GREENROOM GOSSIP.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, 1 August 1912, Page 17

GREENROOM GOSSIP.

“The Kiss of Dolly Day.” Edmund Fisher, the Melbourne representative of “The Bulletin,” justifies his reputation as a writer of light verse in a volume of rhymes collected during a period of twenty-five years. “The Kiss of Dolly Day,” modestly priced at Is (in cloth 2s 6d), comprises the “cream” of the author’s earlier and maturer efforts. Among the non-‘spicy’ pieces are the wellknown “Measuring the Baby” and the famous “Billiard Marker’s Yarn,” which has been reprinted with or without permission in Australia, England and America, and recited by many amateurs. Illustrated by some delightful pencil drawings, the book is bound to go, and the gay cynicism

of its contents should readily appeal to people looking for sly satire and a fresh point of view. Grace Palotta’s Return. It is just about a year since Grace Palotta left Australia, but, as she says, “it seems very much longer.” The popular comedienne is back in Melbourne, and is a feature of the cast of the J. C. Williamson, production of “The Quaker Giri” .at Pier Majesty’s Theatre.. The role of Madame Blum, the Parisian builder of hats and gowns, is one eminently congenial to Miss Palotta, who is able to display a real French accent in the part. The popular actress has been all over the Continent, including Paris, Brussels, Berlin, and Vienna, but her stay in the last-mentioned city was saddened by the death of her mother, who was her constant companion throughout

the tour. In Paris, Vienna, and London Miss Palotta purchased a number of frocks, three of which she wears in “The Quaker Girl” with charming effect. * * m * Building up the Stage Scenery. A feature of the Asche-Brayton productions is the perfection represented in the scenery of Joseph Harker, the most famous of English stage artists. It is all on a big scale and nothing like it has ever been seen out here (writes our Melbourne correspondent). In the representation of stones, for instance, the English artist has “built up” his cloth by padding out the painted canvas, so that even at close quarters it is made to appear a mass of stone work, so well defined and well built up is it all. The trees, again, are as close to the real thing as it is possible to get, and real bark is used built up with moss, dried vegetation, and other natural material, so that the element of artificiality is absolutely absent when the lights are on. Mr Asche’s stage effects, too, are wonderfully well conceived and ingeniously carried out. The scenic display in the Asche-Brayton productions, it is said, would in itself be worth going to see. Oscar Asche in Shakespeare. Special interest attaches to Oscar Asche’s view of Shakespeare as a living force in the drama of to-day. “When we first staged ‘The Taming of the Shrew’,” he says, “some of the papers said it was. as funny as ‘Charley’s Aunt.’ That was not the b.est way of putting it, and I don’t say I like the comparison”—the actor smiled grimly—“but they meant well. The truth, which is often overlooked, is that Shakespeare wrote to amuse the crowd. He let himself go for that purpose. He certainly was not writing for students who would come along in three hundred years’ time. Another thing is that Shakespeare wrote in a hurry. He wrote plays hot for the stage. In a play like ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ you will find words- that shew he was in a hurry. In staging Shakespeare we bring out the splendid vitality and humour — especially the humour—and we make people see it; we don’t mind altering a word or a phrase to make the meaning plain.” * * * ♦ Music of “The Quaker Girl.” The music of “The Quaker Girl” is of the tunefulness that easily catches the ear and clings to the memory. The audience take away such a lot of melodies with them, that it is not surprising there is a widespread desire to have the whole of the music of the piece to draw upon. The sale of musical scores is, therefore, enormous. It is stated by the manager of one of the largest musical , warehouses in Melbourne, that the sales of

“The Quaker Girl” scores have so far eclipsed even those of “The Merry Widow” —and Lehar’s opera had up to the present ■ easily beaten off. all competitors for this distinction. “The Quaker Girl” is now being executed in restaurants, ball rooms, and other places, by means of orchestra, piano, violin, barrel organ, and other means and methods. 3= 3* * * Lily Brayton on Voice Production. . Speaking with regard to her preparation for the stage, Miss Lily Brayton said that her first elocution lessons were from Herman Verzin, who died recently at a very advanced age. She afterwards studied for a while with Mrs Morden-G‘rey, and then joined Mr Benson’s Shakespearean Company. “There was not the kind of training for the stage when I began that girls go in for now,” said Miss Brayton. “I don’t believe in much of it, and think it is apt to make one’s acting and speaking too much studied. Voice production and breathing exercises mean a great deal in the development of the voice. One must know how to pitch one’s voice. For instance, if I have a cold I pitch my voice above or below it, otherwise speaking with a cold will destroy the voice. Of course, speakingin modern pieces is not so trying to the voice as speaking in the old classic drama. Some of the long blank-verse passages in the Shakespearean plays are almost singing.” “Cooperism.” Apropos of Miss Margaret Cooper, a London critic enthuses thus: —“She pleases them—they don’t know why, neither does Miss Cooper. But the fact remains. Hers is not a particularly strong voice, but though light in texture, it has a peculiarly penetrating sweetness, and is aided by an enunciation as clear as a silver bell; so clear that the speediest of her patter songs can be followed with perfect ease. And with the voice is the spirit of spring lifting you up and away from the cares of this work-a-day world to a realisation of the story she is telling or the quaint, comic, or pathetic character she is drawing. What can one call this form of art but ‘Cooperism’.” * * * An Interesting Artist. One of the most interesting artists who has been engaged to support Madame Kirkby Lunn on her forthcoming tour of Australia is M. Andre de Ribanpierre, a young French violinist, who has toured Europe and England with unusual success. The young musician is a protege of Paderewski, and is one of the few instances of a protege justifying his early promise. He has received his musical education at the hands of the renowned Polish virtuoso, M. Gorski, and is regarded by representative English critics as an artist with an exceptionally brilliant future. * $ * * The Mayor of Tiny Town. Mr. Hayati Hassid, the Mayor of Tiny Town, has played in all the leading theatres and halls in England. He has appeared before Presidents Taft and Roosevelt. . He has also toured Spain, Italy, Germany, and Austria; in fact, there are no towns of any importance in Europe that he has not visited. In 1901 he was appointed a member of the suite of the Grand Vizier, and on the death of the latter in 1904 Hayati was granted a pension of 120 francs a month. *%* $ . A Strange Invasion. New Zealand is to be invaded by the strangest band of people that have ever aroused the curiosity of this not easily startled world. “Tiny Town,” with all its fairy tale adjuncts, arrives at Invercargill on August 19th. There its pocket editions of men and women will begin a method of life that is all at odds with the normal processes of our full sized existence. A Word About Tiny Town. Tiny Town’s inhabitants are dainty miniature men and women. Their heights are measured in inches. Some standing on tip toe can touch our knees. Their giants are the lusty Austrians of 38 inches in their stocking fbet. There will be no dwarfs hr Tiny Town, which will be tenanted only by midgets. Dwarfs are oddly shaped; the midgets are perfectly formed little folk—the kind of miniature people that surprised and startled Gulliver and bore him off to the Kingdom of Lilliput.