Music and Drama.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXII, Issue XXII, 3 June 1899, Page 771

Music and Drama.

THE POLLARD COMPANY

The dramatic event of the week in Auckland comes on Saturday, when the Pollards open in the Opera House. The company brings with it the old favourites ‘Djin-Djin,’ ’The Gay Parisienne,’ and ‘The French Maid? which will in turn assert their eharm over theatregoers during the first week. But it is to the subsequent productions that the public is looking forward to most eagerly, to ‘The Geisha,’ ‘La Poupee’ and ‘The Belle of New York,’ all three of which, it is understood, will see the light in Auckland. The second piece is billed for Monday week. From all accounts the public in the Northern city are justified in expecting something quite out of the common in the presentation of these new pieces. Mr Pollard has spared no expense in the mounting of the plays, which will be given on much the same scale of magnificence as on the other side. The leading characters are in very' capable hands, and the whole company has been schooled np to a high standard of excellence. Mr Lawrence, who put ‘La Poupee’ on

the boards for Messrs Williamson and Musgrove in Sydney, is superintending matters here.

The Henry Dramatic Company has been doing very fair business in Auckland since its arrival. It was intended to close the season last Saturday, but the cordial reception given to the organisation has led to an extension of its time in Auckland, and Mr Henry is so well pleased with this that he is making arrangements to return to the Northern city in a few months witli a stock of new plays in his portfolio. The programme for this week as announced on Monday was:—Monday, ‘The Shaughran’; Tuesday, ‘From Scotland Yard’; Wednesday, ‘East Lynne’; Thursday, ‘Shamus O’Brien’; Friday, ‘The Parson’s Oath.’ Mr R. H. Douglas, a comic singer, under engagement to Mr Harry Rickards, will pass through Auckland by the Monowai on the 6th.

The management of the Auckland City Hall, lately re-opened, is so well satisfied with the result of the cheap variety entertainments that have been presented there that it has been decided to continue them all the year round. The Christchurch Natives’ Association Dramatic Society has decided to produce ‘Marjorie.’ The London correspondent of the Sydney ‘Daily Telegraph’ says of Haddon Chambers’ latest play. ‘Tlie Tyranny of Tears’: —‘lt is an extraordinarily clever play, and incomparably the best thing the Australian dramatist has ever done. It is strong just where he has hitherto shown himself weak, and it is intensely human and natural. Better dialogue Pinero himself never wrote. Throughout the four long acts, in which only five people appear, it flows smoothly yet pointedly, crisp and fresh as a lettuce. Dramatic situations there are none in the ordinary sense of the term, but the curtains will be found quite adequate. Altogether the production is a surprising tour de force, and raises Chambers at a bound to the level of our greatest writers of comedy. Mr Gerard Coventry, who is supervising ‘The Belle of New York’ on the other side, has had great experience in this sort of work. He staged numerous burlesques on a great scale in Chicago during a five years’ engagement with David Henderson in that city. He stage managed the original production of ‘The Belle,' and subsequently prepared three or four companies for the English Provinces. Speaking of the material he has had to work on in Australia, Mr Coventry says that he finds the Australian girls in*‘The Belle’ as smart as any he has ever encountered, bright and intelligent. ‘which,’ he adds, ‘makes the work much easier in every direction.’ Dante is booming in Melbourne.

It is rumoured that Rudyard Kipling is writing a play. Those who know the story of the Gadsbys can imagine how he would do it. The piece will be produced, if written, at the Lyceum next Christmas.

The Christchurch Musical Union and Motett Society is practising ‘The Ancient Mariner.’ Millie. Trebelli will arrive in Auckland by the Moana on the 6th inst.

‘The Liars,’ put down as one of the best productions of Henry Arthur, was staged at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, last week.

Miss Hilda Spong, at the close of the run of ‘Trelawney of the Wells’ at the New York Lyceum, went on with the company for an Easter season at Boston, where the leading paper (the ‘Herald’) thus speaks of the Australian actress: — ‘Hilda Spong, over whose beauty Boston is very likely to become enthusiastic, made a delightful picture in her quaint costumes, and -won such a success as will ever make her welcome here.’ The Auckland Choral Society performed Heinrich Hofmann's cantata, ‘Melusina,’ in the Choral Hall last Wednesday. His Excellency the Governor, and the Government House partv were present on the occasion. Making due allowance for a numerical weakness in certain parts of the chorus, the performance was a meritorious one, and the work was given in a manner calculated to commend its many beauties to an audience that heard it for the first time. Many beauties the cantata undoubtedly possesses, which are neither very difficult to interpret with justice nor to appreciate when so interpreted. The soloists for the evening were Madame Chambers (soprano). Miss Minnie Lye (eontral-

to), Mr George Reid (baritone), and Mr W. Musker (bass). Madame Chambers was called on to take her part, the most onerous among the solos, at very short notice, and it speaks much for the lady’s powers that her perfor-’ mance was so finished. Concert-goers are already familiar with her clear and firm intonation, her expression, and her unaffectedly dramatic rendering, and it is enough to say that all these qualities were conspicuously present in her work. Miss Lye was conscientiously correct in the comparatively small part that fell to her share, while both Mr Reid and Mr Musker were in good form. Herr Willimoff led the orchestra, while Herr Schmitt, as usual, yielded the baton. The Society’s next production will be Rossini’s ‘Moses in Egypt.’