CURTAIN.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 337, 23 May 1885, Page 13

CURTAIN.

OPERA HOUSE,

" Impulse " has been running during the week at the ppera House, and has, so far, proved the hit of the season ; this is not remarkable when it is remembered that the piece created a perfect furore in London, where it ran for ivpwards of 300 nights, and that in Melbourne it was proportionately quite as successful, running for 12 weeks to crowded houses. ' ' Impulse "is an adaptation from the French, and differs in one important respect from "The Woman in White," as played by the Reeve Company, in that it is not a ' ' one-part piece," but affords every member of the company an opportunity of distinguishing himself or herself, as the case may be. The motif of the drania is very simple : it contains nothing strikingly, new or original. All playgoers will be familiar with the dramatis personce — an erring wife, a wronged husband, a ruthless disturber of domestic happiness, a broken-hearted parent, &c. These characters are continually met with on 'the stage, as in real life, but they are not always, or often, so skilfully handled, so artistically manipulated as in "Impulse." The story of the piece, as we have said, is simple. A weak-minded woman allows herself for a time to be turned from her allegiance to her husband ; is saved by a niiracle from bringing irretrievable disgrace upon herself and ultimately is enabled to prove that her heart has always been in the right place, and that her deviation from the path of duty has been the result, not of a vicious nature, but a weak will, swayed by a strong i and unscrupulous one. As the wife in question (Mrs Macdonald) Miss Alice Deorwyn evinced considerable power ; she was at once more natural and more artistically correct than when she essayed the part of Anne Catherick. The character is one requiring much careful study, and might be easily spoiled by exaggeration. Miss Deorwyn has evidently devoted much painstaking attention to it, and studiously avoids overcolouring. Miss Constance Deorwyn, as the heroine's sister, the charming and vivacious widow, Mrs Beresford, made a palpable hit, her impersonation was one of the best of the evening. Mr .3 Chippendale, as the mischiefmaking and scandal loving old maid, Miss Kilinore, was enabled to prove to Auckland theatre-goers that her reputation as a comedienne has not been over-estimated; as a bit of character- actingher Miss Kilmore is perfect. Amongst the male performers Mr Wybert Reeve (Captain Crichton) stands first and foremost. The humour of the actor was irresistible. Captain Crichtons are not often encountered off the stage, perhaps, but this does not make them the less amusing on it ; and that the easy-going, good-natured, and kindly-heaited Coptain, with his inimitable drawl and his mirth-provoking catch phrases, should be an immense favourite with the audience is not surprising. Mr Charles Holloway, as Colonel Macdonald, won the sympathy of the audience by his manly and dignified bearing as the injured husband. Nothing could have been better than his reconciliation with his wife, and his denunciation of her would-be betrayer. Mr E. Gladstone, as Sir Henry Auckland, the father §£ Mrs Macdonald, is to be congratulated on his clever assumption of age and infirmity in the later acts, when an accident in the hunting field, added to the anguish of mind occasioned by his daughter's

: ccmduct, have made a wreck of the bluff and jovial fox-hjmterv Mr'v J% B. Steele' s Victor de'Biel, whose. infaiua%og. for Mrs Macdonald leads to_ her^estrarigef "nient from her husband, was : the leasfrSatisefactory impersonation of all. Mr Steele failed to impart to the character even a semblance of the passion which he is supposed to feel. His conception of the part is cold and colorless. That Mr Steele is ; a capable aclor goes without' saying. He has proved that long ago ; but he has been unfortunate in the characters allotted to him during his present visit to Auckland. For to-night (Saturday) the late H. J. Byron's "Crushed. Tragedian" is announced, and will doubtless prove attractive.

