MUSIC AND DRAMA.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVI, Issue 16, 21 April 1906, Page 21

MUSIC AND DRAMA.

Mr. J. Nevin Tait, has written from London that Mademoiselle Dolores has received a remarkable fee of £ 1000 for singing ‘‘The hanging Song" ( so well known here) for the Pathe Talking Machine Company in Paris. Jt Mr. Nevin Tait pilot ted Mdlle. Dolores on all her previous tours as manager, but this tour is under the Messrs. Tait’s direction, and promises to be a record succes, as Mdlle. Dolores is one of (if not) our greatest favourite. Owing to the manuscript of "Grierson's Way." a farce comedy by M. IL V. Esnionde, going astray in transit from London, the American production had to be postptMed for a fortnight. A reward of £25 was offered for its recovery without success. Jt J* It is not often that an actress objects to publicity, but .Miss Florence Smithson (no relation of the massive "Georgie” of that ilk who was once so popular here), a London girl, appearing in "J he Blit* Moon," is taking action to prevent the Rotary Photo. Company from issuing her portrait, for which she paid, on post-ciWs. But possibly the whole action is a more-artistic method of securing publicity. J* * Many people will sympathise with a coster-girl who was recently fined £ 1 at a London Police Court for assault. She was sitting in the pit of the Elephant and Castle Theatre, behind another woman, who wore a hat several feet in diameter. A demand for a clear view Ixting disregarded, the girl behind the hat became sarcastic, ana when her humour was resented she made the final appeal to physical force, demolishing the hat and doing her best to do the same to its owner. "The Lion and the Mouse" and "The Squaw Man"’ have been secured for Australasian production by Mr. J. C. Williamson from Mr. Chas. Frohman. Both pieces arc American in origin, and both have made a triumphant success of their representation in the United .States. They will l>e performed out here in the comparatively near future, and in nil probability a special company wilt be engaged to play them. N Jl Tn connection with the approaching stage jubilee of Mias Ellen Terry, the Sydney correspondent of the London “Tribune* has received a cable that subscriptions have been invited in Great Britain and America. The ‘‘Tribune’s" first list opened with 12.000 shillings. It is asked whether Australia would care

to co-operate. Mr J. C. Williamson, on being interviewed, said he would be glad to join in any movement to that end, while doubting' whether any general interest would Im? taken in the jubilee of the celebrated actress, as she had never visited Australia. Newspaper life forms the motive of many American novels of the day, and now Mr Richard Harding Davies has just written a journalistic farce-comedy. ‘'The Galloper,” turning on experiences of a war correspondent with the Greeks during their disastrous war with Turkey. The hero is a New York cluk man who goes to the front, through love of a lied Cross nurse, and is forced by' circumstances to personate a special reporter from an American daily. The central incident turns on the despatch of an exclusive information of the batof ]>arissa, by one correspondent who gets ahead of all his fellows with the new. ' One of the problems which beset Mr. J. C. Williamson’s management during the Sydney and Melbourne runs of “Leah-Kleschna’’ lay in the number of Chinamen who thronged to see the play. Why the Celestial sentiment should be so profoundly touched by this very modern play could not be understood, until one of the members of the staff happened to look in upon a group of them during the last aet. Then the mystery was made plain, for every Chinaman was eagerly bending forward, apparently estimating the value of the eabage garden, in the. mibdst of which Leah and Paul Sylvain® are reunited. It was the vegetable* which had attracted them. Aliss Vicienne Noel, a promising young actress, who has been attached to Mr. -L C. Williamson’s dramatic company for some three years, severs her connection with it at Easter time, and goes to the United States to fill a matrimonial engagement. Before becoming a professional Miss Noel made her mark in amateur theatricals, and since she has been a member of the company has always managed to invest her parts, small as they were, with a good deal of ability. Her father, who is a Judge of the Queensland Court, entertained Miss Brune during her recent holiday on a station. Miss Noel herself has been for •long a warm personal friend of the star. Iler associates in the company some little time ago "'signified their approval in the usual way"—in other words, they made her a presentation. st To a represent at ivc of the ‘‘London Daily Telegraph" a few weeks ago Mr Charles Frohman, the well-known New

