TOWN HALL.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Issue 1522, 26 June 1919, Page 32

TOWN HALL.

\ THE TE KOAS.

SOLDIER ENTERTAINERS

A unique entertainment will be given in the Town Hall Concert Chamber for a short season commencing July 2, when a party of returned soldiers, under Mr. Owen Pritchard’s direction, will be seen in one of their popular concerts which did so much to lighten the tension for the boys at the French front. All the performers have been in actual fighting and were retained at the base owing to wounds or other disabilities. They gave their first show at the Salvation Army Hut at Etaples, and had a great reception. General BadenPowell, before whom they appeared, warmly complimented Mr. Pritchard on his company, and said it was one of the best shows he had seen in France. The party had many narrow escapes. On one occasion, in May of last year, a bomb burst on a hut in which they had been playing only a quarter of an hour before, and they had to fly for their lives. Returning to New Zealand after the signing of the armistice, they gave a series of entertainments on board

which relieved the monotony considerably, and are still in happy cooperation with a view of showing to people out here the class of entertainment that served to brighten the lives of the “diggers.” Mr. Pritchard has been actively rehearsing his “merry men” for the past several weeks, and the result promises to be something unusual. There are some excellent voices among the performers, while their many-sided talents are being effectively combined. There should certainly be a good rally for the “Te Koas.”

Mr. and Mrs. Ben Fuller and family, of Sydney, were among the passengers to arrive at Auckland by the Manuka. They are proceeding to America by the Niagara, Mr. Fuller being on the warpath for the best that the world can offer in the way of star attractions for the many Fuller activities.

A London message states that Miss Madge Titheradge (daughter of the late G. S. Titheradge) has obtained a divorce. The case was not defended. Miss Titheradge came out to Australia with Louis Waller’s Company in 1913, playing in “The Butterfly on the Wheel.”

Mr. Harry Dearth, the famous English baritone, will be the next attraction Messrs. J. and N. Tait are sending over to New Zealand —strikes and influenza permitting.

Miss Sylvia Breamer (it used to be spelt without an “a”), who appeared in several dramatic productions for J. C Williamson, Ltd., before she became a motion picture star in Los Angeles, has been granted a divorce from her husband, E. W. Morrison.

At St. Anne’s, Soho, Eng., the Bishop of Willesden dedicated the war-shrine of the Actors’ Church Union. It bears the names of about 260 members of the profession who have fallen in the war. The Lessons were read by Mr. Ben Greet and Mr. F. Llewellyn.

Regarding the intentions of J. C. Williamson, Limited, as far as attractions for the Dominion are concerned, Mr. Bert Royle stated last week that all previous arrangements had been cancelled, and that he really did not know what the next company would be — opera, musical comedy, drama oi' pantomime. As the mails were so irregular, he did not know what the firm had in mind, but he had no doubt that as soon as the regular steamer traffic was resumed New Zealand would receive its full share of companies.

• The death is announced by cable from London of Miss Mary Law, the well-known violinist. She was the wife of Mr. H. S. Kingdon, of the African Realty Trust, London.

Mr. Harry Tate, the English comedian, has appeared on the stage of the London Hippodrome over three thousand times.

The King and Queen visited the Globe Theatre, London, and received Miss Marie Lohr after the second act of “Victory.”

Music helps drama to live. Go through the list of operas and see how many plays, even successful ones, have been saved from total oblivion because great composers set them to music, says New York “Musical Courier.”

Mr. W. G. Sutton, manager of the Crystal Palace Theatre, Christchurch, has received advice that Miss Florence Scapini, the young Christchurch violinist, accompanied by her mother, has arrived in New York, and Miss Scapini has been accepted as a pupil of Professor Auer, the well-known virtuoso.

Miss Bathie Howie-Stewart (Mrs. Crofton Umbers), the clever little soubrette who made distinct hits in amateur operatic work in Dunedin and Wellington, has accepted an engagement to tour for the N.Z. Picture Supplies.