STAGE GOSSIP

Otago Witness, Issue 2840, 19 August 1908, Page 73

STAGE GOSSIP

Miss Margaret Anglin makes her fir3t appearance in Melbourne on August 22. The Princess Theatre, London, will be rebuilt next year. a+ a cost of £55 000 Chares Kenningham was the Nanki-P™ of fcbe 1895 London Savoy revival of "The Mikado" Mr Herbert Flemtni^p's eon is a prosperous farmer in the Orange Eiver Colony in South "Africa. "H.M.S. Pinafore" was ;r>evivect at th© Savoy Theatre, London, on July 14. v The Mikado" was to foHow. Mr George Buller is business manager of the Meynell-Gumi-'Rupsrt Clarke-Wren Company, opening at His Majesty's, Ducedin, on Saturday. The chorus-singing in "Miss Hook of Holland." has evoked widespread praise. The "Bottles" madrigal is delightfully rendered by the men, and creates a furore every right. L-es'ie SiuaTt confesses that the music of the "Tell me pretty maiden" number in "PJorodora" -was founded on a Gregorian chant. The number was composed in half an hour.

Prom Messrs Meynell and Gunn we have received a dozen souvenir post-cards of the Dutch musical play, "Miss Hook of Holland." now being produced at Sydney Criterion Theatre.

Miss Margaret. Anglin prefers her own hou=e to hotel life. and in Melbourne she will take up her residence .at L?.ke)s>ide, Queen's road. Albert Park, which ,_she has already secured from the landlord.

Mr Cyril Keightley. the clever Australian aotor, has been engaged by Mr Frohman for a season in America as leading man with Miss Billie Burke but may return to London in January for a "Wept End production. Miss Margaret Anglin does not come of a. theatrical family- Her father. Timothy Warren Anglin. was a Canadian journali?* and Speaker of the- Canadian House of Common=. Sh® Tibs several lawyer broth-ers in Canada, one of them a judge

The public has welcomed. Miss Eugenic Duggan with outstretched arms On the op&ninfc night at the King's Thea-fre she received no fewer than 50 floral gift?. It is probable Mi<=« Thiggan will have an Australian tour in the better class drama before lon jr. The "Brewster's Millions" Company were quite compensated for their 2000-mile rail journey by the excellent reception accorded them by a crowded house in Brisbane last Saturday (August 8). At the beginning of next month they start on a North Queensland tour. "Th© Ked Mill" is apparently to hold the

