STAGE GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3030, 10 April 1912, Page 69

STAGE GOSSIP.

The New Zealand tour of the Allan Hamilton Company will conclude in Invercargill on April 19. ~ A Sydney society lady—Miss Dorothy Gordon—has joined one of J. C. Williamsons companies as professional actress. " Sinbad the Sailor " opened in Adelaide on Easter Saturday night, the Sydney season commeaioing at Her Majesty's on April -/. Portus and Talbot. Limited, has been registered with a capital of £II,OOO, in shares of £1 each, and will acquire the theatrical business of Messrs Portus aiid Talbot Melbourne will be the opening centre ol the Quinlan Opera Company, which comes to Australia at about the middle of the year under the J. O. Williamson direction, lae repertoire of operas will total 14. The Standard, speaking of the close of the -Kismet" season in London, says that -ur Asche has drawn over £BO,OOO from this great Oriental spectacle, and will re-open m it again when he returns from Australia The Napier Operatic Society has completed negotiations with J. C. Williamson. Limited oTthe rights to produce the. popular music* comedy of Svdnev Jones and Messrs Green bank and Hall, entitled " The Greek Slav* "Ben Hur." the big spectacular drama which came to a sudden end ™**»™™' ing of a theatre in Sydney some vears ago i/being revived by J. 0. Ltd A great chariot race is one of the feature.. of "the production. m , t - TO Mr Bert Royle. New Zealand representative for the J- C. Williamson firm, advises that "special" attractions coming to the io; mtnfon this year include "The flue Bird " Ben Hur." and Osoar Asche and Lih Braj ton with! "Kismet" and a Shakespearean production. . ~ . , ni ''The Girl in the Train was presented a Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, on April 6 The company includes: Tailleur Andrews. Svbil Arundale, Reginald Roberts, W. &. Percy, Victor Prince, Jack Cannot, J xji.und Sherras, Charles Albert. Vman la.leur Lily Moore, and Florence Young. Mr William Desmond, who appeared so very successfully here in the role of Jimmy Valentine in the play entitled Alias Jimmj Valentine." has been re-engaged by the J C Williamson. Ltd.. management to torn Sew Zeal" nd with Miss Hilda Spong in ' Everywoman," in which play he will appear as " Nobody." . . , The company that William Anderson has formed to play Bland Holt's old plays is Kaded by Walter Baker and Miss Frances Ross Among the melodrama to be prewwiied are-—" The Prodigal Son. The Rn of life," "In Sight of St. Pau V °nd "The Prodigal's Daughter.' The tour will embrace New Zealand. <( A feature of the producton of woman." which is to be staged for the firs time in Dv.nedin on Saturday, May 11. will be the dresses, scenery, and mounting. It. is said that more money has been expended on "Everywoman" than on any pantomime staged by "the J. C. Williamson management. Miss Spong's dresses alone, it is stated, cost a verv large sum. In 'Sydney steps have been taken by the Actors' Union to have their claims against the theatrical proprietors heard m the *ederal Arbitration Court. The union has filer! a claim against J. C. Williamson. Limited William Anderson. George Marlow, and others They are asking for a minimum wag* of £'.> !>er week, and fo- a number ol other conditions as to rehearsals. Th- illustrious cwow M-- c«eni was engaged to appear at London Hippodrome on February 2G to conduct " Cavalleria Rusticana " unabridged twice daily. The chorus and orchestra are specially reinforced, and every care paid to the staging and production of the composer's masterpiece. Maecagni -will receive £2OOO per week, and has been insured azainst all risks for £23,000. The members of the two J. C. Williamson companies in Melbourne appearing in " The House of Temperley " and " Sinbad tne Sailor" oreanised a theatrical carnival m aid of the Royal Comic Opera Co. Sick Fund and the Musical and Dramatic Benevolent Fund. This took place on the East Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday afternoon. March 22. and proved most successful, o\-er £7OO being realised. The Melbourne gallery girls are loyal to their favourites. It was not very long afler 6 o'rlock ii the morning when fhe Osteriey arrived at Port Melbourne, but already there were a number of them awaiting the arrival ©' Oscar Asche and Lily Brayton. whom they presented with loads of beautiful flowers. Miss Bravtou resembled a walking garden, and was photographed on the deck proudly cJinf?ing to the" floral collection. Miss Ada Ward, evangelist and one-time prominent actress, was present-at the King's Theatre, Melbourne, recently, and witnessed ■the performance of "East Lynne" with apparent pleasure and interest. She remarked to an interviewer that until that night she had not visited a theatre since she left the stage seven years ago to become an evangelist. She was playing " East Lynne" in London at the time she suddenly became converted to a new mode of life, having then played the pan of Lady Isabel for ever 200 niehts. The J. 0. Williamson management in -Melbourne was inundated with applications for eeats for the first night of the Oscar AscheLilv Brayton season to such an extent that the advance booking covered every seat in the dress circle and stalls, and there was n.plan to open for the ordinary booking. The box office* was therefore opened at once for the other five nights of the first week, but many neoplo were unable to be supplied. The special staff at Melbourne Theatre Royal had to work day and night to cope with the applications that poured in. and hundreds of pounds had to be returned to disappointed applicants. A broken-down actor approached a musichall agent and professed himself willing to do anything, anywhere, at any salary. " Well, ole boy." said the agent, "if you'll train an animal that's not generally trained —something original—l'll book you." Some weeks later the actor said he had trained a duck to do an Apache dance with Idm. However, no " bookings " resulted for several months, when the actor and agent met in the street. " C!ot you and your duck a trial week." said the agent. "Too blooming late, old sport." said the actor. " I waited three months and then ate my partner—had to." Mr Charles Hawtrey's topical revival recently of "Dear Old ChaTlio" is not phasing everybody, but at least it is in accordance with the popular actor's own articles of faith. Long ago, before he entered into management in fact, he said: "It is the business of the actor to amuse. Leave the instruction and the mental and moral uplifting to the schools and churches. It's none of our business, we of the stage, to

