THE STAGE

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XIII, Issue 772, 22 December 1904, Page 26

THE STAGE

(By

“Comus.”)

OPERA HOUSE. FULLERS’ EMPIRE COMPANY. The Fuller Co. closed down for a short rest before the Christmas season on Saturday night, when there was a full house, and the various items in the long and excellent programme were received with genuine applause. The season will be resumed on Christmas Eve (Saturday next), when, in addition to the efficient company now under engagement, there will also appear Mr Kellman (card conjurer), Miss Margery Atherton (balladist), Messrs Scott and Wallace (Irish comedians), Messrs Connor Bros., and Leonard (acrobats).

HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE

THE STEPHENSON MUSICAL COMEDY' CO.

“THE ROSE OF THE RIVIERA.”

The interest already evinced in the forthcoming appearance of Mr George Stephenson’s English Musical Comedy Company promises to give Auckland playgoers much more than the ordinary excitement associated with the advent of a popular combination, whose merits have Ween enthusiastically commented on through the columns of the English and Australian Press. Mr Stephenson’s Company will appear on Saturday next, December 24th, at His Majesty’s, in “The Rose of the Riviera,” a musical play which has attained remarkable popularity throughout England and the Commonwealth. The play has been most favourably noticed by the critics of England and Australia. In Sydney it ran for nine weeks to crowded audiences, whilst in Melbourne it enjoyed art equally prosperous run of seven weeks at the Princess Theatre. Some months ago Mr Stephenson deputed Mr Edward Lauri to proceed to England and select a musical company and plays calculated to please the critical Australian audiences. With what measure of success Mr Lauri carried out this task may be gauged from the popularity the Com- • pany has achieved in Australia. Miss Beatty has, according to reports, delighted her most captious critics in the parts allotted to her. Most of the other principals, save Mr Edward Lauri, have graduated from one or another of Edwardes’ Variety Companies, and include among others, Misses May Garstang, Alice Nixon, Ada Page ; Messrs Charles Macnaughton, Fred Twitchin, Chas, and Will. Bovis, and Roy Sidney, a full chorus of fifty voices, the famous Gibson, Pink and Rose Ballarinis, and opera orchestra. The plans are now in constant requisition at Wildman and Arey’s.

THE J. F. SHERIDAN COMPANY

Mr Alec Verne writes me on board the s.s. Ninevah, under date December 3 :—• Deal - “ Comus,” —We have just concluded a very successful season in South Africa, having played in the following towns : t — Pietermaritzburg, J ohannesburg, Pretoria, Bloemfontein, Naauwport, De Aar, Beaufort West, Capetown, Port Elizabeth, East London, King William’s Town, Queenstown, and finished ini Durban on the 12th of last month. We then took ship for Capetown, and the members of the company left there by the Medic on the 19th of last month, and Mr Sheridan, Miss Barlow and myself on the following day on this steamer, which is a most comfortable boat, but rather small. We have had a very pleasant trip and have enjoyed the rest very much, the only thing that has marred the enjoyment of the trip being the sudden death of one of the saloon stewards from consumption, which upset Mr Sheridan very much. I do not at present know our movements in Australia, as Mr Sheridan’s intention was to go to England for a brief period, but he was frightened of the cold weather, and wisely decided to come back again to Australia and then go home in the summer later on, but I think it will be in 1906 that he will go, as I think that when he starts to work again he will not like to leave, as

Australasia is now more his home than England. We have one or two new plays for production, “ The Girl fron Venus ” and “ King Dodo,” an American play from which Mr Sheridan expects very big filings. Frank Weathersby, whom you will remember as our business manager, has severed his connection with the company and gone to England, after an absence of six years, and he, of course, being on the spot, and knowing what Australasian audiences require, will be able to select new musical comedies much better than Mi’ Sheridan can do himself from this distance. Things generally in South Africa at the present time are in a very bad condition, and I am afraid it will be some time before the country is in a flourishing state again. I should be obliged if you would wish my friends the compliments of the season for me. I will write you further as soon as anything definite is settled with regard to our future movements. Mi’ Sheridan joins me in kind regards. To this he adds a P.S. : — December 8 : Arrived yesterday ; all well. Hope to reach Sydney on Monday next.

