FOOTLIGHT FLASHES

Evening Star, Issue 19782, 4 February 1928, Page 16

FOOTLIGHT FLASHES

[By LHITERER.]

The announcement that Georgpa Wallace, with his revue company, is to appear at the Princess Theatre on Monday, February 13, for a short farewell season prior to his departure for Australia, and then for foreign lands will he warmly welcomed by theatregoers. The genial comedian is an absolute master of burlesque. Ho will have concluded a record season of seven weeks at Fullers’ New Opera-house, Christchurch.

Mr Eric Masters, producer of Fullers’ Follies, has been inundated by admirers of this popular company with requests for their favorite items for the last week, and this afternoon presented one of the best entertainments seen at the Princess for a very long time. During his recent stay in Dunedin Sir Benjamin Fuller made _ preliminary arrangements for the opening in Dunedin, late in February, of the New Zealand tour of W. Graeme-Holder, the English dramatist and actor, in his extraordinary play ‘Suspense,’ which is now in the second year of its run. Mr Graeme-Holder will be supported by a strong representative company, comprising English, Australian, and New Zealand artists, and including Frank Calnon, one of the world’s leading portrayers of oriental character. ‘ Suspense,’ which is now in course of publication in novel form, is not, as its title might suggest, one of the numerous bread of “ risque ” farces, but is an exceptionally clever and exciting mystery, with fast action, tense situations, and an extraordinary atmosphere. Graeme-Holder is one of the newer school of dramatists, the successful author of ‘ The Riddle of the Sphinx,’ ‘ The Adventurer,’ and other equally well-known plays, and is a distinguished actor. Following his New Zealand tour Mr Graeme-Holder will tour Australia and the East.

Sir John Martin-Harvey, Seymour Hicks, and Sybil Thorndike are three of England’s stage celebrities who are preparing for overseas tours.

Ignace Paderewski began his American tour in Hew Rochelle on January 3.

During 1927—from February to December—more than 300 concerts were held in Sydney. Geraldine Farrar and Ignaz Friedman appeared as soloists with the New York Symphony Orchestra recently. la his recent American tour John M‘Cormack was supported by the Australian musicians Laud Kennedy (’cellist) and Dorothy Kennedy (pianist). Jennie Hartley, well remembered here with Fullers, is appearing as principal boy in the pantomime 1 Aladdin ’ at Newcastle, England. Two New Zealanders—Miss Kiore King and Mr Richard Webster, both from Hawke’s Bay—are with the Moscovitch Dramatic Company. Pat Hanna’s Diggers, including Joe iValli and Stan Lawson, continue to do excellent business at the open-air Garden Theatre in Adelaide. When ‘ A Cuckoo in the Nest ’ has run its course in Sydney it will be succeeded by ‘ Thark,’ another comedy by Ren Travers. Ten months ago Audrey Lewis was a ballet girl; to-day she is leading lady in ‘The Film Girl’ in Sydney. And she is not yet seventeen years of age. Mr Fred Staig is hack in New Zealand with the ‘ Globe of Death ’ and other enterprises for amusing and thrilling seekers of entertainment. Maud Courtney and Mr C are still getting good and consistent bookings around provincial England. Among the New Zealanders holding up their end on the English stage are Marie Ney, Cecil Haines, Shayle Gardner, Isabel Wilford, Robert Geddes, and Jack Kirby. Mr Frank Harvey, for so long a great favorite in Australia and New Zealand in drama and coniedy, continues to get small parts in London productions. Recently ho appeared in the Jewish Drama League’s production of ‘Uriel Acesta.’