York manager, imparted some facts nt distinct interest to Australians. In the first place, he referral to the pleasure it gave him in making arrangements for the visit of lhe young Ameriean comedian. Mr William Collier, to these sbores. and further stated his intention of bringing him back direct, to London for the season when his Australasian season is concluded, somewhere in October next. Among the plays to be given, a London dehut by Air I-rohman. in the near future are two which have recently been acquired for Australasia by Air Williamson. These are “The Lio’n and the Mouse", and "The Squaw Man." and of both <»f them Air Frohman speaks in the highest terms, characterising the former, indeed. as financially the best of its kind with which he has had to deal for some time. Tile London verdict will be awaited with interest out here. Australians, and principally New Zealanders, will be pleased to hear that tha gifted songstress, Aidlie. Dolores, ia about to revisit us. Messrs. J. and N. Tait have rereived advice from Mr. Nevin Tait, who handled her last tourtf, that the tour will definitelv commence in Sydney about the end of August. The tour will necessarily be a short one. as numerous engagements follow the Australian tour. Since Mdlle. Dolores left Australasia, she has met with remarkable success in every place she lias visited. Her success in Berlin and I<cipsic was established on her first, appearance. The same success followed her in London. Glasgow. Edinburgh, and in several other minor places. Latest advice received from London was that Mdlle. Dolores was engaged to sing in conjunction with the Kiam Orchestre of Munich. This is one of the biggest musical attainments that can be attainM in Germany. Mdlle. Dolores is also engaged to appear with the famous Doctor Richter, and after that a tour of Straszburg and Laussane is in contemplation. Jt N Captain Robert Marshall, known in Australia and New Zealand as the author of "The Second in Command.” “Thu Duke of KilliecrankiC." and other bright comedies, has joined the socialists, or, at any rate, is preaching their doelrincs, in. his latest play. "The Alalstster Staircase,’’ produced by Mr John Hare just before the last mail left. The critics assert that the general scheme of the play resembles that of "A Pair of Spectacles," turning on the conversion ot a Conservative Prime Alinister to extreme socialism, owing to a fall on his head down a £15,000 alabaster staircase just erected in his mansion. His daughter and her lover, an ALP. on the other side of the House, have been ;« couple of drawing-room Democrats all along, and the timely concussion of ths old man’s brain serves the double purpose of making them happy ever .'iftec and saving the empire. The curtain falls on the tableau of the Prime Minister renouncing his office and delivering a homily on the shortcomings of party Government. Half the audience the first night declined lo believe that the play was over, and sat waiting for another aet until the lights grew low. The to "stand down" everv now and then

moral of the play is, evidently, that concussion of the brain is an excellent device for seeing the virtures of socialism, but to the dramatist the moral would appear to be that he should stick to plays, and leave stage socialism to Mr Bernard Shaw. d* at Mr. Andrew Black, the famous English baritone, will give three concerts in Auckland in the latter part of May. Mr. Black has just terminated his present Australian tour with concerts in Melbourne, the last being in conjunction with the Philharmonic Society of that city. The oratorio was the famous “Elijah,” and Mr. Black's performance is described by cable as being enormous, and it is likely that the performance will be repeated before the artist and his company leave for New Zealand. The New Zealand tour will commence in Dunedin on the 25th inst., and three or four concerts will be given. Mr. Blaek will then come direct to Christchurch and Wellington, and thence on to Auckland. There can be little doubt as to the popularity of Mr. Black with his audiences', as the Australian papers pass very warm and enthusiastic criticism on the celebrated artist, and they do not simply load Mr. Black with praise, but to the other members of the company they speak of in the highest of terms. Miss Ethel Sinclair is the violiniste of the company, and has a fine London reputation, and Herr Adolphe Borschke is the solo pianist. He is a Hungarian of only 21 years, but has studied under the famous teacher of Paderewski and Mark Hambourg, Leschetitisky, and is described by the Australia papers as ,being the best pianist to have visited us since the great Padarewski. . d* One of those troublesome but seemingly unavoidable mishaps which attend every actor who plays' romantic parts happened to Mr. Thomas Kingston during the. run of "Romeo” last week. While the fight with Paris (Mr. Harry Sweeney) in the darkened vault.was in progress, the latter's sword slipped and inflicted a nasty gash on Mr. Kingston’s middle finger. Though the loss of blood and the pain alike were he pluckily finished the scene; but he was close to feinting when the curtain fell, ’and the doctor who was at once called in found it necessary to put no less than five stitches in the wound. This is by no means the first injury of a similar nature which Mi-. Kingston has sustained, and indeed his forearm is covered from wrist to elbow with a crisscross of old scars that make the memberlook as if it belonged to a fierce German student of a duelling corps. The whole affair was, of course, an accidental one, but Mr. Sweeney, unfortunately for himself, was understudying Romeo, and naturally the coincidence was too good an oportunity for humour to be missed. Ever since the occurrence Mr. Sweeney has been chaffed unmercifully concerning his effort to incapacitate the player of the star part in order that he himself might "get a show.” <£» They are given to big things in America, and an instance of their passion for magnitude is supplied in the story of the transfer from vaudeville to comedy of Mr. William Collier, who will commence an Australian torn- under Mr. J. C. Williamson’s management at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, next month. Mr. Collier was originally- light in the New York Theatre of Messrs. Weber and Field, the most famous variety eutrepeneurs in the United States. It was due to them that the Dutch knockabout comedian act, initiated out here by Messrs. Kolb and Dill, first became popular, and it is said of them that they think little of paying £2OO per week for reigning attractions. When Mr. Charles Frohman acquired the rights of “On the Quiet,” he was faeed with the problem of finding a man for the principal character. Ills choice fell upon Mr. Collier, but naturally- enough 'Messrs Weber and Field could not see it in the same light, and it cost Mr. Frohman a solid cash payment of £OOOO before they would release their pet comedian from his engagement. But he was confident that the expenditure was justified, and Mr. Collier's immediate and lasting popularity has abundantly, proved the correctness of his judgment.

