STAGE GOSSIP

Otago Witness, Issue 2811, 26 August 1908, Page 69

STAGE GOSSIP

Mark Hambourg has 14 different programmes for his tour of Australia and New Zealand. Ht Kryle Bellew is said to be at present in Australia in connection with his mining speculations. Mr Cuyler Hastings is playing the gambler , in Belasco's drama. "The Girl of the Golden ; We^t," in America. The Royal Male Welsh Choir inaugurate 1 their tour of- Australia .and New Zealand ' at Sydney Town Hall on September 1. I Miss Madge M'lntOsb. is in private life I Mrs GiaTnaan Browne, and her husbamd_i3 Lan actc-T of. note -on. the London stage. j ' T>be Royal Artillery Band, >from Newcastle- | on-Tyne, is playing a brief season in Sydney I prior to their -departure for New Zealand. Mr Bland Holt concluded his Perth season on August 7. He is due in New Zealand later- on. bis opening- date at Wellington bernng October 2. Miss Maude Chetwynd, formerly of the Eoyia.l Comic •Opera Company, has made a bit bit in "Two Little Sailor Boys" at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne. Miss Amy Castles has decided to revisit Australia next year for a six months' tour, when New Zealand will also be included. She leaves London in February, Madame Blanche An-al, the gifted soprano, who has been touring Australia and; New Zealand for the past two years with great |- success, has returned to London. Mr Edward Sass was a member of the company chosen by Mr Forbss-Roberfcson to produce in Edinburgh the new play, written by Mt Henry James. "The High Bid." My William Andersen proposes to senct a dramatic company to N-ew Zealand in 'a couple of months. "The Squatter's Daughter" will be the ihief piece in its repertoire. Among future productions by the BeattyM'lntosfe Company, under the Meynell and Gunn direction, will be "The Prince and the Beggar Maid." which was recently staged at the Lyceum Theatre, London. ~The extension of the New Zealand tour of ' The Merrym-akers " has now been definitely arranged, and hhey will stay some weeks longer in the Dominion than the tour Messrs J. and N. Tait originaJly fixed for them. Syd. Day lias finished a most attractive souvenir of " Mrs Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch," full of characteristic photographs of the different members of the company. It has just been issued by Mr J C. Williamson. Mr C. M. S. M'Lelkn- (author of ''Leah Kleschna") and Mr Ivan Caryll are collaborating in the preparation of two new musical comedies for the London stage — one an adaptation from the French, and the other an original work. "Two Little Sailor Boys" has proved j big sucoess^at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne. The scenery and mounting are said to ba up to th-s best traditions t>f Meynell and Gunn. and the acting all round' is described as being most effective Some idea of the enthusiasm Mark Hambourg created may be gauged from the fact J that at the conclusion of one of his concerts j be came on and. bowed 14' times before he i gave his last encore, and the audience had | been insisting on them all the evening. Miss Stella Gastelle, a musical comedy actress, who has bean touring as leading lady in "La Poupee." was among the passengers on board the Pericles, which left London on July 8. She is coining to Australia for a six months' contract with Mr George MusgTove. Mr Ctyde Meynell writes frcm London that he has -seen the sketches for the costumes for the pantomim-e o>f "Cinderella" — the most successful in England- last year — which is to be staged in Melbourne at Christmas Mr Meynell describes them as magnificent.- and says they will cosi, £2500. Misa Clara Clifton, the A r eU-known musical comedy actress, for some time past a member of Mr J. C. Williamson's companies, is en route for England on a six months' holiday. She will return to Sydney in time to «join the 'Royal Comic Opera Company fox the Olmßtmas production. Mr Frank Thornton ig to return to Sydney in September, Mr Edwin Geach having arranged that his farev.