Music and Drama.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XLVI, Issue 23, 6 December 1911, Page 14

Music and Drama.

By

BAYREUTH.

BOOKINGS. (Dates sublcct to alteration.) HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE. Nuvouiber 27 _to December - 9 —Auckland Competitions Society. Deceru’ber 26 to 21* “Th** Speckled Band.” ■December 30 to January *l3 11. B. Irving. 1912. January 26 to February 15 New Comic Opera Company. (April G to 20 -“Everywoman” Company. May (» to 25 “Chocolate 'Soldier/• ' June 24 Io July 6 Cantomime. July 22 to August 3 “The Blue Bird.” September 30 Io October 12—Oscar AscheLiiy Brayton. WELLINGTON OPERA HOUSE. ■December 2 to 16 Rickards’ Vaudeville Co. ■December 21 to January 16 New Comic Opera Co., “The Bulkau Princess.” January 25 to February 14 —11. B. Irving Co. February 15 to 22 The Speckled Band” March 19 to 26 Allan Hamilton Dramatic Co. ■April 4 to 20 “The Chocolate Soldier Co. April 27 to May 18—Marlow Dramatic Co. May 23 to 28—“ Ever Co. July 1< to 30—J. C. Witlhunsou Ltd., Pantomime Co. August 14 to 27 “The Blue Bird- Co. October 10 to November 2—Oscar AscheI.lly Brayton Co. November s—“ Ben Ilnr” Co. The Coming of a Great Singer. THE approaching year of 1912 promise to bring to this side of the world the finest English contralto in Madame Kirkby Limn. To.many people, denied the opportunities of contact with the wider world of the arts, the name, of tlys singer can. convey but little. Having had the opportunity of hearing her both on the concert platform and the operatic stage, perhaps I may be pardoned in wishing to say a few words about a truly fine singer. There Is nothing of the ba I lad monger about this full toned, gorgeous voice that penetrates every fibre of ones’ being. She excels in the masterpieces of German vocal art, the inexpressible songs of Seh-umatm. Brahms, Schubert, and Richard Strauss. She takes rank with t in- leading operatic artists .of the world. (Inly last year, al. Covent Garden she added t'o an already great reputation by her performances,, especially in “Samson and Daltla,” in which her acting, like her singing, was superb., She is a rpal, Jlrjtish prima donna, and as “Bragaeija” in Wagner’s finestTrag'cdy,* “Tristan and Isolde,” she Iras few , equals anywhere. Her career is full of interest, especially to those who have heard her rich and gloriqus' voice pouring out its beauties to the favoured few at the Opera House. Early Days.

True.- there is a strain of Spanish blJod in her feins,' which, rib doubt accounts for a dramatic power and abandon ‘rather unusual in English artists, but save for that her family is exclusively British, and she was born and reared at Manchester. There is more thaii a touch of romance about Madame Kirkby Lunn's 'early life,' for in those days a frequent- visitor to her ’ home was a distant cousin, a Mr. Pearson, whose wife she was destined tri become. Himself an enthusiastic amateur musician, it was Mr. Pearson who first discovered the rare possibilities of his Cousin’s voice, and - on his advice she took lessons from Mr. Greenwood, organist of All SaUxts’ Cluirfh. .Then, again, on Mr. Pearson’s advice, she tried-for ft rational scholarship at the Royal tlollege of Musis, but could gel no nearer than proxime aceessit. Nothing daunted, Miss Kirkby Lunn entered the college as an ordinary student, itnd the fol lowing" year she triumphantly carried off the coveted scholarship. . c A Famous Teacher.

Madame Kirkby Lunn waB fortunate In her teacher of singing at the Royal College of Music, and she does-not jotget to acknowledge how much she owes to the whole-hearted enthusiasm, vast experience. aiul skilful nietliqds of her professor, that very remarkable ami ‘clever man, Mr., or, to give him his full title, Cavaliqye Albert Visetti. What Mr. Visetli has doiic for Hie'cause of English singing can never be adequately expressed. but some day perhaps he will write the story of his long fight with the prejudice against English singers, and

