddly enough, too, the whole scheme was carried througb without the cost of a single penny to Miss Caetl»3, and people still ask in wonder — "How was it done'" Never since Madame Melba took London \ij storm, more than a dozen years ago. lias she had such a triumph in any part of the world as on her re-entree at Covent Garden in "Rigoletto" before a brilliant house, which included her Majesty the Queen. Never has her voice been so pure, so fresh, so unique, and seldom has any arti6t reached such a degree of dramatic intensity as that which Melba so perfectly portrayed in the second act. after which the Louse rose at her fa if«oiendoiis anoUuto .

Dear Pasquin,— Sydney has proved the biggest boom with "Sweet Nell " ever known in the history of drama in this part of the world ; while the future booking assures a like success for the remaining portion of our five wesks' season. For Sydney, our business is all the more remarkable from the fact that all the companies at present appearing here are showing their very h?st bills. We end our present season on the 18th inst. Melbourne follows. A short season at Bendigo and Ballarat, the company sailing for New Zealand per s.s. Mararoa on tho 17th September. With kindest regards, — Yours sincerely, Thos. P. Hudson.

Theatre Royal, Sydney, July 2.

Dear Pa3quiu,— Just a few lines to let you and others who may be interested know how things theatrical are here. Of myself, I can only say that immediately on arrival I received a note from Mr Harry Rickards to report myself. The outcome was that lam to open in Melbourne at the new Opera House. Dunedinites will be interested to learn that Jim Marion opened under Mr Rickards's management in Melbourne last Saturday, and, judging from reports to hand, he hag made a success. Lc3 Warton is in Sydney. Since his arrival he has been studying under Tom Donally the art of stepdancing. Les is highly pleased with the progress he has made, likewise his teacher. Warton intends to perfect himself as a dancer befcio seeking another engagement. I met Frecl Saager, late manager at the Alhambra, last week. He has accepted an engagement with a touring company for India; ere this reaches you, he will probably be in Calcutta. '•Nell of Old Drury," at the Theatre Royal, is an enormous success. It deserves to be. Staging, costumes, and acting first class. Things at the Tivoli excellent. Fagan and Byron, and Callahan and Mack, are recognised here as two of the most unique, original, and entertaining turns yet introduced by Mr Rickards into Australia-. Alhed Woods is showing at the Ciiterion. He i 3 producing a play entitled "Barabbas," written by Maud Williamson. Frank Thomton is at the Palace, producing "Facing the Music. ' Business good, and notices complimentary. Will send further notes from Melbourne— Yours tiuly, E>. Brinkmaxn. Sydney Tivoli Theatre, July 1, 1902.