•‘Which tells of the thrilling circumstances which foreseen the marriage of Dorothy of the Hall to a gallant gentleman,” is the description applied to “Dorothy Vernon, of Haddon Hali,” which Mr. J. C. Williamson staged at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne,, on April 14, for the first time in Australia. The story, dated in Elizaz bethan times, runs much on the lines of Charles Major's popular novel, and its heroine is of the quick temper usually associated with people of red hair. In fact, she is a chip of the old block, and rages at intervals to such good purpose that even her father is reduced to acquiescence to her will. The thrilling circumstances of the plot ariso from the jest of one John Manners, a proper gentleman, the son of the Duke of Rutland. He personates the accepted suitor for Dorothy's hand, although his father and hers are at deadly- enmity, and the consequent “eruption” when the truth is discovered is complicated by the arrival of Queen Elizabeth and Mary Queen of Scots in the neighbourhood. This gives occasion for much political plotting while John Manner’s jest turns into dead earnest, and the two lovers scheme for their own hand with the best of them until thew have subdued all opposition, although they find it necessary to elope at the end. Miss Tittell Brune of course plays Dorothy Vernon, while MrThoma-- Kingnston was cast for the part’ of John Manners. The play- was much approved of when it was first staged in London, while a recrudescence of its popularity followed its revival in the United States a few weeks ago. 2® —® Two recruits to the ranks of the British aristocracy have been given by the theatrical profession within the last few days. Miss Eva Carrington, who was one of the - fascinating “ Gibson Girls” in “The Catch of the Season” at the Vaudeville, was married on the 16th inst. at the St. Pancras Registry Office to Lord de Clifford, of Dalgan Park, Shrule, Tuam, the barony of which dates back to 1299. Lady de Clifford, who first became associated with Mr. Seymour Hicks’ companies seven years ago, will now retire from the stage, and, after the bridal tour, which will take the happy pair to Abyssinia, will settle down in Ireland. Miss Frances Donnelly, a “ Floradora” girl, was the heroine of the second happy event, when she became the wife of Lord Ashburton. The civil function was performed in the Town Hall of Passy, a Western suburb of Paris, and -the religious ceremony was subsequently gone through at the English Church. The bride, whose professional name was Miss Frances Belmont, was a member of the original “ Floradora” sextet in America, and afterwards joined Mr. Charles Hawtrey’s English company. Lord Ashburton, who is in his fortieth year, succeeded his father in 1889 as fifth baron. He is a wellknown figure in the London social world, a member of many clubs, and the owner <>f large estates in Hampshire. Immediately- after the wedding the bridal couple went to Bordeaux to take steamer to Africa, there to spend the honeymoon in a long hunting trip. Past-master as he is in th? gentle art of trailing his coat-tails, Mr. Bernard Shaw has seldom done it more agressivejy than for the benefit of the amateur actor. Respectfully invited by the Actors’ Association to give his views as to th? desirability of reducing authors’ fees in the case of amateur performances, he leads off a long Donnybrook letter with the intimation that lie has a strong grudge against such amateurs because “they- habitually insult the art they dabble in by assuming that it is a sin which can only be covered by a charity.” A characteristic piece of brilliant Shawesque nonsense, of course. The gibe may apply, perhaps, to an occasional Box and Cox or Bardell v. Pickwiek performance, more or less associated with some provincial chapel; but the devotion of the proceeds to charity in the majority of cases is exactly on a par with the similar devotion of the proceeds in the case of a bazaar, which may <Tr may not really be a sinful institution, or an extravagantly wasteful form of “charity,” but is certainly not regarded by bazaar-organisera as a wicked thing that needs a cloak.

