Greenroom Gossip.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XX, Issue 1125, 2 November 1911, Page 17

Greenroom Gossip.

The “Gay Gordons” Coming. A rattling good comic opera is universally regarded as a rattling good thing, and “The Gay Gordons” is deserving of that laudatory epithet, even though its creator has made use of many foreign ingredients and prodrama, comedy, farce, grand opera and musical comedy. When the curtain rises it reveals a scene of splendor depicting the rugged grandeur of chorus might well be’ mistaken for a prelude to grand opera. From this high altitude a stride is made immediately to the realms of comic opera, and the piece gallops along merrily kind of farce. The fun is fast and furious,. and, the main purpose seems for the moment to ’ have been forgotten. 1 Breaking away from the beaten track once more a pretty little dramatic scene is introduced, and, just when the audience seems to be revelling iii the sphere of seriousness, it is again transported to the realms of mirthfulness. Musi* cal comedy carries along the interest for a time, and then drama,tic tendencies are again developed, love scenes are enacted, and then the humour bubbles over once more and the characteristics of comic opera predominate. And so on right

. throughout -the piece. Every form of stage artifice is . employed to play upon the risibilities and emotions of the people. " r

Maggie Moore as Bridget McSweeney. Maggie Moore attracted a crowded - audience; on Saturday night to the .fist performance of. “Mrs McSweeney.”. Founded on “The Surprising Adventures of Bridget McSweeney,” the new piece is the. joint work of Mr Toso Taylor and the Thomas E. Snenber; The credit Ws v due to Mr Taylor for what there is in the way of dramatic construction. The humor is Mr Spencer’s, and a good deal of theAlrish dialogue in his amusing book is retained. Warmly welcomed oil making her appearance, a S?vdney paper tells us, Maggie Moore, ns Mrs McSweeney, started the fun with a description of her experience at an Auction sale, and her difficulty in getting a servant. A surprise party in the second act having opened the door*' io unrestrained farce, Mrs McSweeney responded to the toast of her health, and then gave some advice to mothers before putting the twins, Pat and Mike, to bed. The act was wound up with an Irish jig, Maggie Moore “taking the floor” with an amazing amount of agility. . In the third act Maggie Moore got in-.some of her. best work as Mrs McSweeney

while learning, how to play golf, and in the scene with the representatives

of. the Women’s Emancipation League. The popular actress lent Miss Dulcie Hall (one of Snowy BakeFs pupils) a helping hand in the knockout of some aggressive “push” intruders . before the fall of the curtain. In the fourth act . the audience em joyed the story, which was told by Mrs McSweeney, “How Pat came home at two in the morning.” . * * * * * ■ A Treat in Store! ' The marching of fifty beautiful lassies in “The Gay ordons,” who are costumed and accoutred in the correct Gordon Highland uniform, strikes much envy to the breasts of feminine patrons in front, and much admiration in the hearts of the “mere man.” Characters in “The Gay Gordons.” Says a Sydney scribe: —Miss Imeson, " of Clarke and iMeynell’s new English Comic Opera Co., which is to produce “The Gay Gordons” throughout New Zealand, is a blithe and bonny little lady, with a sweet voice, a winsome manner, and an aptitude for graceful dancing. . She has a good fund of humor, and when so required can be seriously emotional also. She soon becomes a favourite, and she maintains the good opinion ol everybody throughout the piece. Miss

Nellie Cozens has also a charming personality, and she is full of frolic and tunefulness. Miss Maggie Knight always makes her impersonations enjoyable. The .other ladies of tjhe caste also ;do extremely well. Mr Frank Lincoln is boeh an excellent vocalist and an accomplished comedian. He makes a manly, resourceful, and altogether admirable hero. His expertness as a dancer is much enjoyed, and he bears the attractive burden of his part with consummate ease and gaiety. The humour of the piece is in the hands of Messrs. Graves, Jefferson, Percy Clifton, and Miss Finnis, all of whom do their best in their grotesque soles. Mr Graves is the leading coniedian, and he is always able to extract exuberant hilariey by the droll manner in which he presents the many extravagant episodes in which he is the chief figure. Mr Robert Jackson, as the corporal, is very successful, and all the other subsidiary parts are capably portrayed, the result being a very complete and congenial entertainment, which delights the eye, the ear, and the senses.

“Under Two Flags.” Recollections of “Ouida” will be revived by Mr George Marlow at the Princess’s , Theatre, Melbourne, at Christmas-time with the presentation

in this city of “Under Two Flags,” a dramatic adaptation of Guida’s famous novel of London and Algerian life.

A Distinguished Entertainer. Probably no person has such a complete record of the career in Australia of that famous tragedian, G. V. Brooke, than Mr Joseph Biascheck, the distinguished entertainer, who is n{ow ;’tourinjg .the (Australian States with ' his brilliant entertainment, “Society Snap. Shots.” Mr Biascheck has a complete record of every performance that G. V. Brooke gave in Australia, and recently Mr Biascheck was able to decide a bet that h’ad been made between two well-known old Sydney playgoers over an argument with respect to a part that G. V. Brooke had played in Australia. Mr BTascheck will be heard in New Zealand shortlyKing undoubtedly was, 'at any rate, according to the historians. His awful appearance, his palsied limbs, his whole bearing “fill the bill physically, whilst his mental peculiarities are indicated with equal and with tragic skill. The cruelty, the cunning, the superstition and the abject fear of if pitiable manner.

“Nobody’s Daughter.” The Hamilton, Plimmer, and Denniston Company is in the seventh

sof '.‘‘Nobody’s. Daughter,” and the hrece may run till the end of November 8. The future movements of the company are fixed for 13 months ahead. Yt will proceed from Sydney to Brisbane, and as this will be its first ( visit-..t0 the- Queensland capital its repertory there will include, in addition to “Nobody’s Daughter,” the following pieces:—“lnconsistent George”: (first time in Australia), “Lovers’. Lane,” “The Passing of the Third Floor Back,” “Smith” '.(first time in Australia), and “The Second Mrs.. Tanqueray,” ■- . .. -• •* Irving as Louis XI. Few playgoers who have seen Mr H. B. Irving in his various impersonations during the present season, says “Punch,” will doubt that Louis XI. is his best and most powerful ch'arao ter. From the moment of his entrance, he appears, almost literally, the whited sepulchre, that the French