STAGE GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3017, 10 January 1912, Page 69

STAGE GOSSIP.

Mr Frank O'Sullivan, an old Launc&stonian, is ahead of the O’Connor-Oastles “Merry Widow” Opera Company. In the year 1873 the people of the United Kingdom spent £4,000,000 on amusements In 1910 the bill had increased to £25,000.000. , ' Mr Martin Harvey has e “f ag ®. d Q^fn Lillah M’Carthy * <?ffidipu S Q Rex” Jocasta in hi sprod&tion of u^aip “ t l c n ov s i iig.“S’ a. AP«I.« the crusade beiu* bv ihe fact that a young girl d P. nc ® r f her back broken by the strenuosity of her JSMU*JdMii. Edna K ? !ey Jill So.»“* mT ”uy: with .rector, .1 proved Miss Marie Lohr is engaged to be namel "5, ”«« q‘s?u,;x.“ t ‘a.™ AenL Nkholls, a dramatic soprano, who “Sally Bishop" at Devonshire Park, ( bourne, followed by her new piece. Dwellers in Glass Houses, which i£|® nds to nut on in London as soon as possible. “A Girl’a Temptation” Dramatic Company under the George Marlow management will visit Christchurch from January’ 24 to beb ruary 6, Dunedin February 8 to 14, W el lington February 17 to March 1, and Auckland March 4 to 16. A pretty compliment was paid by Maeterlinck when he visited J. M. Birne recently and handed him a copy of I he Blue' Bird"; on the fly leaf was written, “To the father of ‘Peter Pan and the grandfather of * The Blue Bird. Mr George Bentley for many years a popular member of the late Mr Harry Rickards’s vaudeville companies, and for the last two years stage manager of the Adelaide Tivoli Theatre, has been appointed fit age manager of the Opera- House, Melbourne. , In the two J. C. Williamson shows in Melbourne —“Every woman” and binbad the Sailor.” the number of people employed totals no less than 520. The salary bill is the largest the firm has ever paid, and the two productions are altogether the costliest yet staged simultaneously in oi*.o Ci Mr H. H. Wallace, who will be remembered as one of the comedians with the Repertoire (Gilbert and Sullivan) Opera Company of five or six years a,go. and more recently a member of the Hugh W ard Comedy Conipanv. is a member of the “Chocolate Soldier” Company in the capacity of an under-study. Under Mr Wybert Stamford e stage direction “The Quaker Girl” should bo ready for production in the second week in January. The cast will include, in addition to the priucinah of the Rova! Comic Opera Company ‘now playing in “Our Miss Gibbs,” Miss Jessie Lonnen, who arrived from London early in the week. The performance of “Carmen at Her Majesty’s, Sydney, on December 14 was the occasion of the farewell appearance in Australia of Madame de Cisneros. Sho played in the title role, and was given a most enthusiastic send-off. The American mezzo-soprano has grand opera engagements before her in Chicago. Sir George Alexanders forthcoming production oi “Bella Donna” at the St. James’s Theatre London, promises to be one of the most memorable in the long series under his regime, for, over and above the value of the* plav and the acting, it will presvmt us with some wonderful pictures of life under Eastern skies. Mr Frank Wilson. who plays Massakroff so well in “ The Chocolate Soldier,” will be kindly remembered as the capable English actor and singer who did some remarkably good work with the Repertoire Opera Comuany a few years back. He is probably the finest Pirate King in “The Pirates of Penzance” that we have seen in the Dominion. Mr E. T. Steyno, the J. C. Williamson producer, has already scored notable successes with each of the two productions ho has put on. In Sydney “The Girl in the Train” is booming in its eighth week, and in Melbourne the pantomime “Sinhad the Sailor” has bit playgoers hard. It is interesting to rcte that this is the seventeenth pantomime Mr Steyne has handled Mr Robert Hichens, author of “The Garden of Allah,’ is back in London from America, and expresses himself as delighted with the manner in which his play has been staged. The receipts for the first week topped £SOOO, and so emphatic , lias Mr Lewis Waller’s success been that American managers are falling over one another to secure his services even at £BOO a week. “The Sins of Society.” which was on enormous success at Drury Lane, London, some three or four years ago, has been purchased for Australia by George Marlow. Limited. The piece is a- typical fepectacular Drury Lane drama, and one special setting is the racehorse scene, which stands out. There •will be 200 people engaged In the production when the piece is presented in Australia at Easter time. The date of “The Blue Bird’s” departure from London for Australia is February 9. In consequence of the success of “Bunty Pulls the Strings '' the Haymnrket -Theatre is not available for this year’s revival of Maeterlinck’s play. Mr Frederick Harrison. however, arranged for its production at the Queen’s Theatre with the entire Haymarket company from December 2C, for eix weeks, two performances daily. Successful as he was, the late Kyrle Bel-

