MUSIC AND THE STAGE

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17991, 30 October 1926, Page 23

MUSIC AND THE STAGE

A correspondent asks when “Trial by - Jury” was first produced in Christchurch, and who had the principal parts? “Trial by Jury” was first produced in New Zealand by the Lydia Zlowarde Company, at the Music Hall (afterwards the Gaiety Theatre), Christchurch, on August 31, 1876. The cast was as follows:—Plaintiff, Lydia Howarde; Defendant, If. F. Towle; Judge, R. W. Cary: Counsel for Plaintiff, Walter Hill; a Bridesmaid. Solange Navarro; Foreman of the Jury, M. Alexander; Court Usher, Harry Power. In “White Cargo,” which will be pro- j duced at the Theatre Royal on Novem- I ber 3, Christchurch theatregoers will ' see a play in which one woman is the centre of the action, and has the only feminine role in the piece. Miss Helen Stransky, who plays the much-discuss-er role of Tondaleyo, the half-French hajf-negress siren, ■who causes so much trouble among the white planters of the African rubber district in which the action of the play is laid, is the 1 direct antithesis to the bold char- • acter she has to play. A shy. pretty, j young little American girl from New York, with a sweet little nose, hazelgrey eyes, and bewitching smile—that is Helen Stransky, and the critics ■' all over the world who have condemned the play because of Tondaleyo’s stage villainies would be dumbfounded if faced with the little lady herself. An 1 amateur performance a few years ago during her schooling at the Presbyterian Ladies’ College in Carolina led i to her stage career. She was so sue- i cessful that she was recommended to further her dramatic studies, and after a very rapid progress suddenly found herself engaged for the Australian and New Zealand tour of “White Cargo.” . Although “ White Cargo ” is mainly of interest through the introduction to Christchurch of Leon Gordon, the author, leading actor, and producer , of this remarkable drama, the cast, of j the play which will be produced at the j Theatre Royal next Wednesday night, contains many distinguished actors. » Wallis Clarke, who will be seen in the important role of the doctor, has had I a varied career during which he has | been circus clown, acrobat, theatremanager. and tragedian, Born in England, he ran away from home when quite young and joined a circus as a clown. Later he became an acrobat. ; Then came a chanoe to play in drama, ' i and subsequently his ability caught ( the interest of John, Lionel and Ethel Barrymore, with nil of whom he played in many dramas. Miss Helen Stransky, I who plays the much discussed and criti- • c.ised role of Tondaleyo, the only | woman in the cast of “ White Cargo, ” 1 impersonates a negro half caste girl I so skilfully that some people have been | Of the impression that, she is actually i Coloured. IJowevcr. she- is an American by nationality and Gzecho Slovaki j by birth. A long sojourn in South Carolina, where the American negroes j are plentiful may have added to her j knowledge of negro customs. An- 1 t.hony Coghlau, B. N. Lewin, Frederick Forester, Austin Coghlan and Scott Alexander are other members of the original New York cast with which Mr Leon Gordon was associated in New York. M M I Life for Helen Stransky, the coloured siren of “White Cargo,” to be produced here on November 3, is largely a matter of getting into a suit of brown paint six nights a week and removing it afterwards with infinite scrubbing. The

iniiiiiiiiiiHi!i!niiiiiiiiiiiinui!iiii!ii!i!iiiii[i)niiiiniiiisii!!!iiiiiii:i!iiiini!!iiininiTiu 1 business of turning a charming white girl into a West African chocolate who is more chocolate than cream involves a lot of hard work on the part of the actress, and it shows how ready she is to suffer in the cause of art when she performs this operation without complaint. The job afterwards of removing the touch of the tar-brush, that is presumed to make her doubly alluring to the white hopes of Africa, takes from one to two hours. »*« Si 52 The new theatre, to be named the Regent, which J. C. Williamson are erecting in Manners Street., Wellington, ! is to be opened on or about December | 3. The theatre will have a seating ac- ! commodation for over 1600 people, and will be lavishly furnished throughout with comfortable upholstered chairs and reposeful lounges. There will be an artistic foyer on the first floor, and it is said that the entire construction will create an atmosphere of elegance and grace. The general lighting system will be indirect. No fewer than I 2000 high-power lamps, three colours, | will diffuse the auditorium with deiightj ful and soothing changes of light. The policy of the managtjjnent will be .to present pictures in conjunction with vaudeville: two performances will be .'given daily. An operatic orchestra of selected soloists lias been engaged, and a novelty is being introduced in the form of a moving platform, which will be raised by means of a hydraulic lift, bringing the orchestra in full view for the. presentation of special items. I The critic cf the “Evening Stand- ! ard" (London) has the following concerning a well-known New Zealand singer:—“Miss Rosina Buckman's singing of ‘Elizabeth's Greeting’ (‘Tannhauser’) at the Queen’s Hall made one i regret that there is no autumn opera in London now, with Miss Buclcman to sir.g it. For downright Wagnerian sing ing, perfect in tone and unforced in style, this performance could not have / been excelled in any country.” j Mr Hubert Carter, the New Zealand : tenor, writes from London that, al * though things did not look very bright owing to the coal strike, he had i many engagements ahead, and had | done over 150 concerts in the Old Country, receiving splendid notices from the musical critics. Mr Ernest M’Kinley, another New Zealander, re- : Oently had an offer of a three-years’ i engagement from the Carl Rosa Opera •' Company, but did not accept it, hav- , ing other interests in view. Signorina Toti dal Monte, the colora- i I tura soprano who visited us recently, . . recently left Sydney for America, : I and is bound for Chicago, where she I will begin a season in November. “'But | I will return some day.” she said, just I before the liner left. “I do not know 1 when, but I Lope it will not be long. Australia I now love as my second ; home. I will never forget it, nor the many friends whose warm hearts made j my stay so happy.” j Out of the valley of death comes gaily Warde Morgan—-on crutches (writes a correspondent in “Smith’s Weekly,” Sydney). Shockingly injured in a railway accident, for weeks the angel of death hovered over the stricken mummers bed of pain. But | Warde Morgan refused to die. Finally the grim reaper retired baffled, and last Thursday night Morgan, “a bit battered but still in the ring,” as he 'whimsically put it, visited Fullers’ Theatre. and at a select little gathering after the show, informed those

