MUSIC AND THE STAGE

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17170, 13 October 1923, Page 10 (Supplement)

MUSIC AND THE STAGE

nnnniniinnnnnninnninHinuiiiimiiiflnfmfiniiitiiHHiuiiiHiitiMiiHifHiHTiuTntiTinniHi BY THE LIMELIGHT MAN

Miss Isobel Wilford. daughter of the lion T. M AVilford, has a good part in “Jf Winter Comes,” which was reoently produced in Auckland. Tt is stated that “ The O’ Brien Girl,” which has been a phenomenal success lx* Melbourne and Sydney will come to New Zealand in December. Tho Westminster Glee Singers will return to New Zealand next month. The company, which lias been augmented by another alto, tenor, and three boy sopranos has had a remarkable tour of Australia. Tho entertainment now given by the Singers is claimed to be quite different from that given previously in New Zealand. Mr Leo du Chateau is still with the company as business manager. Mr E. .T. Gravestock announces that Miss Stella Power, universally known as ‘‘ The Little Melba,” will commence a tour of New Zealand at Wellington on October 23. Tho famous soprano wjll be supported by a pianist pf considerable note in the person of Mr William .lames, who is already well-known to New Zealand music-lov-ers as the composer of several fine songs including “The Sun-God.” “The Flutes of Arcadv,” and “ Six Austen lian Bush Songs.” Mr Lionel Lawson, the popular Sydnev violinist, will also be of the party. Miss Power has had the unique experience of singing fiftyseven times in tho Royal Albert Hall, London, a record for any young singer. She sang eleven times with Sir Henry ,T. Wood and the Queen’s Hall Orchestra. Mr E. J. Gravestock, the well-known concert entrepreneur, has received cabled advice from his London agents advising him that negotiations had been completed for Mr Charles Hackett. the Irish-American tenor, to tour Australia and New Zealand next year, commencing in Sydney in May. Mr aHckett formerly belonged to the Metropolitan Opera Company, New York, and after singing with con-

spicuous success in the European opera houses, created an extraordinary furore at Covent Garden last May, when the London Press hailed him as the best tenor since Caruso. Mr Hackett will bo supported by Yavonvitch Bratza, n young Serbian violinist, who, although only seventeen years old, has attained a foremost position amongst European musicians. “Stiffy ” and “Mo ’’- or. as they are styled respectively off the stage. Nat Phillips and Roy Rene—are two Australian boys who have made then mark in vaudeville work, and more especially in musical comedy revue (says the “ New Zealand Times.”) Roy Rene was in New Zealand when quite a hoy. with Mr John Fuller, sent*., al tho old Theatre Royal : while Nat Phillips has toured the whole of America and England, and has quite a big name as a. producer of revues, etc Both also are prime favourites in Australia for the Christmas pantomimes This is now the twelfth' week that they have been appearing at His Majesty’s Theatre, Wellington, in musical com ecly revues, putting on a new revue with fresh songs, dances, scenery anc effects each week. They have a strong supporting cast, but tho lion’s shari of the fun is provided every time by “Stiffy” and “Mo” themselves, whe show great talent and versatility it their many and various unpersonations. As they appear behind the foot lights, they must now ho very well known to Wellington vaudeville-lovers but neither of them flatters himself a all in his make-up for revue purposes and their appearance off the stage am in “civvies,” so to speak, is very differ ent to that which they present to the general public each evening. “ Stiffy.’ for example, shows off the stage i black head of hair, in place of the great shock of red hair which is one of his most distinguishing characterise tics during business —“funny business’ The death in tho United States o