mis in that. Actors are entertainers." To which he added that " an actor who is very .handsome and superlatively graceful sets people admiring him. They make a kind of tin gcd of him. and it stands in the way of his usefulness." Kubelik, who is now aged 32, and has made over £'200,000 with his violin, announces that he intends to abandon strenuous moneymaking tours for a life rest. "Amassing a fortune and gaining fame are not all there is in life." he said to a representative of the New York American. " Never again will I attempt a hundred concerts in a season, as I have done these past 10 years. I owe something to myself and my family. An artist leads a double existence. He has his art and his home. His family has to give up much to his art, and he must give up something to his family. I have gamed a fortune. I have also a wife and five beautiful children, and I am through with strenuous life. I will never desert my art. but I will consider my health and my home. Thirty concerts a "season are enough for any artist"." The following are included in the cast of "Kismet" at ' Melbourne Royal:— Hajj, a beggar, Oscar Asche; the Guide Nasir. R. lan" Pennv; the Sheikh Jawan. Caleb Porter; tha 'Beggar Kasim. Alfred Bristowe; Amru, Arthur Trantom; Zayd. J. Flanagan; Sweetseller. R. F. Anson; the Caliph Abdullah, Frederick Worlock ; Wazir Abu Bakr, H. R. Hignett; Wazir Mansur. Herbert Grimwood; Kafur, Norman Harle; a Chinaman. Gordon Harker; Kutayt, J. Fritz Russell; Ma.rsinah. Lily Brayton; Narjis, Bessie Major; An Old Woman, Marie Lawrie; The Almah. Zara Lauder: Miskah. Olive Noble; Kut-Al-Kulub, Frances Wetheral!. Flayers who appear before the curtain .—The Man. Pendere! Price: the Woman, Lilian Birtle: the Story Teller. H. R. Hignett; the Sorcerer. J". Flanagan; the Dancer, Zara Lauder.