THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 68

THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES.

Br pASQTJIiI. TUESDAY, August 25, ISO 3. Miss Blanche Densem, late of this city, who left some time ago to lake up a position in one of Messrs Meynell and Gunn's diamatic companies, has been com- ' polled to relinquish her rehearsals owing to ill-health, and will return to Christchurch almost immediately. Messrs J. and N. Tait are arranging for a visit of the famous. Maori guide, Maggie Papakura, and her sister, Bella, to Australia with a. typical Maori entertainment. Mr Claude M : Kay, one time pressman on Sydney Daily Telegraph and other important Australian dailies, now private secretary for J. C Williamson, returned to Sydney after a flying visit to New Zealand in the interest o£ J. C. W.s coming attractions by the Moeraki on Friday Lasfc. In a letter to hand, Claude M'K. says, with' refreshing enthusiasm, that he hopes to return to New Zealand at the end of the year . heralding Miss Ada Crossley and her concert party through Ma'oriland. I met Claude M'Kay in Auckland some weeks ago when I was touring as special corre&pondent with the British Rugby team, and admired him for many human qualities. By the way. it may not be generally known, and I trust it is not giving away a seoret when 'tis given forth in all sincerity that Claude M'Kay recently married Miss Dorothy Sydney, a charming ingenue of the Julius Knight Company. The members of the Mevnell and Gunn Company, headed by Miss Madge M'lntosh and Mr Harcourt Beatty, departed from Dunedin on Sunday by the Warrimoo for the Bluff, en route to Hobart. A large crowd of well-wishers assembled on the wharf to farewell the popular mummers, who shed tears of regretful nees at leaving Dunedin, where they had such an enjoyable visit. We trust to welcome Miss Madame M'lntosh, Mr Harcourt Beatty. and Mr Gaston Mervale back again in the near future, and look forward to the time when the company will play only the legitimate drama. ! At thi« writing the Madge M'lntoshHarcourt Beatty Company is giving the playgoers of Invercargill a treat, prior to taking their final departure from New Zealand on Sunday next by the Ulimaroa. ' for Melbourne, via Hobart. Not generally known that Mr Charles Chambers, who ie sX present in Dunedin making the path smooth for the Scarlet Troubadour Company, under the direction j of our old friend. Edward Branscombe, of Westminster Glee Singers' fame, is a brolher of baritone Howard Chambers, v.ell known in this city in the e-arly dav-s of the " pop."' concert. By the way, it is interesting to know that Howard C. who has been in .America for sorm yoar«. igetting on splendidly in his profession,

being leading baritone of one of the largest opera companies in the States. Silently and unobtrusively Mr W. Lincoln, "herald" of the Meynell and Gunn Company which is at present holding forth at Plis Majesty's Theatre, departed from Dunedin on Monday for Timaru and . the north, en route to Wellington, where the M. and G. Company is due to commence a season on Wednesday next, September 2. Mr Lincoln has much capacity for work, and is an enthusiast in his profession. At this writing John F. Sheridan and his talented company of pantomime and musical comedy artists are delighting Wanganui playgoers -with that excellent " meringue " " The Earl and the Girlj" in which Johnny F. himself scores a big success as Jim ""Oheeze, the <3og trainer, Heba. Barlow is Liza, and Marie Eaton as Elfin Haye. By the same token I have received word privately from the far north that the tour of New Zealand has exceeded expectations. So delighted, indeed, is the management that return dates will be played in the various centres. "Fra Diavolo " writes from Masterton: " Dear Pasquin, — The ' M-erry Widow ' waltz has got Masterton in its grip. At the last three open-air recitals by the Municipal Band the fascinating melody has-* been included in the programme 'by special request.' "' Mr George Musgrove left Melbourne for London a few weeks ago with a commission from Mr John Wren to secure the services of a number of artists fully capable of sustaining leading parts in a revival of opera boufte and the best of the more serious works of "old masters." The company will be ~known as the "National Opera Company," and every one of the works in its repertoire will be rendered in English. With the exception of seven English artists engaged by Mr Musgrove, the company will be wholly Australian. The season will open with " Les Cloches de Corneville " and '• Maritana " "La Fille dv Madame Angot," '■ The Lily of Killarney," " The Bohemian Girl," and others will follow in due course. Mr Wren states that the National Opera Company is not a venture in which the Theatre Royal firm is concerned, but one which he has personally undertaken. I am indebted to Mr George Buller, acting representative for Mr Allan Hamilton, for the itinerary of the New Zealand tour of the Meynell and Gunn " Little Breadwinner" Company :— Timaru. August 31; Wellington, September 2 to 22; Palmerston - North, 23rd and 24th ; Wanganui, 25th and 26th; New Plymouth, 28th: Auckland, 30th to October 16th; Hastings, 19th to 22nd ; Napier. 