the prejudices of British parents, who for long were" convinced that'Goiitiucnta! professors alone could train and produce a singer of the'first rank. Anyway-/in Madame Kirkby Lunn Mr. Visetti vindicated the principle for which he has long and stubbornly battled, namely, that the best place to’ train an English singer, who is necessarily going to appeal mainly to English audiences, is England. Her Debut. While still a student of the Royal College of Music. Madame Kirkby Lunn had the unusual honour of singing twice before Royalty; on the first occasion before QucCn Victoria in a command tier formance of art opera which had been produced by the students at the Prince of Wales Theatre, and on the second occasion before the then Princess of Wales, who sent her a gracious message, as she again did when Madame Kirkby Lunn made her first appearance in “Lohengrin.” Iler actual debut, however, was in “Shanins O’Brien,” with the late Mr. Denis O’Sullivan as the hero, although before this she had already been offered and accepted a five years’ contract for Grand Opera with Sir Augustus Harris. His death, I—wever, put an end to that engagement ere it- was .well begun, and then she, toured, for three years with the QaW Rosa Company. Later Madame Kirkby Lunn. was appointed first eon-’ tralto at: Coyent Garden, and since then.’ a true British’ product,"she |ias goiie oh from triumph to triuniphip opera, oratorio, and-.ballad contort, not. only in England, blit on the Continent (ind in Amerjba. + }jjentiaii ! Oi America reminds one 41int- s JJadaine Kirkliy Lunn has-more than something of the heroic in her compositjon, for .while giving a scries of concerts in that . country some' years' ago,’ she contracted congestion of the lungs, but nevertheless appeared and sang while suffering from '..that-' complaint. After Twenty Years. 3 c s. “i/ady",Windermcj-e’s Fan"one.'" of Oscar Wilde's .Ixfter-known plays, -which' was first produced in London some 20 years ago, ,hqs beeTi revived at St., James/ Theatre—the fashionable house of the “West End.” , 'L’hp revival awakeped memories for some, of .the leading cri tics.. “To see it again,” remarks the, “Teip-, graph,” “is to be reminded vigorously' that many .things have, happened to our’ stage in this last decade. In 1892 the people who liked the play least admitted that it was vastly clever. The plays that we call clever in 1911 have to be much less ingenious, much less like a waxwork, than ‘Lady Windermere’s Fan.’ This is not to deny its wit. There are a thousand neat things in it, and a considerable array of things much better—the final ..perfect form of epigrams that, qven in Hie rough wou’d be a’possession for ever. ‘To be intelligible is to be found out,’ and ‘a cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing,’ may be jewels dug up long before Oscar Wilde’s day, but it was he who cut. them to their delightful perfection. The audience of 1911 enjoyed these and everything else tremendously. If their laughter and applause bo a final judgment, the play must surely be a' But it is impossible for criticism to. call it even the shadow of that. The naivete of its technique, the simple-minded theatricality of its characters, its poverty of invention, and conventionality of imagination and thought were not. hidden from everyone in' 1892. They are glaring to 1911. liven in 1892 There were, critics who felt a duty to repeat Whistler's gibe that Oscar Wilde had a good memory. That memory for stage devices, which, even twenty years ago, were sadly hided, is now a means to melancholy. Yet: the wit flashes as' brightly, or almost as brightly, as ever, and you may still spend a very pleasant, though not a wholly pleasant, evening, watching ‘Lady Windermere’s Fan,’" ■ • - Driven Out by the Puritans. Mr Arthur- BourclMer, the well-known actor-manager, is responsible for the statement that (he majority of people in England do not take the drama Seriously. It would lie wrong (he says) to blame the man who, after -eight or ten hours’ worry in the city, rather resents being asked by the dramatist to solve some knotty moral problem. The man had done iiia duty’ grimly all through the