lew perhiLjPs did not reach as high a position as was within his means (says the Stage). Bis fine voice and hendsome face, his ease and finish, his feeling for romance, his command of passionate expression, ought, on© thinks, to have carried him farther. He played all parts that came his way, and was excellent in most. Yet. admirably equipped as he was, he missed the topmost rung. A forthcoming attraction to be presented by the J. C. Williamson management will be the first Australian production of Conan Doyle’s great play, “The House of Temperley.” The play, which is based on the novel of “Rodney has been an enormous money-maker m England and America. One of the many notable scenes is the lealistic representation of a fight, which is fought in the old way, without gloves. Mr Oscar Asche has just engaged Mr Aubrey Denniston Hoad, son of the late General Hoad! late chief of the General Staff, Australian Military Forces, for a long period, and he will be in the Australian cast of “Kismet” next year. Mr Hoad, who is appearing at the London Garrick Theatre, under the name of “Geoffrey Hardinge, is also a dramatist, and his play, “The Flail of Fate,” is on tour in the English provinces. The dramatic attraction by Mr William Anderson at the King’s Theatre, Melbourne, is a new play by Bernard Espianasse, an Australian author who is now doing good work as a dramatist in London. It is entitled “England’s Hope,” and is so constructed that abundant scope for spectacular display is afforded. The plot is a strong one, dealing with the usual men and women subjects, and the theme generally calls for big efforts by the mechanician and the colour artist.

The remarkable engaged couple at Tiny Town (the bride-to-be 34in high, the groom ditto) occupy the same midget store, and nightly tiny and pretty Miss Ilonka Blaschek receives hundreds of congratulations. Miss Ilonka, who confesses to 24, is a sweetly pretty little lady endowed with all the womanly grace and charm imaginable, and her quaint English and the charm of her personality make her one of the most popular identities of the extraordinary village at the Hippodrome, Melbourne. The cast of “Everywoman” at Melbourne Theatre Royal contains some names well known to *and popular with the public. They include Miss Emma Temple, Mr Eardley Turner, and Mr Arthur Styon, each of whom has added to his or her reputation by the performance in “Everywoman. It is about 14 years since Mr Styan and Mr Turner appeared in the same production together. The last time they were thus associated was in “The Prodigal Daughter” on tour in the English provinces. Intense interest, we learn by cable from London, was taken in the production at Olympia recently of Professor R amhardt’s great mystery play, I lie Miracle. Preparations for the production had beefi in hand for several months. For the purposes of the play Olympia had been transformed into a Gothic cathedral. The spectacle was magnificent. Hundreds of actors and 2090 supernumeraries took part in the production. The area covered was so extensive that the call-boys did their work on bicycles. The parents of Miss Mabel Graham, the fascinating soubrefte actress who will be seen as Mascha in the forthcoming production of “The Chocolate Soldier, were opposed to her adopting the stage as a career, so she acted on the safe and simple plan of accepting' an engagement first and informing her parents afterwards. Winning scholarship at the Guild Hall School of Music, she studied for oratorio under Viselli, but an introduction to Mrs Doyley Carte diverted her to the theatre.

