Music and Drama.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLIV, Issue 20, 18 May 1910, Page 13

Music and Drama.

By

BAYREUTH.

BOOKINGS. (Dates Subject to

AUCKLAND—HIS MAJESTY’S. May 16 to 29—Allan Hamilton. May 30 to June 18—Meynell and Gunn. Juno 20 to July 6—J. C. Williamson. July 7 to 16—Meynell ami Gunn. July 18 to 31—Hugh J. Ward. August 1 to 13—J. C. Williamson. September 1 to 3 — Auckland Boxing Assoelation. September sto 24—J. C. Williamson. September 26 to October 19 -Allan Ilainik ton. October 20 to November 4—Fred Graham. THE OPERA HOUSEIn Season—Fuller’s Pictures. WELLINGTON.—OP ’£RA HOUSIS. May 19 to June 3.— J. C. Williamson. June 4 to June 18 —Allan Hamilton. July 4 to July 23. Clarke and Meynell. August Ito August 13. Hugh Ward. Sept. 1 to Sept. 14.—J. c. Williamson. Oct. 7 to Oct. 26.- J. C. Williamson. Oct. 27 to November 5. — Allan Hamilton. Nov. 12 to November 24.—Fred H. Graham. December 24, six weeks’ season.—J. C ; , Williamson. THEATRE ROYAL. Vaudeville (permanent). E-.gland's New Composer. O / J NEW composer lias arisen in the / I growing world of English musiJ cians. The spread of composition amongst the present generation of musical writers at Home is one of the remarkable things of the ago. It was not so long ago that England had only one composer—the late Sir Arthur Sullivan. When he died his successor was thought to be Edward German. But Elgar arose to his zenith, and is now the foremost figure of living English composers and admired universally on the Continent as well. Other names have been gaining prominence in recent year's programmes---Joseph Holbrooke, Granville Bantock, Landon Ronald, Frederick Delius, and others. Xow the last is Mr. Rutland Boughton. His “Choral Variations” at the last Leeds Festival won immediate attention. Very quickly “Love and Spring’’ followed at Liverpool. Early last year “The Skeleton in Armour’’ was produced at Queen’s Hall. The last nows is that the Triennial Festivals of Birmingham, Newcastle and Southport have accepted new works to be performed under his direction. Mr. Boughton's Early Life.

He was born at Aylesbury in 1878, and intended by his parents for a commercial career. Yet, at the age of eleven, ho, with the help of a few young friends, gave a concert, admittance to which was by real tickets and, more important, the programme included original compositions of his own. His parents, I believe, did not encourage the idea of a musical career, though they are to be thanked for making no attempt to run him as a prodigy.

At the ago of fourteen he entered the office of a London concert agency, determined to support himself till a chance came. In his spare time ho wrote songs, an opera, a symphony' and a piano Concerto. This concerto was played at St. James’ Hall. The critics, ignorant of the circumstances, assailed it without mercy. Like Wagner, always ready for a wordy war, the young musician wrote and printed a pamphlet in reply. A copy of this strange, and doubtless violent, document is not obtainable now, but it gained some attention in the Press, and helped the next move. For several people, including the local M.P., recognised that originality was wasting itself, and arrangements were made to send Mr* Boughton to the Royal College of Music. Here he received discipline. Probably his Muse was rebellious, and lie won no prize. But he gained technical knowledge, and met mon of his own bent. T;i a London Theatre.