day, and when .evening came he wanted to laugh, not to.think. He was frivolous as a playgoer simply because he was strenuous as a citizen. That the people wotild soon begin to take the drama seriously was not, he thought, too much to hope. We had seen how quick and how great the change had been in musical performances since the people began to take a serious practical interest in music. If there be apathy with regard to the drama .at the present moment, it was because the Puritans in their mistaken zeal drove it out of the hearts of the people, and it had never really returned. . ( Perhaps so, Mr. Bourchier, perhaps so. The decline of the drama is inevitable so long as it is governed by commercial and not artistic considerations. Puritanism has strangled a certain amount of art in Britain, but money is killing a good deal more. A Book of Amusing Stories. Mr. James Glover is a well known figure in London, who conducts the Drury Lane Pantomime every year and fulfils various capacities in public life. His latest is to appear as the author of a volume of stories gay and curious, a record of “things seen”-—mostly with a twinkle in the eye—in his quadruple capacity of musician, journalist, Bohemian, and late his Worship the Mayor of Be.xhill-on-Sea. “Jimmy Glover: His Book,” just brought out .by Messrs. Methuen, is indeed an. autobiography of ihfluite jest and humour. • “The genial conductor, with liisjrotund face find. figure, his baton and monocle, is as much an institution at Drury-lane as the pantomime itself,” it. is recorded. But his fourfold ■ personality is-apt to lead to error. As witness the following incident: “While I was Mayor of 'Bexliilt,” relates Mr. Glover, “I‘was asked by r . the-West Country Association to respond to a toast on the' occasion 'of the visit of the Lord Mayor, Sir William Trelqat, of whom it is said' that he ’throws oil-cloth on the troubled -waters.' Myneighbour was -Sir William’s popular' Sheriff. Sir William •' Dithri,' M. I’. After grace, the .Sheriff took ttp-my.-card, and read out: ‘The Mayor .of 'Bfexhill, JarHes.Glover, Esq., J.P.’. ‘Deaf, dear!' lie continued. ‘Why, you’ve got- the same name-ii. 4 that advertising" c'liap at Drury Laue who-is always/getting his name in the papers.' It’s perfectly sickening! Every Sunday morning 1 take tip my “RefefelT” and see that Jimmy Gloveri Inis ,’dbiie,- this—that—and the 6'thet thing.’ I replied, ‘Yes, it’s awful!’ 11l niy speech later on in the evening f soon convinced Sir William of ‘my advertising power.’ ” In Ireland.

It- is superfluous to observe that Mr. Glover hails from Ireland. From the first page io the last- .his book teems with picturesque episodes of life in the land of Swift and Sheridan, all of which the author views from a humorous aspect. The following chestnut, he assures us, is attributed to Baron Dowse, who once charged a jury in a libel action where the defence was a printer’s error. “Jintlemin iv th’ joory,” said the Judge, “the diflinee in this case is' th’ owld wun iv a printer's, error. I well renumber once making a political speech in Cbrk, and quoting tliat old saying, “Betfer fifty years of Europe than a cycle of Cathgy,’ and wnat was my astonishment fo read in ‘The Cork Constitution’ the next morning that I had 'said ‘Better fifty yeafS of tightrope than a cirelts in Bombay.' Now jintlemin; yolt know the value iv a printer's error."

. As with most artists, the author's early career was, marked by alternate periods of prosperity and penury —mostly penury. He was a true Bohemia and his nomadic instinct led him from town to town, from London to Paris, where, inspired by a. letter that appeared in “The Daily News,” he sought an interview with Victor Hugo, on the question of a State-subventioned. theatre in Txmdpn. The poet received the struggling voung journalist with the utmost cordiality, and in somewhat dogmatic style made to him the following statement: “I am afraid,” he said, “that the conditions under which the drama pursues its way in your Metropolis, the conditions under which your poets and authors write their works, the- conditions under which they are performed, and the general atmosphere. of irresponsibility under which the' average Briton patronises all amusements, and his theatres in particular, render it almost impossible that the Scheme could be successfully realised.”