The Knight-Jeffries Dramatic Company, under the management of Mr J. C. Williamson, brought an extraordinarily successful season to an end on Saturday last, with “ The Silver King.” The performance was a pronounced triumph in all respects. The Company opens at Wellington on Saturday.

Spenser’s “Theatrescope,” now appearing for a brief season at the Opera House, is well worth going to see. Some of the pictures are much above the average, and the management have been wise in including a number of the comic variety. # # v *

Miss Ella Morris, the English opera chorus singer, and a native of Melbourne, who is a member of the Tivoli Company at San Francisco, recently became the bride of James Conanty, a mining expert, from Nevada. Mrs Conanty says: “ Leave the stage ? No, why should I ? Although my husband is fully able to take care of me and to supply me with every comfort I have no intention of retiring from the stage. The ranks of prima donnas are far from being overcrowded, and the few thousands I shall shortly earn annually will come in) handy, if only to buy dresses. I hail from Melbourne, Australia, the same city Nellie Melba came from, and before long I think she will discover that other singers come from there too.” » ♦ • * The well-known Black Family of Musicians had an experience in the Otago backblocks of the roadless north the other day, which (says “Pasquin,” in the “Witness”) they do not wish repeated. Leaving Pongoroa with their coach and four, they made good progress for some little distance on their

journey, when they suddenly plunged into a sea of mud. The coach sank to the axles, and the horses were unable to extricate the vehicle. After four hours had been spent, the task set the horses was found impossible, and a team of bullocks w y as brought into requisition, and with their aid, the coach was got out and the journey resumed. Further along the “road” the coach was again bogged in the mud, and, to make matters worse, a swingletree broke. The bullocks were again hitched up, but this time they pulled so erratically that they ran the coach over the bank. Mr Black, who was the only passenger on the coach at the time, jumped off the box as the vehicle went over. Fortunatelv, it struck two dead trees, which broke its fall and prevented it falling headlong into the river, 100 ft below. To haul the coach up the bank was the next problem. An expert, who had a team of bullocks five miles away, volunteered to assist. Off he hied for his team, arriving back in due course with the bullocks and block and tackle. The tackle was placed round the body of the coach, the block to a tree on the top of the bank, and the bullocks hitched on to the end of the rope. In a very short time the bullocks had walked the coach up the bank, and on examination, it was found that not ever# a fiddle string had been broken in the fall. Without further accident the entertainers arrived] at their destination 24 hours late, more than satisfied with their adventure.

Here is a little story that will specially appeal to musicians (says “M.A.P.”). At the end of one of Mr Mark Hambourg’s concerts ira Melbourne the people wildly demanded another encore. Many of the audience suggested the names of favourite pieces, the loudest voice coming from the back of the hall, and persistently demanding “Chopin’s Be-cause !” Mr Hambourg was greatly puzzled. Schumann’s “Why” occurred to his mind, but that did not help him out of his difficulty. “Play us ‘Be-cause !’ ” shouted his unknown admirer again and again. Suddenly the pianist was seized with an inspiration. He commenced to play the “Berceuse,” and instaisb silence showed him that it was a correct guess.

Past and present royalties on plays : “Masks and Faces” brought only £l5O to Chas. Reade and Tom Taylor ; Bulwer received less than £2OO for “The Lady of Lyons” ; H. M. Blossom, for the American play “Chickers,” has been receiving from £lOO to £lso' per week throughout the season, and it promises to run as well for the next two seasons. J. M. Barrie received over £20,000 from “The Little Minister,” and Hall Caine exceeded these figures with his royalty from “The Christian.”