23rd. 24th, 26th; Dannevirke, 27th and 28th; Masterton, 29th and 30th ; Marton, November 2 ; Feilding, 3rd ; Christchurch. 6th to 14th: Timaru, 16th: Oamaru, 17th; Invercargill, 19th and 20th; sail for Hobart. 23rd; open in Hobart. 27th to December 3 ; arrive Melbourne, December 5. The Beatty-M'lntosh Company brought its season to a close at His Majesty's Theatre on Friday last, with a very fine production of Sardou's " Fedora." "Fedora" is one of the J most powerful plays of its kind that has been written for the stage, and affords abundant opportunity for the display of talent by those appearing in the leading parts. Miss M'lntosh was therefore placed in the position, in the character of Fedora,, of demonstrating her real capabilities as an actress, and those who wibn-eseed her performance could not fail to be strongly impressed by her magnificent impersonation. All through a heavy evening's work Miss M'lntosh was signally successful, but it was some time after the story had developed that she reached the greatest excellence. Hor scene with Ipanoff where he d«tails to her how and under what circumstances he had taken the life of Vladimir was very powerful, and Miss M'lntosh was even more effective in tho. closing act, in which she ends her life. Mr Beatty was admirable as Ipanoff, and is to be highly commended for his forcible representation of a part by no means easy of performance. Mr Mervale is to be complimented on the manner in which he 'filled the part of Comte do Siriex. and Miss Guun's Countess was a good piece of acting. . .... From Mr Frederic Shipman, who piloted Jessie M'Laohlan through the Dominion, comee to hand a unique card announcing a, tour of the world. «-mbracingr Australia and New Zealand, of "The Kilties." "the greatest Scottish band in the world." The opening tour is set down for Sydney at thf» end of the preesnt month. Miss Grace Palotta. «-ho is to fake up lwr work in Mr Hugh Ward's Comedy Comßany in October at Colombo, wher<» will bo opened the long tour of Iwlia and iho E/»st planner! out by Mr Allan Harnilfon, spent March and part of April with her mothor at TVaulieu, a few mile= from Monto Carlo, "where the snow glistens liko a crown of diamond--, on tho mountain height-., making a lovely barkgrour.d to th^> flowers, and palms, and blue s^a, and gaily-dressed people of the fashionable sea-

6ide resorts of the Riviera." Miss Palotta, writes that she met Mr G. P. Hrtintley. with his dainty wife and child, and' renewed their talks about people and places in Australia. Early in, May the Viennese actress spent 10 days in London, where she was charmed by " The Merry, Widow," in which she saw George Graves at the zenith of his popularity as a comedian. Miss Palotta acted in pantomime, with this artist in Manchester in 1902, when he had, been for many years a provincial favourite, andthen urged him to' try London. Mies Palotta returned to Vienna in June, and witnessed some of the festivities in honour of the Emperor of Austria's 60fch year of sovereignty, and heard 82,000 sohool children sing outside the Summer Palace of Sohonl>runn. The Viennese actress will not reach Australia again, until the middle of next year. The one and only La. Milo, -who created such a sensation in England a year or two ago, and who is still "making people talk" with her exhibition of famous statuary, does not forget Australia and New Zealand, where she is so well known. By the latest mail to hand -cornea an interesting- - souvenir from our" old 1 friend, who "was at latest at the Palace Theatre, Aberdeen. I remember Pan6y Montague, "in years gone by, then a handsome chorus girl in a Dig opera company, which played many successful seasons in Dunedin. Now Pansy M., ; or La Milo, is a big figure in , the artistic world, and this is what they say 'of lifer in Aberdeen :— " La Milo,' the- queen of living statuary, has drawn crowded houses to the Palace Theatre, and' her poses may be lescribed "as educational, refined, beautiful, and impersonal. An. interview with La Milo impresses one with the fact that her "shyness outside her art lends itself to the most naturally innocent representation of some of the finest work of the sculptors,* coupled, of course, with her personal beauty and physique. One need no longer wonder why she was the pith of the Coventry Pageant, where her form, grace, and bearing made her so fit a personator of the modest. Lady Godiva. although the attention and admiration she aroused has materially weakened the case against Peeping Tom. At the mention of living .statuary one's eyes open, and memory recalls much opposition, which we are inolined to think was unjust, for the livinpr "woman is lest in the living statue. La Milo^has a noble figure, and t3ie lines and proportions conform" almost identically to tlie great Venus from which sh© lias taken her name. Her noses are well chosen, depicting in each instance a distinctive attitude and revealing the wide range of distinctive beauty she is qualified to express. La Milo has fulfilled a mission in stimulating the movement among womankind to attain once more the" natural p©rfection which the hand of custom* and fashion .has wrecked. Enemies have been created, but the sacrifice ehe