A Story of Shaw. Ou his return to England in . 18SQ young Glover found himself stranded i n London, his allowance of twenty abitling* being abruptly discontinued. He luckiTy (or unluckily) obtained an engagement at Southampton “vamp’’ appropriate music to a magician lady, who, lie frankly admits, performed all sorts of ridiculous feats. Other touring experiences with aerobats, a sword swallower ano a “man fish” followed, until finally lie was appointed musical director in Mr, Charles Collette’s burlesque company- at the then handsome emolument, to him, ef £3 per week. Fortune at last smiled upon him. He become the friend of all the stars of the London stage in the eighties and nineties,-and joined Sir, then plain Mr. Augustus 'Harris at Cpwat Garden. Here, among other -parts, he plaved that, of mediator between the manager of the tlieatre and Mr. George Bernard Shaw, to whom Harris had take.n a dislike, and barred on .first nights. The first meeting between the critic and the manager .took place at the premiere of the “Valkyrie,” with Herr Lohse conducting for the first time in England. Harris took especial pride in the band—always a big Wagnerian “desideratum.” “What do you think of the opera tonight?’’ the manager asked of. G.B.S. “Oh, very good—very good.”. . And then a lull. A long, deadly panne. “And,” continued Harris, “what do you think of the band—yes, the band? Isn't it splendid?” . . Another long pause. Then, Shaw, pushed in n corner, said: “Yes, they’re not bad—not bad—but I think they’ve wonderfully deteriorated since I heard them lasfc on the Sunday boat going to Hampton Court." Paper Bag Song. The pantomime songster is hard at- itin Loudon rhyming -sentimental and comic ditties wherewith to stir the imagination of the great British public. Here is a sample Harry Fragson is to sing at the Drury Lane pantomime at Christmas: — You’ve heard about the latest kind of cooking r . -r . • In little paper bags— it’s quite a erare. My wife-has got the fever, and I swear I’ll have to leave her If she doesn't change her paper-conking ■ ways. ■ It’s not the paper bags that I object to, ■ It’s her method that's so very, very crude, For the paper bags she.uses are all made from “Daily. News-es,” . . And the print boil.* off and comes out on the food. Delightfully inconsequential is the chorus of the second verse: — First the hero meets the maiden on tlie codfish. And murmurs, “Just one kiss before we part.” Then the villain his “Ha! ha!” snips in tlie middle of the parsnips, And he swears his love upon the apple tart. - , He murmurs, “Fly with me!” upon the cabbage. She spurns him—then the villain, ,get- ■ ting vexed, Cries, “Your jewels I will purloin!" but she stabs him on the sirloin. And the wedding is “continued in. our next.” “The Blue Bird." Maeterlinck’s. “The Blue Bird", is to reach Australasia late next year, and it is rumoured that the original producer in London, Mr. Herbert- Trench (late of the Haymarket Theatre), is to supervise the production on this side of tlie world. It is now being played at the Kensington Theatre in London, but after Christmas it will return once more to the “West End.” Finally, after its t’eappearame in London', the “Bird” is to take its long flight across the seas—as far as the Antipodes. This will be the first "production of it by an English company, in a country outside Europe and America. When it is added that “The Blue Bird" has lately had a most prosperous run in the provinces, it will be seen that MaeUulinck’s popularity as a dramatist in England has been well established. . Yet when the piece was first produced at the Haymarket not a few people thought the management was attempting a somewhat hazardous experiment. Would the Belgian poet’s syritbolism be understood by the average playgoer? it wa» asked. ' , To-day" there is an unequivocal answer to the question. “The Blue Bird" has been understood and appreciated, not only

by the average playgoer, but by the ‘‘galleryites and pittitea” of provincial theatres.

■■ The Chocolate Soldier.'’ Fl is said that no musical number . f v«r travelled round the earth more quickly than the tenderly graceful -waltz H>ng "My Hero,” sung in the first act of ••The ■ Chocolate Soldier.” The thrilling ,iisrinble in its refrain recurs at the elose of the second aet, and is said to be worthy of the best in grand opera. “The Chocolate Soldier” is‘described as being an entirely different order of entertainment to the usual light eomie opera. "A continuous. stream ajf melody,” "Oscar Strauss-at his very best,” "Strauss in his most melodious -mood,” are some of the opinions expressed by leading Australian Contemporaries.. Songs, trios, quartettes and choruses, all of a high musical order abound—languorous, exhilarating and romantic in turn—but invariably tuneful. In these Oscar Strauss has run the gamat of-sound in no uncertain manner, and has, according to reliable opinion, am needed in aeconrpliehing something like a magnum opus in genuine eomie opera. It may be of interest to know that the melodies of “The Chocolate Soldier’’ are being played and sung in 30 countries and more than 200 cities of the world to-day, It is .promised that tile libretto is of a distinctly high literary character, the which may be reasonably expected, seeing that the opera is a dramatisation of the famous Bernard Shaw's much debated-play, “Arms and tlie Man.’’ "Music, 1 smell music,” exclaims Bpmerli in the early scenes of the piece, and his olfactory organ is banqueted to repletion during the two hours s>ul a-half of the play's -performance. Strauss is invariably melodious, never tiresome, and‘in this- his latest production, in a light opera way, is said to be little short of divine. “The Chocolate Soldier” will be presented in Auckland by Mr. J. C. Williamson’s New English Comic Opera Company on Deceihber 18th. Latest Use for Music.

