" DOT."

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5211, 19 March 1895, Page 2

" DOT."

All tba BouoicauUs aro, delightful people. No one could be more agreeable —when the spirit moved him— than the late lamented Dion ; and everybody who has tlio privilege oE knowing the original " Eily O'Connor," must admit she i 8 both a clever and a. very sweet woman. The children are worthy the paronia, and theatrical to their finger tips. I called last Monday on your friend " Dor," alia* Dion juaior, at his Duke Street lodgings. The Melbourne manager was a suinptuona spectacle in a blue plush dreßaing-gown and an air of negligent affability. I, on the contrary, suffered from the.melancholy snuffling and demoralisation consequent on a bad cold in the head. Mr Bouoicault said ho feared he had nothing new to tell me. Everything ot importance concerning his doicga had i been cabled. j " Quite so," I murmured, sneezing rea- > pectfully, " quite bo. Still I might amI plify tho messages somewhat, don't you i thiuk !" j "Yesj that was possible," Mr fiouci- [ caulfc admitted, and, dropping the ■ princely air, ho became bminess-like. t This enterprising Melbourno manager , leaves London to-day to join tho steamer I at Briadisi on Monday. He takea with him. ' praoticnlly every recont London success ! worth having. I Mr Boucicault's engagements include i Mr Arthur El wood (of whom more anon), 1 Miss Mary Talbot (to replace Miss Bomer), 1 Mis) Geraldine Oliffe (a member of Mr Bt ecbohm Tree's provincial company, who ': baa scored principally in the country), Miss Beryl Fairburn (of the St James'e), ; and Otway Compton, youngest Bon of the : popular comedian, and Edward Compton's ■ brother. j I tried to draw Mr Bcuoiosult anent the ' Daorea' grievances, but be was prudent. . " One story is good till another's told," be • remarked shrewdly. -" Ifc would not *ur- ' priao me to learn MacM&hon had made the Dacre'a engagement dependent on the succisa cf Morocco Bound, and that Dacre had not realiatd tho proviso. I hope, however, he and his wife may do well in Australia. They are," he added generously, " most painstaking artistes." ', Wo talked a little more about tbe : Australian stage, and then seeing Mr Bcucicault's eyes stray significantly towards the face of a hundred-guinea gold repeater, which, with its regal chain , attached liy carelessly on the table, I felt 1 my audience with this accomplished young actor was over, and affectionately ; snuffling good wishcß for a pleasant voy- ; age— withdrew. ! W. J. HOLLO WAT. ' On the same day I sought at Mia , Gunyah, his pretty and moat comfortable residence within tbe precincts of Bedford Park, that stalwart veteran Mr W. J. Holloway. Tbia attistio settlement of qaainft" gabled houses and dainty maisonettes is the he ma of many popular rmtrions foesidos the Australian impresario. : Hither, by the last train from town after I his nightly " deeds of derring-do " on tbe \ Adeiphi stage, comes handsome " Bill " Tcrrisß, as unaffected a good fellow when j off duty as one would wish to meet anywhore. Hilarious Harry Nioholls (a most ; devoted husband) also hongs out here, ! and so does W. J. Denny, of the deeu voice ! and sweet kindly temper. ! When Mr Holloway settled at this suburban retreat, he resolved to pass an Arcadian existence "the world forgetting, by the world forgot." Many actorß sflfß actresses, when they hove, vulgarly (.peaking, " made their pile," give up thus. But, like tho Bancro'ts and Mr Holloway, they cannot kpep away from the footlights. You beard longngo how tbe serpent, in the shape of Mr '. Irving, entered into the Australian actoi's • Eden aod successfully tempted him back to j busincßß. I wrote at the time hew W. J. Holloway made one of the successes of I tbe great revival of Macbeth, finally replacing "our only tragedian" himself in the title role. And as for his other Lyceum I triumphs, are they not written in the i chronicles of tho "Era" and the " Stage P" It wbb not to recall this ancient history I ! visited " Mia Gnnyah." No, I wanted to ! ask about the prespnt. First, was The '. Foundling a tuccess P" ! "Why, certainly," eaid Mr Holloway: j " both an artistic aod a financial success. It might have baen running now if tho management had not wanted me to sign a long lease of Terrj'a Theatre. I could not Bee my way to that, bo after the sixtyeigh*h performance I took The Foundling off. During tho final nights of the run my daughters, Miaa Doia Paul and Miss Juliet Sydney, played the principal parts with much success. We also had a very good week's business with the piece at the Grand Theatre, Islington, in November. I have booked a provincial tour for the spring. We shall visit Liverpool, Manchester, Birmijjgham, Leeds and other largo towne."

Mr Holloway is now preparing for smother managerial venture with a different: cless of play to The Foundling. He is also buying pieces for Australia, and has, amongst other pieces, secured Mr Sutton Vnno'e Cotton King and the new comedy with which Weedon Grosemith means presently to succeed The Nciv Boy. This piece, like the latter, is by Arthur Law. The Cotton King, you may remember, made a bigf hit in tbe States, but was 1 only a succes d'estime at the Adelphi. Mr Holloway haß very clearly-defined notiona anenfc London playgoers. . Outside j the Lyceum they won't, he Bays, swallow romantic drama. Nor will melodramas, the scenes of which are laid in America or Australia, catch on. TJp-to-date comedy, containing either a caricature or a reproduction of the scenes and incidents of of everyday life, iB what the Londoner likes. The big successes of to-day, Mvs Tanqueray, The New Woman, The New Boy, Charley's Aunt, Caso of Rebellious Busan, all show this. Mr Holloway 'a notions of retirement seem to have vanished into thin air, for after his next managerial venture is over he goes on tour to South Africa, where he has a guarantee of JBIOO a week and "exes./* and will play a round of Shaksperian characters. Curiously enough, though Mr Luscombe Searelle has enabled South Africans to witness the antics of many music-hall " stars " and comic opera luminaries, he has never gone in for the legitimate drama. Mr Holloway will, consequently, be an agreeable novelty.

Railway Excursion.— «A railway excursion was run from Timaru to Christchurch. yesterday. Three hundred passengers were booked at Timaru, and between ISO and 200 were picked up at intermediate stations. The train, which, consisted of twenty vehicles, left on its return jouiaey at 5,30 p.m,