THE GHOST WALK.

Otago Witness, Issue 2645, 23 November 1904, Page 60

THE GHOST WALK.

Paderewski is "taking the waters" at Eotorua.

Madame Marzelia's birds ara stated to be insured for £1500.

It is stated that Mr Kyrle Bellew will visit Australia next year.

Paderewski is said to have cleared £20,000

The iJanomey Giantess, Miss Ella Abomah, will visit New Zealand shortly. Mr Phil Newbury, the well-known tenor, has deserted the concert stage ior opera. Actor Harry Poberts was at latest in London, where also is Miss Maggie Moore. Puller's Entertainers close itp at Dunedin Alhaimbra, on Saturday next, November 26. Mr Fred Harrison and Mr Cyril Maude, of the Haymarket, have dissolved "partnership. The Knight-Jeffries Company, now in Auckland, will not visit Dunedin until January next.

Tod Callaway has only two more- weeks to complete his engagement with the Puller syndicate.

Stephenson's Musical Comedy Company commence their Dunedin season, this Wednesday evening.

Julius Knight-Maud Jeffries Company commenced a season in His Majesty's, Auckland, on Saturday.

Edwin Al Gea<sli has taken over the management of Williamson's Comedy Company in the Golden West.

Three theatres in Sydney — Eoyal, Criterion, and Lyceum — are all to undergo alterations and improvements.

Mr J. B. Steele, the veteran actor, is dead ; aged 72 years. Tho deceased had resided m Australia for 52 year*. Harry Crawford, who came to Australia with Prank Clark's All-Star Company, is lying seriously iH in Brisbane Hospital. The leading part in "L'Aiglon," played by Miss Tittell Brune in Sydney, is said-* to be the longest ever written for a woman.

—Mr A. Linley is in town making preliminary arrangements for the appearance here of Mr Eickards's Vaudeville Company.

— Juggler Salerno, of World's Entertainers Company, and rival of Cinquevalli, was at latest appearing at the Apollo Theatre, Dusseldorf.

— Carden Wilson, whose clever imitations of popular actors has brought him. some fame, has joined Eickards's Company at Sydney Tivoli.

Auguste van Biene, the faonous actor-musi-cian, who has been engaged by Mr Mnsgrove for an Australian tour, will leave London on January 5. Miss Nannie Bennett, who is appearing wrtli Musgxove's "Pretty Peggy" Company in Melbourne, was at one time secretary to Madame Melba.

There's a plan afloat to found a theatre in 27«w York exclusively for the production of negro plays, and for the encouragement of negio actors. Lilian Cooniber, of Musgrove's* Opera. Company, will probably be a. member of tJie company Herr Benno Scherek is taking to South Africa.

Miss Vidlet Elliott, the lady with the voice and figure, well and favourably known here, 29 playing Princess Pauline in "The Duchess of Dantzig' in London.

First Actor : " I hear yo\i turned money away when you were on tour?" Second Actor: "We tried to, but they wouldn't go until they got their money back!"

How history is made. An Australian paper says that Howard Vernon opened a New Zealand tou.r at Dunedin on November 2 with "A Trip to China/town."

Great But Neglected Tragedian: "Yes, dear boy, I was once superstitious, and believed in ghosts; but, dear boy, that was before I entered! tlie perfession; yea.ra before."

Mr Geo. Giddens, who will b© remeniberecD for his performance in "Are You a Mason?" ia appearing as Captain Barley in "Beauty and the Barge" at the New Theatre, London. The record for a musical comedy run is held by "Christopher Columbus," with Mass May Yohe in the name part. It ran 470 nights, with an average of over £1000 for each performance.

The Manager: "Well, it's a certainty -we'll play to standing TOoin only to-night." Tlie Star: "Why 3.0 yon think so?" The Manager- "All the seats have been seized for a deht."

The Sultan of Turkey is very fond of piano and violin music. Performers who go to Constantinople with eood introductions are easily

admitted to his presence, and are paicl lavishly.

Madame Slapoffski, the operatic soprano, ia doing a star turn at a New York music ha.ll, ■where Miss Palotta, -svho last saw her as Elsa. in Melbourne, heard her sing "as beautifully; as ever."

Mt "Will Boris's laughing song in the "Skirfe Dancer" is said to be one of the hits of thft piece. It will be recollected that the Boris Brothers eight years ago toured New Zealand with Charles Godfrey.

Mr Alfred Dampier intends to produce » dramatised version of Steele Rudd's "On Oxir Selection" at Adelaide at Christmas. He is now playing in New South Wales towns, on his way from Queensland.

The many friends of Mr Geo. Stephenson will no doubt be pleased to learn of this gentlejnari's rapid rise in the theatrical firmament - Mr Stephenson is now recognised as one of Australia's leading entrepreneurs.