Then came a time of struggle, Being a man of strong opinions, holding them at any hazard, he failed to obtain the kind of post that would have fallen to a more worldly and Jess impulsive num. Thus, for a time, the drum was his portion, and lie hold various positions in the orchestra (or “heir*) of a 'London

theatre. Before that he had held the post of musical critic to a “daily,’’ a welcome chance, as Mr. Boughton was now married. The daily round of the concert-rooms gave him a wide, if tiresome experience, enabling him to hear an amazing range of works, by good ami had performers. An Important Move. Composition ami the concert-room left Mr. Boughton time to write for the “Musical Standard," and this he did in no measured term*. Kindly and sensitive by nature, he can wield the pen like a bludgeon when denouncing what he calls “the art-for-ait’s-sakor.” His writing for the “Standard’ was not all combative. for he contributed a series of articles on the then rising composers: Elgar, Bantock, German, and Wallace among them. Those wore critical and discerning, and led to a meeting with Mr. Bantock, whom ho had not known. Later, when the composer of “Omar Khayyam’’ was appointed Principal of the Midland Institute School of Music, he offered Mr. Boughton a place on the staff, which caused him to leave the London theatre, am! to settle down near Birmingham. where he remains. Here ho is doing important work as conductor of the New Choral Society. The Man and His Wotx. Boughton is a philosopher as well as a composer. Like Wagner, he cannot divorce music ami intellectuality. He believes in Bernard Shaw, not alone as a satirist, but considers “Candida’’ to be a groat “poetic drama.” His enthusiasm for “Man and Superman” is very genuine. whilst “The Passing of the Third Floor Back" -Jerome K. Jerome’s remarkable play— has profoundly impressed him. The poet* that line his shelves are Wilde. Fiona Macleoil, Edward Carpenter, and others. He has great faith in the people, having lectured to working mon on Bach, Beethoven, and Wagner, lie says their natural taste is for the best in art. He has written one opera, and is at work on another —n legendary music, drama, in which he is striving to unite the Wagnerian method of expression with a choral extension on the lines of Greek Dramatic Art. A Baby for “ Pete.’’ “Baby wanted for New Zealand tour of ‘Pete.’ Mother to fake charge, Apply, Stage Door, Criterion Theatre, between 4 ami . r > o’clock this afternoon.” Any anxiety as to the decline in the birthrate might have been dispelled by a visit to the Criterion Theat’re yesterday afternoon, between the hours of 4 and 5 (*ays the “Sydney Daily Telegraph” of May 6). The result of the advertisement was a gathering of mothers and infants that speedily converted the thenfro offices into something resembling a kindergarten or a repository at which infants -are left while mothers are out working. They thronged the passages, occupied every available inch of room in the offices, ami an overflow meeting was held on the footpath outside, at which the mothers no doubt discussed matters of mutual concern, and perhaps agreed to a fixed scale of wages for stage infant*. The babies themselves had no voice hi the proceedings, though they made themselves heard occasionally. For there is as vet no babies’ union in connection with the theatrical profession.

There were thin babies, fat babies, babies that struggled desperately to free themselves from the maternal embrace when they saw the strange environment of the stage, ami babies that insisted upon extending a chubby list of introduction io all and sundry who passed within touch. There was one baby who lifted up his voice in protest, and waged vocal warfare upon the world around him; and it' was not until the mother, after all else had failed, threatened to hand him over to the actors that he subsided into a defiant silence. Forty Babies. Tn all, over forty babies were submitted for inspection. “They are a fine lot,” said the stage director, casting a. professional eye over the gathering, “but the chief fault is that they are too large. Pete’s baby has to Im s carried about a lot. We want him

