STAGE GOSSIP.

Otago Witness, Issue 3035, 15 May 1912, Page 60

STAGE GOSSIP.

I The Mysterious Howard Bros, and Hassan I Company are touring West Australia. Mr Harold Ashton is in Brisbane with "The Quaker Girl" Compwny. He may come to New Zealand ahead of "The Blue Bird" Company. , Ai '•'-•<iney Town Hall on May ,4 Miss Ada, I Ward, the actress-evangelist,, appeared as ' Lady ' Isabel in the deathbed scene from I "East Lynne." I The Negro Minstrel Company which Mpossts Portus and Talbot is importing from America will commence its tour of Australasia in Auckland on June 10, i "The Blue Bird," which will be seen in New Zealand .about September, is in its . concluding nights in Sydney. Maeterlinck's : beautiful fairy play has met' with conspicuous success. j Mis<3 Katherino Grey made her first appearance in vaudeville at the Majestic Theatre, New York, on Monday, March 4, m i a sketch by M'Kee Rankin called "The I Wages of Sin." Among those who made speeches at the I last night of "The Quaker Girl" in Sydney , was Miss Olive Godwin. She said farewell i to Sydney for a year. She is going to Eng- : land on a. visit. | It is said that Cupid has been quickly and quietly getting to work amongst the menii bers of the Asche-Brayton Company in Mel- , bourne, and that quite a few engagements may be announced shortly The management of Drury Liane spared no expense last month to make the big revival of "Ben Hur" successful from every point of view, scenic and dramatic. There were 400 i pterins .in the ,prod notion, including 'a chorus of 120 voices and an orchestra of 40 instruments. The Australian D>artos (Eddie and Decima WLean) left for London on May 11. Young Ray M'Lean (the Australian Little Tich) stays with lus father, Mr Edward M'Lea/n, ! in Sydney, to finish his education. In London the two clever Australians will work under their own name. "For the Term of His Natural Life" is the piece to be produced next at the King's j Theatre, Melbourne, by the Baker-Ross Coini pany, under the' direction of Mr William Anderson. The paxt of the Rev. North is taken by Mr Walter Baker, and is regarded 1 as one of the best characters he has sustained in his long and successful career. I Mr Charles A. Wenmian has taken up his , duties as producer for the Wiliameon Comic I Opera Company. The Williamson management has m view the production in the near future of the new Strauss opera, "Mghtbirda," at present running at the Lyric Theatre, London. The New Comic Opera Company, which is giving Melbournites "The Girl in the Train,' will introduce "Nightbirds" to Australia. Jeanne Brola, droiamtic poprano of the Quinlan Grand Opera Company, is a daughter of the distinguished soldier, General Brooks, of the United States army. For some years she ha® been one of the most popular stars of the La Scala, Opera, Milan, wheTe, owing to her great, dramatic gifts, sho is known as the "Duse of the opexatio stage." She was personally selected by Puccini to create the title role in his "Girl of the Go'den West." Mr Frank Talbot, of the firm of Portus and Talbot (Ltd.), who is now touring with Jansen in New Zealand, has received a cable from South Africa stating that Nicola the Magician had a phenomenally successful run during his first week at the Theatre Royal. Durban. There is every prospect of the tour being a highly successful one. Nicola's tour extends from Capetown to Pretoria, and includes a season of five weeks at the chief theatre in Johannesburg The present year will be a busy one for that young and enterprising firm, Messrs Portus and Talbot (Ltd.). By next month no fewCT than four companies will be touring under their direction. The Countess d«

CSsneros (who was associated with Melba in her tour of Australia last year), Janeen (the illusionist), and Kera-ands' Negro Minstrels are all booked for lengthy tours of Australasia. The firm has also under its direction Nicola the Magician, who is now touring South Africa. A magnificent spectacular presentation on military lines will take place at The King's Theatre, Melbourne, at an early date. Mr William Anderson, the director, has airranged for the exploitation of the Boy Scouts idea, and a dramatic story involving the doings of these very useful aids to our defence will be told with wonderful amplitude of detail and magnificence of stage effects. Novelties will be introduced in the production that are bound to make it popular, and the whoje play will appeal to the best national aspirations of the people. Already the J. C. Williamson management in Melbourne has received applications for. seats for the first night of the Quinism Grand Opera Company—a practical indication of the amount of interest being taken in- this event. The opening opera will be Offenbach's "Tales of Hoffmann," in which three prima donnas appear—one for each act. These will be Lalla. Miranda, Edna Thornton, and Enriquetta Onelli. The famous Barcarolle, "Lovely night," is already _ familiar from the Gramophone Company's records*, and is of the most ear-haunting character.

