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Free Lance, Volume III, Issue 159, 18 July 1903, Page 20

The dramatic critic of a Melbourne weekly is an ex-butchei. He should write "meaty" pars. ■* i - • "Fiddle-Dee-Dee" is the name of tho latest American opera fare*, the jokes in which are described as pre- Adamite. * * *• The Donegan family of trick cyclists, wire walkers, etc , who hail from Dunedin, New Zealand, aie top-notchers in Paris. * * + Miss Maud Faning, -whose fine 'coon" work never got the recognition it merited in New Zealand is the "stai" of a Rickards show m Perth. *. * *■ The authors of a "Chinese Honeymoon" have completed a new musical comedy entitled "West End," which is said to be full of gems — musical and othern ise. * * -*■ Herr Benno Scherek, the pianist, whose silver hair and pointed moustache are known so well in Wellington, is a clever conjurer. Some of his card tricks are said to be inimitable. * * * Recently at Constantinople, the censor insisted upon the title of "Othello" being altered to "Jealousy " and prohibited "The Merchant of Venice" altosrether, on the ground that it would incite hatred against the Jews. * — •* Smoking in the theatre has become so prevalent in Auckland that many playgoers are complaining. One> calm person, evidently of foreign nationality, was much astonished recently to find that he was not permitted to smoke cigars in the dress circle. * * *■ Most of the New York dramatic critics have had their free passes stopped at the theatres of the controlling syndicate, because they have "slated" plays. Some of these critics will probably pay as much as two dollars for the privilege of "getting back on. them." * * * Miss Ethel Knight-Mollison, the charming leading lady of the "Are You a Mason" Company, now playing at the Opera House, was educated at Dulwich, near London, and before going on the stage studied painting for three years at the South Kensington Art Schools. * *■ * The latest idiotic device, to produce "creeps" and draw a crowd, is "looping the loop" on skates. During a recent exhibition at Earl's Court, London, in which tlie feat was nerformed each night for a week, "Discobolus" was billed to do it. It is a commentary on the safety of the act when it is mentioned that only on the last two nights did the same "Discobolus" appear. Four of this gentleman were in hospital. * * * The novelty of the new musical piece, "In Dahomey," now compelling crowds to attend at London "Shaftsburv," is in the fact that it is composed by a full-blooded negro, and that the chorus girls are all black, and of exceeding comeliness. It is said that George Musgrove is negotiating for its production in Australia, although nothing is said about the inclusion of the beaiuteous darkies.