WELLINGTON WING WHISPERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2664, 5 April 1905, Page 61

WELLINGTON WING WHISPERS.

BY P JEtOHTTEfc.

March 31

Dear Pasquin, — To-morrow night sees the close of the three-weeks' season of J. C. Wi!lismson's Gilbert and Sullivan Repertoire Opera. Company. It has been one of the most successful of sea-sons, financially and musically, the only falling off in business having taken plac-e last night, when it was very wet and stormy. During this week we have had "H.M.S. Pinafore," and to-night the last change is being made with " The Yeomen of the Guard."

The occasion • warrants some further historical notes on the works of G. and S.

" The Pirates of Penzance " had been pirated in America before the authors had a chance to get the piece copyrighted there. In November, 1879, Messrs Arthur Sullivan and W. S. Gilbert, accompanied by Mr DOyly Carte and Alfred Cellier, left for America. They also took with them Blanche Roosevelt — who had been a singer at the Covent Garden Opera under the name of Rosavella — as the principal soprano of the " Pinafore ' Company. She sang fairly well, but what success she achieved was mainly due to rer eytiaordinary beauty. She proved of little use in the part of Josephine, which had been wn'ten for her voice, but made a very successful -ppearance subsequently as Mabel in " The Pirates." The music for Mabel m the fo st act had been written with a view to her singing it. Sullivan had oaly composed the

second act, without the orchestration, in Kngland, and soon after his arrival in the States i he wrote the first act and scored the * nole opera, which was pioduced at the Filth , Avenue Theatre on Xew Year.-, E\ c, ±670. ' Sullivan conducted. ( No such stage management had been witi nessed or such music heard on the light ' opera stage befoie. The whole piece was a | revelation to the theatrical world in America, j and its success was immediate and prodigious. !At that time there was no copyright i between the two countries, and the j authors were compelled to letaiii possesI sion of the whole work in manuscript. Keeping the libretto and music in manuscript did I not settle the difficulty, as it was held by I some judges that theatrical representation was I tantamount to publication, so that any menil ber of the audience who managed to t«ke down the libretto, in shorthand, for instance, and succeeded in memorising the music, was , quite at liberty to produce his own version I oi it. This made matters exciting for Gilbert I and Sullivan, although the excitement was far I from being a pleasant one. They kept a j sharp lookout, and if anyone in the theatre j was taking notes or anything of the kind the I notetaker was promptly turned out. This very often happened, and many other dodges ; were practised. Some members of the orches- | tra were bribed to hand over the band parts. ! One night Arthur Sullivan was dining, when , his copyist cams from the theatre to see him, i positively livid with exeitenfent, having made ' tho discovery that one of the orchestra had I been offered a- bribe of lOOdol if he would | supply the first violin part of the opera. I Here it may be as well to explain to thoss , unacquainted with such technical matters that the " principal first ■* iolin ' part is the • leader's part, and besides containing the part I s"or tho first violin it has the necc&sary cues for the rest of the orchestration, so that the ! principal first violinist could conduct from it I if it were necessary. | Three days before the first performance in New York of "The Pirates" Sullivan played his one big game of bluff. The whole band I went on strike. They explained that the I music was not ordinary operetta music, but more like grand opera. At that time their I method was to charge according to scale, so 1 much par week for entr'acte rnu&ic, with an ascending scale for operetta, and so on. Sullivan called the band together and told tliera that he was much flattered by the compliment they had paid his music, but declined j to submit to their demands. He went on to I say that the concerts at Covent Garden, which | he conducted, had just concluded, and the ; orchestra there, which was the finest in Engi land, had very little to do before the opera I peasoD, began, and that he—was certain that, ! on receiving a cable to that effect, they would \ come over to America, to oblige him, for litle | more than their expenses. In the meantime, | he told them, he should go on with the opera, 1 playing the pianoforte himself, with his friend Mr Alfred Cellier at the harmonium, and that when the Covent Garden orchestra did come I they would haye a much finer band than they | could get in New York. I He then went to his friend the manager ! of the New York Herald, and asked him to | write an article, in the shape of an interview i with Sullivan, on the subject. This was done, I and Sullivan launched out freely with his opinions. The upshot of it all was that the ! band gave in, and everything went along | smoothly. Of course the idea of getting the | Covent Garden band over was hardly less absurd than the ludicrous idea of using the pianoforte and harmonium in a big theatre ; but, fortunately, public opinion was with him, and his one game of bluff was successful. Meanwhile, in England, " H.M.S. Pinafore " ! had been running all the time at the Opera j Coinique, and when Gilbert and Sullivan reI turned to England in March, 1880, the | "Pirates of Penzance" was put into re- | hearsal, and was produced at the same theatre. Apropos of the production of "H.M.S. Pinafore," Charles Arnold used to be fond of telling this experience: "We had given a performance of 'The Shaughraun' at Winnipeg (Canada), when that town had a population of 7000, at the end of a six-weeks' season. The people wanted some more, and the Mayor begged for just another performance. But we had rnnde our arrangements elsewhere for another season. There was a way out of the difficulty. We would play ' Pinafore ' on the conclusion of ' The Shaughraun,' to start at 11.15 p.m.! The second house was worth only 12s less than that which saw ' The Shaughraun.' We played ' Pinafore ' with a company of 19 people. There was no band, our conductor accompanying the entire opera on a church organ. Mosquito-ea were the only deadheads in the place, and they made it lively for the ladies of the company j: _j'Laucy the prima donna slapping and killing a mosquito during the singing of a long solo! We concluded at 1.30 a.m., and had a merry time afterwards with the citizens. This was my first and only experience with two performances on the one night." On Monday night William Anderson's Dramatic Company opens at the Opera House for an eight-nights' season. You already know something about the company's powers of attraction. The season opens with that weird impression, " The Face at the Window," and two other plays, " A Sailor's Lass " and " Through the Divorce Court," are to be put on during the eight nights. M. Joseph, who is managing the tour, hopes to come ?jack for a longer season in a couple of months. Next Monday, also, the Taylor-Carrington Dramatic Company open a 12-nights' season under the Fuller management in His Majesty's Theatre. Mr Taylor saj-s. concerning his company: "The T.C.C. is the oldestestablished dramatic company in Australasia, bar Bland Holt's, and the most ' travelled.' bar none. It is as well and favourably known in the Oriental East as it is in Australasia, and for 16 years has toured constantly and sn» cessfully, giving high-^rade performances at low-giade prices'' (2s, Is, 6d). The Welhr| T ton season opens with " Never Despair." Mr Taylor has done wonderfully well in the country districts of New Zealand during the past four years. Let me think! Haven't Mr Taylor and iliss Carrington been on the road 23 years? Yes, that's right. In addition to Grossi, Barrie Marschel and Irene Carlyon have formed an attraction in society sketches at His Majesty's during the week. Other members of Fuller's Entertainers are • The MAuleys, Ted Stanley, Lily Northwood. Eileen Murray, Harry Brown. Rob Foster, Master George Mealing, and May Dagmar. Captain Scott Harden, war correspondent, who is now on tour hereabouts, is somewhat original in his methods of announcing his coming. His avant courier is an accomplished, charming, and petite lady, Miss H. Maude-Smith, of Napier. Hiss Maude-Smith is a clever dramatic -elocutionist, and appeared with Captain Harden in recitals at Wanganui and New Plymouth, but not in the smaller places visited on torn. She will recite at the lecture to be gi\en in our Town IJ.il! next week. This enterpusing young lady has given sub-editois quite a shoek — an unusually pleasing shock, of course — when she has announced her business and requested the usual " fJood par., please'" The Grossi season closes here to-morrow '