Concerning the financial result of the Melba opera feasor, just concluded in Australia, Mr Ward ©aid: “Well, the financial result is that, while there will not be a great profit, luckily there will be no loss, and this means that we shall make another effort in this direction some day. I hope Madame Melba may be induced at some future period to com© again under the same auspices. Her tremendous influence has been a great factor in ni-ain-tamirAf a high musical excellence, while her personality, of course, stands alone.” In a chatty letter received from Mr Asche. tlie popular actor says; —“‘Kismet’ is still going terrific, there being not a vacant seat in the house at any performance. Last Monday night the Queen of Norway and Princess Victoria were present—it was the latter’s second visit. People are obsolutely fighting now for tickets at the box office, and the bouse is already booked up for the last night. The libraries (booking offices) arc bemoaning our departure, as they say it is the biggest success they have ever had.” . 1 Although Sherlock Holmes was not indigenous to America, the man, his methods, and manner were quite characteristic of the country. His mode of procedure was typically American—cool, calculating, slow but sure; and it was left to an American to transpose this character from the fiction of Conan Poyle to the footlights of the theatre. Cuvier Hastings, in the Antipodes, met with much success in his impersonation ; and now w© arc to see Mr William Desmond as this Immortal character in “The Speckled Band.” M iss Anita, the golden-headed little glory of Tiny Town, can safely claim to be the smallest woman in the world, just as Hayati Hassid, the Turk, can claim to be the smallest man. Miss Anita is 2G years old, and 30in high. Her sister, who is also in th© quaint show at the Hippodrome, Melbourne, and who cuts a charming figure in the approved circus rider’s costume, is a year younger and an inch higher. In Australia these tiny people have two other small sisters, one nine years old. the other 20, but mother and father and all the brothers are normal-sized folk.

Mr M’Cormnck had a triumphant reception in Australia as th-e lyrical tenor of the Melba Grand Opera Company. Next to a desire to l«?ar Melba, everybody went because they* were delighted with the singing of John M'Cormack. Now, ho is to be heard on the concert platform in New Zealand, but only on two occasions—in Wellington, on Friday. January 12, and at Auckland on Thursday. January 18. In Sydney and Melbourne it cost a guinea to hear John M'Cormack sin". In New Zealand the prices have been fixed at ss. 3s. and 2s, simply because Mr M'Cbrmack is practically not here on a professional tour at all. A peculiar set of circumstances occurred a short tiir i ago in connection with the new nlay by Bernard Eopic.n so'e. now being produced bv Mr William ml arson’s Company at the King’s Theotrc Melbourne, and entitled "England’s Hope.” It, appears that the author built his plot upon the adventures of a girl whom ho saw in Eolidon, the storv having been told him by a friend. Ho worked out his theme. a° he felt it would develop in real life, and was informed later on, though before the ploy was made public, that the real life experiences of the girl he had seen corresponded exactly .with these of the heroine of his romai.'ce. Seme speculation has been indulged in of late ns to the reason why various artists under the J. C, Williamson management have been quietly indulging in boxing lessons and athletic exercises. One popular

actor goes to a gymnasium every afternoon, and has lessons from a skilled instructor. At first ruiEcur said that there was to be a contest between two of the principals, but the fact is that the artists are preparing for tht big J. C. Wiiliam&on production of Ocnan Doyle’s "fight play,” "The House of Temperlej-/’ which is to' be staged in Melbourne shortly. The play is full of action and incident, including the wonderfully realistic fight scene on Crawley Down, winch was a feature of the London production. A striking incident in the first act of “Everywoman” at Melbourne Theatre Royal is comprised in the mysterious appearance of a human figure in a mirror. Posing and posturing before the glass, every woman looks into it at the suggestion of the Beauty. Suddenly the surface changes, and in the frame stands a courtly figure, who introduced himself at Flattery, and speaks with smooth, persuasive tongue. His mission accomplished, he fades away again, and the mirror is as it was before. The glass is real and solid, for the reflections of the people on tile stage and in the audience are continually seen in it. However the illusion may be accomplished, it is exceedingly clever and effective. His late Majesty King' Edward VII was an ardent playgoer, and especially delighted in good comedy. In honour of one of his Majesty’s visits to Chatswood tho late Duke of Devonshire provided an entertainment contributed bv many of the leading Englith artists, but the King was greatly impressed by the humorous character sketches and impersonations which Mr Joseph Blascheck presented, and at tlie conclusion of the perfcimnnee honoured tho humourist by expressing the great pleasure he had derived from his entertainment. His Majesty, with his usual keenness, remarked upon the extraordinary power of facial expression which Mr Blascheck posseesed, and said that he could not have believed it possible for on actor to so completely charge his identity without uring any paint, wigs, or costumes. The marriage of Miss Lily Elsie, the popular creator of ‘The Merry Widow, ’ and other successes at Daly’s Theatre. London, has raised the question of actresses’ contracts, and it has transpired that the reason she will remain on the stage is that a special paragraph was inserted in her contract setting out that marriage would not be counted to release her from her obligations. In the ordinary way marriage can be held to cancel contracts, but of late years (says a critic) there has been such a wholesale snapping up of popular musical comedy ladies by the aristocracy that managers have been obhged to insert the special hymeneal clause referred to. Miss Zena Dare was faced ,with the same difficulty on her marriage.