A tale is going round about some doings at a London Club which enjoys a certain notoriety for particularly late hours. It seems that the wives of some of the members informed the Committee that they should like to commemorate the recent Coronation by offering for acceptance a valuable and beautiful old 1 pon-elain vase mounted on a pedestal, furnished with a suitable inscription. The gift was thankfully accepted, and plaeed in the smoking-room. All was admired, the fine lines and colouring of the vase, with the handsome carvings, inlaying, and moulding of the supporting base, and the polished fluted column; all were effective. But admiration was turned to surprise, about a week after the inauguration, when, on the hall eloek sinking twelve, the suggestive melody of “Home, Sweet Home,” rang out from the ingenious contrivance. It then dawned upon tire late habituefes that Hie ladies had cleverly found the measis of a striking appeal to stop off talk, and beckon homewards laggards who were not accustomed to appear until the small hours of the next day. The puzzle has been to ascertain how the contrivance worked. Nightly at twelve, or within a few minutes, “Home, Sweet Home” makes its alluring appeal','and there is a gloomy gathering to hear the wellknown strain —-with some' muttered threats. It is surmised that the apparatus contains an electrically controlled elock, which actuates a barrel Working on a powerful steel-comb, as is found in the usual Swiss music-boxes. Dry Batteries supply the motive power, and the mechanism may be designed to urn for a long time, so no sort of winding up is required.

John McCormack to Sing in New Zealand.

Quite the most important announcement for this week is the information which, reaches me that Mr. John McCormack, the famous Covent Garden tenor, who was associated with Melba in the late season of Grand Opera in Australia, is shortly to give two concerts in New Zealand. The first concert will be given

at Wellington on 12th -January, and the second at Auckland on 18th January. Cn the following day Mr. McCormack leaves for Home via Suva.

It is not yet four years ago since this brilliant artist ma/le a sensational appearance at .Covept, Garden in “Cavalleria Rusticana/’ and rose almost at a bound to gain a reputation that is now world wide. He. is a young Irishman — not yet 27. The story is on record how, as a youngster, he entered the National Irish Festival, and (much to his own

surprise) won the Denza Gold Medal for singing. It was that which set Mm definitely on a career of astonishing development. lie completed his studies in Italy with such excellent purpose that when he was in his ,21st year he was able to make his debut with great success before a critical Italian audience at Savona, when he sang in “L’Aniieo Fritz.” It ia understood that whilst in New Zealand Mr. McCormack will sing chiefly ballads, as he usually does when he takes to the concert platform in London. He will have in association with him the New Zealand soprano, Miss Rosina Buckman, who did such excellent work in this country the last time she eame round with the Italian Grand Opera Company, especially in “Madam Butterfly.” Mr. Alfred Kaufman, a bass solo, also of Covent Garden, also a fine artist, and Mr. Spencer Clay, an English pianist, will complete the company. • It is almost certain that these two concerts will lie rushed when the box office arrangements are made known. Stray Notes. The largest chamber organ in the world is to be found in the residence of Mr. J. M. Bousteadj of Westfield, Wimbledon Common, London. It has five manuals, and 122 stops, 81 pistons and pedals. There are really six organs and pedals. Over 6500 pipes, 30 gongs, etc. Mr. Mark Hambourg is now giving a series of 50 recitals in Canada and the West of America, the tour extending from

the Atlantic to the Pacific coast. He will not return to England until February 7 next. Here is another instance of the amazing extent of Professor Reinhardt’s great spectacle to be produced at Olympia at Christmas, As is generally known, the seene represents the interior of a huge Gothic cathedral. During the intermezzo the doors arc opened, and the spectator secs a band of huntsmen, with their horses and dogs, traversing a lofty mountain. But to’ give due effect to tlie picture it has become clear that the mountain must be in the middle of the arena. To accomplish this Professor Reinhardt and Mr. Stern, the scenic designer, have arranged to build up a huge mountain capable of supporting hundreds of people, and bigger in circumference than almost any stage in London. This is to be equipped with motor power, so that it may be easily moved from one end of the building to the other. No wonder that the spectacle has been named "The Miracle.” , "I remember paying in ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Louis Xl.’ with Chiules Kean, in the same year as he died,” said Mr. lithcradge in some reminiscences related to a Sydney pressman. “I had not been long on the stage then, and my idea of Kean’s performance in ‘Louis XL’ was Buch that I never thought it would b? upset by anyone else. But Henry Irving upset it—the great father of H. B. living, who bears a remarkable personal resemblance to him. I first met Irving is ’6B or ’6O. It was in a piece called ‘Dearer than Life,’ by H, J. Byron, the mail who wrote ‘Our Boys.’ Let ine see. . . .1 believe lam the only one

of that east alive. Henry Irving,. J. L. Toole, lionet Brough, and J.' S. Titheradge—all gone' but one. I never spoke

