THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 68

THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES.

By Pasqvzk. TUESDAY. January 12, 1909. The late Johvny Sheridan, whose sudden death at Newcastle on Christmas Day j is still of vivid memory, was a lovable i man in many respects. Those who associated \vitb him and called him "friend" knew him beat. I count it proud that I knew tjio. actor who immortalised " Widow i O'Brien" as well aa most. "Johnny" was always afraid of being .called away suddenly, and he appeared to me to sometimes over-nurse hiroeelf. Perhap3 not. During his visit to Dunedin in 1906, when h$ opened at the Princess Theatre with a pantomime, followed later by the first production of "The Earl and the Girl." Johnny met with a deal of bad luck. At t^ie outset the pantomime was not all it should have been, lacking Sufficient rehearsal, and the public was quick to realise thing* and btopjied awai* in large num* '

faers. When " The- Earl and the Girl " ', was puu en the public, remembering the j pantomime, again stayed away. Trouble j brewed in the companj, and several of the members were asked to resign ; on top of I all this cams the sad death of Little Gulliver, who macks his last appearance at the j Princess Theatre in "The Earl and the j Giri." Lif tie C-ull:\er was only three days 1 in the Dunedin Hospital before he died. The following "In ATemoriam," appeared in this column at the time: The curtain falls, and round about Is neither niirth, nor joy, nor light,, As Little Gulliver goes out Into the shrouding night. We bulky folk may never go Along some paths these small feet trod; The little children truliest know Th e Fatherhood of God. For him our garish sun ha 3 act; But he, safe g-athered to his own, May by his tiny stature get \ The nearer to the Throne. I remember in connection -with the daparting of Little Gulliver a post-card, pathetic in its Reading, coming to hand the day of the .comedian's death. The card was addressed to Litrle Gulliver, John F. Sheridan's Company, Dunedin, with the request: -'If left; please forward." Johnny Sheridan had a. heart of pold, and he felt The dearh of Little Gulliver keenly, as did all ihe members of the company. "When tears stream down faces masked by grease paint 'tis idlo To cretend." The shock affected the late-lamented John Francis Sheridan terribly, and when a week later John F. himself was down undergoing an operation for cancer of the lip, it appeared' as if fate had been kind only to be cruel The operation was successful, but the sTjock of Little Gulliver's death and wnat he himsslf had passed through left Johnny Sheridan something o f a wreck. After many months Sheridan appeared to pick up, but he was never the same, and when I mot him several months ago on his last New Zealand tour he was looking far from the breezy John F. Sheridan I had known m the old days. Strongly superstitious though he was Sheridan was a man good to know, and once to know to appreciate. It is patheric enough to know iJiat John Sheridan had just made , arrangements through Mr Bert Royle, New j Zealand representative for Mr J. C. Williamson, for another tour cf the Dominion oome difficulty had been experienced in mapping out the tour, and on Christmas bvc Air Royle cabled to the late Mr Sheridan at Newcastle: "Completed tour; best available." The reply received on Christ- | mas Dav : '• Poor Sheridan died at 3 o clor>k this morning," is pathetic in its reading. John Franci a Sheridan is dead' What more? | Not generally known, that Miss Marie I Jiaton, who toured New Zealand for the first time with the late John F. Sheridan's | &arl and the Girl" Company, in 1906 and last year und«r the same management, Playing Dandini in the Cinderella, pantor.^ c ' £ nd , " The Girl " > n the revival of The Earl and the Girl," hae been engaged for "Red Mill" and "Prince of Pilsen Company, at present in Auckland. Mis 3 fcaton is gifted by Nature with a charming stage presence, much dramatic talent, and a rich contralto voice, *hich she uses to the best advantage. My earliest recollection of Miss Eaton was in Dunedin, when, in the gloaming at the back of the dress circle in the Princess Theatre, she sang one of the gems of the pantomime. Since then Miss Eaten has not looked back. Death has dealt with a ruthless hand amongst old favourites in the profession during the past few months. Particularly have the rank s been thinned of people who counted for much. Thus