MUSIC AND DRAMA

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18805, 6 July 1929, Page 28 (Supplement)

MUSIC AND DRAMA

“Rio Rita,” one of the most successful musical comedies of the day, will be presented at Fuller’s Opera House on Monday by a specially selected cast, headed by that popular artist, Gladys Moncrieff, who, as Rio Rita, has a part reminiscent of the “Maid of the Mountains” and “The Southern Maid,” sufficently Spanish to be passionate, and picturesque, and she has songs that suit her. Newcomers to the Dominion are Dave Mallen and Janette Gilmore, both of whom have achieved success on Broadway. Les Pearce, the possessor of a pleasing baritone voice, appears as captain of the Texas Rangers. “Rio Rita” is spectacularly impressive. Every advantage has been taken of the Spanish-Mexican theme and the settings and the dances are beautiful and bewildering. One of the features of “Rio Rita,” which will be presented at Fuller’s Opera House on Monday, is the ballets, and the Australian girls who provide this feast of enjo>-ment deserve a spec ial word of praise. There are somt fifteen ballets in “Rio Rita,” each one being distinctive and original. There are step-dances, classic dances, toe dances, eccentric dances, and operatic dances. Some very fine team work is done in “Jumping Bean," interpreted by attractive girls who. dance as one. The black and white ballet is one of the most effective toe numbers ever seen on the stage. An original note is struck, with the Dance of the Johnnies, and the Kinkajou is another distinct novelt3'. Janette Gilmore, comedienne and dancer of “Rio Rita,” was an awkward, gawky girl, •who seemed ever to be making a specialty- of stumbling as she walked and knocking cups off a table. Then a sister took charge of her and set her to exercising in a number of simple ways. By and by, Janette ac quired grace and poise and strength, and later the little bud of ambition began to flower in her soul. She be came expert in back bends, cart-wheels and other tricks of skill, and presently was set before one of the eminent Shuberts and told to show all she knew. This was in New York, and Shuberl, who has the distinction of being difficult to impress, readily consented that Janette had some innate sparkle, some flavour of personality. So Janette was engaged, and became a premiere danseuse, one of the few to leap to the top line without the usual drudgery ot apprenticeship in the chorus. . One of Miss Gilmore’s feats is known as the double back kick, and she is the only dancer in the world who can perform this difficult acrobatic achievement eas ily and gracefully. She performs this rare feat b3’ jumping gracefully in the air and touching her head with her heels. It took three years of continual practice before 6he was able to perform this acrobatic evolution in public. Miss Gilmore has several other claims to fame, for besides being a champion roller-skate dancer, she is the originate’of the “Lindberg” fashion, and the aviator head-dress. Though no mention is made of him in the programme and he is not listed as a principal, of the company, perhaps one of the most delightful actors in “ Rio Rita ” at His Majesty’s Theatre is the little grey donkey which appears in the first scene (says the “Dominion”). Riding in on his gail}7-capari-soned back, Charles Norman makes his initial bow to the audience as Lawyer Lovett, and from then on the fun is fast and furious. “ Rio Rita ” has given Charles Norman his first chance in musical comedy and he has stepped straight into the foremost ranks of Australian comedians. No better interpretation of the suave and wily lawyer could be imagined, and he is a striking example of the ability of our own artists to fill roles for which English or American artists are usually imported. “ Young Woodley,” the absorbing comedy-drama of College life presented by J. C. Williamson’s new English com pan}*, is one of the most discussed plays ever staged in New Zealand. In London, critics viewing it from different angles, naturally expressed highly divergent opinions. In the end, however it was the public which gave the final decision; and the fact that “ Young Woodley ” has run for nearly a year, and at latest advices, is still attracting large audiences, must surely be taken as an indication that the play has won popular favour. The fact that it was banned by the censor has also been stressed, but in fairness to the author, to J. C. Williamson and to the talented English company now appearing in New Zealand, it should be stated that after that official had seen the play performed, the ban was immediately withdrawn. The Christchurch season opens at the Theatre Royal on July 18. 1“ New Zealand audiences are very quick in perception,” said a leading