Mr. Shaw’s further jests at the “reach-me-down” properties and plays affected by amateur actors, and their failure to encourage true drama (such as. the Court Theatre plays) and loeal art industries of a theatrical kind, may have something in them. But his true point is that the author should not be expected to contribute to a charity which he may not care about. He is a worker entitled to his standard rab> of pay, and Mr. Shaw would have been sounder, if less brilliant in sticking to that Trade Union argument. J* Another instance of truth equalling at all events fiction in strangeness is afforded by a law case tried in J-ondon which resembled the play, “The‘Return of the Prodigal.” Some critics regarded its problem as an eccentric exception, and yet on December 16 Mr. Justice Buckley had to deal in the High Court with a variation of the same subject. Let us summarise the cases side by side:— “The Return of the Before Mr Justice Prodigal.” Buckley. Mr Samuel Jackson An architect, aged mill owner, packed thirty live. son of off his son, Eustace.iDr. Waterhouse, aged twenty four, Scarborough, declines to Australia with to do anything to £lOOO. Five years'earn a living: will later the prodigal re-fnot even take an turns without a pen-allowance, but insists ny. He Insists upon on living at his fastaying in his fa- ther's expense and in liter's house, runs up,his father's house, lulls, will not work, On December IGth. and is ordered to.the father asked for leave. This he de-an injunction to reclines to do until the son from father agrqes to pay coming to the house, him an annuity of Mr Justice Buckley £3OO, and he argues clined to grant the inont his case with the junction, saying that utmost good humour under no circumand quire philosoph- stances could a faleally. .liter divest himself of his duty towards Ihis son. That the Court prodigal's point of view was hot that of a solitary crank was clearly shown by the numerous letters that appeared in the newspapers strongly supporting the judge’s view. Of course, a debate on such a proposition cannot be expected to run so long as “ The Spring Chicken,” but it certainly interested a more intelligent audience than all the musical comedies can do, and in so doing it quite fulfilled its mission. It appears that Sardou's plays, at least, his earlier plays, are not by Sardou at all, but by Bernard Palissy. The great artist in earthenware waited about three centuries in bis grave before turning dramatist, and then inspired M. Sardou. The latter explains this himself. He has communicated for many years with the spirits of the dead by means of tables, and the well-known instrument called the planchettc. "He had a round tabic, which ran about after him in his flat like a pet dog,” he says. Moreover, roses frequently dropped upon his brow from the ceiling, and unseen hands played his piano. Bernard Palissy manifested himself by seizing M. Sardou’s hand when it held a pencil, and guiding it over sheets of paper, on which it traced words and signs. Once Bernard Palissy told him curtly, “Paper too small.” M. Sardou fetched a largersheet. “Paper still too small,” Bernard rapped out again, by means of the table.

“It is the largest I have,” M. Sardou «• postulated. "Go and buy some,” said the gboat. M. Sardou objected, Jas it was raining and his stationer lived a' long way off. ‘"Go to the Place St. Aaidre-des-Arts,” the ghost commanded. “Then? is not any stationer’s there.” “4 tell you there is.” M. Sardou sighed, and went in the rain to the place, hunted in vain for a stationer’s, and was just leaving when he saw over a doorway, “Wholesale Dialer in Pasteboard,” went in, and found there the largest sheets of paper obtainable in Paris. He bought some, and as soon as he had got home Bernard Palissy made him write, “Told you so.” There the tantalising M. Sardou stops. What did Bernard write on the largest sheet of paper ? The spirit has given up inspiring. M. Sardou, but the latter has continued producing plays. He does not say when Palissy’s influence ceased, or which of Sardou’s plays are by th? sixteenth century ceramint and which by the modern dramatist.