"Ben Hur." with its six acts and 14 scenes, lasted for almost four hours at the Theatre Royal. Sydney, on Saturday, May 4. Mr Eric Maxon (oak the name part, and its romantic phases suited his temperament well. The role of Esther found Miss Dorothy Dix well placed, and she scored a decided success, both in appearance and in acting. The big scenic display was not managed without some hitches, of which the worst wrs the failure of Ben HUr to take of th& wheel of Mesea-la's chariot in the racing tableau, but so skilfully was the fault covered that the majority of the audience hardly noticed that anything was wrong Mr Lewis Waller, who is reported to be coming out to Australia and New Zealand next year, played "Monsieur Beaucaire" BJ-*9 times in England. It was in this play that Mx Waller made his biggest English success. He produced it in 1901 at the Comedy Theatre, in London, and it ran for 400 nights: Waller at least has the courage of his convictions, and so far he has no reason to regret his visit to America Although his work in "The Garden of Allah" was tremendously salaried, he was worth it, for he drew the audience as much, or even more, than the scenery did, and he supplied the live acting of the piece. A cable received during the week announced the triumphant success at ihe Opera House, of Miss Lalla Miranda, the young prima donna, of Melbourne, in Offenbach's "Tale© of Hoffmann." It may be recollected that about two years ago Miss Miranda achieved such a great success' as Marguerite in "Faust" "at the Opera House that the French Government accorded her a striking recognition—conferring upon her the Order of Lcs Palmes de Academic Mies Miranda sails this week 'for Australia *o appear in the Quinlan Grand Opera Com pany, which is to open in Melbourne under the management of J. O. Wiliamson (Ltd.). The most beautiful women I know (says an American critic) are Marie Studholme, Lillian Lorraine, Edna May, Hazel Dawn, Marie Wilson, and Lilly Elsie. Marie Stndhclme'e beauty lay in perfection of features and daintiness of colouring. Lily Elsie's if that of a perfectly fashioned face. Edna May's was a saccharine beauty, but was classic of its kind. Oamille Clifford was bewitching chiefly because of the curving lines of her figure. Marie Wilson's was.the Junoesque type of beauty which still has many admirers among the artistic set. Lillian Lorraine's loveliness is largely in her smile. Her smile is absolutely unique, and is uniquely beautiful. Her eyes are also marvellously expressive. "To a lover of the theatre the list of failures is heartbreaking," says a London paper. "The successes have been 'Kismet,' 'Passers-by.' 'Fanny's First Play,' 'The Count of Luxemburg,' The Quaker Girl,' 'Nighthirds,' and 'The Sunshine Girl.' These have been great successes, but the failures have been serious, and have financially depressed more than one leading manager." It is interesting to note that the whole of the plays mentioned with the exception of George Bernard Shaw's "Fanny's First Play," are held for Australia by J. C. Williamson (Ltd.). "The Sunshine Girl." the new Gac'ety success, is said to be the biggest hit London has seen for years, and, according to a leading paper, "recalls the palmiest davs of the Gaiety Theatre." Miss Lily Bray ton, who confesses to being l superstitious without knowing why, proves conclusively that a black cat does bring luck. "When I was with Sir Herbert Tree's company in 'The Darling of the Gods,'" she relates, "misfortune seemed to dog us. First, I was taken ill. th«n. one aiter another, every member of the company was taken ill. It was a ghastly exDerience, but worse was to follow, for at Hull a scene shifter fell through the scenery and was eeriouely injured. We were conjecturing fearfully what would happen next, when somebody gave me a little black cat. From that moment everything went well with us. That cat travelled everywhere with me. I took her around in a cage, and the porters at the stations—who imagined the cage contained a bird—used io look fearfully astonished when a prolonged mee-ow came from under the cover. The poor thing died about two years ago. but I've still got one of its kittens, and though that • pussy kills every bird within reach it shall not suffer."