The Stage

Otago Witness, Issue 3882, 7 August 1928, Page 70

The Stage

BOOKINGS. - HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE. August 8 to 14.—William Heughan. August 18 to 24.—“ The Trial of Mary Dugan.” September 10 to 15.—“ Rookery Nook.” September 17 to October 6.—Dunedin Competitions.

THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL.

By Pasquin.

The George Ward Revue Company has returned to Christchurch, and the Princess Theatre is closed in the meantime.

The Royal Comic Opera Company brought its Dunedin season to a close on Tuesday evening, when the final performance of the delightful play, “ The Student Prince,” was given before an audience which filled His Majesty’s Theatre to its full capacity. “ The Student Prince ” proved one of the outstanding theatrical performances of recent years, and it met with a remarkable degree of enthusiasm from crowded audiences for several nights. The company’s Dunedin season was a signal success. One of those miniature festivals which to music lovers come all too seldom was provided in First Church on Tuesday evening by Dr V. E. Galway and Mr Max Scherek in the form of a recital. Dr Galway at the organ and Mr Scherek at the piano are a combination that cannot easily be excelled, and one of the largest audiences that has yet attended one of these recitals listened with keen appreciation to an exposition of the great masters that did credit to both artists. Both are musicians of rare talent, and the combination of the two instruments resulted in an effective programme of variety and distinction. Few such enjoyable concerts -as that given in His Majesty's Theatre on Wednesday night by Mr Alfred O’Shea and the two ladies associated with him have been heard in Dunedin. The music sung and played belonged to a class that -all could appreciate, and it was without exception rdmirably rendered. There were, no doubt, some items preferable to others, but the preference could only have arisen from the melody itself, not from its treatment. A wide range of music was covered during the evening by Mr O’Shea, and it included excerpts from grand opera, ballads in variety, and quaint Irish ditties. It would seem, after listening to Mr O'Shea, that his greatest success is attained in music of an emotional character, which he sings with great feeling. The audience was a fairly large one, and from the continuous demonstrations of approval Mr O’Shea evidently had not one disappointed listener in the theatre. The artist was supported by Miss Claire Hartge (violinist) and Miss Kathleen Fitzgerald (pianist). Mr O'Shea also appeared at His Majesty’s on Friday and Saturday nights. Leyland Hodgson is playing juvenile lead in “ The Trial of Mary Dugan.” Playing a small part in her husband’s production of “The Trial of Mary Dugan” is Mrs Leon Gordon, whose romantic marriage to the talented actor was one of the sensations among Australian society circles a few months back. She is a charming little lady, and figures on the programme as Nancy Atkins. Mrs Gordon is an Adelaide girl of distinction and charm. A distinguished London actor. Charles Hallard, is returning to Australia under engagement to J. C. Williamson, Ltd. He sailed from London by the Oronsay on June 23. It is no£ yet decided what plays Mr Hallard will appear in, but he will probably take the lead in either drama or comedy. New Zealanders will remember Mr Hallard’s splendid work with the Vanbrugh-Boueicault Company on its Dominion tour three years ago. He then appeared in “ The Second Mrs Tanqueray,” “ His House in Order,” and other plays. It is possible that Mr Hallard will again join the VanbrughBoucicault Company when it tours New Zealand. The first production in Australia of “ Hit the Deck ” was given at His Majesty’s Theatre. Melbourne, on Saturday night, July 28. The cast included Annie Croft as Looloo Martin, owner of the sailor’s coffee house; May Beatty as Magnolia, a coloured servant; Gus Bluett as Battling Smith; Jack Dunne as Dinkey; George Welch as Donkey; William Perryman as Dan; Rowena Ronald as Charlotte Payne; Frank Leighton as Flag-lieutenant Alan Clark; Zillah Carter as Pamela Carr; Lance Fairfax as Bill Smith; Irving Rose as Mat; Leslie Donaghey as Bunny; Hugh Denham as Captain Roberts; James Hughes as Quartermaster; Greta Callow as Chinese singing girl; Frank Hawthorne as Wing Fang; Eileen Ogden as Rita; Chinese quartette: Grace Fraser, Tui Black, Margaret Mackenzie, Olive Kingette. There also figure in the cast Maa T’ng Yut, Wong Git Teng, Maat ’Ng Fu, and Fook Loi.

A big drop in exports of American films for the first quarter of the current year is disclosed in figures just published in Washington. Positive and negative film is down by 1,100,000 ft under the same quarter last year. A considerable portion of this decrease is accounted for by Great Britain. In the first quarter of 1927 England imported 3,952,000 ft of film. This year’s figure is 3,072,000 ft, a drop of 920,000 ft. Australia’s decrease is more sensational still. In the first quarter of 1927 she received 7,140,000 feet of American film. In the like period A’A^ ycar J lcr imports were only 5,963,000 ft, a drop of 1,177,000 ft.

The George Wallace Revue Company is now playing in Brisbane.