-ell season will begin at the Palaoe Theatre on September 5 in "The Private Secretary," one of the pieces in which the well-known comedian has achieved his greatest popularity. Mr Bert Gilbert, of the "Hurnpty-Dunipty" Pantomime Company, carries a. camera, but he is something more than a mere dabbler in the art. He holds the m<sdal of the leading Engliah amateur society, and some of his work was recently published in the Australasian Photographic Review. The action commenced by Herbert Clayton, of the Merrymakers, against Messrs J and N. Tait, of Melbourne, claiming £1000 damages for alleged illegal arrest and detention, has been abandoned. Clayton has been released from his engagement with the Merrymakers, -and has sailed for London. Notwithstanding 1 that Covenfc Garden, in London, \s the Mecca of all jreat ■artists, » Britisii tenor never hati the hon-cur -of appearing there in a leading Puccini roll until towards the end of Jun«, when Mr Walter Hyde appeared in t-he first performance of ."Madame Butterfly" of the 1908 "grand" opera season. Edouin is a name that recalls old days of long ago to Australian playgoers. Miss Rose Edouin (Mrs G. B. W Lewis) ha 3 been playing- at the Camberwell Palace, London, in a dramatic sketch written by herself and €<ntit!ed "A Shakespearian Lunatic." Her 6on, Mr George E. Lewis, and Mr Edmund Russon have been Appearing with her. A queer thing about AdVian Ros3, who has written the songs for " The Dream Waltz," London's latest operetta, is that he is a university scholar, a man of erudition, as well as a writer of lyrics. In ihe matter of his writing he is as great a surprise as the author of " Alice in Wonderland." who wrote profound treatises on mathematical subjects. Lionel Brough, the comedian, once played a game of billiards in an asylum with one of tW patients. He conceded his adversary

25 points, with the resu-Jt that He was" hopelessly beaten. Then the patient took him j quietlyon one side, and said: " Look" here, if you go on giving points so recklessly asthat, you'll be in tihis asylum instead of me!" Sinoa €he <Jeea.y of the stock company | system the aart of the actor and tihe taste j of the public have alike deteriorated. Stage and auditorium have reacted on one another. The " ha-Hs " have swollen to huge dimensions, and musical comedy so effectually rules the theafrica!! roost that the Sacred Lamp moves like- a will-o'-the-wisp from Temple Bar to Piccadilly. "The Prince and the Beggar Maid," the Australian rights of which have been secured by Meynell and) Gunn, is goimg strong at the London Lyceum. Mr Clyde Meynell, after seeing the production, is of the opinion that it will b& an enornioua siiccess out here. In an extremely hoi season, when . most of the theatres were doing bad business. "The Prince and the Beggar Maid" was drawing crowded hoiiEes. Mr Charles A. Loder, who came from America under engagement to Mr J. C. Williamson to appear as Hans Wagner in '"Xhe Prince of Pilsen." has been playing German dialect parts for the last 20 years. Mr George Whitehead, the principal baritone of th-e company,, was a member of one of Mr George Edwardes's gaie-ty repertoire companies, which also included Miss Florence Young, in Scuih Africa, before the war. According to some lately published statistics with reference to opera performance £ in Germany during fche past winter, Wagner came first with 1700 representations, and Verdi next with 700, while Mozart and Bizet each secured 500 hearings. Add a hundred to the total thus recorded, and you get the number of performances given of " The Merry Widow. ' From this fact music-loveTS may deduce a moral or not — as they choose. To appear in the London Palace seems to be the ambition of many prominent actors and actresses. The latest to sign a con-tract with Mx Alfred Butt are Miss EUaline Terriss and Mr Seymour Hicks*, who have promised to appear there in December. Mine. Yvette Guilbert has agreed to retou-n to that popular establishment for a few weeks, during which she will be heard in some French folk songa, in the rendering of which she has no equal. One of tbe most novel and effective- scenes in "Miss Hook of Holland" is that in which a number of large copper vats are brought on. to the stage in the" distillery scene. The lids being removed, up jump six dainty little girls, who, led by Miss Tina Lincoln, chant the praises of Mir Hook. Then silken sails are hoisted, and the vats are lapidly ipulled off the stage by tihe men of the distillery, and appear to be .sailing away. It is a novel scene, and refreshingly original. So encouraging was the reception of " Peter Pan " by Parisians that Mr Charles Frohman has set about arranging for its being staged in Bexlin, so that the sphere of its sway is gradually being extended lover the whole civilised world. Its hold upon English audiences remains as strong as ever, and even at the beginning of last month in London inquiries by the public and references by the press were being made regarding its revival (for -the sixth consecutive year) at the Duke of York's Theatre next Christmas. The most popular creature in theatrical circles is " Hie ghost," and the ghost is said "to walls ' when salaries are paid. The credit for originating this phrase belongs to a company of English strolling players, -who, although their salaries had long been in arraars, were rehearsing "Hamlet." The rehearsal