On and Off the Stage

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20509, 29 August 1936, Page 14

On and Off the Stage

News About Plays and Players «

A. A. Milne's play. “The Great Brox- ; opp." has been selected for the 44th production of the Auckland Little Theatre Society, which is to be present- j ed for a season commencing on Sep- ' tember 5. A strong cast has been ■ selected, and rehearsals are well ad- ' vanced. During their many years as entrepreneurs of famous artists, Messrs J. ( and N. Tait have brought to New Zea- I land and Australia many celebrities of stage and concert platform. Reminiscence recalls such notabilities as Anna! Pavlova, Ignace Paderewski, Fedor I Chaliapin, Yehudi Menuhin, Jascha i Heifetz and others. Now comes | Richard Crooks, America’s silver voiced tenor. The exuberant personality of this tall, handsome American is a sure passport to popularity; in addition he has a glorious voice, an ♦understanding of music for all tastes, purity and variety of tone, lovely high notes that ring out with effortless ease, and an almost heart-rending emotional capacity for getting every ounce of , feeling and music out of every song he sings. Altogether a consummate artist, and a prince of fellows is this 1 happy tenor from the United States! Postponed from July because His Majesty’s Theatre was then unavailable, the Auckland Amateur Operatic I Society’s production. “The New Moon” will now be presented on September 11 and the following 10 nights. Since the postponement, rehearsals have been rigidly adhered to so that the society will be more than ready to go to the boards next month. According to Mr Ernest Snell, the juvenile lead in “The New Moon,” the society has not been able to procure a really up-to-date comic opera since the successful L. P. Leary plays. Now, with a musical play very much after the style of the popular film “Naughty Marietta,” the the society is determined to show what it can do. The male choruses in “The New Moon” go with the same swing as those of “The Student Prince” while the stage settings and costumes are excellent. Tire cast is predominantly masculine, there being only three important feminine parts. That does not mean that the love interest is missing. “The New Moon” is as romantic a musical comedy as its sister play, “The Desert Song.” “The New Moon” is

not a revival of some old favourite. There is more in it than its delightful, stirring refrains. It has an intriguing plot, and gives definite scope for dramatic acting. One of the biggest attractions ever presented in Australia by J. C. Williamson Ltd. will be the Monte Carlo Russian Ballet, which is at present appearing at Covent Garden Opera House, London, and will open an Australian I season at His Majesty’s Theatre. Mel- I bourne, on October 10. The company will comprise about 60 artsts, and, with | a symphony orchestra, will total more I than 100 persons. There are twelve > principals, including such stars as Helene Kirsova, Valentina Blinova, Nina Raievska, Raisse Kouznetsova, Nina Tarakanova, and the fmous leading male dancer, Leon Woizikovsky. The principal conductor will be Henri Morin, from the Opera Comique, Paris, i The repertoire will comprise 24 bal- ! lets, many of which have not yet been J seen in Australia. Each of the pro- j ductions will be given on the same i scale as in London, with scenery, ! lighting effects, and costuming of the i most elaborate standard. More than : 2,000 costumes are in the wardrobe.

i What is certainly the most remarkI able amateur dramatic company in 1 England—the Norwich Players—bej came twenty-five years old last month, . and celebrated the event by a pro- ■ duction of “The Shoemakers’ Holiday.” I The city has acknowledged the event j by presenting the producer and creator of the Players—Mr Nugent Monck—with a cheque for £lOO. and at the close of a performance the members of i the society gave him another cheque I from themselves. The recent revival of “No! No! 'I Nanette” at the London Hippodrome i went etraordinarily well, says a critic. The familiar tunes, especially “I Want to be Happy” and “Tea for Two,” were | demanded again and again. If this I sore of scene goes on at everp per--1 formance, getting through the show i twice nightly is going to be a problem,” ■ the critic adds. “And if the present weather holds I dread to think what will happen to those two indefatigable comedians, Shaun Glenville and Clifford Mollison.” After being abroad for about five years, the talented Rayner Troubadours are again in New Zealand and w T ill give performances in Auckland next Tuesday and Thursday. Miss Joan i Rayner and Miss Betty Rayner hvae just arrived from the South where they were warmly received. Speaking of their performance of “Scarlet and : ■ Grey,” a critic described it has “most I pleasing entertainment, combining the ’ arts of music, speech and mime,” ! which was thoroughly enjoyed by their audience. [ Although “Rich Man—Poor Man,” produced at the Arts Theatre, London, [ recently, was announced on the pro- , gramme as the work of John Gliddon , and G. K. Alan, it was an open secret - that the second name concealed the > identity of H. W. Austin, the lawn ; tennis player. The materials of an ef- ; fective play were certainly present in > the plot, which dealt with a city magr nate’s forgery of some bonds in order . to save the money of the small inti vestors who had trusted him. The treatment of the story was not very i convincing, however. John Blake, the * financier in the play, lodges the forged ; bonds with the bank to tide him over

a crisis. The crisis passes; Blake’s other shares recover the value. Yet he leaves the forgeries where they are, and the bank eventually discovers the fraud. The authors never explain how how a man so astute could be so silly. There was apparent at the recent final of the Festival of Community Drama at the Old Victoria, London, a return of the feeling of virility and progressiveness that has marked so many of the earlier finals, says Theatre World. The standard of work seemed above the average of quite recent years, and there was a pervading impression that drama in such hands means something vital and worthwhile. Three of the plays showed that the dramatists were interested in real life, and not in theatrical conventions. That each play should be a protest against war indicates the sincerity of the writers, but seeing them in one evening at the theatre does emphasise some technical weaknesses in the writing. The writers are so keen to show the folly and uselessness of war that their plays tend to become lectures on the subject, interesting and sometimes bright, but not fundamentally entertaining.