Woodyear's Circus is at the Thames. Chiariui's circus is in Sydney. Ileinenyi opens at Invercargill on the 25th inst. Thompson's Soudan War Diorama is a the Royal, Christchurch. Grwynne Herrick is with the ' Silver King * Company now at Wellington. Mr Cram, assisted by an efficient company, will give a show in the Foresters' Hall, Ilelensville, on Saturday. 3.oth inst. Millis, the ventriloquist, and Mrs Hart, of "Happy Hours" fame, are touring in the Wellington districts. Jenny Nye, an old New Zealand favourite, is stirring up the ardour of the Queenslanders with war songs. Clara Stephenson and Charley Burfordj who will be remembered by Aucklanders, are doing the New South Wales townships. Harry Rickards, the London music-hall singer, commences his Australian tour on June 6, at the Melbourne Academy of Music. J. F. Graham, well known to New Zealand play- goers and a pupil of Hoskins', is playing with success in the English provinces. * The only Liddy ' will, at the termination of his engagement with Miss Genevieve Ward, pilot a . first-class ojjera company, which he hopes to bring to New Zealand. Mr J. P. Hydes, who was in Auckland with Mrs G. B. W. Lewis, is a member of Rignold's ' Called Back ' Company. A NewZealand tour follows the Aiistralian campaign. Professor Rice, the mind-reader, is at Tauranga. On his return to Auckland,, he will hold a private seance by special request. The tickets are to be a guinea apiece. His gentlemanly agent, Mr C. Voice Hawkins, is now in town arranging preliminaries. There is nothing like having a reliable agent. The Faust Family and Professor S. S. and Clara Baldwin were billed f©r Timaru at the same house and on the same night. But it was a case of Faust come, Faust served. Monty Brown has become Sala's agent and manager. G. A.S. has not been a conspicously brilliant success as a lecturer in Sydney. * Harry Richards is not, it seems, likely to enjoy for long the monopoly of the musichall business in Melbourne. A big variety company, including two "lion comiques," are following close on his heels. They open &t Adelaide, and after doing Sydney and Melbourne, will probably come to New Zealand. GeorgeGrossmith's song in the ' Mikado ' — ' People who would not be missed ' — is. an immense hit. Here's a specimenverse : — ' The lady from the provinces, .who dresses like a guy, And who doesn't think she waltzes, but would rather like to try ; And that singular anomaly, the lady novelist, I don't think she'd be missed — I'm. sure she'd not be missed. Genevieve Ward (who is in Adelaide) writes: "The question of babies at the Theatre is as difficult as it is troublesome. It is understood that all precautions possible short of personal examinations are taken, but they are smuggled under cloaks and shawls, and must sometimes be half smothered in the attempt to stop their cries." The following salaries were paid to the actors and actresses whose names were made so famous during the latter half of the eighteenth century : — John Kemble, £36 a week; Power, £120; Farren, £40; Miss O'Neill, £25 : George Cooke, £20 ; Munden, £14; Fawcett, £14 ; Quick. £14; Irish Johnstone, £14 ; Bannister, £18 ; Matthews, £17; Mrs Jordan, £31 IOs; Miss Stephens, £60; Kean, £50 a night; Charles Young, £20; Macready, £25 ; Liston, £20; Ellen Tree, £25. Professor S % S. and Clara Baldwin were at lastet dates doing the West Coast township?. At Kuroara the Professor and his talented wife "knocked 'em" with their mind- reading and clever exposure of so-called spiritualistic phenomena. The Professor says :— " There is much misapprehension about Thought or Mind Heading. Almost every day some one says to me : ' You cannot read my thoughts, I am too strong-minded.' They seem to imagine that Thought-Heading is an intellectual prizefight in which the Thought-Reader ; tries to subdue or control the mind- and will of his subject. This is entirely wrong. Thfebesfc -results are always obtained with- thee inmost intellectual subjects ; the majority of failures; occur in : the 'weak-minded;' ignorant, indifferent, or egotistically vain people.'? The Baldwins will shortly afford Aucklanders an opportunity- of proving their- fitness as'subjects for thought-reading experiments.