Charlie Fanning sends me some flaming posters containing the announcements of his appearance a,t the Chelsea Palace. He is described in the largest of large type as “ The Extremely Quaint Comedian/’

The Driscoll Boys, now at Melbourne, have sent me a beautiful Christmas card wishing me the usual good things. I cordially reciprocate. The card is embelished with portraits of the Boys.

My fellow sinner, “ Lorgnette,” of the “ New Zealand Mail,” forwards me the season’s greetings on a chastely pretty card. I respond in the same spirit.

A play by Mrs Craigie (John Oliver Hobbs) was produced some months ago in Manchester by Miss Olga Nethersole with considerable success. Miss Nethersole has decided to open her forthcoming season at the London Shaftesbury Theatre with this, and to support her she has engaged a company including Mr Herbert Waring, Mr C. W. Somerset, Mr Dawson Millward, Miss Kate Philips, and Miss Annie Hughes.

A memorial tablet bearing the followinginscription, “ Edmund Kean (1787 —1883), actor, lived here,” has been fixed outside No. 12, Clarges-street, Piccadilly, by the order of the London County Council.

The death of Mr Dan Leno occurred with somewhat remarkable suddenness. Although it had been an open secret that the famous comedian never really recovered from the lamentable mental illness which attacked him some eighteen months ago, and that strange rumours had been circulated in connection with his engagement at the London Pavilion Music Hall (where he made what unhappily proved to be his last appearance before the public on Thursday, October 20 last), it was scarcely thought that the end itself could have been so near. Now that the nature of his malady is known, it argues really wonderful power upon his part that he was able to hold out so long. For Mr Leno had been practically a dying man for many months past ; and the failure of the heart’s action must have come to the troubled sufferer himself like the blessing of sleep. George Galvin, to give him his right name, was born in rather humble circumstances on February 1, 1861, at a place called Eve Court, King’s Cross, upon the site of which stands St. Pancras Railway Station, an establishment to which the deceased comedian often referred as his “ birth-mark.” His parents appear to have won some little reputation in the show and variety world under the name of Mr and Mrs Johnny Wilde, and it is stated that Dan, when a mere infant, took part in acrobatic and other performances.

At the London Pavilion recently Mr Leo Stormont recited a new poem, entitled “ Who’s Going to Rule the Sea ?” dealing with the Dogger Bank Outrage. The character of the verses may be judged from the following : —

It was Hey ! for the merry Russian jest, When the fishing boats drifted by ; And the drunken Admiral laughed with

the rest, Remarking : “ We’ll conquer or die.” So the searchlights flashed through the

murky night, On the boats and the men unharmed, And the Admiral said : “We shall be all right, Let none of you feel alarmed. So, gunners, sink me a ship or two, They can’t hit back,” said he ; “I’ll show these English who is who, And who’s going to rule the sea.”

The rumour that a leading Russian ■composer has been commissioned to produce a revised edition of an old song entitled “I Know a Dogger Bank ” for use in the Imperial Russian Navy is absolutely without foundation. —(“ r lhe Pelican.”)

The Hon. Mrs Alfred Lyttelton, the authoress of “Warp and Aloof,” is writing a new society play in collaboration with Lady Betty Balfour. It is understood that the work will be produced soon.

Miss Cecilia Loftus is evidently no believer in the saying that Marriage is a Failure, for according to news from America she has been woed and won by Mr William Courtenay, who, like herself, is on the stage, and the wedding is to occur next Easter.

The Invercargill hotels seem to do a thriving business all the year round. There are some really good houses here, such as the Southland Club, Albion, and Deschler’s, all of which do a large business. The Railway Hotel, being near the Railway Station, also does well. Mr A. E. Otway is the proprietor, and those who wish for comfortable quarters at a moderate tariff should stay here.