small, and about two months old. Next please.” And so the pmevsbion filed past. It is remarkable how (according to doting mothers) infant Australians are so admirably suited to a stage career. Said one fond mamma, swaying herself backwards am! forward with a “broth of a boy’’ in her arms, that gave every indication of developing into a regular Sandow, so largely developed was he: ”1 am >nre he will be good’ in the part. He is most intelligent. lie knows everything one says to him. “Don’t ’oo. little puss?" And the baby responded with a comprehensive “g«»o, goo" that drew from the enraptured mother the assurance. ' There now. Isn’t he beautifully intelligent''’ There was a remarkable infant that ought to grow into a most resourceful actor —for the suburbs. “He has appeared in many plays al ready. He has played parts with Bia ml Holt, and has made quite a hit in Shakespeare,’’ said the proud mother. "I can show you his press notices." A Howling Success. One chubby infant, with a very red face that a prolonged lit of wailing had imparted, never ceased crying from the lime it was carried, struggling desperately, into the august presence of the stage director. "It ought to make a howling success of a crying part,” was the only managerial comment, as the mother was politely informed that she would be comjnuiffcated with in due course. The widespread desire to take to the stage and play the "juvenile part” in “Pete” was indicated by letters and telegrams from all parts of the country. One lady wrote from the Newcastle district: “I will bring the baby to .see you if you semi me a wire and expenses. I will guarantee success.” Towards eventide a weary stage man ager cautiously emerged from the Criterion. With a furtive look around, as if dreading another infantry attack, he made off rapidly, ami jumped into a tram, just as three ladies stopped outside the theatre, each bearing a baby in her arms. Yankee Claims to Chc.ntecler. A. wealthy American land and property dealer —the type is not altogether for

•ign in tlii> part of the world —Han evidently grown envious of the fact that M. R<»stand*.s “Cliantecler”—the celebrated fowl play—has for the moment been the biggest thing on earth. By right of national pride, the biggest things on earth belong to America. M. Rostand cannot therefore be allowed to retain his distinction whilst Mr Samuel Gross answering to the above description, ami incident ally an alleged dramatic author, continues to spread his visage across the continent of jobbery. Mr Gross belongs to. ami has evidently the inherent qualities of. Chicago, the city of pork and embalmed beef producers. : ll<* has been receiving a great deal of free publicity recently, on account of the claim which lie makes that M. Rostand, in his **(. yrona <!•• Bergerac ’ ami “(’liantvclrr,” is not strictly original, as Europeans fondly imagine, but has annexed his ideas, lines, and scenes from the United States. Mi- Gross asserts, indeed, that he is virtually co-author with M. Rostand in both poetic* dramas, ami quotes lines alleged to be ill support of his contention. Sonic newspapers have fallen into the trap laid by the wily (irons, and quoted the title of a play, and copious extracts therefrom, for which the Chicagoan is admittedly responsible. Several years ago Air Gross brought a suit to prohibit the product ion of •'Cyrano” in the States, and he now seeks a similar prohibition with” regard to “( bantcclcr.” Air Char h's b'rohman has bought the American rights of ‘'Cliantecler” for a record sum. ami be sailed for London without displaying the smallest symptom of anxiety. Air Gross alleges that he. once turned over the manuscript of a play to the elder Coqueliii, who in turn gave it to Al. Rostand, that the manuscript was in the hands of the famous dramatist for six or seven months, during which time he was able to digest and record all the masterpieces of poetic drama incubated by Gross in the somewhat uncongenial environment of Porkppolis, ’'Cliantecler.” says Air Gross to an interviewer. “is more the product of my brain than of Rostand’s. He studied my plan so thoroughly and in such a painstaking fashion that it remained in his mind even after he had written ‘Cyrano.’ He was saturated with m\ ideas, he could not get away from them, ami the result is that T furnished him with two plays.’’ I will m»t weary you yvith a repetition Of the .alleged similarities between (he masterpiece of Gross and Rostand, but they are printed in New York papers as tributes to the genius of the American author. So far. the text of Rostand’s ‘■Cliantecler” has not reached America, but t° judge from the cabled descriptions, which are carefully perused, the resemblance between Ihe two works is too remote to attract oven the most careful student. The Drama of the Proletariat. II is a long way from (he poetic symbolism of Air. .1. M. Barrie and the joy of "Peter Pan” to tumble with one fell swoop into a season of melomania - —otherwi-i the drama of the proletariat. The comet is the harbinger of many ill-. >o the modern medicine man with an ancestry in antiquity would haw u- to believe. It seems, therefoie, very meet and right that in the hour of .our dramatii* uplifting, this periodic visitation of crude sentiments and barbaroil- virtues -hotild be laid upon us om e more. "Peter Pan” has fled to the tree-tops, and we gasp and ■thrill amid the spectacular bubbles of ‘Woman and Mine.” It is frequently laid again<t modern playwrights the. < real or- of the drama of ideas—< that t licit subjects are not proper. The charge more often than not emanates from people who fail to understand the dramatist aright. It falls with much more truth upon the average production <•! the melodramatic -t.ige. 'l'he-e plays, aPhich are a survival of the more crude and inartistic ideas of the last century in England, are allowed to pass in New Zealand a- inteii-el\ moral and respectable product iun<s. The tradition of the melodrama is. of coiir-e. the triumph c»f the seven deadly cardinal virtues of the hero ami the heroine over the Kevon deadly cardinal -ins of the villain, and ‘the foreign lady.” It is a shucking piece of rai'c prejudice, and wholly out of keeping with the spirit of (he entente cordiale. that all which is incarnate of evil itself in a woman han to ■he personified in a French lady. British virtue and reaper lability could never admit to the p<h-.-rscdon of so terribly vicious and abandoned a female in the race. Rut that as a digression. Before virtue can emerge triumphant, and the heroine is allowed to pant upon the