mght, and then, hey' for Christchurch. Sir Johnny Fuller south with Ciro«i the Great.

The Fuller Com'-ire has secured (ill Hopkins as its secretary, fill, who is «omewhat known as an amateur scenic artist, i= a Wellington boy, and has been on the staff of the Treasury Department these five yeai«. He loaves that department next week, taking vup the occupancy of the office at His Majesty's on the Blh prox

Next week we are to have a double attack of melodrama, which makes it appropriate to quote the following smart lines by Charles H. Musgrove, which appeared in a recent issue of the New York Mirror — Grizzled geezer niakin' will, nephew gets the

mitten, Foxy villain creepin" close, meeker than a

kitten. Grizzled geezer gets a stab, lots of fuss and

clamour, Nephew's name is on the knife, that is nieller-

dramnier. Nephew in the county gaol, head an' heart

a-tlirob'jin', Persecuted heroine loafin' round a-sobbin'. Mortgaged home a-gom' fast, under sheriff's

hammer, Villain niakin' wicked eyes; that is rneller-

dramrner. Weepin' girl in attic room, hero gone to prison, Villain spendin' stolen cash, ju=t like it was his'n ; • Tramp turns up that saw the crime, shy on

clothes and grammar, Makes the crafty villain dig : that is niellerdrammer.

Hobo tires of cussedness, peaches on the

villain. Baffles all his meanness in a way that's simply

killiu' ; Girl jumps into hero's arms, villain hisses

" D n 'er' ' Slaps his leg and goes to gaol; that is mellerdramuier.