Mrs Edmund Phelps is not encouraging to young people who want to go upon the stage. “If anyone came to me and asked me whether it was wise to become an actor,” she says in a London paper, “ I should say ‘ don’t,’ because the market is overstocked.’ The present race of young men look upon acting more for amusement than as a matter of necessity, and the profession, as a result, is composed of quite a different class of individuals to what existed in my early days. In the past the actor had not the social advantages possessed by the present-day actor. We had an early training, which was most valuable, and I think we worked more for the love of our work, endeavouring to make and hold whatever position we might achieve. To-day a youngman or girl jumps into that position, thanks mainly to influence, and to the fact that society is more interested in the stage than was the case in the past. This has improved the status of the actor as a professional man, but I certainly regret the lack of seriousness that is shown nowadays in the theatre, and I also deplore the easy way in which, by that influence, the young actor obtains parts to which he is not entitled either by talent or by preliminary training.” * * * *

It is unofficially announced that Mr George Grossmith will retire from public life in a couple of years.

Miss Hilda Spong has made another success in New York (writes the “ Argus ” correspondent). She recently returned to London from a tour in the West. Speaking of her reported engagement to Mr A. Higginson, a Boston millionaire, she says : “ The report is absolutely absurd. I know him. He is a very nice boy, and we are good friends, but I am not engaged to anybody.”

A skit on “ A Wife Without a Smile,” entitled “ A Wife With a Smile ; or, Keep Off, You Boys,” was given by the “ Water Rats,” for the Music-hall Artists’ Charitable Association, London.

Mr J. C. Williamson announced that last week Miss Dolly Castles would make her debut in comic opera at the matinee, at Melbourne, when “ Patience ” will be performed. At the same time a new baritone (Mr Frank. Wilson) will make his appearance ; Mr Charles Kenningham, the well-known tenor, and Mr Howard Vernon will be in the cast. It is intended that Miss Dolly Castles shall form one of the new Gilbert and Sullivan Repertoire Company, which is in process of formation, and will probably make its first appearance in Sydney early next year.

At the New York Lyceum a play by Clyde Fitch, named “ Granny,” was recently produced to mark the retirement from the stage of Mrs Gilberts, the oldest actress in America, who is now eighty-three years old, and has been on the stage for nearly sixty years in one city. This is her farewell engagement, and her reception was remarkable and touching. On the first night she was called before the curtain twenty-five times, and spoke an epilogue, written for her by Mr Fitch.

The present English provincial season is declared to be extremely dull. Plays that were London successes last season, or the previous one, have been playing to very poor houses. Some provincial managers say that the music-halls get all the money there is about, which is not much.

“ The Country Girl ” in a French dress is now running in Paris at the Olympia, Barry, played by M. Max Dearly, carries off the honours ; his dancing is much of the attraction.

The world-famed music-hall, Collins’s, on Islington Green, has been making a feature of its 42nd anniversary. It was developed from a tavern by “ Sam ” Collins, father of Lottie and her sister, Mrs Athas.

In a new melodrama, “The Coal King,” at the Elephant and Castle Theatre, to which high praise is given as to “ a drama of great human interest,” there is one novel scene, showing some entombed miners. This is above the average of up-to-date melodrama. Young Paulton is playing in this.

A comedy by A. Dumas, written in 1854, was lately played in Paris, and a discussion arose about the costuming of the play, which was carried out in present day fashions. This argument, whether old-fashioned plays should be dressed to their own date or not, is constantly cropping up. The present revival is interesting in having brought up a letter written] by A. Dumas himself twenty years ago to M. Joseph Reinach concerning Sarah Bernhardt’s revival of “ Camille,” which that critic took exception to on the ground of the absurdity of post-dating its mode of dress by

half a century or so. Dumas held that Sarah Bernhardt was right, and Jhat to dress the piece to the proper date was to take off the attention from the emotions and action of the piece, which are common to all ages, and fix it on the dressing. Also, he adds, women, on beholding the old fashions, exclaim, “ How frightfully ugly they look,” and they go no further. The play for them is condemned.

