"G.B.S." IN OPERA.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 922, 15 September 1910, Page 5

"G. 8.5." IN OPERA.

" "THE CHOCOLATE' SOLDIER" FOR : ■■.■;• ":; , ; ,;,'■'-/- : . By Teleffrapa—Press Association—OopjTiirnt. 1 ■':•London, September 13;' . 'Sir Rupert -Clarke : and•; j\lr. . Clyde Meynell have arranged to produce '"The Chocolate Soldier" in Australia,' and have engaged Miss Ethel Irving, who will lw' supported by, a; London' company.' The piece will be' produced in: Australia next year.'- "'..■ ■-•. ••■'/.'"■ •'.' ''..'

'-.'"'The Chocolate Soldier" is an operatic 'version of, Geo: Bernard' Shaw's, quaint, play/ "Arms and the Man," composed by Richard Strauss, of :• "Waltz Dream 1 ' fame, with: the libretto by • Stanislaus Strange. The play, one of the: queerest for. operatic,purposes, was recently. , produced- by Mr. ; Julius Knight in Sydney, when that : popular:actor played the part of the Chocolate Soldier, a brutally plain and blunt soldier of the utilitarian order, whose manners and actions-are thrown into the strongest contrast with those of, tho '.handsome gold-laced, "picturesque officer -of a certain class, of novel, who, whole posing as" a leader and a hero, is, when sifted out, proved to be a shallow fool, whose ignorance '". of the. elements of. military-knowledge are exposed by the rough'soldier, .who carries chocolato in' his pouch instead of ammunition, on the principle'that it is nobler to preserve, himself, from starvation than. to.: shoot down others. '.; What is sure to please playgoers is the announcement, that Miss Ethel-Irving .Aas been engaged to appear in the opera. She is a talented actress and singer of the highest, repute. Tho daughter of Joseph Irving, an actor,,-she made her first appearance as a dancer in "The Red Hussar"- in 1888, and has made several tours jbf England, America, and some years ago paid a visit to Australia. She has made conspicuous successes in "Sah-Toy,' r "The Girl from Kay's," "The Way of the World" (comedy), "Lucky Miss Dean," .and "Lady, Frederic" (Somerset Maugh-. an's comedy, to be produced in New-Zea-land next month by the ; Plimmer-Rey-npld's Dramatic Company) v :