Herbert Flemming was iuked to go. also Charle3 Holloway, Johnny She.rid*n, Adam Cowan, Alfred Dampier, and Dudley Clinton, and now George Lauri lias pa*t into the Great Unknown ! It seems only a few short months ago since Robert Brough was with us; Tom and Dan Fitzgerald, too, and poor Pete Hughes. | Only a few of those whom on© calls " frjend" are left! The town of Wanj?anui, which boasts a picturesque river and a commendable elec-tiic-ti-atn service, and which has only recently become famous by virtue of handing over the Gorki's souilintt championship to the South Island, is this month in rh« t3iroe3 of ventures sent across to New Zealand by the. "firm." Never in the theatrical history of the river town have so many companies under the J. O. Williamson regime booked appearance^. Last night (Monday) the Tittell Bnine Company graced the Opera House with their presence, with a further gracing to-night (Tuesday). Following hot-foot is the ''Reel Mill" and "Prince of Pilsen'* S|ueical Comedy CoraDAny, at present reviving "The Bells of New York " in Auckland ; then comes the Ola Humphrey-KolW-'Titeradge combine, playing " The Thief," 'Taming of the Shrew," etc., and $a If this were not not enough for Womjanm in less than a month Ada Ora^sUv. iusfc to finish up a three-weeks' t&eatnoal dissipation the lady who eet all London laughing, HJ'm

Florence Baines, to wit, is there te upssb staid Wanganui for two nights, on January 29 and 30. So from January 11 to January 30 Wanganui will be theatrically drunk, and, I was going to write, disorderly — but Wanganui could never be that. After January I quite expect to hear of Wanganui taking out an order against itself. The Ande.son Dramatic Company, which is the next attraction in Dunedin, -has just; concluded a successful season on the West Coast. The members of the company leave Grsymouth to-day o\er the Otira Gorge en route to Dunedin. Mr George Coates, representing William. Anderson with "The Squatter's Daughter," has^ arrived in town to arrange the preliminaries for the company's season, which commences in His Majesty's on Friday next, 15th inst. It is seven years since Mr Coates was last in this city, but time has de%lt kindly with him. Apropos of the letter forwarded to the Prime Minister protesting against the exhibition in New Zealand of kinematograph pictures of the Burns-Johnson fight, the following roply lias been sent to Sir Joseph Ward by the Messrs Fuller and Sons : — «it -r, - t* January 6, 1909. Ihe night Honourable the Premier, Wellington. Sir, — We notioe by this morning's paper t.-iat a tetter of protest has been sent to you re the kinematogra-ph exhibition of the Burns-Johnson boxing contest. As we are about to show this- film throughout New Zealand, we should like to point out .that although the letter says that "many representative organs of the English press, the Australian press, and ths New Zealand press have denounced in scathing terms the repulsive and degrading character of this contss£v-' ,® v «*y paper of -the Dominion is to-day publishing full accounts of this so-called "brutal boxing contest." The letter also goes on to cay. "If the kinematograph production is permitted in New Zealand we shall be in a worse plight/+ban even Australia." A» a matter of fact, the film of the fight is now tjeing displayed all over Australia, and no attempt has been made to stop it anywhere. ' This letter of protest has. been sprung quite as a surprise, otherwise we venture to assert that we could have attached 1 to this I'etler quite aa representative a number of signatories. The press reports say that Burns was all right the day after the contest. Johnson, as might have been expected from what has already been, told us, retired' from the fight scatbless. Burn* received £ 6000, Johnson £1500. It is very obvious -to any ordinary thinking person that the fight was very "brutal" to -the contestants. In conclusion, we emphatically assert that the letter of protest is not against the exhibition of the picture, which softens- the actual affair by 50 per cent., but is against boxing in any form whatsoever, and the* seize upon the Burns-Johnson picture as the thin end of the wedge. We feel confident to leave the matter to your judgment, and tha-V you will not allow on© section to deprive the other of reasonable liberty. — Yours faithfully, John Fuller and Sons. Mies Mary Hume, wife of Mr Charles Willeby, the world-known composer of songs and ballads (whose worfcs are