A repertory theatre, which plans to produce a programme of fine plays, will probably be formed in Christchurch early this year. The venture will be supported by the Rotary Club. The repertory movement was begun by Professor J. Shelley, of Canterbury College, when he formed the Little Theatre, whose three productions to date have been very successful. * , Mr Allan Wilkie’s Shakespearean season in Hobart was not very well uatronise'd. The Minneapolis Orchestra (U.S.A.) costs something to run. The sum of £35,000 per annum is guaranteed, principally by the Minneapolis Civic and Commercial Association, for a period of three years. Of this amount the salary of the conductor, Mr Henri Verbrugghen, who was in New Zealand with the New South Wales State Orchestra, absorbs £6,000 per annum. The following is the complete list of operas to he presented by Fullers’ Grand Opera Company:—‘ 11 Trovatore (Verdi), ‘ Rigoletto ’ (Verdi), ‘Carmen’ (Bizet), ‘Mignon’ (Thomas). ■‘Fra Diavolo’ (Auber), Martha (Flotow), ‘ Trayiata ’ (Verdi), ‘ Nonna ’ (Bellini), Tannhanser (Wagner), ‘Lohengrin’ (Wagner), ‘ Ballo un Maschera r (Verdi), Lucia di Lammermoor ’ (Donizetti), Faust (Gounod), ‘La Gioconda’ (Ponchielh), ‘Barber of Seville’ (Rosim), Ernani’ (Verdi), ‘La Favonta’ (Donizetti), ‘ Cavalleria Rusticana’ (Mascagni), ‘I Pagliacci’ (Leoncavallo ‘Manon’ (Massenet), Lucretia Borgia ’ (Donizetti), ‘ Mefistofele ’ (Boito). ‘ Puritani ’ (Bellini), and ‘ Ebrea ( Alevy). The company will tour New Zealand at the conclusion of the Melbourne and Sydney seasons. Some interesting plays have been chosen for production in Australia ana New Zealand by Sir George Tallis, managing director of J. C. Williamson, Limited. They include the two latest Frederick Lonsdale comedies, The High Road ’ and ‘On Approval ; The Letter,’ by Somerset Maugham, played by the Vanbrugh-Boucicault Company in Melbourne; ‘lnterference, Sir GeraW du Manner’s success, from the bt. James Theatre, London; The Silent House,’ from the Comedy Theatre; ‘The Happy Husband,’ by _Harrison Owen, the Australian, ournalist; Ine Squall,’ and ‘The Night Stick.’ Miss Margaret Bannerman and an Englisn - company will open in Somerset Maugplay, ‘Our Betters,’ m Melbourne in March. In this play Miss Bannerman appeared for more than two at tho Queen’s Theatre, London, (West Melbourne), an old play goer, writes to the ‘Argus’ that . Allan Wilkie’s production of Alls •Well That Ends Well,’ at the Theatre Royal, Hobart, on December 31, 1927, was not the first in Australia. The first performance of the comedy was at the Theatre Royal, Ballarat, on May 23, 1864. Actors and actresses well known at that time were m the cast-Henry Edwards, Walter Hill, Stoneham, 6. Collier, J. B. Creswick, Bellfield, Stanley, C. Wilson, Mrs ' Walter Hill, Mrs Stoneham, Miss Sheppard, Miss Allen, and Miss Stan--18 The part of Dr Wallace in Avery Hopwood’s farce comedy The Alarm Clock’ brings Reginald Kenneth back io the Melbourne stage. I do not remember having seen him in a play 111 the last thirteen years (says an Ar- '• pig’ writer). Coming to Australia in *907, Mr Kenneth appeared in a popular musical comedy of that time, ‘ The ' Blue Moon.’ Amy and Dulcie Murphy, Pat, Bathurst, and Victor, Gouriet were