“ Alick ” Patrick, of Dunedin, known on the New York stage as Jerome Patrick, closes a career that promised finely (writes “Loiterer” in the Dunedin “ Star ”). Young Patrick when he left dentistry for the .stage showed lio very marked talent nor qualification beyond a fine appearance and carriage. We saw him here in the early stages of his professional career with Nellie Stewart in “Sweet Kitty Bellairs,” “ When Knighthood was in Flower.” “ Trilby,” and other pieces <1909 and 1910) ; and with Hilda Spong in “ Every woman ’’ (1912), and there was nothing in his work to indicate outstanding talent. Then he went to America, and shortly afterwards burgeoned forth to no less commanding a position than that of leading man for Frances Starr, at that time certainly the most popular actress under the banner of the famous David Tielasco. No doubt Patrick owed this elevation in some measure to the American fashion of picking the exact tyi>e to play opposite the “ star ” ; but it is equally certain that the Dunedin lad “ made good.” The notices lie received from leading American critics, even from the redoubtable and caustic George Jean Nathan, were ample evidence that he had mastered his craft and discovered the capacity to project personality that alone commands distinction on the stage. It was as the German corporal in “ Marie-Oclile ” that he made his biggest success. This was the romance between an innocent French girl of conventual training and a Uhlan invader. Mr Patrick was a Broadway favourite for some years, and then apparently his health and his fortunes suffered eclipse. When he came out here some years ago he was, T understand, in poor health. On return to America he played leads in kinema productions, but (if memory serves aright) lie returned to the speaking stage not long ago, playing with Ethel Barrymore, another American “ star.” Mamie Watson, who made her first appearance in Australia in “ The O’Brien Girl,” recently completed her 300th continuous performance in tho Princess Theatre, Melbourne, this constituting probably a record for consistency in the one house. The death is announced in Australia of R. Tv. Warbnrton. a member of the Alan Wilkie Shakespearian Company. Mr Warbnrton was the only surviving son of Air and Mrs George Warbuiton, Mount Eden, Auckland He won first-class honours as an elocutionist in Auckland, and later went to Australia, where he took up his theatrical career, under tho name of Laurence Dunbut. Sir Harry and Lady Lauder sailed from Sydney by the Sonoma for San Francisco. On arrival there, Sir Harry will pick up a now combination of supporting artists for a tour of America and Canada, which will last until tho end of March. He will then make a bee-line for his home in Ayrshire* “ Dunoon.” He hopes to make his “fourth annual farewell tour of Australia and New Zealand.” some two years hence.