member of the J. C. Williamson “Young Woodley” company, which will make its appearance in Christchurch on July 18. “ It appears a bit egotistical to talk like that to the public,” he explained, “ But all the same, New Zealand audiences are about the queikest to see the point of any I have had the pleasure of playing before. Before we lpft London, we were told that the New Zealand people, as a whole, were about the best educated in any part of the world. That was a big thing to sa} r , was it not? But it is true, all the same. There must be a remarkably high standard, and what strikes us most is that all classes participate; it is not confined to any particular class of society. That is true Democracy, is it not? Yes, New Zealand audiences are about the most intelligent and disarming we have ever appeared before.” The New Zealand tour of the Ken tuck}’ Jubilee Singers, the celebrated coloured combination specially engaged by J. and N. Tait’s representatives in the United States, has now been arranged. This company, which is headed by eight of the most famous coloured singers in America, will present musical and dramatic scenas of a most original type. The settings for these unique offerings consist of most realistic scenes including “ On the Levee ” (river-bank), “On a Plantation,” “A Dug-out in France,” “ Present Times,” etc., and the solos, duets and beautiful concerted pieces are said to be of a quality rarely heard. There are man}' in New Zealand who remember with pleasure the impressive singing of the Jubilee Singers, the talented company which toured the Dominion many years ago, and when it is said that this col oured combination—consisting of the foremost vocalists, and specially chosen for this tour—is considered to be even superior to any previously heard, some idea will be gained of its musical and dramatic calibre. The New Zealand tour opens at Auckland this evening, and the Christchurch dates are August 3 to 7, at the Civic (Municipal) Theatre. It is announced that an all-star J. C. Williamson Vaudeville combination, headed by the noted London comedienne, Maisie Gay, will tour New Zealand shortly. This company will open the Dominion tour at Auckland on July 17, and will subsequently play the principal cities and provincial districts. The exact composition of the company has not yet been arranged, and the details of the Dominion itinerary have not yet been finalised, but when the combination appear in New Zealand it will consist of many high-class artists new to the Dominion, presenting musical, corned}’, dramatic, dance and acrobatic specialties of the highest order. Mrs Leo M. Myers was not unknown as a writer when she lived in Auckland, and she. has continued her literary work in London where she is now residing (says the “ New Zealand Herald”). Among her most recent work is a play, “ Notoriety,” recently produced by the Lyceum Club Stage Society. The New Zealand actress. Miss Isabel Wilford, took a leading part in the production. The play is described as being both satirical and funny and at least one critic predicts a successful West End professional season. It is reported that the famous English comedian, George Robey, will visit Australia under contract to the Tivoli management. The Fullers are doing something that merits encouragement at the St James (says the “Bulletin”), putting on a tip top comedy at almost ridicuously low prices. Four shillings is the highest charge for evening and 3s for matinee performances, and the piece, “The Baby Cyclone,” is a curiously clean and unusually amusing entertainment. A showman who has done the smalls of Eastern Australia for years was interviewed on his return to Sydney by a man interested in the Actors’ Benevolent Fund, who had heard that the showman made a practice of holding periodical benefit nights, the proceeds to go to poor actors (writes a Sydney “Bulletin" correspondent). “You used that money for your own purposes,” he said accusingly. “No—for the company,” replied the showman. “And il you know any poorer actors than my crowd you beat me—they’re the worst “ Dracula” the vampire play in which Nat Madison, Ashton Barry and Miss Bertha Riccardo and a strong J. C. Williamson company have scored such a success in Australia, is one of the most gripping dramas ever presented. It is Hamilton Deane’s stage version of the book by Bram Stoker, who was Sir Henry Irving’s private secretary, an l is based on the fantastic Slavonic legend of the Vampires—ghouls who, risen

from the dead, prey upon their fellows in manner most fiendish. New Zealand theatregoers will find “ Dracula ” a sensational drama with an unusual theme, interpreted by a company of distinctly high histrionic calibre. The principal actor of “The Baby Cyclone” (an actress in disguise) now receives individual members of the audience in the foyer of the St James Theatre before every performance (writes the Sydney correspondent of the Auc.kland “Star”). The little Peke sits up and prinks while adoring women say “Oh, look at the darling.” Thus are heads turned, and this little backyard dog is rapidly acquiring a langourous manner in keeping with the bored pet of an enthusiastic public. Leona Hogarth, the leading lady, though out of her element in this play, is such a capable actress that she gives an air of reality to the screeches and hysteric.of the wife who owns the Peke in the home that the Peke wrecks. “Mummy and Daddy play the piano beautifully. They think. the music must have come out through my feet instead of my hands." Thus (says the Sydney “Sun") does Joan, the eighteen-year-old daughter of Sir Benjamin and Lady Fuller, naively explain the love of dancing which has driven her to take up the strenuous existence of a ballet girl and solo dancer in Jim Gerald’s Comedy Company at Fuller’s Revue Theatre. She made her first appearance on June 14, under the stage name of Joan Graham. Few people in the audience guessed that they were watching a dancer with no stage experience and very little tuition at the back of her sure and graceful movements. Joan is one of the chosen few —a born dancer. “I think I must have danced before I could walk,” she smiled. “When I was five daddy let me dance in the children's ballet of ‘Bunyip,’ a pantomime. I’ve never been on the stage since then till last week, but I've loved it all the time, and wasn’t happy unless I was dancing. When I was twelve I had a year’s tuition in London from Madame Lydia Kyasht. I didn’t learn again till Pavlova’s com- ' pany came this year. Then I had four weeks from Hans Helken. I weighed ten stone. Now I weigh only eight, and I’ve lost 21b in the last fortnight. Mr Gerald saw me do one of these dances, and told me he’d give me a job whenever 1 wanted one. So here 1 am, and I love it! Oh, no! Mummy and daddy don’t mind me doing this now. They did at first." Lady Fuller has alsg done a great deal of amateur theatrical work, and was once a member of an amateur Gilbert and Sullivan company 55 a Elmer Rice (says an American paper) was chosen as dramatist this year to receive the gold medal given annually by the Theatre Club, Inc., of New York, for “ the most pleasing play.” This is “ Street Scene,” a stark, tragic story of life on the East Side of New York. Not very “ pleasing," but apparently a play of importance, and possibly in the class of the great. Another medallist of the same week was Julia Marlowe, who was honoured by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Her award was for “ clarity and melody in the use of the English language,” and for her “ most excellent treasure of a lovely voice." Immortal characters of William Shakespeare passed in review last night, when Sir Gilbert Parker, internationally famous English statesman and novelist, addressed 200 members of the English Speaking Union at a dinner at the Hotel Fairmont (says the “ San Francisco Chronicle” of May 1). The affair, held in celebration of the anniversary of the birth of Shakespeare, was attended by leaders in literary and social circles of California. Dwelling but briefly upon Shakespeare himself, Sir Gilbert figuratively let the important characters in the plays of the bard of Avon speak for themselves. Sir Gilbert took occasion to flay modern critics of Shakespeare. particularly George Bernard Shaw. “ When George Bernard Shaw writes a play that will outlive any play of Shakespeare, then he will have a right to criticise Shakespeare," Sir Gilbert declared. ** All our modern dramatists have learned from Shakespeare and he is a million times greater than any of them." Another stage thriller put on here is “Rope, a new play by Patrick Hamilton at the Ambassador’s (writes the Paris correspondent of the “New York Herald-Tribune”). This is a first play by a young man of twenty-five. For his plot the author has gone to De Quincev, plus the Leopold and Loeb case. Two undergraduates in a London apartment murder another undergraduate, a “motiveless, clueless, bloodless, passionless” murder, and give a party in the room where the body, is concealed. It is a study in morbid vanity. As the curtain rises the undergraduates are seen stuffing the body into a chest. In order to extract the maximum amount of thrill from their crime they use this chest as a table at the supper party at which the guests include the victim’s father and aunt.