The Vanbrugh-Boucicault Company, at the conclusion of its present Melbourne season, is to make a three months’ tour of New Zealand. Dates have yet to be arranged.

“Punch” had a-gentle' dig -at Mr Edgar Wallace the other day. “ Have you the mid-day Wallace? ’’ asked a traveller of a bookstall clerk. How Mr Wallace does it we-do not know. This week brought another novel from his pen, and we notice a new play of his called “ The Squeaker ” has been produced in London. Mr St. John Ervine, critic of the Observer, says he preferred the play to the “high-brow” Pirandello production he saw the same week. “Not that our Edgar is perfect. He can invent a situation with any man and write good comic Cockney dialogue and sustain one's interest through all kinds of confusions, but he is an untidy fellow at times, and he cannot write love dialogue for little apples. The scene in which Beryl declared her love for Jack Leslie might have been written by Karl Marx in the throes of a passion about surplus value.”

The recent presentation of the American. Ruth Draper, to the King and Queen is declared to be unique in that “ nobody living can remember when an actress of any nationality has been received at Court, except players who have given up the stage and have been presented as the wives of their husbands.” During his recent visit to Christchurch, M. Benno Moisciwitsch, the Russian pianist, asked to be enrolled as a subscribing member of the Christchurch Orchestral Society. The great artist had expressed a wish to play a concerto with the orchestra, but insufficient time was available for rehearsal. M. Moisciwitsch has announced his intention of making arrangements further ahead on his next visit for such a performance. J. T. Grein, dramatic critic of the London Sketch,' says of Madge Elliott, ho appeared in several musical comedies in New Zealand: “I have -rarely been so fascinated by a personality as by this exquisite actress-singcr-dancer. She unites i" ,- e v person tlle sculptural beauty of English womanhood—the indelible attrach°n of reminiscences of Kate Vaughan and Sylvia Grey—and the distinction, all too rare, of such refinement as is the unique dower of our social grandes dames, one acts with savoir faire, she sings with timbre; out it is her dancing that is entrancing. She gyrates, she whirls, she tloats in sculptural undulation of limbs across the stage, as if Ariel had winged a Diana. Believe me, I do not exaggerate the whole of the audience rose to her as it rose to that other dancer, also a little wonder, whose name I did not discern on the programme. But there was this difference: Miss Elliott, as tar as possible, maintains the classic schools; her rival is the perfection of choreography allied to acrobacy.” The Nugent Won<^er ” men t’oned is Reita

The “Midnight Frolics” are drawing good houses in Sydney. °y melodrama “The Face at the Window is being revived in Sydney by the veteran producer William Anderson. The performances of amateur • plays are increasing in number, the latest venture being the production by the newlvtormed M aiuta Amateur Theatrical Chib (vyest Coast) of a farce-comedy, “Mock trial, by a cast of 19—a large number tor a new club, especially in a gold mining centre, where members are engaged on different shifts. The script was mostly written and arranged by Mr P. ±l. Jones, the club’s manager; and the comedy was produced by Mr W. G. Staples. After the performance the company was congratulated by the producer and by members of the audience, and urged to take the show to other places, such as Reefton and Blackball.

William Heughan, who is making his second tour of New Zealand, and who will contirue his Dunedin season in His Majesty s Theatre to-morrow evening is considered to have’the biggest voice of any singer in the world to-day. It has been termed a mighty voice, a phenomenal voice, -a remarkable voice by critics throughout the world. It is said that, when he was still in his ’teens, and sang i”. Ullage church in the little Scottish town where he was born the members of the congregation were continually complaining that when he was singing it was impossible to hear anyone else m the church, . as young Heughan. being justly proud of his great voice often let it go all out. He has had it well trained since then, and though at times he still makes the most of his wonderful organ, and can make the largest auditorium ring with mighty tone, he can also make it whisper and sigh in the gentler moods, with a sweetness that the most dulcet tenor might envy. The might ot his voice is said to be accounted for by the unusual formation of his throat, which gives him vocal powers far beyond the ordinary. There is said to be only. a ?°m-\ e x r T'. IC i known the world, that ot ditto Ruffo, the world’s greatest barito-

There is a demand in Melbourne for a censorship of plays. Referring to this, a correspondent writes as follows-—“A recently instituted regulation in New York is instructive. Its only definite declaration is that producers of plays in which the demi-mondaine appears or is even referred to will be prosecuted, ouch a rule applied here would prevent Allan Wilkie performing ‘Measure for Measure, or completing his Shakespearian cycle by staging ‘Pericles.’ It would land Beresford Fowler in the jug for reviving ‘Mrs Warren’s Profession,’ where Gregan M‘Mahon would follow him for putting on O'Casey's ‘The Plough and the Stars. Dion Boucicault would also have to serve a term for his performance of Lonsdale’s ‘ Spring Cleaning,’ and Margaret Bannerman would, no doubt, occupy the neighbouring cell for persisting jvith ‘ Our .Betters,’ since, there would obviously be the same objections to male demi-mondaines as to female. All the

persons mentioned are genuine artists, and the plays are valuable contributions to the dra ia.”