Harry Quealv, remembered in Australia as a juvenilie with the Pollards and later as a character-actor in various shows, is in hospital suffering from a stroke (writes a New York correspondent). Harrv was playing the down-and-out Australian in “Rain,” the biggest money-spinner in New York these days, and was just making his final exit when the seizure happened. Tie was taken to a hospital, and for weeks could not even make himself understood. Latest reports are not encouraging; it is doubtful if he will ever return to the hoards. And he had signed a contract for two years. Quealy was a youngster with the MontagueTurner Opera Co.. when “Daddy” Caron conducted for the sweet-voiced Annis. Addressing the members of the Millions Club in Sydney, the AttorneyGeneral (Mr Bavin) spoke on the need of a national theatre. Governments in Australia and other parts of the world had, he said, ignored their responsibilities in that respect; yet the dramatic art was the highest form of culture, as also of recreation ana mental refreshment. The State supported public libraries and art galleries. and New South Wales supported music. Why was not the same principle applied to the theatre? In commercial theatres real dramatic art was seldom seen. Shakespeare’s plays, tho Minister declared. were more appreciated outside the British Empire than in it. While not wholly blaming theatrical managers for the present condition of affairs. Mr Bavin said the only escape was the establishment of national or municipal theatres. The Fuller-Ward musical play, “Tho O’Brien Girl,” which ran for over 300 performances in Melbourne, has also made an instantaneous capture of Sydney, where it opened on September 15. The Sydnev “Sun ” says:— “Take every musical play, extract from each the best ingredient—ballet, comedy, staging, lighting, movement, gorgeousness, artistry, zip, sentimental appeal—mix them dexterously by a master hand, and serve with a sauce of fun and frolic in the daintiest and cleanest of settings, and there is a dish fit for Sydney. “The O’Brien Girl” is the* supreme triumph of that delightful form of entertainment, the musical comedy. Tits appeal is instantaneous, l’t. is youth incarnate. It is savoured with healthy sentiment; it is govgeouin setting; its costuming is not stage makeshift, hut the real and expensive thing; the plot is simple but interesting: the humour is inimitable and clean : the artists are the best yet seen here in their lines : the chorus ! Yes, the chorus is Youth itself, with its gaiety and zest and grace and “ go.” The bevy of girls infect the audience with the sheer delight they themselves have in their dancing and their fun. The settings are not only gorgeous lv+ inimitably artistic. The lighting effects are delightful and never overdone; and there are always surprises.” “ Little Nellie Kelly.” the George. M. Cohan musical comedy, has repeated its wonderful New York success in London, where it was recently one of the few shows theatregoers were displaying any real interest in. One writer describes it as a unique production in which every artist is a dancer and the most successful musical piece since “The Merry Widow.” Aged, poverty-stricken stage folk in America will be provided with a home, where they will be treated as honoured guests, under the will of Percy G. Williams. former theatrical manager, who died recently. Air Williams specified that his estate, valued at .€1.000,000, should eventually revert to founding the Percy G. Williams Home for Needy Actors and Actresses. To a New York newspaper Air Cyril Maude contributes a list of the best performances he ever saw. They are : Joseph .Jefferson in “ Rip Van Winkle,” Robertson in “ Hamlet,’’ Ellen Terry in “ Aluch Ado About Nothing,” Winifred Emery in “ The School for Scandal,” Laurette Taylor in “Humoresque.” George Honey in “Caste.” Beerbohm Tree in “ David Garrick.” and Airs Kendal in “ The Elder Aliss Blossom.” “ Pretty Peggy ” was the name of a romantic play on the life of Peg Woffington, the celebrated actress of the Garrick period, which was staged here hv Nellie Stewart years ago. The same title will be given in Australia to a musical play from England, which is to follow “Rockets ” at the Palace. Peg Woffington is again the heroine. She inspired the old comedy “ Alasks and Faces.” hv Charles Reade and Tom Taylor, which has often been revived as “ Po" Woffington:”* Reade used the plot in a novel. And there are other nla.ys and stories which show how Peg’s fame has endured. “O hanpy dagger! This is they sheath ; there rust, and let me die.” As the curtain of the Henry Miller Theatre in New York descended after tiro final performance on June 9 on these words that terminate the tragedy of “Romeo and Juliet,” there ended (says the “ San Francisco Chronicle”) the longest continuous run of a Shakespearean play at one theatre in the history of the world. On© li uml red and seventy-four consecutive performances were played by Jane C'owl and her company, far surpassing all previous records. Other stars and other companies may have acted a single play of Shakespeare's for a greater length of time without interruptions, but they did not do so without the aid of touring. I never see the sheriff in the pictures pul! his -nn from his lumbar region without thinking of a. yarn of George Lauri’s (writes a “ Bulletin ” correspondent). George was playing “The Gondoliers” in a town in Alabama, U.S.A.. having got the theatre from the local sheriff on a percentage basis. After the show (business had been good) the sheriff strolled in and mentioned that a clerical error had been made in the agreement, and that the comedian, should get only 80 ner rent, of the receipts, instead of 85. "No,” said Lauri firmly, “85 is the agreement.” “Eighty. I think,” said the sheriff with an aggravating drawl. “ Eighty-five,’’ maintained Lauri, more firmly still. “ Think,” drawled the sheriff, pulling an 18in “gun” from his pocket and placing it deliberately on the table with its muzzle pointing at the Grand Inquisitor—“ Eighty.” Lauri made a lightning calculation concerning muz zlo velocity, flatness of trajectory and effective range, and then amended his terms. “ Eightv.” he said —“ you’re quite right!” The sheriff smiled, pocketed his gun, and strolled out eating his cigar.