"Who was the man leading in that company you went out with last season?" asked the critic. "I really forget," replied Lowe Comedy, "but I was the leading man coming back. I always was a good walker."

Jean Gerardy is coming back to us soon, observes an exchange, but he is not going to marry the "rich girl' who is located at Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Wellington, Diinedin, Christchurch, Auckland, or Kaiwarra.

The ballets and dancing of Stephenson's Musical Comedy Co. are said to be amongst the most remarkable^ features of "Bose of th» Eiviera," "The Stepdancer," and "Dandy Doctor." All these musical plays will be staged during the Dunedin season.

The Eeai Thing. — "Are the members of your amateur dramatic club very enthusiastic?" — "Are they! Why, when we presented ' Hamlet* in the next village last week, half the company walked all the way home on the railroad track just to give it a professional flavour." At a recent circus performance in Londonderry, the boys in the gallery, dissatisfied with, the entertainment, clambered' over the heads of Is and 2s seat-holders, and cut the guy .ropes, broke the cinematograph, and pulled down the tent. The clown was roughly handled. Theatregoers will doubtless show g genuine - interest in the reappearance of Mr Edward Lauri and Miss May Beatty, who have been such prime favourites with New Zealand audiences, and make their apearance, after 12 months' absence, in "The Bose of the Eiviera" this evening. The Leslie Brothers opened at the Apollo Theatre, Dusseldorf, recently, when they made their first appearance in Germany. Offers for future daies aare "coming thick and fast." They return to England to fulfil contracts in the provinces, and open at the London Hippodrome on Decembe-r 12.

In addition to the engagement of Mr Charles Warner and Mr Van Biene, the actor- ' cellist, it is now understood that Mr George Musgrove will inaugurate another season of grand opera. . The Wagnerian repertoire will bs extended, with which end in view some of the new artists will probably be engaged in South Germany.

Miss Grace Palotta is playing in the West Orpheuni Circuit Company, a well-known American variety enterprise. Her "turn" ia called "Grace Palotta. and Her Millinery Girls," and the principal is supported by four pretty girls. Madame Slapoffski is also appearing on the American music-hali — otherwise "vaudeville" — stage. All Japanese drama abounds with superstition. Xlie fox, the cat, and the badger are favourite types ; but aleo "o-ni" (devils) frequently appear, to represent which- masks of monsters are used. These masks often hav-e, streaming hair of bright red silk threads (red: hair is greatly despised in Japan), and have truly hideous countenances.

C?irl Hertz, the illusionist, has continuous engagements for the next three years at variety theatres at £100 a week. Other large salaries now being paid or arranged include: The Magic Kettle Act, £200 a week ; Eugene Stratton, al the London Colis&um. at Christmas', £150 a week; Mdlle. Mealy, at the London Palace, £100 » week; the Thinking Horse, £600 a week.

It is said that Walter Baker some 20 years ago got £25 reward for chasing a burglar four miles through the bush at Dapto, and effecting his capture. Though he is a deal older and stouter, he could do the same feat now if called upon. Continuous pursuit of Albert Norman (says Newsletter) through tlie wilderness of a five-act drama dees a lot to keep Baker in condition.

The Westminster Gazette thinks Australian musical comedy is in a bad way. "Sydney,"it says, "±a only a fortnight from San Francisco, and there has been a rush of American companies thither, whose productions are so spicy that a general consensiis of opinion calls for a censorship of some kind." The same paper in another par. refers to Mr George Coppin as "the father of the English-speaking stage."

Paderewski has discovered at least one Sydney pianist who satisfies his high standard of excellence. Of the lady in question the great pianist writes: — "The playing- of Miss Minnie Daniel gave me complete satisfaction. She is very talented. Her touch is beautiful, heir pedalling very correct, and readings extremely; musical. As a pianist of a distinctly lyric style, she is particularly good ia 'cantabile.* pieces."

Miss Marie Tempest is once more appearing - in London at the Criterion, in a play written by her husband, Mr Cosmo Gordon Lennox, called "The Freedojn of Sxizanne." It dealg with the iinexpectecl developments of a divorce case '"by collusion," whereafter Suzanne, thf» newly-emancipated wife, finds her freedom pall upon her. and longs for the shackles of matrimony again with her supposedly erring husband.

"Scenery by the Misses Brown and Eobinson." We may yst live to see this line on our theatre programmes (says an exchange), for it has just been discovered that women have an aptitude for scene painting, and consequently a new career presents itself to the fair sex. Women write plays, compose music, design the dresses, and make the wigs; there is no earthly reason why they should not provide the scenery.

