SOUTHERN STAGE NOTES.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, 19 December 1912, Page 22

SOUTHERN STAGE NOTES.

(By

"Lorgnette.")

WELLINGTON, Dec. 16.

That most cou.i-tt.ous or roaring managers, Mr John rarrell, arrived from, the South last Friday morning to complete arrangements for, the opening at the Opera House on Boxing nigiit of. J. C. Williamson s American Comedy; Company in the American ana aus-: tralian success, “Get-Kich-Quick, vvallingiord.” During the company’s recent season in Syuney it was thougnt that the second piece in the repertoire, “Excuse Me,” would have to be . staged, but the booking for “Get-Rich-' iQuick, Wallingford” was so great that the piece ran right through .the season, establishing a record .in the New South Wales capital for the run of a comedy. In fact, it could have been played to packed houses for several weeks langer, but previous arrangements compelled the management to transfer the company to Melbourne, where it established itself asfirmly with the playgoers of Mel-: bourne as it did in Sydney. This augurs well for the company’s coming tour of the Dominion. If found necessary in any of the four centres, the company will produce “Excuse Me” or “The Fortune Hunter,” but it is a safe bet to take that it will not be wanted on the present tour.

Addressing the Municipal Orchestra at its final rehearsal on Monday evening, the 9th inst., Mr Maughan Barnett thanked the members for their enthusiasm during the two years he; had had the pleasure of conducting" the orchestra. The orchestra was tnow able to tackle almost any -■ work. The advance of musical taste in Wellington would largely depend upon the progress of orchestral work; consequently the continued existence of the Municipal Orchestra was of the utmost importance. He hoped that his successor would carry on the work where he had left -ofiE 5 -and would be given, the same intense loyalty and kindly regard which he felt had always been, his lot, and in return learn to look-

, on the Munciipal Orchestra with the ...same enthusiasm and affection as he .had.

.The hooking for the Royal Choral Society’s performance of “The Mes- . siah” in the Town Hall on Friday evening has been first-class. Excellent patronage has been ac- <. corded the numerous picture shows during the past week.

Barton’s Circus opens a season in Wellington on Monday evening, the 23rd inst. This enterprising management ought to do good business during the holiday season. The show is said to include several first-class performers.

The. Grant-Bailey Dramatic Company opened a nine nights’ season at the Opera House on Saturday evening with the Australian play “On Our Selection.’’ The theatre was filled by a most appreciative audience, who were most enthusiastic at the way the piece was staged and acted. The play ought to enjoy a most successful run. The company is due to open a season in Christchurch on Boxing night. Mr Reynolds Denniston, the wellknown actor, accompanied by his wife (known on the. stage as Miss Sidney Valentine), arrived from Australia by the Manuka on Wednesday, the 12th, on his way to Dunedin, where he intends to rest for a couple of months or so,. ' Some months ago, whilst in Kalgoorlie (W.A.), the clever youngactor contracted a serious illness, and complication after complication set in until he was given up by the doctors. The rumour was circulated that Mr Denniston had died, and the actor relates himself that a couple of wreaths were sent round to the hotel where he lay grimly fighting against a world of odds. The illness has left the heart weak, but Mr Denniston says that,, a couple of months’ rest in his native city will fully restore him to good health again.

.. The Brennan-Fuller management continue to present a high-class programme at the Theatre Royal, the result being that the seating accommodation is fully taxed at each performance. The stellar attraction on this week’s bill is the Marvellous Olracs. Their act is a really clever one. Others .on the bill are Bletsoe’s Crimson Ramblers, the National Duo, Black and Bronte, Miss Ida Berridge, Harold Heath, Harry Linden, and Miss Bessie Slaughter.

I received a long letter from Mr George L. Petersen on Saturday morning in which the hustling avant . courier of Wirth’s Huge Combined Shows states that the Dominion tour ■ opened at Invercargill on Tuesday, the 10th inst., in a most auspicious manner, the seating capacity of the big tent being fully occupied. Mr Petersen states that the star attraction of this season’s show is Hillary Long, the most extraordinary specimen of -topsy-turveydom imaginable. He does everything upside down. Placed wrong end up on a trapeze, he proceeds to walk the air with outstretched feet. The most fearsome feat this performer-does is to walk downstairs literally on his head. In the :same way as a boy or girl travels on . one leg in a game of hop-scotch, Hillary Long travels from step to step;

but he is on his head all the time, and receives no assistance whatever from his hands.. Finally on the top of a wire he slides some twenty yards on his head, while his legs and arm? stick out like a bristling railway semaphore. Other acts in the programme are the Bastien Family of nine acrobats; Signorita Dolinda, from Madrid; the Misses Cooke and Mamie; and Brothers Cooke, and a group of performing Polar bears. The North Island tour of the show opens in Wellington about January 13, after which all the principal towns in the North Island will be. visited en route, to Auckland, where a season opens on the 3rd March, extending until the Sth March. Mr George Wirth accompanies the show this season.