THE THEATRE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7878, 19 January 1903, Page 1

THE THEATRE.

THEPLA^ AND PLAYERS. (By PROMPTER.) The Dunedin correspondent of this paper telegraphs that Williamson's Opera Company will pay a return visit to New Zealand in March, and will'produce the "Circus (xirl " and probably " The Belle of New York." "S.S..^ writes to Adelaide "Critic": The case of Eickards. versus F«gan and Byron casts a curious light on theatrical I salaries. It was stated that Fagan and Byron were- in receipt of £76 and, £86 respectively per week from Rjckards. They had a season of six months, and yet their excuse in j Court was that they were forced to accept the pantomime engagement, being .heavily in debt, and entirely without money. Now, £76 a week takes a good deal of spending, and if a pair of modest music-hall performers are ( in debt and out of money right on the heels of such an engagement, we can only assume either that theatrical salaries are 60 per cent "spoof," or that the style of living adopted by a Chief Justice is very frugal indeed beside that of a dancer and singer. Probably the Fagan and Byron salaries were genuine, bhit subject to deductions, charges, etc. I have seen contracts for £20 and £26 a week which worked out into £7 and £9 a week in actual payments. In point of fact, it would be absolutely impossible for managers to pay the salaries theatrical perfprmers (especially music-hall artists) boa,st of receiving. . The World's Entertainers have been doing very goodl business in South Africa, where they are piloted by Harold Ashton, who is also said to toe ihxing lip in passI ing tours (for Williamson's dramatic and i musical comedy companies. , The Musical Burglar is. the big hit of the Entertainers. The Sydney -Daily Telegraph's" Johannesburg correspondent writes that Sweet one night, preparatory to working att something time-wom about t : he harbtfur., said: "Say, dia you ever, hear of a place called : Sydney?" "Were you ev«r in the ''Marble Bar* yourself, Charlie? cried out a strong, broad voice front the two-and-sixpenny gods. By the way, prices are high' at all three Johannesburg theatres— los 6d', 7s 6d, 6s and 2s 6d.Peter A. writes to "The -Critic ":— lt must bo a never-ceasing regret with those who admire Tersatility in an actress to see such a truly gifted artiste as Rose- Musgrove confined to a branch of the theatrical profession that least suit* her. But fchat is not to say that it doesn't suit her. 'Inhere are .scores of artistes wi|>h voice 1 and shapely enoiigh to fill such purts as /Miss Musgrove is now playing, even though they do not possess half the cleverness' (and this, perhaps, is scarcely ■ needed), and' when Mr- Williamson has a dramatic company doing the rounds, it would "be wise if he were to tranship her to it. For an actress whom even the severest- of critics has seldom if ever called to task for her conception of any character, whether it be in tragedy, comedy, or even good old melodrama, the playing of parts in modem musical comedy is simply a waste of time. ' Anyone with a knowledge of the business can work' an old-established, wellknown pub. successfully, but it takes an ex-showman to make things hum where they never hummed before (says "The Bulletin.") Phil. Stuart,, Jast year., 'hung <mt his banner at a, not very likely-looking house in Toorak Road, Melb., and already it is the' enlarged resort of the local nobility and gentry, who accept host Philip as a 'boon to th« district and a mayor in prospective. All done by management and mannah. Meanwhile, his old friend, "Jack", Lour, is building up a solid notoriety for his reconstructed hotel, at Anderson's Inlet, away in East Gippsland. The Melbourne dailies "published great news of liohr last week, in connection with an unprecedented turtle. The turtle was discovered wallowing in the sur.f near Lohr's Esplanade Hotel, what time the 'boarders were making ready to bathe, and Lohr, assisted 'by the " president of the Anderson's Inlet Progress Association" (salute!), brought the turtle ashore. It weighed ,1051r>, and, as it professed to be the first Wurfcl'e caught on the Vie. coast, the astute ex-showman didn't convert it into soup. Npt much. He the fat captive off to His Ex. the Governor as a seasonable offering, and now turtles are included among the fish which can be caught by visitors to the Inlet. Thaisfar there is no evidence that Lohr specially engaged the performing turtle at enormous expense in order 1 that he might discover it next morning. The 'hu£-e mass df material for soup and' succulent " advertisement appears to have been a bona-fide event. Providence sent it along as a Christmas^box. But, in (the probable event of a sea-serpent getting snianded anywhere near Lohr's domicile, this journal will make a guess at the- name of the snake-charmer who . summoned the monster from the vasty deep. The writer of a " Cassell's Magazine" article on " Mrs Brown-Potter at Home," after enthusing over her "sweet mouth, the pval eyes, reminiscent of ancient Egypt, the splendid crimson hair," and her other possessions, tells of an experience she had when playing at Hongkong. " Her manager having gone on ahead, and, unfortunately, carried off with him all the cash, and her company being on the eve of returning to England, she was without money to pay them their salaries and their passage. She was at her wits' ends what to do. Suddenly, someone jokingly mentioned to her Hie gambling dens of Kowloon. Now Kowloon is a diemal City of Night, that lies upon the mainland immediately opposite Hongkong. It is a place of intense danger. An Englishman losing his way there would, to a certainty, lose his life too. Mrs Potter knew all this ; but, notwithstanding, she determined to try her. luck at the gambling tables, and. so, splendidly costumed, she called a sampan and gaily set forth upon an adventure which might have ended in a tragic death. Arrived at Kowloon, she sought out the nearest gambling hell, and set herself to win her company's salaries. Luck favoured her, and in an hour or two she rose with hundreds of sovereigns in her pocket— £4oo, I think. The fierce Chinese bade her sit down again and give- them their revenge. .-She laughed in their faces. She had come ti> win, and, having won, she would go. Her pluck, her cool, gay courage, her presence of mind, saved her, arid once again she • crossed the dark watere— in itself a dangerous thing to do, for many » man is murdered in those sampans and thrown into the seaj none being the wiser— and, ei-riving in Hongkong, «he went straight to the shipping office and took passage^ for all her company, Avhom she paid in full." Grim indeed has been the end of Marguerite Buclerc, the favourite , singer and dancer of six years ago. At that time she wore diamonds as brilliant as Otero's, and amazing dresses, and was famous for her extrayaganci and follies. Parisians idolised her; it was the thing to go to the Ambaesaueurs toi see Duclec perform one of her ? wil4 Sp» irish dances.. In a vivid scarlet costume awith countless ribbons, she, with? fie* pais face, dark eyes ond black curly hair, and bold gestures, was a striking fig^eW But her face was too pale: she was 'CpßSumpisive. And no*-"* has passed away; pother famous dancers, in a hovel, alone, without an asset, bhe bad no happy youth— for, it is swd, wbeiJ

an infant, she was found in a lane by a hand of gipsies, who taught her to perform at fairs as soon as possible. She danced and she sang, and eventually she ran away and obtained an engagement in Paris. There she triumphed immediately. However, Duclerc was not content with cafe concert successes. She- would have been an actress ; and some five years ago she hired a small theatre. But Duclerc could nofc act, and on the first night the audience was -cruel enough to laugh. That infuriated her. Stepping forward, she insulted the spectators, and an exciting rcene followed. There was no second performance, and Duclerc was not seen again in public. Not a franc was found in the wretched room where .she died.