Miss Grace Palotta, who was studying singing under a famous teacher at Vienna, has joined! the vaudeville stage in the United! States. She has a long engagement witis the Western Orpheurn. Circuit Company, anc! was to open at the New York Circle on 19th; September in a sketch entitled "Grace Palottai and her Millinery Girls." There were to be fotir beautiful millinery girls, and the tovu; was ultimately to estend as far west as Los Angeles.

The only place in the world where violinmaking may be said to constitute the staple industry is Markneukirchen, in Saxony, witbi its numerous surrounding villages. There a*e altogether »bout 15,000 people in this district engaged exclusively in the manufacture of violins. The inhabitants, from thd" small boy and girl to the wrinkled, grey-headed! veteran and the aged grandmother, _ are em.--ployed throughout the year in making some part or other of this instrument. The respective popularity of the Gilbert ana Sullivan operas has been tested in an interesting manner at the Eichmond Theatre (Eng.). A ballot was taken on five consecutive nights, in order to discover the views oi the audiencea

as to a revival of the operas, and resulted as follows: — "Yeoman of the Guard," 938; "Mikado,' 846; "Gondoliers," 817; "Patience, - 801; "Princess Ida," 524; "lolanthe," 518; "Pinafore," 508; Pirates of Penzance," 462; "Utopia," 262; and "Trial by Jury," 81. An attendant at the Glasgow Hippodrome •was charged at Glasgow recently with having assaulted one of the audience. The man wished to test the genuineness of Houdini, the handcuff king, and placed thumbscrews upon his hands. The latter easily freed himself, and the man asserted that Hovidini had a key secreted upon his person, which enabled him to open the screws. The audience clamoured for an apology, and the prosecutor was assaulted. The charge was dismissed. The Japanese theatregoer leaves his home •bout 9.30 or 10 o'clock in the morning. He goes not to a box office to buy a ticket, but to "O-Ohaya." This is a sort of tea house or restaurant connected with the theatre, where all arrangements are made for seats, for refreshment, or for services of any kind desired during the long-drawn-out action of the play, which lasts all day and sometimes until late at night. During the play attendants go about continuously dispensing to patrons small handleless cups of pale yellow tea, with which the air is made fragrant. -The la-test development of the competition craze is a crowing- match between roosters, which is to be held at Cours-la-Reine. The competitors are arranged in three classes: first, the - Belgian cock, who has only three notes, a crotchet, followed by two quavers; then the cock of the plain, whose crow consists of a -crotchet, two quavers, a crotchet, a quaver rest, a quaver, and a minim ; and the mountain cock, whose notes are too complicated for description here. The Paris Figaro predicts the speedy establishment of a. "conservatoire special de musique gallijaacee!"

The question of gagging has many " times been discussed (says Sydney Referee), and some authors have inferred that it ruina a play, while, again, the gaggers, in their turn, say that it will often make » play. It is •well known among performers that little bits of business and- gags come naturally to them •wlaie on the stage, therefore there is always a great temptation to every comedian to gag. Being recently asked bis opinion of gagging, a well-known artist said: "First do justice to your author's lines, then, if your part is a poor one, and will admit of embellishment, feel your way with a few gags. Gagging effectively is an art, especially to know when to ■top.l'

Within less than- 10 years Mr Beerbohm Tree is reported to have conducted no less than 165 consecutive performances of "Julius Csesar," 107 of "King John," 163 of "Midsummer Night's Dream," 128 of "Twelfth Night," •nd 186 of "The Merry Wives of Windsor." "We hear a great deal of talk," he once said, "to the effect that Shakespeare does not pay. I regret that I cannot pose in the becoming attitude of a mattyr. I can only say that my own experience has- been that Shakespeare has brought me profit always, and, indeed, .1 will go so far as to say that he has been the mainstay of the theatre over which I preside. Ido not believe that there has been any play of Shakespeare's which has been properly produced in London within our memory that has failed to pay." Some interesting delusions are to be seen on the stage at the Palace Theatre London. During the "Magic Kettle Act" a hat is filled ■with what is apparently boiling water. Ini-xn-edia-tely the hat is emptied of its contents, it is just as dry as it normally should be. Handkerchiefs are washed in the same fluid, «nd are dry the moment after. It is curious to see an egg hardened to the consistency of steel by a boiling "process, grapes made as I>rittle as hailstones, rubber balls that bound as only rubber can one moment, sh&tter like the frailest glass the next; and mercury hardened in ten seconds to such an extent that at can be employed as a hammer. "Boiled ice cream" is another curious proposition, but \re (Science Sittings) saw it accomplished, and found It excellent eating. Roses are also boiled to brittleness without changing their freshness or beauty^