regarded with especial favour by Madame Ada Crossley), is at present visiting Wellington. Mrs Willeby hails from Dunedin, and is a sister of Mr Fergus Hume, who made an indelible ma-rk in tbs literary world by his novel "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab." Mrs Willeby is a vocalist of no mean order. She was a pupil of Siffnor Carmini Morley, one of the most cultured tenor singers' New Zealand audiences ever had the pleasure of hearing. Morley very successfully produced the operas "II Trovatorc," * "Lucrezia Borgia," and "Maritana" in Dunedin a good manyyears ago, with the assistance of his pupils, and Mrs Willeby and her sister were the leading ladies in each work. Early in February Mrs Willeby proposes to give a. conoert in Wellington, at which she will eing many of her husband's songs. Apropos of Madame Patti'e recent appearance at the Albert Hall a correspondent of- an English paper tells an amusing story of an incident which happened a short time ago in the vicinity of Craig-y-nos, the famous singer's Welsh home. Patti one afternoon stopped at th« door of «. small cottage to drink a cup of milk. Her hostess, taking her for a stranger, regaled her with, fabulous stories of Madame Patti. Then the mistress of made herself known. The old Welshwoman -was delighted, and with charm ing naivete asked, "Oh, dear, dear ! will you kindly sing something for me wbateffer?" "Very well," answered theother. "Shut the door, and I <^ill eing " Tbx> door was shut, and. Patti sang- "Home, sweet home." Several days afterwards she again called at the oott&ge, and again was invited to sing. Hardly had she finished the lait notes of "Comin' thro' the rye" when 4 wild applause broke out from all sides of her and cries of "Eto !" ("Again !") Pressed for an explanation, the old dame, having informed some neighbours of the former incident, had crowds of visitors ©Very day, who insisted upon secreting

themselves in her spare Tooms on the off chance of Ala-dame l J atti again caumg. "I'm very glf,' ycu did call," ehe added. "Now that they have heard you, perhaps I can get on wich my bit of washing." Mr George Peterson, the well-known advante repiesentative "in front" of Wirth Bros.' Cncus, advises that he has arrhed at the Bluff from Melbourne to prepare the way for anothar New Zealand tour of the" big show. The circus commences its Maoriland tour at Invercargill on January 26 and 27 ; Gore follows on the 28th ; Balclutha on January 29; and the Dnnedin ssaeon on January 30. The menagerie will be' a special feature of the show, therebeing no fewer than 15 cages of wild animals, in addition to a "herd" of elephants, camels, and buffaloes. The only giraffe on tour, which cost upwards of £1000, is probably the star attraction in the menagerie. The dignified goat in Hag-enbeck"s collection of wild animals at Wirths' CircuS nearly quitted the show by a short cut the other day. He was called in by the trainer to cap a pyramid comprising several lions, tigers, bears, wolves, etc. Tha idea wa* novel, ard no sooner did William set foot in the cage than tJia pyramid fell to pieces- unanimously and flew at him. They rarely get live meat, and it was a case of serambl-a for the first bite. !he lions made a tie of it, and it took the trainer, with a whip and gun, several minutes to effect a rescue. A day later an ambitious attendant entered the cage with the trainer, and a pla> ful young tiger accidentally tumbled on top of him. No real harm was meant, but that neophyte is said to be looking for a less steep path to fame. Dear "Pasquin," — We are nearing the completion of our long tour. We shall close in Calcutta the end cf January, proceeding to Colombo* Cavlon. and thence to Cairi and Alexandria (Egypt), after which we- return to Australia to complete our hookings there. Our suc-eess everywhere has been, unprecedented, playing to tne capacity of the theatre in each city visited. If the fates are kind we ehall return to America laden with ceffors of the kind of money magicians do not usually catch in the- air. I wish you a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year, and bag lo remain, as ever,— Yours truly, Chap. J. Cabter, the Magician. Calcutta, India, December 7, 1908. A fine training prepared 3Mi Cyril JMackay for the sterling work he has done witr various J. C. Williamson companies sines he made his Australian debut as the English Johnoiy baronet in "The Squav- Man." In his cace heredity counts for much, and