THE THEATRE.

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2576, 25 September 1915, Page 9

THE THEATRE.

fßr Sylvius.] The- World's a .theatre; tho Earth a stage.—Heywood. "Ues Cloches" To-night. The melodies that glance and sparkle through Planquetto's tuneful opera "Les Cloches do Cornevillo" will not only 'bring back many fond memories of the theatre of a quarter of a century ago to older playgoers, but will come as a golden shaft of musical sunshine to those of the. younger generation who have never had the opportunity of hearing this fine work. "Les- Cloches do Corneville" has had a marvellous record. So far as is known, it has nover yet been a financial failuro with either professional or amateur companies, and one cannot contemplate failure in the case of the Wellington Amateur Operatic Society, whoso patriotic season of seven nights commences at the Grand Opera House this evening. Not only is this opera bright in action and fascinatingly melodious, but it has a won-derful-dramatic climax. It will be remembered that in the days of political strife the Marquis has been-forced to fly from Normandy -with his father. The latter has entrusted his estates to : one Gaspard, who, as the rents steadily grow into bags of gold, becomes obsessed that all the wealth is his, though ho ouly gloats over it, and does not spend the money. So mean and grasping is he that he almost starves his .wards, Germaine and Serpolette, one the daughter of one in whose veins flows blood as bluo as that of the -Marquis, whilst the other is a nameless baggage. Germaine fancies herself attached. to Grenicheux, who is' alleged to have saved her from drowning when a youth, but Grenicheux did nothing of the kind, though he takes the honour and glory of it all. It was the Marquis who saved the girl, and having dragged -her ,from the water placed her. in Grenicheux's arms. So when after many years the young' Marquis returns to claim his own, he sees and falls in love with Germaine, who returns the compliment. 'He' proposes to visit his old chateau, but is told that it is haunted. Laughing at such a suggestion, he and his .men visit the place at night, and there' find that the ghost is' hone other than old Gaspard, bent on fooling the villagers away from the place where lie secrotes his gold. The discovery forms the dramatic climax of the play, and papers found in the chateau reveal! tho true identity of Germaine, whom the Marquis marries, leaving the sneak Grenicheux to find consolation with the gay and giddy Serpolette. It is not given for every comic opera to have so good a plot, and its unravelling accentuates the interest throughout. With Mr. Tom Pollard as producer and Mr.' B. F. Page as conductor, the performance should be a highly interesting one. ' ' . ' -

For the-Fuller Circuit, A largo number of vaudeville artists have recently .arrived in Sydney under contract to the Fuller .Circuit: Most of these were engaged in America by the Arm's representative,. Mr; Roy Murphy, and include Bollinger and lleynolds,- wire-walkers, Kipp and' Kippj', .comedy jugglers; Miss Anita Primrose, ■character comedienne; .George Fredo, '"■l'he Happy Hollander"; Herbert Brooks, au illusionist, who is known ui America, as' the - 20,000 dollar mystery, man; Alsace and Lorraine, musical act; Morris and Meeker, patter comedians ; and Les Teordorwitz, Danish trapeze artists. Another notable engagement made by the Fullers is that of Miss .Eugenie Boland, a Queensland concert contralto, who has achieved a considerable. reputation' in England and Amer : ica. AH'these artists are at present appearing at the National ■ Amphitheatres, Sydneyand _ will be seen j{i due course at His Majesty's ■ Theatre, Wellington. A New Zealander in New York. ; Mr. E. Pirie Bush, sou of Mr.'Thomas Bush, of Wellington, and a very bright young actor, who journeyed to New York with. Mr. .and Mrs; Fred. Niblo, writes most entertainingly from, New l"ork. With the exuberance of youth he writes:— , "I am :having the time of : my young life here. : I. have , been to all the open-

ings'and have enjoyed them all. Fred (Niblo) is working hard with his new piece. It is called 'Hit-the-trail Holliclay.' It is a 'type' play, and ,is a soream. Fred is a reformed bar tender, and is excellent as only he can be. A few of the shows I have seen are 'Under Fire,' 'Boomerang,' 'Search Me,' "The Girl who Smiles,' 'The Blue Paradise,' 'Some Baby,' 'Mr. Myd's Mystery, 1 'Twin Bods,' 'It Pays to Advertise,' and 'The Passing Show of, 1915.' 'Search Me' was, I thought,, very good, but it only ran two weeks. Fred Graham, who was in-New Zealand with the Fullers, made a big hit as a fussy old man. It was a charming performance, and all the critics compared him to Cyril Maude in ,'Grumpy,' so. you can imagine the performance he put up—yet it closed down after two weeks.. 'Under Fire'• is a very good war. drama, absolutely pro-Allies, so much so that , slips are put in tlte programmes asking tho audience to re-, frain from any demonstration. 'Boomerang' is a delightful comedy bv .Win-' chell Smith, who wrote "lie Fortune Hunter.' I wish you could see the Belasco Theatre, where it is being played. No orchestra, and at 8.30 a goiig sounds and the lights' fade away. Then the stage lights, up. You don't see' the curtain rise. There are no footlights. All lighting is from above—it is wonderful! And everyone is so quiet. Acting! Why there. is no such' thing • everyone is natural. It's an education to see a show like : it. The only shows with' orchestras are the musical comedies, and they are very punk (poor). Australia can walk all over their musical shows. 'Twin- Beds' is very funny and well played. 'It Pays to Advertise' is very good, but is a hash up of other comedies. Met Andrew MacJt at tho Lambs' Club, looking the same jovial Irishman of yore. The Lambs is a grand club. The old premises .ire now being torn down ,to make way for a new structure. At present Broadway is a seething mass •of out-of-work actors and in-work lab-' ourers. It is all being torn up in order to put down another subway. At night it is a picture, with its thousands of electric signs, the theatres pouring out their throngs of people, motors dashing round, and newsboys yelling all night. Phew I It takes one's breath away. No one seems to go to bed here, and, a marvellous thing, you hardly ever see a drunken man. I could count all the drunks I have seen on the fingers of one hand; yet, believe me, it is not a wowser town by any means-'

Notes. Stirring battle scenes, dancing barej foot nymphs, and the of anI cient Greece, filmed with the aid of a host of professional "movie" actors and hundreds of supernumeraries, ftll go to make up the gorgeous sptftticlo of the second big Frederic Shipman feature "Damon and Pythias." Hie picture-drama, of course, tolls the famous Greek story of the greatest_ friendship in the history of mankind, on which the Order of the Knights of Pythias was founded. It is to be given its. first Australasian presentation at the Melbourne Auditorium on October 2.