Music and Drama

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 8, 22 February 1908, Page 16

Music and Drama

“What’s in a name?” scornfully quote superior people, if one presumes to argue on the title of any play or novel of the day, but the hard fact remains that a felicitous, or infelicitous title, has made or marred the fortunes of many excellent books and not a few plays. No doubt there will be differences of opinion, but to the writer’s mind “The Mummy and the Humming Bird” is a thoroughly and dangerously bad title to one of the finest and best written high comedies we have seen for some considerable time past in New Zealand. Not that the play is altogether even, it is far from being bo indeed, but the extraordinary merit Of the brilliant third act compensates entirely for the tendency to pure melodrama in the first, and justifies the praise devoted to the play as a whole. Mr. Flemming did wisely to secure “The Mummy and the Humming Bird” for his 3908 N.ew Zealand tour, which he opened in Auckland on Monday. It suits his company and especially Miss Day and himself to perfection. The motif of the comedy is not new —the old. old story indeed of the seemingly preoccupied husband, and the wife who considering herself neglected, is on the eve of ruin, when she is suddenly saved therefrom by either the wit, kindness, or keen observation of the misjudged husband. We have had many such excellent plays —from “Peril” and “ Still Waters Run Deep ” down; but Mr. Henderson treats the theme in a novel fashion and with really masterly skill. The acting is good, the comedy is adequately staged, and in brief, “The Mummy and the Humming Bird” is a play to see. The famous tenor, M. Alvarez, is suing a critic of “Comoedia” for alleged libel. The critic said that M. Alvarez sang out of tune in Meyerbeer’s “Le Prophete,” and the tenor estimates the damage done him in consequence at £4OOO. In the offending article M. Alvarez was described as having sung a certain air so flat that, whereas the accompanying horn in the orchestra should follow the voice a sixth below, t'«e interval heard in reality was a shade over a fifth. In the sAme opera his G flat in one passage was pronounced by the critic to be “quite exceptionally false.” This was enough to infuriate any tenor. But there was more. “Comoedia,” a new theatrical paper, had not been many weeks in existence before it likened M. Alvarez to a “bumble-bee blundering among blossoms” in a scene of M. Heyer’s “Salammbo.” It is obviously annoying for a tenor to be called a bumble bee, the flowers being the ladies of the cast. The newspaper also laughed at M. Alvarez because he had. it alleged, had a statue of himself placed as a caryatid pillar in the frontape of bis house.

Theatrical managers, playwrights, and dramatic critics, on this and the other side of the Channel, says the “Daily News,” are awaiting with no little curiosity the result of the legal proceedings instituted by M. Sardou against the popular Paris paper, “Le Matin,” to decide whether the publication of a notice of a play before its first public performance is prejudicial to the author and the producer. It is the usual custom in France for managers to invite dramatic critics to the “repetition generale,” or final rehearsal, of a new production. It is equally traditional, among dramatic critics, to defer comment until the premiere has actually taken place, a tradition that has been rigorously honoured hitherto by all newspapers. “Le Matin” thought fit to violate the time-honoured rule, and published a criticism of M. Sardou’s “Affair des Poisons” on the morning following the dress rehearsal, that is to say, twenty-four hours before any other paper in Paris. JX JX A Melbourne weekly says that “Miss Beatrice Day, leading lady of the Herbert Flemming Company, believes in realism on the stage. As the sorrowing, repentant Olivia, in the inn scene, she sheds genuine tears, that course down her cheeks so naturally that the audience unconsciously feels for its hanky to offer her.” JX The late actress, Miss Clara Bloodgood, whose suicide in Baltimore, New York, we announced in a recent issue, has left a fortune of more than £ 100,000. Miss Bloodgood in private life was Mrs. William Laimbeer, the wife of a New York broker, and the rash act which ended her life was believed at the time to be due to nervous depression, caused by the financial crisis. Contrary to general belief, however, Miss Bloodgbod lost practically no-thing through the crisis, and her financial affairs were in excellent condition. Her estate is left in trust for her husband. Madame Sarah Bernhardt, about whose Australian visit next year under the direction of J. C. Williamson the cables told us last week, is making that visit in pursuance of a plan for a farewell tour of the world after a phenomenally successful stage career, full of incident and triumph, which lias lasted since she made her debut in Paris as “Iphiginie” at the Comedie Francaise. of which theatre she was nominated “societaire” in 1875. Four years later she visited London for the first time, and afterwards America. In 1881 she returned to Paris, and having broken with the Comedie Francaise (for which she was compelled to pay £4OOO damages) assumed the directorship of the Ambigu, and then in 1883 bought the Porte St. Martin Theatre, and appeared there in numerous new roles. Except for visits to America and London she remained there until 1893, when she became director of the Renaissance Theatre. Five years later she bought the old Theatre dee Nations, which she rebuilt and opened as the Theatre .Sarah Bernhardt. She is a painter and sculptor of considerable ability, has written and produced a play of her own, adapted others, and written her recollections,which only recently were extensively quoted from in all the leading Australian papers. Old playgoers will remember the tremendous success of her Australian season in 1891, when she staged some of her most celebrated productions. Advancing years have certainly not impaired either her versatility or her genius, for it is only two or three years ago that she appeared in London as Hamlet, and the critics considered her interpretation of the great Dane worthy to rank with the great creators of the part, while a little over a year ago the papers were full of stories about her activities during her American tour. Forced out of the theatres by the action of the trust, she was compelled to play in a large tent, she practically lived on a train, hustled” from town to