has made has been in the true spirit of reform." Writing under date Inglewood (Taranaki), August 16 : " Dear Pasquin, — The KeeganNi^htingale -Company have paid a return visit to several towns, playing a new pieoe entitled' ' The Factory Girl.' The company have every reason to be pleased with their reception. We are now touring the north, through the 'main trunk,' playing all towns en route. Messrs Keegan and "Nightingale, after doinar the Waikato, intend touring the South Island. ' The Roll of the Drum * is the Dieos to be nlav-ed in the north. — Yours faithfully, Keegan • AN T D NIGHTDTGALE." Mr Edward Branecomhe in presenting to the New Zealand public the "Scarlet Troubadours," after a most successful tour' through Australia, has succeeded in appealing not only to the taste of those wh« enjoy good music, but ateo to those_ who enjoy such music enlightened by the introduction of refined humour and harmless mirth. Noting Ac popularity of the humorous numbers contributed by the male quartet, who accompanied the Westminster Glee Singers whilst on tour with Mr Branscombe, he has included a most excellent quartet with the " Scarlet Troubadours," and their work will he principally confined to musical comicalities and melodious numbers of an eccentric nature; these are further enhanced iv attractiveness by the introduction of suitable costumes and actions. Two of the members of this quartet were with the famous London Meister Glee Singers, a combination admitted to be the finest in the world. There are in addition two ladies and two humourists with the party. and all enjoy London repute. tions. The " Troubadours " for a >=hort season at His Majesty's Theatre onSaturday, September 5, giving constant chang-M of programme. Twenty-six teas, dinners, and zo on in a little over a month was what Madame A-cla Crc^slev was looking forward to when she last wrote from London, five weeks before her depavttrre for Australia in the Qrontefl. Mi6s Marie Coreili. who boasts that she never gives away a photo, to any- • body but her nearest and dearcet friends f

had included Madame Crossley in that charmed circle,- and had bidden her to ! Stratford-on-Ayon, ther,e to take a fond farewell.-. Then, «ganv'Mr.-and Mis Henniker Healon "entertained t her at tea on the - far-femed terrace- of ■ the House of Commons, with' a debate in the House of Lords.' to -finish m> with.. It- is highly .probable that by. the time., she sailed ih.e 26 fttnetions" she wrote about had swelled to nearly,- double that number, and one can quite understand that now she is revelling in the "enforced idleness of shipboard. Mark Hamboui^j tells a fjood story of an incident which marked his recent South African tour. He was playing in some little up-country town, the residents of which, as after-events proved, were certainly not musically educated, though they turned up in great force to the Tecital. The evening's programme contained both a concerto «und a sonata, the different movements of which were in the customary style mentioned in the centre of the eheet, while the items were numbered down the side." At the end of each movement Hambourg paused, bowed to the applause, and went on again. Unfortunately the audience, unable to identify the pieces except by the printed word, thought " that each movement was a listed item. " As a natural consequence they had arrived at the. end of the programme when Hambourg .had really, reached about halfway through the first part. So they got up and ■walked out, and Hambourg's manager had to hasten after them and explain that they ' were still a long way from getting their moneys worth. The result was that, riot to be caught again, the reclaimed audience sat on after the "concert had concluded, and had to be politely, but firmly, requested to leave the building. A ( Jittle .story that is true, but. is a -chestnut in. theatrical circles, may amuse unfortunate people who dc not move in those exalted circles, and who, therefore, may --not have heard it. A few years ago a. musical comedy company was sent from Xiondon to New York, but only the principals and small-part ladies were sent ; the show girls and" chorus were engaged in New York. The first morning at rehearsal the English stage manager saw a beautiful creature on the stage. ." Are you one of the show girls, my dear? " he asked her. "No, sir; I- earn my living," she replied, and anyone who has seen an American chorus work will aeree with her. The American, chorus girl does earn her living, and on the stage, too, and English a-nd Austalian chorus girls are following her example, to the great advantage of the chows and of the public. It is believed by most people that the literary man is a perfect terror of untidiness in his home, and that he cannot put any life Mnto his work unless his papers are in a litter and his room generally bears evidences of a severe struggle. The literary dramatist is - supposed to be particularly incorrigible in this respect ; he is always presented" so in fiction — the fiction of the comic artist — but he is not so in fact. Mt Arthur Wing- Pinero ie a perfect angel of tidiness. His writing-table is always as neat as the work he turns out upon it. and could any writing-table