chest of her hero, the utterance so ecstatic to the Gods -“Jack — hubband?” the audience i« largely treated to three acts and prohalriy eleven ricerie* the vices of the villain and the various uncertain ladies of his acquaintance. There is also the funny man and his wife, and the baby, ami the amor ous <dil gentleman who has reached his second adolescence. More hints and facts than which propriety allows to be associated with a gay young father and mother in possession of their fir.-d-born, are not infrequently allowed to escape the oljservation of the audience by any mean.- . The whole composition of the conventional melodrama, when critically analysed, reveals a glaring ami damaging array of sex motives. It i.s with these the dramatist juggles and finds his audience at a fundamental fact of their being. In other words, the very play, which is fondly regarded as “preaching a good moral” is a downright and questionable sex drama fashioned on the crudest lines. Woman and Wine. “ Woman and Wine,” the production with which the Hamilton-Maxwell Company began a New Zealand tour at Auckland on Monday, is just such a production Its title is in itself indicative of the fundamental aspects of the play. It is a crude melodrama, introducing some subtle sexual attraction in almost every scene. After having exhausted the material to be obtained from a superficial view of life in Paris, and treating the audience to a thoroughly respectable and conventional rendering of people and events that in a serious play would be called indecent and possibly immoral, the curtain finally descends on the hero escaping the death sentence at a critical moment, and falling into the arms of the faithful girl lover. It was only to be expected that she, to use a disgruntled phrase, “ stuck to him through thick an< thin.” I do not wish to imply or let it be believed that the Hamilton-Maxwell combination are other than a decent average body of melodramatic artists. There have been very many who have got through a periodic invasion of Auckland with material and members altogether inferior. It is beyond doubt that the claims of the management to superior staging and scenic effects is justified. They are much in advance of most productions in this respect. That does not, however, present the one and only aspect that the piece itself can present to anybody who knows what the stage is capable of in ilra.matic and artistic attainment. Ijife in Paris. “Woman and Wine” is put together, and its characters appear in the various scenes at the right moment with all the delicious inconsequentiality that is possible only to a melodrama. The “life” of Varis, intended to reflect scenes that are common to the cafe and places of amusement like the “Moulin llouge” or the “Bal Tabarin,” verged on the ludicrous. It is a long time since Paris has been seen at such a dull and depressing level. The marvel is that the hero should imagine he was on the classic highway to ruin, or lose his head amid such a tawdry and dreary gathering, dressed in a manner that would appal any Frenchman asked to believe that this was the City of Light at the flood of gaiety. Bui melodrama never did present reality cither in men or I heir environment. “Woman and Wine”, far from offering any reminiscence of the immortal Persian poet the title suggests, held up instead frankly ami rudely an overflowing cup of sensations. A hideous duel with knives in the dead of night between two Parisian women of original type was the culminating act. After that the piece died away in thrills. Even the police court scene with the hero in the dock, found guilty of the murder of one of the unfortunate women and the dramatic appearance of tin* lady slayer herself at the right nionient to save the innocent man, failed to rouse an exhausted, nervous system.