THE THEATRE OF LITTLE PEOPLE. PULLING THE PUPPET STRINGS. It was in 1914 that I hit on the idea of making the puppet show a highly artistic amusement. And so I formed the “ Teatro dei Piccoli,” writes Dr. Vittorio Podrecqa, artistic director of the “ Teatro dei Piccoli ” (The Theatre of the Little People), Rome, in • * Pearson’ s Weekly. ’ ’ Aly twelve operators T chose because with them the marvellous art of marionette manipulation had been handed down from father to son for many generations. Only those who come from a long line of marionette operators can work the little figures with perfect skill, and even in their case it needs years of practice before they become proficient. Working marionettes is much harder than learning to play the piano. The cast of this puppet show consists of over 500 little figures, made of painted wood and ranging in height from inches to 3 feet. They perform grand opera, Shakespeare’s plays, light comedy, acrobatics, and they dance. Every dance you can think of they do! Russian dances. Japanese dances—even waltz. They do the steps with perfect accuracy, and they keep time to the music. The twelve operators can work with as many as twenty-five marionettes on the stage at once. Of course all their actions are in dumb show, their lips moving when they are supposed to he talking. They are backed up by a full orchestra, and there are people, hidden from the audience, who speak and sing for them the words they are supposed to Playing in England, as they are at present, the operators of the “little people ” are working under one big disadvantage— not one of them can speak n word of English. The only way they can co-ordinate the marionettes with the words spoken in English is by paying full attention to tho music. They know 'the music of all the operas off by heart. This is a case of where music is a common bond between the English and Italian operators. Each marionette is usually worked with four or five strings, but in one case six operators use seventy strings to work one figure. I have often been asked how old the marionette art is. Tt is hard to tell. The old Romans had them, and marionettes have been found in tombs of the Ancient Egyptians, but none of these early figures were as elaborate as our present-day figures. During the performance, the operators. of course, arc hidden from the audience. They stand on a platforn over the stage and look clown on the heads of the marionettes. Needless tr say, when a dozen people are working together the highest concentration has to be exerted, otherwise the litth figures, which look so life-like and yei are so lifeless, would get into a hopeless tangle. Some people ask me why Aye make no effort to hide t lie strings that wo id the figures. Well, for one thing, il would he impossible, but the chieJ

reason is that we do not want to do any such thing;! The art of the marionettes does not lie in disguising the fact that they are marionettes, an-rl making them look too real. Marionettes are much more fascinating when their quaint little actions remain obviously the actions of animated dolls. WHAT I THINK OF YOU. A FAMOUS ACTRESS'S OPINIONS OF HER Al* DIENC ES. I love audiences—the larger the better, (writes Marie Tempest, in a London paper). That is why 1. am pleased to write about them, for Fate has put me in a way of gaining much experience on the subject. A crowd has a mind and soul of its own, which is different from the many individual min-ds and souls that compose it. The skilled orator knows this and can play on the crowd’s feelings with a fair amount of certainty. But none the less he is always on the watch. He is conscious of its temper, of the incalculable something that may make him lose grip. So with the dramatic author and the actor. Experience teaces the recipe for the tear, the irresistible joke, the situation that culminates in the crashing “curtain.” The old hand at playwriting gives a new. twist to an old formula ; the actor shakes out his bag of tricks in accordance with it—and the result? 'Weil, nine times out of ten the expected success comes. The tenth—failure, dire and dismal. No one can tell. If the piece fail ultimately, it may be explained that the new twist to the old formula was bad. But what of the first-night failures that become successes and vice versa ? They illustrate the difference between what 1 may term the highly-specialised first-night audience and the ordinary audience. But even more interesting is the qnitc- common case of the play that goes with roars of laughter one night, and on the next is received in almost dead silence by the same type of audience. Another curious -problem is the cause of the strange tendency of audiences at different theatres to be the same on the same night. If. for instance, a play has gone better—or worse than usual, it gener ally turns out that plays in the other theatres of that town have gone equallv well—or equally had—that evening. If the business is o-oorl at one theatre, it usually is at the others. AMERICANS LIKE SENTIMENT. As regards England and America. T thing American audiences will stand more sentiment than ours, but it must be American sentiment. The English brand often misses fire. Australian audiences, on the other hand, like less sentiment than ours. But they are rather quicker in taking up a comedy point. In this they re semble the Americans, who often see it before it is made. In Bombay, we played ‘ Mary First,” a political play bristling with topical hits. The audience was composed almost entirely of Parsees. and

the piece went just as well as in LonIf I may make a personal confesson, let me whisper that I have always found Dublin extremely difficult, Glasgow particularly easy. One last word. Audiences often forget the influence thev them. I selves exert on the players. That is the meaning of the phrase “ Audiences get what they deserve ’ A dull, apathetic, irresponsive audience will get a dull, lifeless performance. An eager, generous responsive one will get its reward in drawing from the players the very best that it is in them to give.