MUSIC and DRAMA

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19240, 29 November 1930, Page 25 (Supplement)

MUSIC and DRAMA

Real Drama. The drama that is life was played on the operatic stage at the Civic Auditorium, San Francisco, on the evening of September 29, but none of the thousands of San Francisco operalovers who thrilled to the magic voice of the great tenor, Beniamino Gigli, realised that the dashing young hero of “ Mignon ” was carrying a double role. There was naught in Gigli's manner to indicate a heavy heart as he gaily pursued his love in his world of makebelieve. But those back stage knew grief had laid a leaden hand on the singer just before he stepped before the footlights A cable telling of the sudden critical illness of Gigli’s eighty-year-old mother at their villa, Recanti, in Italy, was handed him. In keeping with the traditions of the stage, the tenor finished the performance without the audience suspecting his sadness. The following day a second cable came. His mother had died during the night. Popular Comedienne. The English comedienne, Miss Gracie Fields’s appearance at the Palace Theatre, New York, early last month, was hailed by audiences as an international event, in which London’s popular heroine revived the good old custom of “ hands across the sea.” The following are extracts from a report in a London paper:—They see in Miss Fields a happy combination of singer and comedienne, bringing, in the words of one critic, “ a unique experience to American audiences.” Her gay, sweeping, rowdy entrance, with that confident little whistle with which she acknowledges the audience’s applause, has already won the hearts of all who have seen her first appearances here. Coming on the stage at that breathless moment known to professionals as “ next to closing,” Miss Fields is most appreciated in her character songs. To Americans “ The* Co-op. Shop ” is given with that personal touch wbich catches on so quickly with music-hall audiences. The general opinion is that the Palace is something of a floral festival, with the English comedienne holding easily first place in the hearts of all present. She faces a severe test in singing “A Cottage for Sale,” so familiar over here as to border on monotony; but Miss Fields’s introduction of incidental acting gives a fresh tone to an otherwise familiar piece. The Palace bill, say thp critics in a unanimous chorus, ranks as one of the best the season is likely to produce. George Moore’s Play. Mr George Moore’s play, “The Passing of the Essenes” (produced recently at the Arts Theatre, London), is based upon a legend that Jesus did not die upon the Cross, but that He was revived in the tomb by Joseph of Arimathaea—that He was not divine, but a preacher inspired by God. When the plav opens He is a shepherd of fifty-three. Up the precipitous hillside to the cavern of this little group comes Paul of Tarsus, fleeing from persecution and seeking succour. Paul is filled with missionary fervour and the central incident of the play is the disclosure that Jesus the Shepherd before him was crucified on the judgment of Pilate. Paul’s zeal and his belief, however, remain unquenchable. He reasserts his faith in the Jesus who was the Son of God and before he departs has a fresh triumph in the conversion of most of the small community. The play implies such an attack upon fundamental articles of belief that it requires a definite detachment to consider it from the dramatic point of view. The audience listened in rapt silence to the productlUll Sir Edward Elgar’s Works. A recent performance in Sydney of Sir Edward Elgar's third “Pomp and Circumstance” march almost synchronised with the production in London of the fifth of this series of characteristic compositions. Elgar set out to write a suite of six marches under this title, and doubtless he will accomplish the task. lhe fifth is described bv the London critics as exhilarating and frankly appealing, but it is questionable whether any of the series will match the first of the marches, thanks to the vocal setting erven to a section of it and known throughout the world as “Land of Hope and Glory.”

Christchurch Pianist. Ivor Weir, the Christchurch pianist who is associated with Charles Holt, female impersonator, now playing the leading Australian * cities, has had a varied experience as accompanist to star artists. Prior to joining up with Charles Holt in America, Mr Weir had some experience in moving pictures, and appeared on the screen with Gloria Swanson in “ The Humming Bird,” £nd with Ivor Novello in the D. W. Grif-

fiths’ picture, “ The White Rose.” More recently this accomplished pianist was associated with Marie Burke in a vaudeville act at the Alhambra, Coliseum, and Paladium Theatres in London, and toured South Africa and the East with Laura Guerite, another vaudeville artist well-known in Australia. One of his most memorable experiences in England was his appearance with Marie Burke at a wonderful party given in honour of King Fuad, of Egypt, at the country house of the Hon Mrs Ronald Greville, at Dorking. Like Charles Holt, Ivor Weir fought in France with the A.I.F. and reached the stage by way of a diggers’ concert party. The Fried Fish Shop. On the night before the opening of the new Whitehall Theatre, London, which was proud of its shimmering array of polished steel around the box office, gaily lighted, resplendent in all that is modern and supreme, a man walked up to the box office, looked at the shining steel and said, “What are you frying to-night?” Yet Edward Stone, the architect, was not abashed, even by this fried fish insult. After all, on the night that the Whitehall was opened, another place of amusement, the Finsbury Park Astoria, which also he designed and planned, was opened. The Whitehall is a beautiful theatre, but, as Stone is stated to have said, it could all go into the court of the other building that he had opened that night. One holds SOO people—and the other 4000! Unrehearsed Incidents. -Audiences love “unhearsed incidents” on the stage. By this is meant incidents or happenings that are not included in the regular performance, and which, in spite of the best stage management, sometimes occur. For example: at the opening performance of “The Cingalee” at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne, Alban Whitehead, as Harry Yereker, disguised as a rickshaw runner, turned sharply while wheeling off with Nanoya, and capsized the rickshaw', spilling Gwjmeth Lascelles on to the stage. Miss Lascelles saw the humour of the incident, and laughed unrestrainedly, the audience joining in so that the show was held up for a while. What the audience did not knorv, however, -was that Miss Lascelles had sprained her W'rist, and that for the rest of the performance she had to endure a good deal of pain. Nellie Bramley. From Australia comes word that Miss Nellie Bramley, who was recently reported to have entered the realm of vaudeville, has definitely returned to the drama, says an Auckland writer She is making arrangements for a tour which will commence in Queensland, and will probably bring her to New Zealand later.