so does environment. His father was an arfcist — one of the most brilliant caricaturists of his day, and his mother was Emily Nicholls, an accomplished actress, the sister of the famous comedian Harry Nicholls. He himself was destined for a commercial career, and entered the theatrical .profession from the business side. It ■was as a member of the front of the house staff, first under William Greet and then with Sir Henry Irving, and later with various 6tare of the first magnitude, such as Sarah Bernhar-dr, Eleanora Diise, William Gillette, Irewis Waller, and Arthur Roberts, that Mr Mackay gained his first thorough lesson in tho best manners and methods of the stage. For a dozen years he stuck to the? box office side, ard then his brother Colin asked him to take part in a production of "Gentleman Jce '' in Blackpool. That was his introduction lo the footlights, and he went on therefrom playing juveniles until Mr J. C. Williameon engaged him for Australia. During his stay in this country he ha 3 played a very diversified round of parts — Sir John Applegate and Steve in "The- Squaw Man" and "The Virginian," the Maurice Farkoa part in "Lady Madcap" and Trevor Lerode in "John Glavde'e Honour," Sir Robert Ure in "The Christian" and James Larrabee in ".Sherlock Holmes," Frederick Lindon , l-n "Tke aVuth" and Arnold Sv]-rost«r in "Zira," — ai*J in one and all of them he has emphatically made good. It is claimed for the Royal Welsh Male Choir that wherever it has appeared dur* I ing the present tour under Messrs J. and U. Taifc'iS management its singing- has ■' aroused the greatest enthusiasm. By all accounts it is a keautifully-toned and highly-trained combination of 22 male ' voices, and appeals to all clas&&3 of the ' music-loving public. Tho choir will gi\e ( the firsfc of its series of concerts in the ' Garrison Hall, Dunedin, on February 26, j the tour of the Dominion commencing- afc ' Auckland on tho 18th inst., and it is • anticipated by the management that the , event will awaken, a considerable amount of enthusiasm in musical circle-3. Mr W. Thomas, the gifted conductor of the choir, i is extremely popular, and by his demo- ' cratic methods has endeared himself to his ' talented combination. Having been asso- j **iated with the choir from its inception, 23 years ago, he is juatly regarded as the j rock upon which the choristers' reputation i lias been built. Comprising an equal mim- j her of tenors and basses, the choir lias > brought part-singing to exquisite perfec- ' tion. WILLIAM ANDERSON DRAMATIC CO. The " Squatter's Daughter" has been to Mr Anderson a perfect Aladdin's lamp— it j has brought him good luck and big houses fend 6plendid "gates" wherever it has appeared. And thia, too, of ite own merit. , Tfc Bas got a big grip of Australian senti- I

ment ; it fairly revels in it. Then it can fairly claim to be one of the mcst elaborately 6taged of modern dramas— and certainly "of bu-.h ■dramas. Its story is &et in Xaw South Wales, near Bathurst. where the scenery rises from the stretching plains and foothills on Waratah Station, and climbs into the Blue Mountains, in tho rocky fastnesses of which, surrounding the Jenolan Coves, are enacted some of its most sensational incidsnis. "The Squatter's Daughter" is a. play teeming with incident and adventure. It abounr'.ts in cxcninpr combats between the station hands and the police on one side, and Ben Hall's famous gang of bushranger's on the other, the real villain is not the outlaw, but tho son of a convict who has been changed in , the cradle for the hero, Tom Bathurst, and it h through his machinations that the hero and his betrothed, Violet Enderby, are captursd bp the bushrangers and conveyed to the depth 5 of fie mountains, , and escape after a eeries of astonishingly exciting experiences. And tho pretty love stories which weave their way through plot and unc'.srplot lend a warm tone- to the pictur3 that all can appreciate. There are plenty of humorous interpolations, which fit into the plot =o well as not to be incongruous, and thb finale is a highly realistic and sensational ons. Ths mounting of the piece is gorgeci";, and the scenery itself ie well worth seeing. "Th© Squatter's Daughter" is full of heart interest, and has never failed to draw the public wherever it has {rallied in its long tour through the Dominion. The Dunedin season will commence afc : His Majc-tv's on Fiiday evening next, 15th • inst. The plan is now open at the Dresden. i