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New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1521, 19 June 1919, Page 32

Picturesqueness is a strong feature of the illusions which Carter the Great and his company of illusionists will present in Australia shortly. The master magician is now about to set sail across the Pacific with a huge mass of baggage, scenery and a small menagerie. “The best of La Fayette, the magician of Chung Ling Soo, the daring of the Great Herman, and the skilful manipulation of Carl Hertz in his best days are combined in Carter’s show,” writes an Australian who saw him recently in New York. Carter is said to have a delightful personality. Apart from his magic powers he is a dramatic actor of power, and a gift which assists him materially in the presentation of his illusion sketches. His Australian tour will open at Fullers’ Grand Opera House, Sydney.

The Cherniavsky Brothers are scheduled to appear in San Francisco this month.

The Royal Comic Opera Company play Dunedin from the 20th to the 28th inst., producing “Maytime” and “Oh! Oh! Delphine.”

Mrs. Henry Ainley, wife of Mr. Henry Ainley, the English actor, has given birth to a daughter at 62, Regent’s Park Road, N.W. Mr. Ainley married first of all Miss Suzanne Sheldon, who obtained a divorce in February last year, and in June Mr. Ainley married Miss Elaine Fearon. In 1916 Mr. Ainley joined the Army, and served as a second-lieutenant in the Royal Garrison Artillery.

A cablegram from London reports the death of Mr. Reginald Clarke, a New Zealand pianist and composer, who passed away at St. Thomas’ Hospital after a lengthy illness.

Mr. Brandon Cremer is superintending the production of “The Secret of the Harem” for the Fullers at the Grand Opera House, Sydney. Miss Eugenie Duggan is leading a big cast.

The “Stage” of February 20 states: “We hear, that Harry Dearth, the popular baritone, is shortly sailing for Australia under contract for a concert tour. We shall miss him, but he is bound to make a host of friends down under, as he does everywhere.”

Asked by a Wellington pressman how the picture people themselves regarded his work, Mr. Jolliffe, Government film censor, replied that he had never had a complaint. The people in the business in New Zealand wanted clean, wholesome pictures, and they realised that the censorship was not carried out from any narrow point of view. It was in their interest that the pictures should contain nothing to offend the public, and they appreciated this fact.

Maude Courtney and Mr. C. are back again in Australia after a stay of 15 months in New Zealand playing the Fuller circuit.

Doris Duane (Mrs. Harry J. Cohen), who is responsible for a charming little character study of the French maid in “Scandal,” which is enjoying a wonderful success at the Garrick, Chicago, is a young English girl making her first appearance in America. At the age of sixteen she created a record by passing her examination as a licentiate of Trinity College, London, and previous to this she had won two gold medals and had become an associate of the College. In 1917 Miss Duane, like hundreds of other English girls, heard the call of her country and went to work among the shells of victory at Woolwich Arsenal. Early 1918 found her transferred on work of national importance to a spot just behind the lines in France, in the region of Arras. A breakdown in

health was responsible for her discharge from the Women’s Army, and she then turned her attention to the stage. With only six weeks’ work in the chorus of “Very Good Eddie” at the Palace, London, she was chosen for an important understudy, and three months later, was playing the principal soubrette role in a musical comedy at Drury Lane. Going to America at the conclusion of the run of “Shanghai,” she was chosen immediately by Mr. Walter Hast for the role in “Scandal.”

A London cable of June 14 announces the death of Mr. Weedon Grossmith. He was originally an artist, and has exhibited at the Royal Academy. He made his first appearance on the stage with Rosina Vokes’ Company at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Liverpool, in 1885, as Specklebury in “Time Will Tell,” and Leander Tweedie in “The Tinted Venus.” His debut on the London stage was at the Gaiety Theatre, 1887, in “Woodcock’s Little Game,”

and he was then engaged by Sir Henry Irving for the Lyceum, where he played Jacques Strop in “Robert Macaire.” Since then he has appeared in a long list of comedy roles, producing many of his own plays. He made his first appearance on the vaudeville stage at the Coliseum in June, 1913, as Major Cardigan. Vivian in “How It’s Done,” and the same year issued his reminiscences under the title of “From Studio to Stage.” He was a brother of George Grossmith.

Gaby Deslys has stated her fortune to the French income tax authorities to amount to 7,000,000 francs (£280,000). Mdlle Deslys was formerly a country girl belonging to a middle-class family, says a Paris correspondent.

Mr. Walter Fuller, of the Fuller Proprietary, has received a letter from Mr. G. P. Firmin, the firm’s London agent, dated April 9th, from which the following is an extract: — “Business at all theatres and halls is still wonderful —packed houses nightly; in fact, we are turning people away. One can find very little that is new in the way of talent on the bills, but the people have got into the habit of spending money on amusements. Most of the working classes have been in receipt of big money during the war, and now they are afraid of it burning holes in their pockets if they leave it there.”

Harry Lauder has a way with audiences that no other artist can approach. In his present programme, now given under the J. and N. Tait direction at the King’s Theatre, Melbourne, he gets his well-dressed audience singing the chorus of one of his latest hits, “We All Go the Same Way Hame.” People will recall how he used to get the whole house singing “A Wee Deoch an’ Doris,” though the present number hasn’t the same spirit of convivial friendship, but is pitched in a different key of humour and has a more arresting geniality. Lauder, however, never fails to produce a good chorus, and the manner of the marvel shows the skill of the comedian in handling crowds. He merely looks at the house in his own inimitable way of suggesting a silent invitation, and waving his weird stick in a mock threatening style, he simply says “Coom on.” The response of the congregation is in every case magical. A house that might in other circumstances be cold and unresponsive gives him back the refrain in good measure.

The J. C. Williamson pantomime “Goody Two Shoes” has scored an undoubted success at Her Majesty’s, Sydney, and Sydney playgoers have endorsed the verdict of Melbourne audiences regarding this “best yet” pantomime. The ballets, the scenery, the colouring and costuming, and the specialties have come in for high praise, and amongst the principals who have been accorded unstinted eulogy are the principal boy (May de Sousa), Miss Maggie Dickinson (the solo dancer), and Mr. Fred Walton (the Toy Soldier). “Goody Two Shoes” promises to enjoy a record run in Sydney.

Mr. Laurie Kennedy, who has been engaged by Messrs. J. and N. Tait to support Sir Harry Lauder on his present tour, was the star of the Musical Kennedys, a family of musicians who used to give up some very delightful entertainments a few years ago. Laurie became an artist on two instruments, the ’cello and the cornet, and can hold an audience enthralled with either instrument. Sir Harry Lauder was charmed with his ability and modesty, and as he always likes his company to offer as refined a programme as possible he was engaged at once in Melbourne. His (Laurie’s) partner is that brilliant pianist, Miss Dorothy Mcßryde, formerly of Adelaide, and is Mrs. Laurie Kennedy in private life.

Opera Singer: “Do you know anything about the income tax?” American Composer: “You flatter me.”