The Stage.

New Zealand Illustrated Magazine, Volume VIII, Issue 2, 1 May 1903, Page 146

The Stage.

By S. B. GREVILLE-SMITH

«HE Westminster Abbey Binfers have come to us like a breath from, old English meadows. Their melodies bring the songs of English birds, the music of old church bells, and the joys of generations that were not so strenuous or so absolute as our own. To those of us who remember the checkered sunshine on English woodlands, and the glow of English Christmas firesides, these sweet, harmonious glees and catches make an appeal at once direct and irresistible, but the delight with which the Colonial-born have received Mr. Branscombe and his party can only be explained on the ground of heredity. But whether it be susceptible of explanation or not, the fact that music in its simplest and truest forms finds a responsive echo in the hearts of our young people is gratifying and wholesome. Beyond this, what one may hope is that the taste sharpened, if not created, by our visitors will crave for full satisfaction. It is a great deal to have a standard, and that, also, Mr. Branscombe has given us. For the Westminster Abbey Singers are samples of the best. The name is not an affiehe adopted for advertising purposes. Every member of the company bears the genuine hall mark, and has actually sung in the great Abbey choir. This is not the place for detailed criticism of the performances. It will be pleasanter and perhaps more profitable to give, instead, some brief (and , necessarily imperfect) biographical jottings. Madame Hooton, the contralto, and sole lady member of the company, began her serious musical

studies at the Royal Academy of Music, where she went through a three years' course, taking the Farepa Rosa gold medal and Westmoreland Scholarship, the two highest distinctions awarded to singers. Since then she has been doing important oratorio work in England ; she has toured three times through Canada and the United States, Jias visited Australia and South Africa, and is now under contract, with the rest of the company, for another season in the United States during the forthcoming winter. Madame Hooton (who in private life is Mrs. Branscombe) has, owing to her fondness for, and brilliant interpretation of, the ballads of Scotland, often been taken for a native of that country, but she is from Derbyshire, a county, by the way, that has been touched by the wizard fingers of Sir Walter.

Mr. Edward Branscombe' s debut was as solo tenor at St. Andrew's, Wells Street, London, which at the

time was the only parish church in the world that had two choral services daily. It was the church of which Sir Joseph Barnby was at one time organist, and in which some of the most popular of Gounod's anthems were performed for the first time in the presence of the composer. It is related that on one occasion Gounod was so delighted with a solo by one of the boys, that he took the little fellow up in his arms and kissed him. From St. Andrew's Mr. Branscombe went to Westminster Abbey in the capacity of lay vicar, a position he held for ten years, and which he has only just relinquished in order to carry out his Colonial and American pro-

gramme. His training was acquired at the Royal College of Music, and amongst his contemporaries were Mr. Lempriere Pringle, of Tasmania, and now of the Musgrove Opera Company, and Miss Hack, of Adelaide. Six years ago he obtained six months' leave from the Abbey authorities, and toured Australia as tenor of the English Concert Company, with Mrs. Branscomhe. The idea of the present tour occurred to Mr. Branscombe during an Abbey vacation, and as an experiment he took a small party to Can-

ada in 1901. The visit only occupied three weeks, but its success was so pronounced that it was repeated during the period when the Abbey was closed for the Coronation preparations. The party was larger this time, and the results even more gratifying. After the Coronation a still larger party, practically identical with the present one, was selected from the Coronation Choir, and once more the Atlantic was crossed. During the tour, which extended from Newfoundland to British Columbia, no less tlinn one

hundred and seventy- three concerts were given without oe.-ssd/lion. The boy singers were all members of the Coronation Choir, and each has been solo boy in on 3of the principal London churches. Their success, alike in Canada and hero, has been remarkable.

Mr. Percy Coward, the ?3iaJe a] to, was originally solo boy at the Chapel Eoyal, St. Jnm<..s , and subsequently filled the posts of assistant lay vicar at the Abbey and vicarchoral at St. George's Chapel, Windsor. A son of the well-known organist of the Crystal Palace, Mr.

James Coward, he was a great

favourite of the late Queen Victoria, .and holds the Jubilee Medal for twenty-five years' service under Her Majesty. In England he is looked upon as perhaps the finest example of the male alto. Mr. Coward is so impressed with the warmth of the reception given to him in Canada that he means to settle permanently in Toronto.

