THEATRICAL GOSSIP.

Evening Star, Issue 3502, 14 May 1874, Page 2

THEATRICAL GOSSIP.

The silence I have been forced to preserve for some weeks past has resulted in the accumulation of such a quantity of matter bv the mail and otherwise, that I am unable to wade through it aIL In this comihunication I will endeavor to inform ray readers of what is going on in this and other Colonies, reserving English gossip until the end of the week, ' Beginning at home I have to mention that the Siamese Troupe and Circus, which have been performing at the Princess’s, start on Tuesday, under the management of Mr G. W. Geddes, on a tour of the Colony. The two troupes, which will appear in conjunction, travel overland to Christchurch, reaching there in about a fortnight hence. The ■Siamese return at the end of the week from Invercargill, where they have been playing to very good bouses. In connection with the Queen’s I may mention that Mr 0 Bri£n went to Melbourne by the last steamer to engage a company for this house. It is to be noped that Mr O’Brien, backed up as' ho is by the support of the Friendly Societies directory, will be successful in inducing a strong company to come over with hunj for it cannot be denied that matters at the Queen’s have not been over bright of late, and that there was urgent need for clearing off some of the people who have been performing there . I referred not long since to the fact that that clever little body Rosa Towers was about to proceed to Australia under engagement. She will, if my informstion is correct, play a short engagement at Invercargill before quitting New Zealand, and the good people there will have an opportunity of seeing this gifted little actress to advantage, especially in the drainas of “Grif*' and “ A Waif of the Streets.” In both of these pieces the characters allotted to her are carried out in a truly natural and unaffected manner—so natural, indeed, as. to make one wonder that so young a lady could be gifted with so much natural ability. I have seen in my time all the so-called juvenilo actresses that we have had in the Colonies, and I can only repeat what I have said before,-that this young lady outshines them all in real and unstudied acting. It is not merely the delivery of so' many words that make an actress. It is the facial expression by which each gesture is acoompamed and impressed upon an audience, and it is m this particular that Miss .Rosa Towers makes her hit. I wish her ever? 8 ° thereide > feeli °8 assured that she will become a great favorite with the Australian play-gomg public. Aliens Opera Company has begun its aneif ln - 9 h ” B , tch uvch, with ho appearance of diminished houses. I am glad to ratht? B 7a am n S athis i )oat a ßa>n. after his rather severe illness. From the wrival «(

tfce company in Christchurch untill within a week since he was ill with quinsy. On the opening, and for many succeeding nights, Mr Vernon had to take his place. Mr Hallam had so far recovered en the Ist May as to be able to appear in his favorite character of Thadcleus, and was heartily welcomed. Miss May has been unfortunate, as 1 read of her meeting with an accident, and having to limp through an opera one evening. Not only have these untoward circumstances prevented the Christchurch season from being so pleasant as it has been profitable, but Mr Allen has found himself under the necessity of apearing in Court, and nearly suffered a forced detention in the City Plains in consequence. It appears that some chevalier d’industrie, rejoicing in the name of Nasmith, found bis way into Mrs Allen’s room one evening while that , wa3 fit the theatre, and abstracted therefrom a quantity of jewellery and wearing apparel, which were valued at over LSO. Being a case of larceny of goods valued at uiore than LlO, the Bench had no alternative but to commit the prisoner for trial, which meant that Mr Allen must return to Christchurch to prosecute, or be detained therein. In vain did Mr Allen point out that the adoption of either course would involve him in a loss of over a LI,000; but at length • the police saw a way out of the difficulty. They prosecuted the man for the theft of some things of less value, and to this charge he pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. The more serious charge the Bench took upon themselves to dismiss, “ purely out of consideration for the Opera Comaa ,^ e newspaper reports tell us, and Mr Allen left the Court rejoicing. Apropos ot the company, I am told it is not improbable we may hear it again in Dunedin be*or® |ong, vbut lam sceptical on the point myself. The Steele-Keogh Company continues to do very good business at Wellington. They have been putting on the stage some new Comedies, one of which—“ Broken Ties,’’ by Palgrave Simpson (played in Christchurch for the first time for Mr Geddea’s benefit)—was the success a well-written and well-acted piece deserved to be. This company intend to leave Wellington for Dunedin about the end of this month. The managers have, I see, a libel action on their hands. On the sih instant, the ‘Tribune’ noticed the performances of the company in these terms:— We congratulate the present dramatic company performing at the Theatre Royal on their success, but we deplore the depraved tastes of that section of the community which bestows such patronage on this motley company. Of all knocked-kneed, dingle-dangle performances, we never hefpre witnessed the equal of last night’s, and how_ enlightened people can look on and tflleratp it we are at oqr wit’s epd tp imagine. With two exceptions, the company are the greatest lot of muffs that ever walked a stage, and to-night we aie promised the production of Hamlet, and the role of the hero is to be personated by one who does very well in the highfalutin tall talk Yankee style, but as to having any pretensions to histrionic ability, the thing is the merest delusion. The worst feature is that a whole lot ef larrikins are there posted up in the mysteries of rowdyism and drunkenness,fthe only species of performance in winch ma j£ layers appear to 1)6 thoroughly up to the In the ‘ Independent,’ next morning, ap peared the following indignant reply from the pen of Mrs Douglas (Miss Docey Mainwaring Last evening my attention was drawn to a paragraph in the ‘ Tribune’ of that date, in the company at present performing at the Theatre Royal are condemned in no measured terms. That the remarks therein are scurrilous, and not only calculated, but intended to injure the managers and company, there cannot he a doubt. As one of the corps dramatique, I protest against being classed with •nr company whose speciality is “rowdyism and drunkenness.” Sir, I trust you will give a iAay this opportunity of taking herpart against an opponent (not only of herself, but of the dramatic company in general) who shelters himself behind the sacred incog.” his temporary association with the Press gives him. Ami that night the * Tribune ’ acknowledged the receipt of a lawyer’s letter, calling upon the proprietor for an apology, which demand the paper answered thus : Y’e decline to apologise for what was a oona fide criticism of a performance which the public were interested in knowing the merits or demerits of. We are not aware of having madC' a single statement which cannot be fully sustained, but if any inaccuracy in matters of fact can be pointed out to us, we will he willing to correct it, and Messrs Steele and Keogh may tides that as our answer. The Stephenson-Collier Company has returned to Auckland, after doing a week’s good business at the Thames. Miss Jenny Claus was delighting the Aucklanders at the date «f my last advices from there; and I see by the local papers that Signor Biscacemati was to give a “ grand musical festival ” on the 7th, when his forces would be assisted by those of the Choral Society, under the leadership of Captain the Don. Seymour Egerten, a distinguished amateur violinist, and formerly one of the “ Wandering Minstrels ”of English celebrity. Miss Claus has not, however, met with the success in Auckland her talepts deserved The J£enpedy Family were to appear in Auckland on the xith. Prompter.