Another notable production at the Court was the revival of Marlow’s “ Faustus,” with the old-fashioned setting, under the auspices of the Elizabethan Stage Society. The Mermaid Society, which also exists for the purpose of staging classics not otherwise likely to be seen, was to bring forward Congreve’s “ Way of the World.”

Theatrical London continues to be agitated on the subject of curtain-raisers. An innovation which is meeting in some quarters with great disfavour is the short “ one-artist ” show given in front of the piece. Mr Frank Lincoln and Miss Fanny Wentworth, both well known in Australia, are now appearing in this way at two leading theatres. It is claimed by aspiring dramatists that, with the abolition of the one-act piece, all chance for flwHowili their spurs is withdgMHHMMMMkkthis fashion that both Jones tried

“ John Bull’s Other Island,” by J. Bernard Shaw, was played for the first time at the Court Theatre a month ago. It. is a fantastic story of the Irish question, and the leading character, one Broadbent, a Radical M.P., is apparently a kind of “ Padgett, M.P.,” who visits Ireland instead of India. The piece is enormously wordy, one character has as much to say as three Hamlets ; it is perverse, and wistfully unconventional, with no respect for form, an “ untidy ” kind of play. But it is also most stimulating, and, of course, brilliant. There is a charming heroine, Nora, played by an Irish actress ; a weird personage, .supposed to be the author himself ; Keegan, an unfrocked priest, who is partly mad and partly mystic ; and there is a very funny farcical scene when the English tourist tries to carry a pig in his motor car. Epigrams' abound ; Irishman’s heart,” says the Irishman of the piece, Larry nothing but his imagination. “ The Epglish have always been free,” exclaims _ the Cockney valet. “ True,” retorts the Irishman, “ sheep don’t need a muzzle.” Nora objects to meeting certain “ common people.” “To an M.P.’s wife,” says her lover, “ nobody is common whose name is on the register.” Mr Edward Terry was married on October 31, at Barnes Parish Church, to Lady Harris, widow of Sir Augustus Harris. Shortly before eleven o’clock Lady Harris drove to Priory Lodge, Barnes, the residence of Mr Terry, and from thence she and Mr Terry walked to the church together. Lady Harris was dressed in a brown cloth skirt, brown bolero, and yellow silk blouse, and wore a toque trimmed with a yellow feather. The brideg-room wore a beautiful buttonhole in his coat, but Lady Harris did not

carry any flowers. No one was preseni in the church except the daughter of Ml Terry and her husband, Mr Walter Colls. After the ceremony Mr Terry and his bride returned to Priory Lodge for re freshments, and later on left for Strat] ford-o'n-Avon. In December Mrs Terry will accompany her husband to the Uniteq States on tour. Sir Augustus Harris be] queathed half his property, amounting tq nearly £lOO,OOO, to Lady Harris, and the other half to his daughter, Miss Flor] ence Harris, who came of age on the BtH inst. The widow and daughter are alsq interested in the English performing rights of many popular operas, such as “ Carmen,” Gounod’s “ Romeo and Jul liet,” and several of Wagner’s works. I

The news that Miss Olga Nethersole had taken the Shaftesbury Theatre draws attention to the number of at tresses who have become their own mar agers. Mrs Langtry rebuilt the Imperia] and had seasons there, Mrs Patriot Campbell ran the Royalty successfully Miss Kitty Loftus ' had the Savoy, anc Mrs Brown Potter’s management is fresl in the minds of many followers of thqa trical doings. Miss Beryl Faber, Mrs Lewis Waller, Miss Lena Ashwell and Miss Ada Reeve are also among success] ful lady managers. One of the firs] ladies to manage a theatre was Mis] Marie Wilton (Lady Bancroft), who tool] the Prince of Wales’ Theatre in 1865. ]