THE STAGE

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume IX, Issue 432, 3 November 1898, Page 9

THE STAGE

[_By

Orpheus .]

“ Orpheus ” will be glad to hear from those managers of theatrical companies touring New Zealand who desire that the public shall know the movements of the companies. Any information as to dare®, etc., will be acknowledged in these columns, as well as any other items of interest to the theatrical world. All letters should be addressed — “ Orpheus,” Sporting and Dramatic RbviEW, Vulcan Lane, Auckland.

Te Aroha Brass Band. — On Thursday evening last the Te Aroha Public Hall was densely packed to hear a concert given in aid of the Band funds, and the tasteful new uniforms just provided. Many friends, local and from afar, combined in a lengthy and attractive programme. Space will not permit me to notice all the items in detail, so I must pick out a few plums. Ladies first—Miss E. L. Featon, in splendid voice, won tremendous success with “ Don’t Tell Mother,” and as an encore, gave “The Little Bit of String,” besides playing several accompaniments in brilliant style. Mrs Scholium (nee Katie Fitzpatrick) proved as facinating and delightful a singer as ever, but was very modest in the matter of encores. Miss Stanley played Braga’s “La Serenata” very tastefully as a violin solo. Mesdames Gotz, Burgess, and Miss Wheeler rendered good songs. Miss Ethel Hirst, besides playing accompaniments admirably, sang “ I Trust You Still,” with sympathy and taste, and

Mesdamer Robson and Denton did excellent work as accompanists. Among the gentlemen Messrs Griffiths (fine bass voice), Scholium, Burgess, and Garton excelled on the serious side, and Messrs Simmelhag, Mayes, Smales, and H. Tonge proved themselves lion comiques. Mr Lamb, of the Paeroa Brass Band, played on the trombone “The Men of Harlech,” with florid and difficult variations, an excellent, if perhaps, somewhat prolonged item. Vocal duets were nicely sung by Mr and Mrs Burgess and Mr and Mrs Scholium, who kindly came from a distance to help their Te Aroha friends. The hon. secretary, Mr G. Sherlock, directed the entertainment with much tact and aplomb. A pleasant dance wound up one of the most successful affairs of the kind ever enjoyed in Te Aroha.

Hellers Mahatma Co. had a very successful six nights season in Gisborne, where their popular and clever entertainments were well received. The company will reopen in the Opera House for the race and show week, commencing on Saturday next. Mr Heller has just received from America and London a number of the latest illusions and conjuring tricks, also a new set of the Lumiere cinematograph pictures, many of which are at the present time causing a great sensation in London and on the Continent. Popular prices will be charged, which will no doubt fill the Opera House nightly.

Banjo, Mandolin, and Guitar Club.—Mr A. A. Partridge’s Banjo, Mandolin, and Guitar Club give two grand concerts in the Opera House on Thursday (this evening) and Friday, 3rd and 4th inst. The club comprises twenty-two performers, and they are assisted by some wellknown local talent. Judging from the programme a most enjoyable evening should be spent. Seats can be secured at Wildman and Lyell’s. The popular prices of 2s and Is should secure bumper houses.

Mr Will Watkins, the Melboune humorist, has been engaged by Mr John Fuller to produce a series of musical comedies on Saturday nights at the Agricultural Hall, the first, “ Husbands and Wives,” being played next Saturday, Nov. 5. Two other comedians from Sydney appear for the first time, and with such a combination the public may rely on the fun being fast and furious.

Orchestral Union Concert.— The Auckland Orchestral Union gave the third concert of the present season at the Choral Hall on Thursday night last. The hall was fairly well filled . (mostly ladies) by an appreciative audience, who seemed to thoroughly enjoy each piece on the programme, as testified by the frequency of the applause. The concert opened with Suppe’s “ Light Cavalry,” which arrests attention at once by the trumpet calls. Towards the end a lament theme is introduced, which was well played by the clarionet, and the end would have been much more brilliant and effective if the performers had only kept their eje on the baton. They, however, made up for this in Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony in B Minor, and we can congratulate the Union on giving us one of the best performances of this symphony we have ever heard in Auckland. The interpretation was, as it should be, highly emotional and singularly beautiful, the result being that the music was excellent. The solos on oboe and clarionet were well ren-

dered, and the phrasing of the violins was good. The orchestra also rendered “ Coppelia,” Delile’s Orchestra Suite. It opens with a nocturne with a melody for muted strings ; then follows musio of the Automatons and Valse, closing with the Czardas. Mrs George Reid sang two songs, “ When the Heart is Young ” (Dudley Buck) and “Manuelita” (H. Trotere), both of which were encored. Mr Arthur G. Murphy also sane Thos. Bonheur’s “ The King’s Own,” and “ Look Back,” by Vernon Bey, which were well received. The other items rendered by the orchestra, were Mendelssohn’s overture, “ Heimkebr ” (Sun and Stranger), Sullivan’s “ Graceful Dance,” from incidental music to “ Henry VIII.,” and a concert >iece, “ Aus Aller Herren Lander,” by Moezkoweki. Mr Towsey conducted with his usual ability, and played the accompaniments to Mrs Reid’s songs, Miss Yates doing a like duty for Mr Murphy.

The following telegram from Rylstone appears in the Sydney Evening News of October 22:- — “(Fitzgerald Brothers’ circus showed here on Thursday night, but on account of the heavy rain which had commenced to fall the attendance was not so large as expected. The performance was gone through without a hitch until the closing act came on. This act, which consists of a lion mounted on the back of an elephant, the latter in turn mounted upon a riding tricycle, is the chief attraction of the show, and almost invariably creates a profound sensation. On this occasion an accident happened which nearly resulted in a frightful panic. Owing to the rain leaking through one part of the tent, some of the boards of which the specially constructed bicycle track is composed, got wet, and when the heavilyladen tryke came on to these the wheel, instead of revolving, merely skidded, and the elephant and lion were thro n violently against the iron cage which surrounds the ring. Immediately there was a terrible uproar, women and children screaming and people flying in all directions, as it was feared that the ponderous weight of the elephant being thrown with such force against the cage would snap or bend the bars and the lion would escape. However, the attendants, with commendable coolness and promptitude, had the lion caged in a very short time, and order was restored. With the exception of Captain Jack Sutton, who received some severe scratches on the hand from the claws of the lion, no one was injured, though had the attendants lost their presence of mind or shown any signs of hesitation the consequences, no doubt, would have been more disastrous. The circus left late on Thursday night for Bathurst.