progressed, but when Hamlet, referring to the ghost, exclaimed, " Perchance 'twill walk again," thai sordid spirit yelled back again emphatically : "No! I'm damned if the ghost walks any more until our salaries are paid. A good deal of tbe time of Miss Ruth Lincoln, leading lady of "Miss Hook of Holland," is taken up in reading letters semt to her by aspiring young ladies whose annbition it is to embrace a stage career. "It is remarkable," says Mies Lincoln, "what en intense fascination the stage has "for the Australian ginl. The majority of those who write to me p^ace particular stress upon the fact that they have learnt elocution, and most of them think that that is the principal qualification necessary to become an actress. This is far from beimg correct." Although this is only Mine. Tetrazzini's second season in London (says an English critic), she has already wan the hearls of bar audiences and proclaimed herself a etar of the first magnitude. Notwithstanding the fact that she is only a recent arrival on the grand opera stage, she has received hundreds of letters full of the most enthusiastic ad-miration of her voice. "As far the requests for my autograph, she said. " I might have done nothing but sign my name all day long, and my stock of photograph^ was soon exhausted in responding to requ2sts for them. ' Miss Margaret Anglin appeared m Melbourne on August 22 "When she leaves Austra-ha, after Christmas, Miss Anglin will return by way of Eirrope to spend a brief holiday in London. It has bean stated tha£ she will appear in that city before returning to America., but no -definite arrangements J in that direction have yet bean made, cud 1 sha is to fulfil engagements- in the United ■States towards the end of 1909, as she is to appear in September of that year i7i Boston in "The Awakening of 'Helena Richie." and latei on in the same play in New York. One day. just before leaving America for England. Mrs Patrick Campbell discovered her head stage carpenter in a -state of jubilation. Mts Campbell caustically asked him whether he thought that Mieir success was dua to him. "Neither o"f us, was hia laconic repl}' — " a case of dog and tan-bark." It must be explained that Mrs Campbell created a sensation in New York by having- ' the road outside the theatre lined with tan bark in order to deaden the sound of the traffic, which jarred: her nerves. Her pet dog " Pmky-panky-poo " was a prominent feature in every interview. I heard a good story of Ellen Terry recently (writes a Lcindon gossip). At a rehearsal of " The Merchant of Venice ' the Bassanio advanced at the end of the casket BO^li© witk oiits-trettolaecl SLt-ms, prepared, j according to the stage directions, to embrace ' the Lady of Belmont. Pool Miss Terry j started back with a look >f terror; then, recovering herself she said with great presence oi mmd, "No, Mr Sykes; we don't do that business; you — cr — you inearely kiss my ! hand. It's more Venetian. ' " Oh, come, j Miss Terry," expostulated Mr Sykes, with , jan engaging leer ; " you're cuttin' all th-a fat ' out of my part." ' Lill Goerbe. a beautiful and talented actress, committed suicide at Budapest on i ' June 19 under pathetic circumstances. Although only 21 years of age, she had become one of the leading players at th-e Royal Hungarian Theatre. She fell in >a dead faint on the stage, and: a doctor who was summoned declared that she wag suffering from acute heart disease, and that unless she gave up the strenuous life she v»6s leading she might die at^cny moment. The girl was greatly affected, and after spending 2-4 hours locked in her room, she shot herself with a revolver. Beside her lay a letter stating that she would ratlw die at

' one© than give up her profession, -which was j far dearer to her than life. ,r Once when Ma-dame Albani, the famous singer, was appearing at a seaside town iv England, a ragged, unwashed little boy approached the box office, and, holding out sixi j pence in a grimy hand, demanded admission-. j " You can't come in here," said the attendant ; " you've got such a dirty face." " I've saved up this sixpence, and I want to hear Madame Albani," replied the little fellow stoutly. But his appeal was in vain, and he despondently turned away. A few minutes later, however, he came back again with his face quite clean and shining. '" HuHoT" •exclaimed the box office keeper, " where dic| you wash' your face?" "I went down on, the beach and washed it in the sea," waa the answer. " Now I can go in, can't I ?"