The acting, on the whole, was good, as these productions go. The piece, however, dragged a good deal in places. The Lest of the ca-4 were Mr. Max Maxwell, the hero. Miss Beatrice Holloway, the fieroine, JVliss Muriel Dale (a young widow with an amplitude of voice), and Mr. »Sidney G. de Vine (an irresponsible husband and parent of “the

The Craving for Better Productions. It has been suggested that I take a view of the stage in Australasia that is entirely above the people’s heads. The suggestion emanates from a mind that wholly ignores the fact that there is a numerous and, I believe, a growing populace on this side of the world that does not want its intelligence vitiated by the form of amusement that is run on purely commercial lines to catch the loose coin of the people who love to indulge their prehistoric instincts in crude, sexual, bloodthirsty productions. “Peter Pan” was a highly experimental production for New Zealand after its failure in Australia (due solely to defective casting). Its tremendous vogue here proved that, whilst it gave a number of peoph* the opportunity of disclosing the level of their appreciation, an overwhelming section of the public were frankly delighted and charmed. The craving for something better which manifests itself in the activities of dramatic readers is not confined to New Zealand. It is quite refreshing to read what is going on in Australia from a recent number of “The Book Lover.” I make no apology for quoting at length as follows: — “No one seems to notice the change rapidly overtaking the theatre of late. People are groping vaguely about seeking for a higher sort of play. They are sick to death of the farce, the melodrama, and what is called the ‘girly-girl’ comic opera. That very considerable section of the public which does not go at all to the play is beginning to prick up its ears and sees with interest plays that do appeal to them being staged—sometimes with pitiful results, but gradually creeping upwards, much assisted by Repertory Theatres and a few noted playwrights. “Afr. J. AL Barrie is one of these, and he has the mark of the true humorist in all the many plays from which he draws a princely income. ‘What Every Woman Knows’ is just as real, with its faint touch of grotesque humour, as a picture of life can Im?. The commencement of each scene is thoroughly natural, and the curtain is drawn on a situation which is perfectly true. I think it is just as well to have a little Scottish blood in one’s veins so as to be able to enjoy fully the hardly overdrawn satire of the canny Lowlanders. Pawkily said, some of their scraps of conversation would be delicious.” Wanted, Better Actors. Yet Barrie’s “Peter Pan” fell dead almost when staged in Alelbourne. and “The Admirable ■Crichton” called forth but a scant measure of praise. What is the reason? It seems that the acting, good though it may have been, was not anything like so good as it is when Mr. Barrie himself supervises it. This is no doubt a hard saying, hut it may just a,s well be said aloud in journalistic criticism as whispered from mouth to mouth. Do most papers have their criticisms written to please the persons who have the placing of advertisements? It looks

as if that wm the meaning of their complacent futility.

'Now, when Mr. J. C. Williamson thought of putting on this play of Barrie’s, lie evidently tried very hard to pick out a good cast. But an evident mistake was made in putting Miss Nellie Stewart in the leading part. To speak quite plainly, she is many yearn too old to attempt it. The person who could have filled it was , clearly Miss Katharine Grey, who might easily have been spared from ‘‘The Lion and the Mouse” at Adelaide. As it was, Miss Nellie Stewart was most hopelessly out of it. Carreno and Liszt. As a child of twelve. Teresa Carreno, who is shortly to visit New Zealand, was introduced by her friend and patroness. Madame Erard, to the great master. Liszt. He kindly consented to hear the child play, and received her, with her mother and Madame Erard, at his rooms. In the room with him were also the three great musicians. Saint Saens, I’lante (the greatest French pianist of his day) and Jaell, a German pianist of world wide reputation. Patting the little Carreno kindly on the shoulder, Liszt said. “Now, my child, in order to make you feel quite at home with me, I will play you something first, and then you will play for me.” And he played, an Andante of one of Beethoven’s Sonatas, as only Franz Liszt could. Then he led the little Teresa to the piano, and sat down facing her, on the opposite side of the room. Presently the child began playing, and as she proceeded Liszt grew more and more interested and fascinated, and rising quietly from his seat, ho came and stood behind the little pianist. When she had finished, he put his hands on her head, and said, “Little girl, God has given you the greatest of His gifts to a human