be neater than that? The author of "-His House in Order," who has forsaken his house in Hamilton terrace and resides now in a flat in Hanover square, abominates an untidy room. His books stand upon' their shelves like soldiers on parade. They would pass inspection at a trooping of the colour. He never sits down to a soiled blotting-pad; always to a fresh one. His pens, his pen-tray, and, his paper-weight are all radiantly innocent of dried ink. _A blot upon either of these would be to him like a blot upon his scutcheon. His wastepapex basket is cleared as often as a pillarbox. And the rest of the rooms, and all that in them i 6, take after his study. Some years ago. when Pinero was staying next door to the Old Ship at Brighton, lie had a bicycle with him, the extraordinary brightness of which, could it have been reproduced by photography, would have -been the talk of the metal- polish industry. Its brilliance was positively dangerous. It got in the eyes of the flymen on the King's road, and made them blink from the Aquarium to the Green. If at that time you saw a man riding along in Brighton on two revolving suns, it was Pinero out cycling. The Pinero maid was the neatest maid ever beheld outside musical comedy, and one day the landlady heard the servants in the kitchen discuseing h^r omafiness *' vv &11." said one of the girls to another, " I reckon me an' you could keep pretty tidr, if all we 'ad lo do wa<s to comb Mrs Pinero's 'air and brush Mr Pinero's bike ! " She polished it up with a duster three times a day — except on Fridays, when ' (so it was alleged) it was cleaned with the silverMaster Philip Tonge is our leading boy actor , (says a London contemporary) . He is as different from the ordinary squeaky child actor as Mr Beerbohm Tree is from the raw stage recruit. Even when he was quite a small boy, six years of age, he managed to make himself clear to his audience without straining his voice into a shrill treble : and his manner on the stage is as natural, almost, as Mr Charles Hawtrey's. This clever little chap, who is the son of Mr and Mrs Asheton Tonge, for some time associated with Mr Tree's productions at His Majesty's, has appeared at nearly every important theatre in London, and his Viscount Worth in " The Likes o' Me " is close upon the thirtieth part he has played, Master Ton&e at the

age of- six and a-half was a somewhat oldfashioned little man in the theatre, and many of the remarks he made at that time concerning the members of the company were in keeping with bis general manner. Once" he wentto his mother in her dressing room and reported that Mr and Mrs , the leading actor and his wife, were " quarrelling again" most dangerously." "JDear me t I hope they won't come to blows!" exclaimed Mjs Tonge. "If they So," mused Master Philip gravely, and with alow and. measured emphasis, "I quite hope Mrs will get the worst of it. Really, mother, she is the most trying woman I ever .acted with in all my life ! " The young actor has long sinee — yet not so long— left the unchivalrpus age of six and a-half behind, together with its gravities and scepticisms, and is now one of the jolliest and most natural of boys. The " Merry Widow " waltz craze is said to be causing many tragedies and comedies in New York. The effect produced by^this music on_ what are supposed to be sharpwitted Americans is truly extraordinary. The man most qualified to speak on the subject is surely the one who ha-s directed the playing over 4-000 times. He says that the members of the orchestra seem to be actually Hypnotised at every performance. After,wards they collapse in .their chairs, and sit silent and white till it is time to play again. Sometimes the strain is so great that they have to ask to be excused for a night ot two to escape an onset of hysterics. Actors and audience appear to be equally susceptible. Two leading stage lights have had to withdraw to a sanatorium, -and another has received 30 offers of marriage. Another case is eriven of two persons of opposite sex who found themselves eide by side in the dress circle of a fashionable theatre. They were perfect strangers, and sat in conventional, unresponsive silence till the irresistible waltz began. Then they suddenly seemed to know each other, and ivhen it was all over, and the gentleman leaned down to pick up the programme, gloves, veil, handkerchief, chocolates, and a few more trifles wfTich his neighbour had dropped during the hypnotic trance into which she had fallen, they felt like old friends. Before the curtain fell upon the finale they knew each other's name, and the gentleman had a card of the lady's brother in his pocket. The whole story is extraordinary, and its heroine confesses that 6he would have been the last person to believe ir TJOssißle. Only the other day she said : "If anyone had told me that a strange man could have spoken to me during a matinee and not had his ears soundly boxed I would have been very anGT.v.J But you forget conventionalities when music begins. Anyhow, he went to see my brother, and then we went to see ' The Merry Widow ' again — and some more times — and when we are married in June I intend to have ' The Merry WiVow' waltz played for our wedding march."