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some of the principals. In England Mr Kenneth had sung baritone parts in Gaiety pieces, and he continued in musical roles till his singing voice suddenly failed him. Some years ago he took up farming in Western Australia, and he is proud of successes at the Perth Royal Show with his Tamworth pigs. “ One thing farming did for me,” he says, “was that because of plenty of open-air work I never grew fat.” During January Miss Madge MTntosh arrived in Sydney, . mainly _ in order to enjoy a period of sustained sunshine, and thus incidentally miss England’s colorable imitation of an Arctic winter. This dramatic celebrity was last there in 1912, when ‘ The Blue Bird’ was exquisitely staged with all the details of the Haymarket_ production down to the pigeons, which were carried on board with most of the original cast. Miss M'lntosh as Night, and Ernest Hendrie as Tylo the Dog will be remembered (says the ‘Sydney Morning Herald ’). However, the main body of playgoers will recall even more vivMly her earlier visit in 1907, by reason of her triumphs as Fedora, Camille, and Kate Hardcastle in strong casts, which included Messrs Harcourfc Beatty and Gaston Mervalo. Mr Beatty played a heroic part throughout the full length of the Great War, his arm being saved only by an almost miraculous effort of skilful surgery.- 'The newly-returned visitor was in leading characters up to the time she sailed on her present visit. Her last role was in Noel Coward’s ‘The Queen Was in the Parlor’ at the Brixton Theatre.

Interesting particulars of the grand opera season arranged by Sir Benjamin Fuller and Mr John Fuller, to begin in Australia in March, are added to those already published. Of the singers this information is given:— Margherita Flor, of Dutch origin, studied in Milan. She has sung the principal roles lately at the Costanzi, in Rome; the San Carlos, m Naples; and the Massimo, in Palermo; and in June she appeared in the title role of ‘ Turandot ’ in the Trieste production. Signorina Silvestri, a dramatic soprano, completed her studies at •the Consorvatorium of Pesaro, under the direction of Mascagni. Signorina Algozzino will bo Carmen, a role she is reported to have played with success in various Italian opera houses. Signorina Poletti made her operatic debut in Milan at the Teatro Lirice in 1919 as Gilda in ‘Rigoletto,’ with Bonci as the Duke and Badini in the title role. She is said to be one of the leading exponents of Violetta in ‘La Traviata’ in Italy. Signor Arota,* leading tenor, is stated to be also a line actor. Recently he completed an operatic tour in France, Spain, and Germany. Signor Vanucci is said to have won success not only in Italy, but in Austria and Roumania. Signor A. Tamburini is a leading tenor, and Signoras Pfrimmer, N. Algozino, and A. Mazza are mezzo-sopranos. Signor Izal, chief baritone, was born in Buenos Aires. _ He studied in Milan. Signor Federici is a hari. tone, and Signors C. Zarabelli and A. Alfievi are basses.

Cyril Maude has written his memoirs. They are pleasant amblings—the sort of amiable, aristocratic cliatter _ one would expect from the suave Cyril.. It is odd the things that a man of wide travels remembers about the countries he has visited. Cyril, for instance, remembers Melbourne as the place where he received the most anonymous letters in the world, and Sydney as the seit o; a great and disrupting tramwn trike (,he was playing there in 1917), and he says; “1 must have increased the boot trade, because all my audience had to walk to the theatre.” He gives Ins late wife, Winifred Emery, the credit for being the best actress of her day, which is generally corroborated by English playgoers. He married again a lew months ago. The people who sit in front and watch a Fuller pantomime like ‘ Robinson Crusoe ’ give little thought to the labor entailed in the production of the show (says Melbourne ‘Table Talk’). However small a part it lias in the pantomime, the same attention has to be devoted to the most unimportant detail. In ‘ Robinson Crusoe ’ there is a wonderful ship scene 45ft high and 80ft round from one side of the stage to the other, and this is only one of the many fine scenes. Then there are numerous back cloths measuring 36ft x 24ft, which are only seen for a few seconds, and these two items cost much money and are magnificent specimens of stagecraft. One can only give an approximate idea of the quantity of canvas used in the production, for it amounts to thousands of yards. More than a mile of timber was used, and there are 280 costumes for the eighteen scenes. There are about 2,000 electric lamps used in the show, and the properties handled through the pantomime number no less than 220.