present that the old saw. “They never come back.” did not. apply to him. “T'm coming back,” said Warde. He will—he has. There are thousands of things to marvel at in “Rose Marie,” the gorgeous comedy at Her Majesty’s, but probably nothing causes greater comment than the marvellous fan which Wanda uses in her alluring dance (says a Sydney paper). From tip to tip it measures sft lOin, and its flaming plumes, with all 1 their beauty, weigh only eighteen ounces. And yet the man who made it has never seen it. lie is Mr Austin, the world-famous fan maker, who is blind. Mr Austin has made fans for Royalty, and all Court occasions, but he declares that Wanda's fan is the most beautiful he has ever made. Percy Grainger, the eminent Australian composer and pianist, has founded the “Rose Grainger” fund as a memorial to his mother, who was a native of Adelaide, and to aid the South Australian Orchestra. His initial gift to the fund was £SOO, and the objects will be “to give concrete and practical expression to my hopes of Adelaide's musical future, and of my hearty esteem for the South Australian Orchestra. The interest of the fund, to which I hope to make further donations will be applied to the fostering of the orchestra and the giving of orchestral concerts in Adelaide.” Nat Madison, who appears with his father, Maurice Moscovitch, in “They Knew What They Wanted.” at the Criterion Theatre, has to thank himself for his prominent position in the theatrical world. His father had experienced so much of the bitter disappointments and hardships of a young actor's life that he determined that his son should be spared it, so he sent him to the University of Lausanne to study as a medical student. Nat patiently studied for two or three years, and was quite content with ljis lot until he made a trip to London, and saw his father act. The inherited love for the stage got the best of him, and he announced his intention of becoming an actor. Naturally, Mr Moscovitch was annoyed. He told his son that he could go on the stage if he \y4?hed, but he could expect no assistance. Nat Madison didn’t ask for any. He started as a concert singer at 30s a week. Two years later, his father saw him in musical comedy, and. seeing that he had talent, he admitted him as a member of his own company. Every year the big theatrical managers from America descend on London and snap up all the local successes for production in New York and other parts of U.S.A. This year the British plays to be presented in New York amount to 25 per cent of the total. Curiously enough there is not one musical comedy in the collection, whilst London is simply swamped with this class of American entertainment. “We are on the eve of a new golden age of the English theatre,” declared Miss Clemence Dane, the author-plav-wright, at the Soroptimist Club luncheon in London. “Never.” said Miss Dane, “since the time of Elizabeth have things looked so bright.” It is almost impossible to discuss the theatre without discussing religion, she added. It is impossible to study history without realising that no nation possessed a great theatre at a time when it was not, in its widest sense, a religious nation. Only people with an awakened religious sense would listen to such plays as Bernard Shaw’s “St. Joan,” Galswor thy’s “The Skin Game,” Noel Coward’s "The Vortex,” Barrie’s “The Will.” Drinkwater’s “Abraham Lincoln.” and marly others. In a recent letter Mischa Levitzki declared that he was eagerlv looking forward to his next tour of Austra lia. In a published article in America,

the -Russian pianist has been lavish in his praise of Australian concertgoers. “It is a very great surprise for the American and European artist to find that the Australians are perhaps the xnost enthusiastic devotees of music in the world to-day," he says. “Their taste for the best is developed to the highest standard. Australia is no place for second-rate mjusical material. for such is doomed to failure. Australians are probably more careful in their consideration of musical points of excellence than any other people They have excellent educational facilities.” Levitzki also declares that concert-giving in Australia is • on a different level from that in any other part of the world. “The climate has a great deal to do with this. The artist feels so invigorated, so fine, that I am sure he must give his ver*y best. The audiences are so responsive that ten encores are not at all unusual. The Australians are so hospitable to art and to the artist that one feels a genuine sense of welcome everywhere.”