being— genius. Work, develop your gift*, and above all, remain true to yourself, and in time you will be one of us.” These prophetical word* engraved .themselves on the heart and mind of the child', as though written in tire', and all her life she has tried to follow the great master’s doctrine. What Is Sacred Music? What is sacred music? It would appear to depend upon the name. There is magic in names. It is difficult to believe that there is anything intrinsically sacred in the “Glory Song,” which resembles a music-hall jingle, or in Rossini’s “Stabat Mater,” which is purely operatic. Father Stanton, with characteristic shrewdness, defined the position in one of his Sunday morning sermons at St. Alban’s, Holborn. “A man writes a waltz, and calls it ‘The Sailor's Return,” he said. “But religious people will have nothing to do with it. It is ‘secular’ jnusie. He sets it to a .slower time, and labels it ‘Jonah’s Return from the Belly of the Whale.’ And that is oratorio.” Triumph of the Teddy Bear. “The Toymaker of Nuremberg” is the latest play for children—young and old. It was produced recently in l-ondon by Mr. Cyril Maude, and the occasion was one of unusual interest in that his daughter, Miss Margery Maude, made her first, serious appearance. “The Toymaker” is one of the most tender and human little plays that has been seen of recent years. It trembles with sentiment and poetry, and has, in fact, all that wistful beauty which makes “Old Heidelberg” a play among plays. Mr. Austin Strong has discovered the Teddy bear for dramatic purposes. The Toymaker finds his occupation of dollmaking going because out in America the children have cast, aside the dolls and are hugging Teddy bears. So we see him in his workshop, a real Dickens scene, with a great eloek-face outside the window, and Noah's arks, dolls’ houses, and jack-in-the-boxes on the shelves. Never, he says, will he make Teddy bears. They have no hearts like his dolls. They are bad beasts. They are ugly. So Herr Kronfeldt. his employer, threatens to cut his wages down. Now it so happens that, in the preceding act. we have seen the birth of love in the heart of the Toymaker’s son. David I Mr. Shiel Barrv ) , and Hester, the daughter of Herr Kronfeldt. The scene is one of quaint and haunting beauty. There is a wall, with a sentry keeping guard, and hither comes David with his flute and pipes his love-song to her. She appears from the other side of the wall, dainty, girlish, and pretty, and there follows a scene of tender, Idyllic child-love. Elopement Planned. The Toymaker is delighted that David has found love. The Sergeant, and the old Actor, his friends, decide to help the young lovers. The Sergeant pawns his medals, and the Actor pawns the precious watch and chain that once belonged io Schiller, and they hire a corn'll for the pair to elope in. But Herr Kronfeldt. who will not let his daughter marry a poor man, prevents the elopement ami seolfs at romantic love. The influence of the Teddy bear is dominant. lie discharges the old Toymaker. And so to the last poignant scene. The Toymaker’s workshop is to be sold, and he and David are going to America. The old man has vague ideas of cattle ranching. and wanders about with his daschhand under his arm. “The dachshund will be useful on the ranch,” he says. But a stranger arrives. He is the Toymaker's other son. Adolf, who went to America years ago, the Teddy Bear King—the man who made the "corner” in Teddy bears, ami Herr Kronfeldt’s “boss.” He has enough money to buy up Nuremberg, so all is well. The Teddy bear turns out to be the good genius of the play after all. The Queen and Princess Victoria were present, and the audience included Sir Herbert Tree, -Mr. Arthur Bourehier, ami Sir William and Lady Gilbert. Fortbcoiuiag Productions—The Latest Prodigies. The Ellwood children, accompanied by Miss Nixon, who Mr Hugo Gorlitz. presents to Auckland at the Choral Hall on the 19th inst., have had very enthusiastic notices in the South. The “N.Z. Times,” in a recent issue, remarked: —“There is something unusually attractive about these concerts. The artists are New Zealanders. They come unheralded by fulsome adulation, nor with the hall-