boards at the Theatre Royal, Sydney^-for i&s J remainder of the company's season in tnat - city — that is to ray, until after the visit' of the American fteat. On th© 2Sth inst. the company will open at the Princess Theatre, Melbourne. One of the most ealistic stage fights that has occurred on any stage is presented in "A Beggar on -Horseback," where Mariey (Harcourt Beatty) defends Lady Mary (Madge M'lntosh) against a score of King's soldiers, and incidentally secures the escape of the Jacobite conspirators. At the Bijou Theatre (Melbourne) the , Maskelyne and Devant Com>pany bas itatro- t duosd. new mysteries into.tih.eir performance. The most remarkable, is one in which a man. on the stage completely disappears from j view while his hand is held by a member of | the audience. } "Hiss Hook of Holland" still continues to ■ dance and sing herself into public favour. Despite tramway strikes, .political intrigues, and numerous opposition, this quaint little Dutch personality nightly packs the Criterion j Theatre to overflowing. "Hook of Holland" promises to repeat the -success of its Melbourne season. A "Players' OluV h-as been formed in - Christ-church as a. bratnch of the Sydney Players' Club, with the object of supplying a. school for dramatit art andi the produc- ' tion at' frequent- intervals and in -the in- i terests of charity of ""good;' comedies. Mr , Douglas King has been appointed director. ' Several plays are to be p\it in rehearsal at once. . Miss Ruby, Adams, the handsome young Sydney soprano, who left a few months ago to study in Europe, has settled with, friends in a flat off the Champs Elyaees", Paris. She sang the Jewel Song- from "Faust" to Mine. Marchesi, who was- most encouraging, declar- , ing > that her voice was very, very beautiful, and that with work Miss Adams ought to become- great. The results of the Julius Knight New Zealand- tour, which has jtist concluded, have J never been equalled in the whole career of | that most, popular- of .dramatic stars — a. fact | which speaks for itself. Next "week", the com- j pany will be in Victoria again en 'route -for I Adelaide, Perth, and' Kalgoorlie, whence a I return will be made to Melbourne in 'time , for the Cup. I At the conclusion of the Beatty-M'lntosh { Co.'s season in Christchurch the audi- ' ence rose and. cheered Miss M'ln- , tosh in, " Fedora." Quite 500 people \ waited at th© stage door to see the celebrated star depart. Cheer upon cheer rent the air, whilst "Auld lang syne" was sung as her carriage left the theatre. Such an enthusiastic demonstration has never been known tot have previously been accorded a star in thai: city. Betty Ohls. the clever soubretite artist with "The Merrymakers, has b&en considerably impressed with N.ew Zealand, and was quite serious when" 'she said' that the Australasian audiences were discriminating. "The girls have got pretty complexions 'here," ahe l en^ thused. " English wonren iaTe supposed to - have beautiful complexions but I like the New Zealand girl much better." Miss Ohls is from, Virginia, and is real American, and is proud of the fact. The production of the pantomime "Cinderella " by Messrs Meyn&ll and Gaum at Christmas in the Melbourne Theatre Royal promises to be of the most novel and up-to-date character. . It ■is - th« Drury Lane pantomime, -for this Christmas, and: the Australian production will be an exact replio* of the London. Thf& bulik of th« principals will b» taken from the present successful "Hook of Holkjid" Company. Mr Meynell is in England at present making some important engagements in connection -with "Cinderella." Leon Sametini, the violinist, who comes to Australia with Madame Ada Crossley. was born at Rotterdam in March, 1886, and is a protege of the Queen of Holland, who granted' Mm, at the age of 15, a scholarship and presented him with a violin. He studied under Sevcik, in Prague, until 1903, when he appeared in London, and then toured Holland. Tn 1906 he put in necessary service in the Putch army, and then returned to England. Sametini is looked on as one of the mos-t brilliant of the younger generation of fiddlers, and his successes have been great. A thumb-nail desoriptiqn, of the clever Am,erica.n actress, Miss Margaret AngJin, who shortly tours the Dominion under liie nmn-ag-emen't of Mr J. C. Williamson: "She is slightly above middle height, has a strong, expressive face, .and large hazel eyes, a mass of golden brown hair completing the picture of typical American beauty. She has a charming personality, and a keen sense of humour, probably inherited from her father, who was of Irish descent. Simplicity and a ready interest, in her immediate surroundings are also characteristic qualities." Mr Edwin Brett, appearing as Mr Hook at Sydney Criterion, has had an interesting and varied stage career. His wide range of parts includes IJaron H-artfield, in "Jim, the Penman" ; the title role in "Gentleman Joe" ; Captain Coddington. in "In Town" ; Dickson, in "The Broken Melody" ; Bltieskin, in "Jack Sheppard" ; and Mr Popple, in "Mr Ponple, of Poppleton." Also, he and his wife (Miss } Emm«line Orford) used to do sketches, writj ten by himself, at the music halls, and appeared in Dublin und«r the management of Mr John Gunn, of the firm of Meynell and Gunn, Mr Allan Hamilton has completed arrangements foi the Eas-ter tour of I?he 'Hugh J. Ward Ccme-dy Company. The company, which inchides Miss Grace Palotta, wiJ.l appear at Colombo during the last week in Ootober, and then proceed to Bombay, Hongkong, and Shanghai. Mr W.ard is- bringing the most of his company from London, and amongst the new plays are "When Knights were Bold" and "My Friend , Charley." Al the finish of the Eastern tour Mr Ward again visits Australia and New Zeailand with a repertoire of ne<w plays and new people. There is a contrast in origin between Mr John Harrison, the tenor, and Mr Hamilton Earle. the baritone, of the Ada Crossley Concert Part;-. The former rose from the ranks of Lancashire mill operatives; the latter was the son of a Liverpool merchant and the grandson of a British plenipotentiary in Brazil. He was designed for a commercial career, but abandoned it on the urging of his friends (just as Mr Kennerley Rumford did), who foresaw a fortune in his voice. So did M Bouhy, under whom he studied in Paris and after two years the prophecies came true when Mr Earle was engaged, as th© only Englishman in the cast, for a sea=on, at Coven t Garden. Since then his rise has been rapid, and his position in the concert -world is now secure. Signor Giacomo Puccini. whose opera, "Manon Lescaut." was revived last month at Covent Garden for La Cavalieri's debut in London, was not always the successful man that he is tc-day. He- comes of a very musical family, and his earliest ambition was to become a composer; but for long the Fates were unkind, and time was when he was so poor that he had his meals on credit at a tiny restaurant in Milan, the while he worked night and day at his beloved music Since those early days, however, fortune has well Tepaid him >for his struggles. His operaa are now the most popular of any modern composer's, and on a "Puccini" night at Covent Garden the house is always cro.wded.

Queen Alexandra is a great admirer, of the maestro's work, and seldom misses an opportunity of hearing his "Madame Butterfl}*'