GREENROOM GOSSIP.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1370, 27 July 1916, Page 34

GREENROOM GOSSIP.

Mr. Frank Harvey, the popular leading raa i, who has added to his successes by his performance as the ardent lover of the Italian opera prima donna in “Romance,” at Melbourne Theatre Royal, once intended to adopt the Navy as a career, and completed a three years’ course of his training before defective eyesight put an end to his ambitions in this direction. Mr. Harvey has several relatives in the Navy, one of whom was in command of a destroyer in the recent battle off Jutland.

For some time prior to the production of “Romance” at Melbourne Theatre Royal, Madge Fabian, who is appearing as Cavallini, the Italian opera singer, achieved a reputation for eccentricity by constantly being seen with a small pert monkey perched upon her shoulder. It was quite apparent that the interesting creature was devotedly attached to Miss Fabian, and in winning the monkey’s affection the actress had achieved what she had set out to accomplish. For Adelina—that is what the monkey is called —figures in “Romance” as the pet of the opera singer, and in one particular scene has a pathetic interest. To render the monkey docile to enable her to handle it and make it appeal’ as if it were really her pet, Miss Fabian kept it with her constantly, both at her hotel and in her dressing room. When it is not on the stage it is basking in the warmth of an electric radiator and entertaining the artists with its grimaces and its tricks.

The Royal Comic Opera Company at Sydney Her Majesty’s has in preparation the production of “The Cinema Star,” a musical comedy on an elaborate scale. In the second act one of the features will be a photo-play studio. Various picture subjects will be presented, thus providing the opportunity for varied dressing and plenty of life and colour. “The Cinema Star” will be produced by Charles A. Wenman.

Musical circles in New Zealand will be interested by the announcement that Alfred Mirovitch and Michael Piastro, who have been recently playing with immense success in Sydney and Melbourne, are commencing a tour of the Dominion at an early date. Both artists are brilliant products of the Petrograd Conservatoire, where they won exceptional recognition for their command of their respective instruments, the piano and the violin. Alfred Mirovitch, the pianist, obtained the gold medal and the coveted Rubinstein prize after a distinguished course as a student at Petrograd’s great seat of musical learning. Michael Piastro, who plays the violin with wonderful genius, also won the gold medal for the violin and a 1000-rouble prize, presented to the most successful student in each year.

Miss Sara Allgood, who appears as Peg in the enchanting little comedy of “Peg o’ My Heart,” to be produced at the King’s Theatre, Melbourne, on July 22, has had plenty of time to become word perfect in the role. It may be said that she is very familiar with Peg, considering that she portrayed the character on 160 consecutive occasions in England, and has since appeared in the part for over 100 nights in the New South Wales capital. Probably before she leaves Australia she will have ’ equalled, if not eclipsed, Miss Laurette Taylor’s formidable record of 604 performances as Peg in New York. As for the play itself, it is busily smashing records all round. When it has started off with over 100 nights in Sydney and is yet to be staged in the other Australian capitals as well as in New Zealand cities, its prospects of achieving the Australasian record for success seem very rosy indeed.

There is apparently one person in Melbourne who will not attend the performance of “Romance,” staged by J. C. Williamson, Ltd., at the Theatre Royal. A few days ago the management received this letter: “I see an announcement that you intend to play a drama at the Theatre Royal in which a young clergyman is seen making love to an actress. I wish to emphatically protest against such a proceeding. I am a good churchman, and to me the spectacle of a clergyman in contact with the stage is abhorrent, and I hope that some action will be taken. It is an insult to churchly people.” The indignant writer was apparently unaware of the fact that the love of the clergy-

man for the opera singer was an element for good, and altered the whole life of the prima donna. The management took the trouble to point this out to the objector, as well as bringing under his notice the fact that it would need a vivid imagination to assume that the appearance of a clergyman as one of the characters in a play could be made objectionable to church-goers.

The momentous period of his life is declared by Bob Greig to have been his entry into musical comedy, which he successfully achieved by his appearance as J. J. Jeffreys, the lumber king, in “High Jinks,” at Melbourne Her Majesty’s (the part played by Mr. W. H. Rawlins in New Zealand). Mr. Greig did so well that he was given the role of the waiter in the big production of the gaiety play, “To-night’s the Night” — a part he invested with a good deal of character. Mr. Greig tells humorously of the shock he received on the first night of his appearance in “High Jinks.” He was feeling terribly nervous, and was pacing up and down in the wings just before he was to go on when he was approached by a stage hand. “That’s bad luck for you, Mr. Greig,” he remarked. The actor was taken aback. “What bad luck?” he enquired. “You having to go on and play Jeffreys,” was the reply. “Rawlins was just about perfection, wasn’t he?” Just then Mr. Greig’s cue came and he had to rush on, thereby saving himself from a nervous collapse!