- The attendant was so amused that he spoke tq the manager, with the result that the boy was given a free seat and a copy of tha programme. Falstaff's dress, perhaps, has occasioned as much amusement to theatrical audiences as the written adventures of the fat and lovesick knight himself. When Mr Tree was playing in the title roll on one occasion he arrived late at the theatre, and 'had to dresa hurriedly. Scarcely had he appeared on the' stage when a shout" of merriment went up from the audience. Not knowing whether it ■was laughing with him or at him, he glancec? down at his make-up, - and observed' -to hia horror that the padding was- slipping away, from one' leg, leaving him. with a lean shank altogether disproportionate to the rest of hia unwieldy bulk. Worse was to follow. In' stooping to 'readjust the leg, one of hia puffy cheeks fell off» and in a hasty effort to save it, he knocked away a lump of the paste used to -increase the size and shapeof his nasal organ. . Mr Tree's self-posseasion, forsook 'him." To this 'day he does riot remember how his exit from the stage was accomplished. One afternoon while Toole and Irving were playing in " Uncle Dick's Darling,'* they were strolling home from a rehearsal when they met a crowd surrounding a drunken man. Toole saw the situation ancß pushed through the gathering, Irving following. " Here's a doctor," someone said, ancß room was made round the sufferer. The I comedian felt the drunk's pulse, and then* placed lu'3 hat over his eyes, with the injunction that the orowd let him sleep on a while. The conspirators hailed Jt passing cab and drove off, but returned shortly ta reconnoitre. The orowd had removed tli3 man's cap, to find that his face was adorned! with a certain label which Toole carried in; his pockets in those days, bearing the words " Uncle Dick's Darling." It is by no means common foi jewels oj any great value to be worn on the stage., Paste, admittedly, is equally effective across the footlights, aud the risk of valuables being stolen afc a theatre lrardly justifies an/ artisu in indulging so costly a vanity: Exceptions, of course, are met with now ancS again, and it is the proud boast, for ex* ample, of Miss Marion Winchester, now fulfilling an engagement in the London Palace 1 , that the precious stones with which, she. adorns herself on the stage are worth fullytj I £100,000. The rope of pearls ehe wears j around her neck is alone said to have been" valued at £54.000. An Anierican by birth, her home is in Paris, and: is netted for il wonderful collection of miniatures and antiquiticT. The ever vexed question as to whethsr an, actress should, on the stage, be merely »! mirror of emotions or whether she ahouldfj really feel the troubles and sorrows of the/ character she is portraying was submitted to' i Margaret Anglin the other day by «n inter-; ! vieweT. Her view of the case is a nioderni I ons,- for she believes in associating herselfj co thoroughly with the part she is playing | that she forget 3 her own personality entirely, and lives and moves and speaks as the woman* she is representing. In other words, she must lose herself completely in the partotherwise there will be «in air of superficiality, unconvincing and artificial, about her work which will keep her from making the- strong appeal to the audience which aha sets out ta do. In her case, she subconsciously absorbs the influence of the( character she is playing for the time being into her own entity. Considerable interest attaches to an important movement, which was only recently, initialed, with the cordial approval of thef Archbishop of Westminster, for the purposa of uniting ir one organisation Roman; j Catholic actors and actresses, playwrights, ! singers, and music hall artists (saj's a Lonj don paper). The establishment, of such a> I body ba-ing very favourably regarded by fcha i various professions, an association was sue- , cessfully launched. undeT the title of ths j " Catholic Actors' Guild." An influential i committee has been formed, and the new I association .omprises some of the best-known I people ir. the musical and dramatic pra- , fessions, including Sir Charles Santleyi Madame Albani, Miss Mary Anderson! i (Madame Ntivarro) — who, had she not chosen? , a theatrical career, would assuredly liava 1 made a name for her3elf as a .singer — Mir \ George Edwardes. and Mi Seymoui Hicks. At i chief object of the guild will be »o raisy funds for Catholic and religions purposes, ! and the inaugural performance, in I'ie form. i of a matinee, will be given at Daly's 'Cheatre f ' when Madame Albani, Miss Alice Lakin, Mr Gervase Ehves, Mr Joseph O'Maia, and Sir i Charles Santley will contribute to the vocal side cf the programme, and Madnme Nettie Carpenter lends aid with her violin. The ' proceed? will be divided, according to the wishes of the Archbishop Bourne, among the ' poorest missions of London.