mark of European cities. They just give of their gifts as nature endowed them. Herein lies the chacrn of their work. The influence of teachers or the mannerisms acquired by travel are .unknown to them. Throughout the playing of the trio there stands out in marked degree that which so wins them to the hearts of their listeners—the simplicity of their style, allied to genius of quite exceptional order, and they interpret the works of the masters in a way that must bring them renown wherever they appear. Anil all this without study. It is a rare combination of talent.”

AU this makes a characteristic array of pleasing generalities. That the children are exceptional, and therefore well worth hearing, must be recognised. Harry Ellwood, the violinist, plays, amongst other things, the Vieutemps “Polonaise,” a composition that is sufficient in itself to oiler the instrumentalist to reveal his temperament and qualities. The delightful “Gypsy Airs” of Sarasate - —the one time prince of violinists- —is also amongst his repertoire. The violoneelloist, George Ellwood, plays Goltermann’s “Tarantelle” from memory, amongst other numerous pieces. Miss Nixon, the soprano, has also had glowing notices. Their First Venture. Two society entertainers are to blossom forth in a humorous and dramatic recital at St. Andrew’s Hall, Auckland, next Saturday evening. Both of them, Messrs Alan McElwain and Laurie Abrahams, have appeared at the Shakespeare Society’s readings, and promise to give a programme of song, monologue and story from the repertoires of entertainers like the late Mel. B. Spur, Albert Chevalier, and others. It is a first venture, assisted by local musicians, and al! are well enough known to draw an interested audience. • Pete.” Of “Pete,” Hall Caine’s drama of sentiment and human passion, with which Messrs. Clarke and Meynell open their New Zealand tour at lI.M. Theatre, Auckland, on June 6th, the London “Era” says: “In ‘Pete’ the authors have imparted an ethical significance not to be found in any previous play. Shall the woman be punished, and the man pardoned? is the question put to us by the dramatists, or, in the words of 'Pete,’ ‘ls it because she's a woman that you cannot forgiv.e her? You would forgive a man fast enough. Is it because she’s a woman she must never know forgiveness? Is that your religion. Caesar? Is that your law’. Deemster?’ ‘lt is the world's eternal law,’ answers Philip. Then quick and' strong comes the crushing reply from the man who has suffered most, but whose great heart is full of love and forgiveness, ‘Then damn the world’s eternal law.’ Interesting, however, as this phase of the drama is, it is not the moral question which makes for success .as much as the inherent strength and vitality of the play. The contrast of character, the conflict of emotion, the pathos of its important scenes and the humour invested in the minor (scenes are of a kind calculated to appeal to a public that is keenly susceptible to the author’s heart, especially when that art is exercised with the skill and ingenuity displayed by Messrs. Hall Caine and Louis C. Parker.” A Promising Tenor. John Zerga, the Italian tenor, who will make his first appearance in the Dominion on Thursday evening, the 19th inst., as Lieutenant Pinkerton, in the J. C. Williamson production of Puccini’s lyric tragedy “Madame Butterfly,” at Wellington, is said to have the advantage in the part of being of American birth, though both his parents were Italian. Pinkerton, of course, is in the U.S. Navy. He makes a “Japanese marriage” with Butterfly, and after a period of happiness departs for his own country, promising to return “when the robins nest.” Butterfly and her devoted servant. Suzuki, wait his coming, and when the latter has misgivings she is rebuked for her lack of faith, Butterfly drawing a vivid picture of her husband’s return in the most touching language. “This will all come to pass just as 1 tell you,” she says; “banish your idle fears, for he will return: I know it.” How ho a wives, and with an American wife, forms the heartrending tragedy of the opera. In the throe years that Pinkerton lias boon absent, Butterfly’s little son, Trouble, brightens her life. Pinkerton only realises tlie consequences of the marriage he so lightly entered into when Butterfly's heart has ceased to beat, ami he learns that she has killed herself with her father’s sword.