Mr. Hilton, the bass of the party, won a scholarship for singing at the Royal College of Music, and appeared with distinction in the College Opera performances. He possesses the qualification— rather uncommon

for a singer — of being an Associate of the Royal College of Organists, and is at present assistant organist to His Majesty the King, at Sandringham. Mr. Pownall is, an occasional tenor at the Abbey, and is in great request all over England as a glee singer. Lovers of the legitimate may deprecate, but the passion for melodrama is national and ineradicable, and it will scarcely profit us to spend time in moralising over it. If we are wise we shall all strive to do what little we may to make the play of blood and thunder less con-

spiouously sanguinary and not so desperately thundrous as its "unchecked tendencies would lead it to be, and to stop at that. Mr. Cuyler Hastings and the Williamson Company gave us the article in its best form, and Mr. Anderson, though he confessedly caters for a wider audience, has adopted and follows a standard that may fairly lay claim to excellence. Melodrama, no matter what its merits, cannot entrance everybody. It is for ever balanced between pathos and bathos, and there are minds so constituted—and not ill-cons tituted>

either— that the wiles of the stage villain and the trials of stage heroes and heroines only plunge them into merriment. With the bulk of human folk it is different. The melodrama is to these as real and absorbing as a novel by Mr. Guy Boothby or Mr. Fergus Hume, and the box-office must consider such matters, even though critics squirm. Elaborate stage sets, beautiful scenes, mechanical effects in which art is most efficiently employed to conceal art, and the engagement of actors and actresses of more than

ordinary capacity— these are the special merits that entitle Mr. Anderson to the success he has won. In his company are several young New Zealanders and Australians, who have made their way to the front ranks by conscientious study and hard work. Mr. Plimmer and his wife may serve to typify this class. Mr. Harry Plimmer is a Maorilander of the third generation. He is a grandson of that excellent old colonist, Mr. John Plimmer, a nonogenarian who claims to be the

Father of Wellington. Young Harry, who was born in the Empire City just thirty-four years ago, had a keen longing for the stage in his teens, and as an amateur attracted the notice of the veteran actor, Mr. John Hall, familiarly known as " Johnny " Hall, who advised him to take to the profession seriously. The advice was accepted, and Mr. Plimmer began his career with Miss Ada Ward, in Sydney, in 1887, in a play called "Bright Hope." The

title was delusive so far as Uie members of the company were concerned, as no salaries- were forthcoming, and the young actor transferred his services to Mr. H. C. Sidney and Miss Alice Norton, who were producing "The Mystery of a Hansom Cab " in the Sydney Royal Standard. Here again the prospects were not bright, and an upcountry tour with the Taylor-Car-rington Company was eagerly jumped at. So far the progress made

was slow, ' and Mr. Plimmer had hardly got rid of his amateurish hobbles, tyhen his real chance- came with Mr. Bland Holt, at the old Alexandra (now His Majesty's) Theatre, Melbourne;: A year with this fine organisation at Melbourne, Sydney, and Adelaide^: transformed the youngster, wlen he went with Mr. Dainpier for a six months' season at the Sydney Royal > he

had found his place. After the Dampier season, came a tour through New Zealand with Miss Myra Kemble ; followed by a turn with Mr. George Rignold, in Sydney, and one with Mr. Westmacott's Company, which was not so successful as it deserved to be. But Mr. Plimmer, at least, was in luck's way, as he had the good fortune to step into the Brough and : Bouci-

cault Company. With this, the best comedy 'combination the Colonies have seen, Mr. Plimmer did the grand tour of Australia, New Zealand, and the Far East, playing the parts made memorable by Mr. George Titheradge, in no less than sixteen plays. Here was a rich education, indeed. On his return to Australia, Mr. Plimmer accepted an engagement with Mr. J. C. Williamson, and opened in " The Silver King," as Wilfred Denver, in 1.893. He remained with the company until eighteen months ago, when lie resolved to take a trip to America, where he remained for eleven months, during which time he toured the whole of the States with the "La Tosca " Company under the management of Miss Davenport. He was back again in Australia in time to take up the leading roles in the " Sherlock Holmes " Company, pending the arrival of Mr. Cuyler Hastings. As " Holmes " and as " Lewis Dumont " in " Secret Service," he appeared with distinction in Perth and Adelaide, and amongst the kindliest of his critics is Mr. Hastings himself, who joined the company professionally at Melbourne. Immediately after his Ade-

laide success, Mr. Plimmer joined the company with which he is now touring this Colony. No other actor of his years knows more of the inside of melodrama than he knows. Williamson, Holt, Dampier, and Anderson. What names to conjure with ! But Mr. Plimmer also appeared with credit in Shakespere, with Mr. Williamson, and Mr. Dampier, playing Macduft' to the last named's Macbeth, and in romantic drama with Miss Nance O'Neill, to say nothing of his achievements in the finest school of comedy. It is strange how the glamour of Anthony Hope holds the average actor. Mr. Hawtrey's favourite part is Colonel Sapt in " The Prisoner of Zenda," and Mr. Plimmer's first affection is for the role of " Rassendyl " in the same play, j'n melodrama he invariably impersonates the persecuted hero. During the Bignold season Mr. Plimmer was married to Miss Josephine Thynne, who accompanies him as a member of the Anderson Company. Miss Thynne wijl be remembered as " Stephanus " in the " Sign of the Cross," and in the name part in " Oliver Twist " with Miss Nance O'Neill.