Before leaving Sydney for Honolulu Dame Nellie Melba, who passed through Auckland on the Niagara a fortnight ago, attended a performance of ‘ The Girl Friend ’ at His Majesty’s Theatre, Sydney. After the performance she went round to Annie Croft’s dressing room to compliment the star, and handed her a beautiful bouquet. Melba was in raptures about Miss Croft’s work, and the London star admits that it was the realisation of all her girlhood dreams when Melba stood in her dressing room and greeted her so charmingly. Melba told the management that she considered Miss Croft a sweet singer with a charming voice—and it would bo a wise thing to'keep her in Australia for good,? According to Leon Gordon, who is appearing in ‘ The Trial of Mary Dugan ’ in Sydney, it is easy to write a play. Mr Gordon, who is the author of ‘ White Cargo ’ and several other plays, and is reputed to have drawn over a million dollars in royalties, said that he had never , found it difficult to write a play., “When I was fourteen years old,” he said, “I began my career as a writer. I wrote a little story for ‘The Butterfly,’ a magazine published in London. I received 2gs for my story. I have been writing ever since, dramas and stories. I do not use a pencil or typewriter.” he added. “ I have found that tho nest and puickest way is to dictate.”

Mrs Patrick Campbell, whose reputation still keeps her soaring among the great figure of the English stage, has confessed that she went on the boards greatly to tho horror of her maiden aunts. She further admitted in a speech at a dinner the other night that she played the leading lady in a provincial company for a salary of £2 10s a week, and when she was in ‘ The Black Domnio ’ at the London Adelphi on a salary of £8 the play was so slapped by the critics that she received a fortnight’s notice. At this period Mrs George Alexander noticed her work, and mentioned the actress to her husband, whereat she was engaged to do Paula Tanqueray in the premiere of that famous play for £ls a week. Her success was so enormous that the gratified manager doubled her pay 1 , an almost unprecedented happening in the ’nineties. That first niglit of ‘Tanqueray ’ is still remembered by old Lon-

don theatregoers. The piece aroused extraordinary enthusiasm, though the leading lady did not participate in it. Unaware that she had become a great figure in an evening, she left the stage after the final curtain, doffed the clothes and grease paint of Paula, and went home.

New York gave its most picturesque contralto, Mme Ernestine Schumann 1 Heink, sixty-six-year-old veteran of the concert stage, an affectionate farewell at Carnegie Hall recently. The voice, which began thrilling Americans back in 1898, was never more applauded. Carnegie Hall, with a seating capacity of 4,000, had an extra 1,000 standing. People sat on the platform and stood in the parquet, dress circle, and balcony. There were official testimonials, flowers, speeches, and a great many lumps in the throat. The plump little mother sang out, for it marked her farewell concert appearance in the city. This was the twenty-fifth appearance of the singer in a seventy-five engagement 44,000-milo concert tour, which began on October 5 in Sioux City and will extend until the middle of May throughout the United States. She will conduct a master class in singing for five weeks in Kansas City in the middle of March. In June and Ju|y she will attend the principal music festivals in Europe, after which she intends to return to America and devote the rest of her life to teaching and establishing community opera companies in American cities which have hitherto not been able to afford opera. Mine Schumann-Heink made her American debut in Chicago on Novemebr 8,1898, in the part of Ortrud in ‘Lohengrin.’ Maurice Moscovitoh invested some £15,000 in the Australian Commonwealth Loan. This represented almost the whole of his earnings in Australia. This, he mentioned in a speech at his farewell performance in Sydney, was a small recognition of what they had done for him, and his business instincts told him the investment was a sound one! Lilian Davies has been offered a record salary for an English musical comedy artist to visit Australia and play the lead in ‘ Desert Song ’ and ‘The Vagabond King.’ Mr E. J. Tait said that the Sydney office of J. C. Williamson, Ltd., has not yet received confirmation of the engagement of Miss Davies., Negotiations had been proceeding for some time. He was unable to discuss the salary. Miss Davies is regarded as having one of the best musical comedy voices in England. It is a significant fact that Turaiidot,’ Puccini’s last opera, which is announced as the opening production of the J. C. Williamson-Dame Nellie Melba grand opera season, was chosen to open the present season at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. The spectacular character _of this opera makes it possess a special appeal, even for those who are not really opera lovers. The second act, where Princes* Turandot propounds the three riddles to the unknown Calif as she stands upon the steps of the throne, is dazzling in its splendor, and calls for the most elaborate and spectacular treatment, making a stage sotting never before seen on such a scale in grand opera. In ‘ Turandot ’ the principal roles will be played by Aoranghi Lombardi (soprano) and Francesco Merli (tenor), who will make their first appearance in Australia in the loles created by them at La-Seala, Milan, and at Covent Garden, London.