Charlton Morton, the producer of "Lido Lady” and numerous other musical comedies, says that there are more women than men on the stage. Firstly, because women are naturally actresses. They begin to act as soon as they are out of their cradle, and therefore gravitate more easily towards the stage. In the second place, there are more good-looking women than there are good-looking men, and the stage demands beauty. It is much easier, for example, to secure a handsome female juvenile lead than to get the same type in the male species. You can name a dozen good-looking young actresses for every good-looking young actor. Thirdly, there is more rapid rotation in the ranks of women. Youth and hearts are evanescent, but there is always a new crop to take their place. Fourthly, women grow old less gracefully than men. The actor of fifty can. if need be. play a juvenile part, whereas actresses of fifty, with few exceptions, are doomed to character and “second woman parts.” This means that many more women are dropping out as the demand for their services becomes limited. Women on the stage must have the attractiveness of youth, and time is a relentless master. In the chorus it works its annual havoc. The result is a perpetual passing through the mill of about ten actresses to every actor.

NOT GUILTY, YOUR WORSHIP. A FULLER STORY. In the days when the world was wide the theatrical firm of Fullers (now one of the parties in the new broadcasting company) made small. beginnings in New Zealand, as a family concert party, plus a collection of waxworks (states the Sydney “Sun,” July 6). In travelling from town to town the stage coach was the ordinary means of conveyance. One day while they were touring the South Island, young Ben and John Fuller amused themselves from the top of the coach with a shanghai. As they passed the homesteads along the roadside dogs could usually be depended upon to rush out and bark at the coach wheels. These dogs were the victims of the shanghai. After observing the sport for a time, an elderly gentleman, who was also on the top of the coach, asked voting Ben for the loan of the shanghai. Ben

obliged, and the old gentleman tool: careful aim at the next barking dog “Bing!” But unfortunat y the pellet missed the dog and went through a window of the farmhouse. The farmer later had a summons served on John Fuller, sen. But the passenger whose unluck', shot had caused the damage happen*; to be the Crown Prosecutor. Wkh a twinkle in his eye, he undertook to defend the charge, which duly came before the local Court the next day “Which Mr Fuller do you allege fired the shot?” asked the Crown Prosecute? of the irate farmer. “Was it the bald headed Mr Fuller, or the Mr Fuller with the red beard?” “The one with the red beard,” spluttered the farmer. The Fuller family were then told to rise in the Court for identification purposes but, sad to say, John Fuller, sen., and young Ben, Johnny and Walter proved a stumbling block when the farmer searched their cherubic faces for red whiskers or bald craniums. Case dismissed. With respect to this story of earlv Fuller days, Mr John Fuller writes as follows: “In case this paragraph comes under your notice, I want to inform you that it is not quite correct. Brother Ben was not on the Cobb’s coach at the time, and I was a boy about sixteen, and had a shanghai (which most boys loved to have in those da vs). Mv greyhound dog used to follo'w the coach, and when other dogs annoyed him I used to protect him with the shanghai. The Crown Prosecutor hap pened to be on the coach at the time, my father was sued, and naturally the Crown Prosecutor (being in it) took the first line of defence, the alibi. ] think the Crown Prosecutor is now dead, but he was a fine sport, and well known in Greymouth and Westport The incident took place just before we arrived at Dick Seddon’s West Coast home town.