THE THEATRE

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 181, 20 April 1918, Page 11

THE THEATRE

(By Sylvius.)

The Original Fisks.

There was naturally only one original company ol' Ji'isk Jubilee Singers, and that was the one which tot out to lour tiio United States uml other countries to raise muney to liiiancu tho I'isk Uuivprsity for coloured people at Nashville, 'luimessee, on October C, 1871. 'i'diey liad their ups and downs in tho. States, their rights against colour end eroeii, but eventually they won out. A visit to Knjrland followed. Thevo they created a furore, but hard times struck that country towards tlio end of tho tour, so in October, 1877, they set out for Germany, via Holland, and i here they won fresh laurels, remaining in liunland for eight months. Tlio names of tlio pnrty ivlio toured England and Germany, and who may- be regarded r.s tho originals ah far as the outer world is concerned, were:—KUa Sheppard, Maggie JL Porter, I'atti J. llaUme, Georgia Gordon, Thomas Kutlinj;, Jj'rcitk. J. Londin, Jlabel Lewis, Jiinniu Tate, Ben. 'j£. Holmes, and Jsaac I'. ]Jickerson. Tho only memk-r of tlio original fciingfrs to visit New Zealand was li'rmlk. J. Loudin, still remembered as'one of the greatest basso voices we havo heard. He visited Now Zealand in tho late SO's or early !>o's, and with him, 1 Iwlieve, came BoLlo Gibboiw (of tho company which is to open at the Concert Chamber this evening), the two M'Adoos, K. B. Williams (now of Tauniftrnnui), and Hamilton Hodges (of Wellington). Later again the Singers returned under tho M'Adoo management, and still Inter another party was organised for Kew Zealand and Australia by Mr. Richard Collins, who .gained \m experienco under the M'Adoo regime. Tho I'-rst'jiarty to tour New Zealand havo never been approached in vocal quality or artistic resource. Their choral singing was a revelation of delicate sliadinp, .iperfect "declamation, and _ that vital spirit without which all 6inging is as Dfad Sea fruit. Of course the companies of coloured singers which have visited lliq colonies from time to tinu' many years now have no , connection' with tha Pisk University. They am simply profossionnl touring companie.s who medeo concett-giving Hicir living, so that much of the old fliiir born of "the slaves set free amr brotherhood of mankind"' idea, so closely associated with tho originals, has departed, and the performance is .simply a choral concert in.which is revived some of theqiw.int. old "jubilee" clioriises associated with the emancipation of tho, coloured race ia America.