SGOEENLAND JOTTINGS

• ‘ Wings,’ epic picture of the wartime flying men, was more than two years in the making. ‘La Boheme,’ loved wherever opera is sung, is now a motion picture. The tragic story of Mimi, tho little seamstress of the Latin Quarter, and her poet lover, has been translated to ine screen under the direction of King Vidor for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Miss Lillian Gish and John Gilbert play tho starring roles, and Miss Renee Adoree, Roy D’Arcy, Karl Dane, and Edward Everett Horton have important roles. Paul M'Allistcr, well-known character actor, will play the part of tho Rabbi in the Paramount film production of ‘ Abie’s Irish Rose,’ made from Anne Nichols’s famous stage success. Charles Rogers, Nancy Carroll, Ida Kramer, and Bernard Gorcey head the cast, and Victor Fleming is directing. Norman Kerry and Miss Pauline Stark will be the featured players in ‘ Fallen Angels,’ which has gone into production at Universal City. Ward Crane is also cast in this feature, which Edward Laemmle will direct. Lionel Barrymore will be prominent in two United Artists’ forthcoming productions. He is the Alfred Davidson of Gloria Swanson’s 1 Sadie Thompson,’ and will appear also in D. W. Griffith’s production, ‘ Drums of Love.’ Five pictures are now in Paramount’s editorial rooms, being titled for release in the near future. They are Erich Von Stroheim’s , ‘ Wedding March,’ ‘Beau Sabreur,’ the companion picture to the prize-winning ‘ Bean Geste,’ featuring Gary Cooper and Evelyn Brent; ‘Two Flaming Youths,’ the circus comedy, starring W. C. Fields and Chester Conklin; ‘The Gay Defender,’ Richard Dix’s most recently completed film, and ‘ The Secret Hour,’ Pola Negri’s latest picture, which was known in production as ‘ Beggars of Love.’ Five hundred Hollywood extras, now playing Russian soldiers in the new Emil Jennings starring picture, ‘ The Last Command,’ were drilled in their manual of arms by ex-officers of the old Russian Imperial army, now working in pictures, the drill masters including Captain Nicholas Kobliansky, Major N. Nicholaw, and Colonel V, Ikonnokov. The picture is nearing completion at the Paramount studio.

Two attractions which Metro-Gold-wyn-Mayer will release in the near future arc, ‘ The Merry Widow,’ starring John Gilbert and Miss Mae Murray, and ‘ Annie Laurie,’ with Miss Lillian Gish and Norman Kerry heading a fine cast. In Hollywood there are rumors that Samuel Goldwyn, who discovered Miss Vilma Banky, Miss Lois Moran, and other stars, has unearthed in his newest film, ‘The Magic Flame,’ a new find in Miss Shirley Ralmer. Miss Palmer appears opposite Ronald Colman in the early scenes of the film, which is a romantic photo-play of circus life in a little Mediterranean town. Fred Thomson and his entire company are to camp out in the Mojave desert for three weeks for the purpose of filming his second Paramount picture, ‘The Pioneer Scout.’ A location has been selected near Box Springs, California. Many of the scenes will be made on the bed of an ancient dry lake nearby. During the filming of an Indian attack on a wagon train and in some other sequences as many as 500 persons will be m the camp at one time. Among other items of equipment will be seventy-live covered wagons and a large number of horses and oxen. Nora Lane, who scored a success in ‘Jesse James,’ will be Mr Thomson’s leading woman.