Schemes are going forward to provide London with no fewer than five new theatres. Two of them will be in Piccadilly; another, about which much secrecy is being maintained, will be erected in Charing Cross Road; a fourth will be placed on a site in the Strand neighbourhood, and the fifth is the Dominion; to which reference was made recently, and which will stand at the south corner of Tottenham Court road. The control of these new ventures, as of all London theatres, is a matter of intricate financial arrangement between the different syndicates, but it is generally accepted that immense sums of American money are invested in London theatre interests to no particular advantage of art or the acting profession generally. And even where American money does not exert an influence, United States crime plays and jazz music are more than adequately represented. The next great spectacle which Sir Alfred Butt is to present at Drury Lane is a case in point. It is “ Show Boat,” a production founded on the American authoress Edna Furber’s novel of that name, which relates the adventures of a troupe of actors who travelled up and down the Mississippi performing at the villages in the latter portion of last century. “ Show Boat ’’ will succeed “The Desert Song,” and will cost over £30,000 to produce. To get the correct Mississippi colour most of the company will come across the Atlantic, and the highest spot in the 18 scenes will consist of a representation of the Chicago Exhibition of 1904.

The difficulties in connection withV theatrical management were touched upon ■ by Mr Scott Colville in the course of an interesting address to the Gisborne Rotary Club recent]}- (reports the Gisborne Times). Mr Colville said that a number of factors had to be taken into account. It was essential that the public fehould be satisfied and at the same time the idiosyncrasies of the performers had to be studied. If, for instance, Mr O’Shea preferred, as he did, a green plush cover on the piano stool, it would - be quite the wrong thing to have a cover of a different colour.— (Laughter.) Mr Colville said that the psychology of the theatrical business required a tremendous amount of thought. “If I had fathomed all it meant.” he concluded, “ I am afraid I would not be in Gisborne to-day." “He is one of the most lovable personalities I have ever been associated with,” was Mr Scott Colville’s tribute to Mr O’Shea. He had known Mr O’Shea from his boyhood days. The latter’s success was due to his grit, coupled with a happy disposition and a fine sense of artistry. WlNfi WHISPERS. By Petes Pas. WELLINGTON, August 2. Dear “ Paequin, 7 ’ —The daily queue outside His Majesty’s Theatre forecasts a crowded audience each night for the Fuller-Gonsalez Grand Opera Company. The season commenced on Tuesday night with “ Il Trovatore," and there was not a vacant seat in the theatre. Truly it can be said that musical tastes are not deteriorating, for such interest in grand opera augurs well for a rebirth of an appreciation of good music. The enterprise of the Fuller firm in presenting grand opera at prices within the reacli of all is being repaid by packed audiences, and the season should prove a record. The second presentation by Mr Leon Gordon’s company is “ Scandal,” now playing to large audiences in the Opera House. The revival has been a sound drawing card, and in the hands of Mr Gordon and Miss May Collins the leading roles are played with a distinction and refinement that is indeed pleasing. In these unconventional characters less polished -artists would have made them appear crude. Mr Gordon and Miss Collins handle them perfectly. The season definitely closes to-night, and the company then goes on a short country tour before opening in Auckland in succession to “ Rookery Nook ” and the other Ben Tr -ers screams. The next attraction for the Williamson theatre is “ Rookery Nook,” which has been attracting delighted audiences' in Auckland.

Mike Connors and Queenie Pau] bade farewell to a crowded audience at His Majesty’s Theatre on Monday night amid scenes of remarkable enthusiasm. The League of Notions revue has won many friends during its sojourn on the Fuller boards here, and the final performance was a fitting climax to a highly successful season. The company is doing the smalls en route to Auckland,, where it succeeds the Elsie Prince Company. Coming to Wellington after the grand opera season is the Stiffy and Mo Revue Company in a fresh series of laughable revues. These two favourites are assured of a warm welcome. Queenie Paul and Mike Connors are graduates of the Stiffy and Mo Company. The Orpheus Musical Society is presenting “The. Rebel Maid” in the Concert Chamber on Saturday night. This is a Montague Phillips work, and is tuneful and delightfully happy. Mr Len Barnes conducts the society, whose members have been busy rehearsing the score for some weeks now. There are two principal characters. Lady Mary (the Rebel Maid) and Derek. Mrs Alice Harris and Mr Ray Kemp will essay these roles, with Mrs F. Press. Messrs Will Hancock, John Pearson, and Rupert Bennett in congenial parts.

Great interest is being evinced in the recital on Wednesday next, August 8, of Mr John Bishop, conductor of the Royal Wellington Choral Union. Mr Bishop, who is a brilliant pianist, will play worke by Schumann. Brahms. Chopin, Debussy, Albeniz, and others.