town in the best style of the national character, and generally proved that her vigour and perennnial youthfulness remained at high pressure. Perhaps the secret of that youthfulness is summed up in her answer to a candid friend who asked her whether she didn’t feel she was growing old: “I never have time to think of it,” was her reply. JX JX Colonel Mapleson, who has returned to London and started an international opera and concert agency, represents four generations of Mapleson’s, who have been famous in the musical world before him. It was Col. Mapleson’s great-grand-father who produced jointly with Hill and Rossi Handel’s opera, “Rinaldo,” in Italian, at the Queen’s Theatre, Haymarket, on February 24, 1711. Colonel Mapleson’s father was for nearly fiftv_years the impressario emperator, and presented for the first time in London, “Faust,” “Lohengrin,” “Mignon,” “Carmen,” “The Niebelungen Ring,” and nearly all the operas which are the greatest attractions at the present time. The Colonel was for many years associated with his father, and they jointly managed grand opera in London and New York, when their companies included such artists as Patti, Nilsson, Titiens, Trebelli, Gerster, Minnie, Hauk, Marie Roze, Foli, Santley, Sims Reeves, Campanini, Faure, and a host of celebrities too numerous to mention. For the past fifteen years Colonel Mapleson has resided in Paris, where, as President de la Societe Internationale de Musique, he has taken an active part in the direction of musical enterprises throughout the Continent. In recognition of his services to lyric art, the French Government conferred upon him the Cross of the Legion of Honour. d* JX Pantomimes, says Mr. Arthur Collins in the “Morning Leader,” are very much like musical comedies, although their run is much more limited, and pantomimes also suffer like most musical comedies from a weakness in the second part—that is to say, before they are produced. Musical comedies are sometimes not quite convalescent after they are produced as regards the second half of the entertainment. Pantomime writers, like librettists, are speedy horses, to borrow a sporting simile, but cannot always stay. They are first-raters over six furlongs, otherwise six scenes in a first part, but cannot gallop a yard afterwards. That is one of the difficulties in the production of a pantomime, about which the know-all man in the street knows nothing. There is no stopping the triumphant career of “Humpty-Dumpty” at Her Majesty’s, writes Mr. George Tallis, and night after night the gentleman who rose from an egg to a kingdom by the simple process of wishing for what he wanted, pursues his variegated career in the presence of crowded audiences who laugh as heartily and applaud as loudly as ever. This year’s pantomime can, at any rate, boast one record that never was “Mother Goose’s”—that of playing through a week of heat such as never assailed last year’s production. Mention has already been made of the way in which it made light of that obstacle keeping its attendance level steady all the time, and that manifestation of its staying power may be supplemented by another—nearly every pantomime that has been produced in Australia has had a “second edition” —so regular has been “the issue,” indeed, that it has come to be regarded as the regular thing. But in the case of “Humpty-Dumpty,” though it has reached the end of its sixth week, no such fillip has been needed. It stands to-day practically the same piece as it was on its first night—the only alterations indeed being for the purpose of reduction, not expansion. “Bayou,” “Wait for me,” “Potted Poetry,” and the rest of the baker’s dozen of musical numbers, are just as keenly appreciated now as they were then, and what is more, seem destined to become permanent favourites. With the A.N.A. Exhibition now open in Melbourne, the coming month will be one of country excursions, and the prophesy may be safely hazarded that country visitors will come to Melbourne with at least two ideas in their heads —one to digest the evidence of Australia’s worka day activity, and the other to see to what heights Australian talent in pantomime production can reach as exemplified by “Humpty-Dumpty” at Her Majesty’s Theatre—The Exhibition Building by day and Exhibition Street by night.

The balance-sheet of the company which brought out the German Company has been published. After absorbing the whole of the capital, Mr. Musgrove is left with a loss of £298. The profits made in the Adelaide and the first Melbourne seasons were absorbed by the losses in the New Zealand, Tasmanian, and Melbourne ( second) seasons. J* JX Auckland theatre-goers have recently missed from the dress circle door of His Majesty’s Theatre the courteous young man popularly known as Tommy Barrett. He was not strong physically, and when he was seized two weeks ago with galloping consumption, he speedily wasted away. He was unconscious for three days, and last night death put an end to his sufferings. He is spoken of as a young man of exemplary character, and his untimely death is deeply regretted by all with whom he came into contact. His services were highly prized by theatrical managers on account of his honesty and civility, and theatre patrons always found him most courteous and attentive. He was not strong enousrh to undertake other employmcn*and the whole of his earnings were devoted to maintaining himself and a sister, so that there remains to be discharged a small debt connected with his illness, while many friends have expressed a desire that his resting place should be marked by a suitable monument. Towards this object Mr Mabee, representing the lessees of His Majesty’s Theatre, has opened a subscription list, and he has already received a substantial sum in contributions. JX JX ADVICE GRATIS TO EXTRA LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. By CHARLES VANE. When you are engaged to assist in a dramatic production, remember it is your duty to provide the stage manager with the material necessary to ensure his early incarceration in a lunatic asylum. The entire production is especially designed for your amusement, and the artists are engaged for one purpose, viz., your entertainment. The first rule to be observed is to eliminate such grains of intelligence as you may possess from your brain, and adopt the reasoning faculty of a sheep. During the time you are waiting for your entrance you may pass the time agreeably by criticising the efforts of the principals. The fact of your never having spoke a line ou the stage thoroughly qualifies you to express an opinion. Talk audibly at all times. This will confuse the artists, and their attention will be directed towards you, and your presence will be recognised. On the night of the production your chance will come. The great thing to bear in mind is that you must either block all the entrances half an hour before you are required, or be a full minute late. When you are eventually on the stage it is imperative that you look immediately into the audience to locate the exact position of your friends there. What is happening on the stage during this investigation is of little moment. An effective entrance can be made by tripping over a mat or cannoning against any of the principals who may be in your way.