Producing Plays. ; Mr. G. ■ A.. Highland may be said to hiiYO done wonders with "Katinka" con-' sideriiig thp disadvantages lio was under and tho material, human-and otherwise, that was. placed at his disposal, but for the art's , toko we hope- that J. C. Williamson,, Ltd., will restrict its producing to' Australia in tho future.' Tho public can realise what is meant when it ie slated that "Katinka" had to ho "faked ,, owing to tho disabilities of being without the staff and material essential to the proper staging of .a new musical comedy. The final sceno (third act), which should havo been tin elaborate Turkish interior, was ojio of the scenes we had in "The Pink Lady" last year; and the first act backcloth figured also in .' fiio, Red Widow." Personally I resented the cluster of tropic palms (first act) in- Russia and tho Turkish dancing girls lying round in tho street (Turkish streets are notoriously unsu.i-ta.blo as -reclining places). For theso reasons J. C. Williamson, Ltd., should not 'produce in Wellington. "Katinka," too, is worth a "production" of its own. It can scarcely fail to make big .money in Australia, tis the work is intrinsically worthy. Death of Debussy. The .''death, of. Claude Achille Debussy, news of which, .readied Australia some weeks ago, removing a French composer who has ' been Wore tho uublic for thirty-four years, and ull the time has shown us that music can talk beautifully and interestingly without talking German. .Gustave Ferrari, in his sketch of Debussy's.lite, states that ho was born in ISU2, and won [he Prix de Home at tho Paris.. Conservatoire in .1884 with his cantata' "L'Enfant Prodigue.". Tliie beautiful ~'.v(yrk-.\vns,introd-uced in ''Sydney by tl>o Quinlaii Opera Company, and. presented lew difficulties to (Hir audiences, who i-)ijoyed jt thoroughly. Tho "Prodigal Son" was however, more robust in 'character than his later composition, uf which "the licet known on this aide ie- the ureludo sympliouique "L'Apres-midi d'un I'flune," supplemented by half a. dozen piano numbers, which ore frequently .heard. . Besides incidental music to "King Lear," Debussy cum posed « gnyul o]>era upon Maeterlinck's "Pelleas et Molisando," . produced .at the Opera Comiquo in 1902, and later at Covent Garden and New York, much admired for ils originality, mystery, and "remoteness" of effect. The subject,- .vaptue, visionary, and indefinite, was wonderfully'suited to the composer's style, which depends much upon "atmosphere," and etill, remains for the most part too "precious" for everyday wear. Ernest Newmaoi once finely summed up -Dobu'ssy'e real achievements to be "his extension of our harmonic sense by which he ■ set melody free, teaching it to How into light and sinuous arabesques, and thereby bringing within tho range of musical expression states of..the soul hitherto ouitsido that range." A Maker of Noises. 1 Eogero, tho man who is a whole band in' himself, accompanies Miss Ada Reeve on her present tour. Ho would deceive the most, practised ear into- believing that a. banjo, guitar, or mandoline-, is playing when it is-only the emanations of his own resonant lips. His simulation of the notes of a cornet aro extremely good, but, it is his imitations of tho .different' noises motor-car's mnko under a, variety of conditions that causes the audience to scream with laughter* Ho makes Rood comedy out of tho most, commonplace- of street noises; indeed.' qne wonders wiry such an appealing lino of business has never been taken up by other mimics, for the response is so ready, as tho theme for mimicry is obvious. 'Rogero has tho old farmyard wheeze "beaten to a frazzle." . .

Laudcr-Chaplin Fllm. ; "I have xone into partnership with Harry Lander', but it isn't for profit," eays Charles Chaplin, in the course of a. personal letter to Afr. TV. Barrington Miller, of Sydney. Lander is at present in America, organising n million pounds war relief fund. Being desirous of enlisting Chaplin's aid the Scotsmen visited the screen star at his new studios at Hollywood, Los Angeles. It was there decided thnt the best method of helping tho fund along would be to produce-a film comedy with both-Laudor and Chaplin in it. "For two hours wo worked before the camera on an impromptu, story that tho staff drew up," writes the film comedian. "I had often laughed at Lander in London a few years ago. Lander cays ho has sometinips laughed at me since then;' but neither of us has met lior' worked toBi'llipr before. There is only one .scene in Iho picture tfo did, and throughout most of it, Lander wore. »iy make-up, while, I dnnced round in Ms kills. Bur, I know I'm not a Scotsman because T can't roll ray. Vs.' " The comedy will bo released in America as a special feature, from which .-£200,000 is the expeeled returned. The whole of this sum will go to Lander's war fund together with Ihe proceeds of tho sale of. 50,000 pictures of the two comedians taken to(jollier. Notes. In "The Woman Tlmu Giivcst Mo" (a dramatisation of Hall Caine.'s novol), al (lie .Sydney Opnrn House. Mr. Oeorgo Cross Ik Jlnrlin Conrad; Mr. John Cnsgrovo is Vnllior Dnn Donovan; Jfr. Chnrle.s Stanford is Daniel O'Neill; Miss ITelon ViM'pus is (ho Rev. Afother An-' seln; and Jliss Mary O'Neill is depicted by Miss Elsie. Prince. Mr. Cosgrovo is now dramatising the novel based on.the lifn of tho renegade Russian priest Rasputin, ii character whii-li offers tho ilrsimalinl another Svengali. Mr. 11. ll(i>)|KT. «f Wcllincloii, hiis received n loiter from Mr. ,la?k O'Sulli. van, louring uinnager for T'ldgar Warwick's "Court Cards," irxtinintiiiß that (he show was to open in IVnang (Straits Settlement) during the second woek of February, and Calcutta in Mnrob-April. The company bus already visifia tho Philippines, Jnpan, o.nd 'llong-Kuag.