Another Barrie Play for New Zealand. Last-month Mr. J. M. Barrie’s canned/, "What Every Woman Knows,” which has just concluded its run in Melbourne, and which presently comes to New Zealand, was produced in a Hungarian version at the National ‘Theatre, Buda-Pesth. Its success was emphatic and immediate, and within 24 hours offers were received for the German ami Austrian rights. The Hungarian version is in no sense, an adaptation, but, as nearly as possible, a literal translation. Rightly, ami most judiciously, no attempt was made to change locality or characterisation of the play. Stray Notes.

The death of Edward VII. removes the firmest friend and greatest individual prop of the theatre during his own and the previous reign. He was, in the midVictorian period, the unswerving champion of the stage when it needed the help of one in high places, ami it is to his influence and to his influence almost alone, that the status of the profession of actor and actress is what it is socially to-day. But for his direct and personal pleading and interest, there would have been no creation of Knights from the ranks of actors and actor-managers, and it was ho who set the example of admitting to the highest social circles in the realm the prominent members of a calling which he recognised as equally honourable as those of the sister arts of literature and painting. To be an actor or an actress forty years since was “not respectable,” and it required all the late King's tact and ability to change the opinion of the Victorian Court. In addition to this, he was an enthusiastic theatregoer, and a firm and constant patron of the drama and whatever concerned it. The chill which hastened his death was, it is cabled, caught on leaving the Theatre Francaisc, after a performance of “Chantecleer.” Under these circumstances, I warmly commend the good taste, good feeling and indifference to financial loss manifested by Messrs. McMahon and Carroll in closing His Majesty's Theatre, Auckland, on Saturday evening, and deeply 'regret that the management of some of our other places of amusement which kept open did not see their way to pay a similar mark of respect and mourning on the death of so great a King and so firm a friend of the Theatre. Miss Ellen Terry, who win sail for America in October to give a scries of “conferences” on the heroine- ol Shakespeare, wishes it to be known (says the “Eia”) that this will be by no means her last tour. Miss Terry expects to he. in the States for between 10 and 20 weeks. With regard to the above, “Deadhead” is somewhat mystified as to the exact meaning of a ‘‘conference.” But if it indicates a lecture, with illustrations by speeches from the characters. why. let us all violently clamour to J. C. W. or some other impresario to engage Miss Terry for a tour of New Zealand and Australia. Her matchless voice, her knowledge of the subject, and the interest of what she has to say thereon would provide evenings of an educative and artistic value which it would be impossible to over estimate. Miss Marie Hall is going to South Africa next August for an extended tour, and the amount stated t-o be guaranteed her is the. largest ever paid to a violinist namely, .610,000. Miss Hall told a pressman some tune ago that she had refused an offer of 62000 for her “Straff” violin. It seems she can easily afford to do so under me circi'instanees. Miss Lottie Sargent, who will be recalled by her Apache dame with Bert Gilbert in "The King of I'adonia,” is finding how difficult it is sometimes to do two things well. Of course, she enters heart ami soul into her theatrical work, and that comes first in her estimation, but at the -ame time she is an ardent supporter of women's rights, am! would dearly love to have had an opportunity of proving her loyally to the cause of her own sex by recording a vote for Vida Goldstein at the late Federal elections. Unfortunately for her, she could not fulfil the lewidential qualification!-. owing to the company of which she is a member being told off on long touring ex|H*<litions, not only in Australia, but also in New Zealand. However, -bo was keenly interested in the result of tin' election, and has quite decided in her own mind that women are destined to rub' the world at some future date.