Melodrama is to many criths as a red rag to a bull. The following from the speech of Mr Beerbohm Tree, the high priest of stage culture, splendour and intellectuality, will be read by these gentlemen with somewhat mixed feelings. It was at the Play goers’ Club dinner, and the chairman, while congratulating Mr Tree on “Nero,” confessed to a personal tasto for melodrama. Quote Mr Tree:—“Mr Rendle has confessed to a preference for melodrama, which is, 1 suppose, another word for homely tragedy. So long as humanity lasts, so long will a taste for melodrama last, and I wish we had more Boucicaults who would give us melodrama tinged with poetry. By the way, I remember ‘The Colleen Bawn’ was the! first play I ever saw —an admirable melodrama. It is a long time ago, and all that is left to me now of that memory are flaring lights from the window of a four-wheeled cab, an Irishman with a keg on his shoulders, and a leap into the water. It gave me enormous pleasure at the time, -and from our teeming population, great enough to make audiences of every sort anil description, there must be thousands to whom such, plays will still give keen pleasure, — keen interest, keen delight. Those who have the precious gift of imagination feel the lure of tragedy. Indeed, to many the imagined sufferings of the stage are often more enthralling and give a greater emotion than do the real incidents the real sufferings of which human life is so full. Not only the unhappy, but the joyful people also, like to have their deeper feelings stirred. The Greeks were a very joyous people, and yet they loved their great tragedies. 1 imagine that why people are so fond of tragedy is that their 4jvn past and present sufferings sink into insignificance beside the greater tragedies they witness upon the stage; that their pains receive a counter irritant by their sympathy with the greater agonies through which the mimic humanity is passing. Indeed the greatest antidote to selfish suffering is that which is given by sympathy with the suffering of others, for if we are capable of sympathy with others, our own littla troubles become insignificant.” At the same dinner it was suggested, also by- the chairman, that it would be a good thing for the star actor-manager.

and give th* understudy a ehanc*. T* this Mr. Tree replies: Mr.q Rendle has apoken of the actor-manager system, of course, it would be delightful occasionally to play Marcellus. But ■iho public—rightly or wrongly—put Their money ou an actor as they would put their money on a horse, and they do not like to see him pulled. In fact, .they like their favourite to take the lead. I should be very glad occasionally to make way for others in my own theatre, but the box office will assert its tyrannic sway. If by placing a notice outside the theatre, “ Mr. Tree ■will positively not appear to-night,” one could secure a rush to*the box office, it .would be a delightful holiday which Would enable one to discourse in the columns of the newspapers on the decadence of the British Drama. If an artist keeps his eye on one star, and that star is the public, it will guide him sooner or later to his coveted goal. Let him turn a deaf ear to the uttered sneers of log-rolling cliques and a blind eye to the written page of depreciation. These are sometimes irritating, for fleas are more annoying than elephants. But the gift of serenity will triumph over them, and there is always one way to Conserve one’s strength which I commend to the sensitive. A friend on whose geniality I detected a touch of 'Bast wind, lately put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Tell me, my dear Tree, how are you able to bear your many buffets and reverses with such a gay demeanour, and always to have a kindly word for your countless detractors.” “Ah! my dear friend,”,! replied, “ I will tell you my system. I bury my head in the sand, and that attitude enables me to show a smiling back to my enemies.” We should look to the public alone—l believe the greatest mistake a man ean make is to undervalue the public of his generation. It is through losing our ideals that we fail —for in pursuing the game we lose the cause. And so it is with criticism • —to discover beauties is a greater achievement than to discover ugliness—it is a greater genius to understand and •to sympathise with what the gods have -given us than to quarrel with what they .have withheld. ' J* J*

’. Miss Jennie Pollock, the clever young 'Aucklander who has made such rapid strides in her profession since she joined 'Bland Holt five or six years since, returned to Sydney last week after her brief holiday in the city of her birth. Miss Pollock thoroughly enjoyed her stay and meeting all her old schoolfellows and multitudinous friends. She speaks very modestly of her success, but is pleased that Mr. and Mrs. Holt have decided to make a New Zealand tour, for that will give her an opportunity of showing how she has got ou. She also speaks in terms of warm gratitude of the early training she received from Mr. Montague (originator of the Auckland Shakespeare Club). Mr. Montague, she says, taught her all she knew of elocution, and it is owing to him, she asserts, that she has v.on such measure of success as has befallen her up to date. Miss Pollock, a portrait of whom appears iu this issue, was to resume work with the Holt organisation this week i? «•» “The Earl and*the Girl” has been played to enormous holiday houses during the Easter week in Auckland, and the reception given to this bright but irresponsible olla-poddrida was exceedingly enthusiastic on each occasion it was staged. It is, as a musical farce-cum-variety entertainment, a good deal above the average, and gives the present company all they ean manage to feet through. They do, however, with really very little to complain about. The part of Cheeze is really an admirable one for any low comedian, and though Mr. ■ Sheridan does not rise entirely to its possibilities,' yet he is exceedingly" funny—as indeed he can scarcely help being—and provides continuous laughter all the time ho is on the stage, which is practically the whole of the evening. The humour, is somewhat ■broad in places, but there is no real harm in it. and certainly it provokes uproarious hilarity. The dancing is on the whole excellent, and the staging and dressing adequate, if not on so extravagant a scale as Mr. Williamson’s companies achieve. In brief, a bright little show, well worthy of a visit from those who like this form of cptertain- . J