STAGELAND

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLVIII, Issue 12365, 3 December 1904, Page 8

STAGELAND

BY MASQUE

December 6. —Wanganivi Leidertafel. December B.—Girls' .School entertainment.

December 14, —Convent Annual entertainment.

December 15. —High School. December 26 to 3i.—Carnival entertainments. January 2 and 3.—Black Family. February 10. 11, and 13.—Stephenson's Musical! Comedy Coy.

■Mr. Fred. Mills, -the well-known ventriloquist, will leave England for Australia, his native land, on December 23, to fulfil an engagement with Mr. Harry Rickards. Tins will be Mr. MJIHs1 first visit to the Antipodes after an .absence of t»wenty years. , The Leslie Brothers opened at the Apollo Theatre, Dusssidorf, recently, when they mads their first appearance in Germany. Offers for future dates are coming "thick and fast." They return to England to fulfil contracts in thy provinces, and open rat the London Hippodrome on December 12. An attendant at the Glasgow Hippodrome .was charged at Glasgow Recently with ihavi'ng 'assaulted one- of the audience. The man wished to test the genuineness of.Houdini, the (handcuff king, ■and ipla'ced thumbscrews upon his hands. The latter easily freed (himself, and the roan asserted that Houdini had a key secreted upon his parson, which .enabled •him to 'open, the screws. The audience clamoured for an apology, and the prosecutor was assaulted. The charge was dismissed. ■/. . . The growing practice of people making arringress into the theatre after the curtain is up, <and going _ out between tlie acts and re-burning during the play's progi-ess ; is ona that should be rigorously put down. And it .can easily l>s done. In Leipsdc there is a theatre rule that ■late-comers must wait until, the interv a.'l to go ifco ittheia" seiats. The ladies 'have received Press scoldings innumerable for head-gear offending, but that clause in programmes requesting (the removal of ili'ats works very well indeed, and a clause requesting-men -niO't to be late in regaining-^hedr^eats at -intervals (or commencement of performance) would be extremely blessed by those who have no desire to-disturb the 'interests of others.

The question of gagging has many times been discussed, and some authors ■have inferred that it ?mns aplay, while, "again, the gaggers, dn tihear tiu'ii, say 'that it. 'will often make a piay. • It is (well known among psa-fowners that little bits of .business and gags come nlatui"ally to them 'while on tho "stage, therefore; there is always a gre«it temptation to eViery comedian to gag.- Being rescentily ;asked Ms ophnon of gagging, ■a well-known larbist said: "First do justice to "your author's lines., then, if your paiit is a poor one, and wiU admit of embelMishmenit, feel your way with a few gags. Gagging effectively is -an art, especially to knwv when to stop." Within less than ten years Mr. Tgso is xepoTifced to have "conducted no less than 165 oqnseciitdve performances of "Julius Caesar," 107 of "King John," 163 of "Midsummer Niglilt's Dream," 128 of "Twelfth N.ig^ht," and 186 of "The Merry Wives of Windsor,." "We ihear a great deal of talk," !he once said, "to ithe effect itih'at iShakesp^are does notpay. I regret that-1 cannot pose in the ibecoming atiti'bude of a miartyr. I can Only say that my own experience, lias been tbait Shakespeare has brought me profit always—ana, indeed, I will go so far las to say thait he has been the mainstay of the theatre- over which I preside. Ido nost believe that there has <bee>n any p-lay of Shakespeare's which (has been iproperly produo&d in London within our memory that has failed to pay-" . . , . "It is quite sur{>riising what a nnm-. bet of pretty .actresses have taken seriously to golf." Thus a '©onitemiparary. ißuib' why be surprised? It is a fadrlycommon weakness .among pretty acsbnessea to Itafie whiateyer they can ge.b hold of.—"The Pelican."

Sir. William A. Brtady, an Am&ncan manager, thinks it as time for the proprietors of .musioai splays :to protecit tih>emselve3 tagainst W.e maisic publishers. It appears thtait'a song called l;Sally," one of .the hits of Mr. Brady's production, "Girls .will be Girts,;'' iha*3 been published by larrangement with the autho-r of the and tihe leader of the orichestira, without regard to what Mr. Brady considers his rights. He says— "Jf a man buys ia musical piece, and «pafjs £4000 tor £5000 to produce it, and, also pays the authors good royalties weekly, he should own, or at least share., in the publishing rights.... This abuse is ifche main reason why tihe English stage' producers are stealing our 'hits.' The American musio pitbliishea* sells them over there with right of stage production, and,_ we'have not the same 'right's (here. A petition to Conga-ess tihis'Win-. i tar for a few corrections in. the- inter•national copyright law would be useful dn protecting the -brains of American produoera firom local and foireign pilfering."

A remarkafble story was told at the London Hospital on September 21. when Mr,. Wynne- E. Baxter held an inquiry concerning • tihe death'of Alfred Dodd, aged 32/ a grainer and writer by .'trade, lat-ely residing in Hol'loway Boad,. L?yftonstone. At a ■concer.t in^Leytonstone, •a "few weeks ago, he was. singing the Kong;, "Whaib will the end be?" which tells the story lof a giambler's end. In the last verse -the singer is supposed to ■commit suicide by shooting himself wjth ia_ pistol conitaining ia dmmmy ■cartridge. The pisfe-a} u:fed on this occasion, however, 'would no¥ :r'%) i:i Ot ff v'-^p.!-QJ>;»r time, and while Mj-..Dodd^V''d.s"C^>tii;fii:in-ing it dt exp^dedpand'heidied^B^tM?w from lb'ckj[a.w""cau.sed":':By itihe "inju'ry ~"ih' his hand. ~• v'■ :- '-. •-'-. .;-> •<. fiv:v ■