Blascheok, the humourist, onee played a joke with Cinquevalli. They were dining with some other congenial spirits one evening, and Cinquevalli amused himself and his friends by some impromptu juggling with the table decorations. Blaschook appeared to bo much' impressed, and laughingly suggested that he could juggle with something that Cinquevalli cculd not manage. The little man accepted the challenge, and the humourist landed him three pats of butter! Of course, it was impossible to perform with such greasy and sticky objects. To the astonishment of the company, however, Biascheck succeeded in tossing his three pats and keeping them flying in the air for some minutes. The mystery was solved when they discovered that he had taken the precaution of obtaining his butter from the refrigerating chamber. It was frozen hard! The oid Roman whose- ploudest boast was “Civis Romamis sum” could not have echoed more pride in the country of his birth than Leslie Gaze, who figures in the ‘‘Chocolate Soldier”' as Lieutenant Bumerli Mr v/as lorn in Adelaide and educated in New Zealand., His musical career began when -at the age of nine he entered St. John’s Church, Christchurch, and was solo boy in the choir there for five years. Leaving for England to- complete his education with a view to taking up a medical career, be changed his plans after passing the entrance examination, and took to the stage, which he found more congenial. Of the generation of the later day who have achieved success beyond the ordinary, Leslie Gaze stands in the forefront. He is recognised as one of the best singing exponents of genuine comic opera. “The Chocolate Soldier” will be presented by the J. C. Williamson. Ltd. New English Light Comic Opera Company on January 34. Melbourne Argus, in a eulogistic resume of the season of Miss Ethel Irving, thus expresses itself regarding the actress and her productions: “When the curtain finally falls on ‘Dame Nature’ at the Theatre Royal we shall part for good, and with very deep regret, from the most accomplished actcnss tho modern English stage has sent ns. One, too. who has shown conclusively her right to be considered a genuine artist, able to get close to the very soul of Nature, and to express the many complex moods that go to make up the emotional woman under the stress of trial, tribulation, and suffering, and still more able to express tbe delicate lights and shades of life's comedy with sincerity, feeling, and a dainty humour that have combined to make her acting a sheer delight for thousands to watch. To such an actress, then, we cannot say good-bye without profound regrets and a feeling that our stage is the pooper for Miss Irving’s departure.” • Says the critic of the Sydney Evening News; “Batcly five minutes from tho rise of the curtain on the ‘Chocolate Soldier’ it seemed that Miss Amy Murphy commenced to sing the waltz ‘ My Hero.’ which is calculated to drive the town whistling mad. In another five minutes many things had happened. The spontaneous roar of applause that gree.ted tho final note of the e-c-ng meant much. The play had scored from tho outfet. and the management must have heaved huge ; sighs of relief, for each member of the crowded audience had realised that Australia has developed an actress, who. besides being charming, can both sing and act. Everybody concerned well deserves a share in the congratulations on the success of tho ‘Chocolate Soldier,’ but Amv Murphy turned a success into a triumph. It is rare indeed that the first-nighter witnesses such a scene of enthusiasm. While every tribute is due to Mr Strauss’s music, h«- is lucky indeed to find such an exponent. The note of triumph onee sounded was never lo=t.” . Florence Tmeson, who is principal hoy in the J. C. Williamson pantomime of "Sinbad the Sailor,” has travelled a good deal, and, being gifted with more than the average amount of observation -and descriptive powers, tells of her voyagings and experiences in a most interesting way. The most impressive thing she has ever seen in her life was Cecil Rhodes’s grave in Matohelo Land. “It is right away on the veldt,” ©he eavs. “and the spot looks the loneliest thing on earth. Wo motored out to it, right beyond Bulawayo, and we never saw a living thing. It is an immense grave. A greet rugged stone, more like a- piece of rock, marks tho place. Wild 'animals rove near, and a huge Kaffir walks round and round the mound to guard it. This native is relieved at certain times by another man, also chosen for his immerse size. Several of the "Ui'tclians have <rone mad —the loneliness has

go affected them. But I Ekall never forget that last of a great pioneer. It was the most dramatic thing I have ever teen —the great lonely veldt, the stillness and space, and the great lonely grave.”