Don Cossacks Choir. News is to hand that the Don Cossacks Choir, who will be vividly re- ■ called by Christchurch music lovers, gave a concert in the Albert Hall, London, on October 12, to a large audience. The concert began with the singing of a requiem by Tschesnokoff. It is an impressive composition and was impressively sung. The audience stood during the performance. Mr Jaroff conducted in his usual alert, magnetic manner, says a London writer.. The choir is unequalled in its own way. ' In perfection of drill and precision of effect it has no equal. Occasionally, however, this mechanical perfection stands in the way of true musical interpretation. ’ The basses maintain their unequalled quality and easily fill the Albert Hall with their lowest notes. The tenors, however, are showing signs of wear and tear, and often indulge in unnecessary violence to conceal their shortcomings, and their use of falsetto, unless checked, will degenerate into an aimless mannerism. It should be added that the audience were extraordinarily enthusiastic. The Late George Portus. The death of Mr George Portus in Sydney removes one of the best known figures in the musical circles of Sydney. He has been a concert manager, and identified with music generally in Australia for many years. He had the advantage of being a man with a particularly fine presence, an outstanding physique, and crowned with white hair his appearance was memorable. Mr Portus was known all over Australia, as he was director of the tours of many well-known artists. These included Dame Clara Butt and Madame Eleanora de Cisneros and Monsieur Paul Dufault, the Canadian tenor, whose death w'as reported a few months ago. Mr Portus was responsible also for the tour of the famous Besses o’ the Barn Band through Australia, in the heyday of its fame. He also took the famous Newcastle Steel Works Band through South Africa and England. Mr Por tus’s association with the first-named country was not onlj' in the position of concert manager. He was a member of the contingent which went from Australia to the Boer War, and was present when Mafeking was relieved. Mr Portus was recently connected with Broadcasting Station 2U W, Sydney, where he had been transmitting shortly before his sudden death. Dusolina Giannini’s Plans. Signora Dusolina Giannini, the dramatic singer who was in Australia a year or so ago, is considering a world tour at the close of her present contracts, which will extend to the end of 1931. If her plans mature Giannini will revisit Australia. Another World Tour. Carter the Great, well-kjiown stage magician, at present in San Francisco, is contemplating another world tour. New London Theatre. _ Following close on the heels of the Cambridge Theatre, which was opened at the beginning of the London season, another new theatre, the Whitehall, was opened in Whitehall last month Black ■ ind silver, with here and there brave splashes ot orange and mauve and red and yellow, were the m<>st striking iea cures in the interior decorations. The opening production was Walter Hackett’s olay, “ How to Treat a Woman.” which had been transferred from the Duke of York's Theatre.

[first night like A NATIONAL EVENT. BRILLIANT SUCCESS IS MADE BY NOEL COWARD. (Special to the “Star.”) LONDON, October 10. Mr Noel Coward has had another brilliant success in his “naughty” j comedy, “Private Lives,” which was produced at the New Phoenix Theatre this week. The play is a delicate trifle, telling the story of a smart young couple who married, quarrelled, and parted, and then, after a divorce, remarried With two others. All four accidentally meet at a hotel. The divorced husband and wife (brilliantly played by Mr Coward and Miss Gertrude Lawrence) discover that they still love one another and can quarrel as consistently as ever. And they prefer quarrelling—hitting at one another and smashing the crockery and furniture—to the boredom of living at peace with their new partners. So they go oft once more, apparently to continue these scenes to the end of their days. The plot is thus familiar, but Mr Coward’s dialogue, fragmentary on paper, is amazingly “slick” on the stage. Moreover, he is modishly up-to-date. He mentions the latest fashionable resort, Brioni, but he does not mention cocktails, which are apparently no longer “the thing”; and one of the tunes he hums comes from a musical comedy only produced in London this week. If his comedy is deft, his publicity is defter still. But then he has Charles B. Cochran at his back. The first night might have been—indeed, was—a national event. London s fashionable beauties, most brilliant diplomatists and men of letters and Society leaders fought for seats as if it were a coronation or the Gold Cup at Ascot, despite the fact that stalls were going at £2 10s apiece. So great was the demand that many couples could get only one ticket, so many beauties arrived alone in their Rolls-Royces. dhe crowd outside was cosmopolitan, reminding one more of New York than of London. Chinamen even came from Whitechapel. The crowning stroke was an announcement by Mr Cochran that, owing to the strain on Mr Coward’s nerves, the play would only run for three months. The libraries, usually as timid as fawns, thereupon made the deal of their fives, with the result that the scramble for tickets which began with the first night may extend now for twelve weeks. Apart from Mr Coward it was a great night for Miss Gertrude Lawrence. who revealed comedy gifts of such a Ingh order that her future in straight stuff’’ is now as assured as ner past was distinguished in revue Long Tack Sera. Long Tack San; hinese m .-ian A e , en " resting in New Jersey (U.S.A.) after his South American tour. lie goes on an American vaude \ die circuit in the near future.