THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1675, 15 February 1913, Page 9

THE THEATRE.

[Bi Sylvius.] The World's a theatre; the Earth a Btago.—Heywood. Return of the Follies. To-night the Concert Chamber of tho Town Hall will, for the.nonce, be turned into a hall of revels, for this evening that merry band of entertainers "The lollies" will commence their return season here. Wellington audiences know ijell what "The Follies" are capablo of, 60 it would be useless hero to repeat the good things that have been said about them. Opportunity, however, will be taken to .introduce a number of new novelties, and also to present Mr. J. R. Ferguson, a new member, for whom it is claimed that he is the possessor of a sweet and well-culti-vated tenor voice. . -

The History of Rag-time, According to Mr. James M. Glover, 'the pantomime conductor at Drury Lane, Miss Nellie Stewart paved tho way for the ragtime craze in London. Chatting the day after the latest production, "The Sleeping Beauty," on December 26; Mr. Glover said: "In a short time, no doubt, rag-time will be succeeded by some other craze. But as to the first introduction of tho fever into this country—the matter is not of. Imperial importance—Miss Nellie Stewart, the well-known Australian prima donna, did a rag-time drum solo in her Drury Lane pantomime engagement, now fourteen years ago. For a long time about the same period two artists, Griffin and Dubois, had an 'acf to the same irritating. syncopation. So there is history for you.

The pantomime to which Mr. Glover refers was '/The Forty Thieves." The Drury Lane engagement followed Miss Stewart's appearance at. the Shaftesbury Theatre, London, under Mr. George Musgrovc's management, in "Tho Scarlet Feather." The Australian actress learnt how to play the drum while she was in the'first Australian cast of "La ; Fille du ' Tambour Major." That was in 1881. Miss Stewart was the drummer-boy, Griolet, before she took over the principal part in the comic opera from Miss Pattie Laverne.

Black-Faced Minstrels Again. The surprise of the Christmas season in London, was the big Christy - Minstrel show at the' Palladium. It is over eight years, ago siu'co the last minstrel entertainment was given in London. In 1904. the combined forces of the Mohawk and Moore and Burgess Minstrels bade farewell to their, friends, and since that time there has been little or no effort to revive one of the most popular forms of entertainment. It has remained for. the management of the big music hall to attempt the task of restoring minstrelsv to favour. The Palladium Company Liltlo Thomas, the veteran e.vmember of .the Mohawks, who at 74 is still able to amusean audience.

One- who attended,the first night of tho revival, writes:''lt was a wonderful sight which met the eye when the curtain went up, and the huge stage of the Palladium was found to-be occupied by over lfK) black-faced artists placed in position on four terraces. Tho white collars andcuffs, and the scarlet coat of the interlocutor, relieved tho black cork, and tho effect was enhanced by the glitter of 40 banjos, Two chords from Mr. James Sale's orchestra—all the members of which were "blacked up'—and the company bowed in acknowledgment of the applause of tho crowded audience, Then the National Anthem was sung, _ and the house settled down to the enjoyment of as liberal a programme as has ever been-provided. There were old plantation ditties and new • ragtime numbers. One of the best song items was_ a lullaby,- 'Sleep,' for which a harmonised chorus was arranged. The second part of the programme was devoted to sketches nnd .'catches.' Threo very entertaining nigger farces were pre--scnted.".

"The Butterflies. ,r /The Butterflies," an English comedy costume company, is to tour Hiivr Zealand shortly. For the past twelve mouths they have been in South Africa. Of the company tho "Rand Daily Mail" says:— '■ ."The Butterflies" are'indeed raro speci-i mens, 'nnd such as we shall;'not sec perhaps: again, Jf ever. , Their entertainment surpasses anything seen like it before, for every member of- this' combination is artistic to tho.finger.tips, apart from which they are splendid musicians, and their numbers are original.

"What Price Us?" Mr. Bernard Shaw's latest objective is to induce audiences to retrain from interrupting by applause or laughter, except at the end of the play. > Ho'says they will thus get'out of the theatre half an hour earlier, that the interruptions are. disconcerting to the artists on the stage, that people look much nicer when they' smile than when they roar/with laughter, or shout excitedly,' or'.-sob—and other things, in. the .."customary"" manner of "G. 8.5." Ho seems, to forget that audi-" onces very often applaud, or laugh, .or cry to relievo their- feelings. • They -do not always havo the chance of retort offered to the denizen of tho gallery, who, when tho Shakespearean actor, declaimed' the familiar line of Clarence's dream: ''Oh', I have had a miserable night!" shouted in reply, "What price lis?" .''.■' "Bella Donna." "Bella Donna," a dramatisation of Robert Hichens's novel (by J. B. Fagan) is to be staged by tho Julius Knight Company nt Sydney this evening. The cast will be:—Dr. Meyer Isaacson; Mr. Julius Knightj,Nigel Amine, Mr. Martin Lewis; Mahand Baroudi, Mr. Hugh Buckler; Dr. Hartley, Mr. Arthur Greenaway; Sir HcnrY Grebe, Mr. Harry Halley; Ibrahim Ahmed, Mr. Loslie Victor; Hamra, Mr. J. Plumpton Wilson; Hassan Ben Achmed, Mr. Victor Tatnall; Monks, Mr. Charles Morse; Mrs. Chepston (afterwards Mrs. Armine), Miss Irene Browne; ■Mrs. Marchmont, Miss Grace Noble; Marie, Miss D-orothy Cumming.

High-Class Vaudeville. S«me star, -vaudeville artistes of tho first magnitude accompany Eickdrds's Vaudeville Company,, opening nt Auckland next week, including- Miss Nella Webb, the famous singer and danseuse, who has taken Sydney and Melbourne by storm; Signor Alberto. Marlni (late of the Quintan Grand Opera Company), a noted tenor singer; and Arnold Do Biore, the illusionist, who is described as "tho biggest thing in conjurers this country has seen." His show occupies an hour, and. employs twenty' assistants besides himself.

Everybody has heard of'La Fayette, the great illusionist, who was burned to death in a theatre fire in Edinburgh. His successor as a- wholesale producer of magic is Do Bicro. He is a yoking illusionist, but ho has already attained u high place as a worker of mysteries. He carries a large company of assistants, and a huge collection of scenery and plant. His assistants number twenty, and they havo been with him for many years. They are all paid good salaries, and loyally stick to tho illusionist, who has never had an employee attempt to sell his methods to any other producer of'magic. Mr. De Biere recruited them all over Europ:, and has Englishmen, Frenchmen, Germans, and Italians in his troupe. Mors than half of them do not appear on the stage at all, but are busy all the time with tho unseen properlies behind the curtains.

Notes, , Miss Ethel the run of "Tho Turning l'oint". at St. James's Theatro. having concluded—is to appear at the' Strand in a new piece by Miss Gladys Unger, cntitlod "Tho Son and Heir." The other leading part will bo played by Mr. Norman Trevor. "The Son and Heir," which is to be produced by Mr. Louis Meyer, presents a typical picture of English country life, and of an old English family divided against itself, its younger members rising in revolt aga'nst tho old-fashioned ideas and prejudices of their elders, i Miss Unger, it is said, has worked out her theme on original lines, and the development of tho story is described as entirely novel. "The Tide" at tho London Queen's Theatre, has now been deprived of its lost net by its author, Mr. Mncdonnld Hastings; and this alteration, it is said, has undoubtedly increased the chances' of success of the play. Miss Ethel Waiwick (who was in New Zealand with "Tho Cheat" Company) appears to have enhanced her reputation by her stronglynmotional performance in the leading role. Mr. Lowis Waller, junr., is now in tho cast