to Irving from that time till I went back to Ixrndon 12 years ago. He took th* chair at one of onr house dinners, ami I had the satinhn't <eii of telling him then that he completely effaced my impression of Charles Kean’s Louis. “Bless you, the changes there have been! When I first went acting tliere were some playa being written and ajeted which entirely revolutionised the British stage. - There were stieh plays ns T. W. Robertson’s ‘Caste’aiid.‘School,* which were put on at the Prince of Wales’ Theatre in Loudon by the Bancrofts. These pieces introduced a new school of acting—what the old folks called ‘teacup and saivcer acting.’ Just because it was natural! .Well, I made my first appearance in London in .'77, under the management of John Hare, and at the first theatre he ever had, the Court Theatre. Ellen Terry was . the leading lady. Just before I returned to Australia a couple of years ago 1 was engaged by Sir John Hare to play Captain Hawtrey in ‘Caste,’ .when he was taking his stage farewell. It was strange. that I should have .opened with him and have taken part in his farewell. But I was speaking of revolutions. There had been another revolution. The new style of acting whieh in the early sixties bad revolutionised the English stage had gone. It was as dead as the dodo. You saw Ethel Irving the other day. Well, she is one of the exponents of the very latest style of acting. Agting, like dialects, alters from year .to year. You won’t find any-

body in London now who speaks witii the Cockney dialect of Sam Weller. "I have been acting for 45 years —a long time,” continued Mr. G. S. Titheradge. “‘One man in his time plays many parts,’ but I suppose I have played more parts than any man breathing. I was.l7 when I went on the stage, ami I am 62 now —45 years of it. And I love my art. to day as much as I ever did. I started at Portsmouth, in Octotier, ’66, playing comic business in pantomime, and being knocked about by the elbwn; and I have played every line of business from Harlequin to Hamlet. I have played utility, I have played the walking gentleman, I have played juvenile business, and I have played leading business; I have played for nearly half a century; and in that time 1 have seen three eiitiirely revolutionary styles of acting. Actors are no loliger judged by former standards. I had my early training in {he.days of stock companies

—a thing of the past. 1 graduated >• the same school as Hignold in Bristol, under James Chute. EllenTerrj! Lady. Ba nerqff, and '.Mrs. Labouchera (Henrietta Hodgson) are among those who also graduated in the same school.” Mr. Titheradge, however, is best remembered in connection wit h the Brough an I Boucicault Company. For ten years ho delighted the people of Australia in the splendid plays whieh that firm put on the stage. He was the original Aubrey Tanqucray iu this country, with Mrs Brough as Paula, as he was the original of the “Silver King” under the management of WilMautsou, (lamer, aiid Musgrove. .Most people will say his. biggest success was in “The Silver King.” Tn » popular sense it was. It was a “showy” part. Artistically, Mr. Titheradge has made bigger successes than that. "Personally,” he says, “I never eared twopence for it. I think 1 like the ‘Village Priest’ as well as anything.” Tn the performance of “The Chocolate Soldier” at Her Majesty’s, Sydney (says the “Referee”) Miss Winifred O'Connor, as Nadina, had encore honours for the waltz f song "My Hero.” "Sympathy,” "Falling iii Love,” "The Letter Song,” “Alexius the Heroic,” “The Tale of a Coat,” “That Would Be Lovely,’’ "Tim Chocolate Soldier,”' and "Never Was There .Such a Lover,” were the other popular numbers. Mr. Leslie Gaze as Lieutenant Bumerli and Mr. Noel Ftein■ing as Major Alexis wore agaip successful. On Tuesday and Wednesday of last week Miss Amy Murphy appeared as Nadina. 'The New Zealand-soprano acted with animation, and her bright voice was effectively used in the concerted numbers as. well as in "My Hero” and “Tlie Letter fsong. ’ Judging by the booking, the eomie opera should be able tirxiola the stage at Her Majesty’s until the Christmas season.

“Every Woman,” the remarkable morality play shortly to be introdmcyl to Australian playgoers by the j. C. Williamson management, ha& an immense east. Eaeli of the characters is symbolical, and has reference to the order of our daily life. The long list includes Wealth, Love, Youth, Beauty. Modesty, Conscience. Truth, Passion, Time, and so on. A recent issue of the Elbert Hubbart magazine, "The Philistine,” was completely devoted to a review of "Every Woman,” whiclj was praised by the philosopher-author in globing terms of panegyric.