WELLINGTON WING WHISPERS By Peter Pan.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 69

WELLINGTON WING WHISPERS By Peter Pan.

January 3. Dear Pasquin, — There is no doubt but that the Wellington public dearly like amusement. Every place that offered entertainment during tbe festive season received patronage that must have delighted the providers. Opera House, Theatre Royail, Town Hall, Day's Bay, Wonderland, Aboinah, and the man in the shop who shows a mysterious- animal, andl cuts your corns or toenails as an extra, have been full to overflowing. It has been c greafe season, and a testimony to the prosperous state of the Empire City. "Tbe Blue Moon," by Williamson's Comedy Company, ran from Boxing Night till last evening to Splendid business. I saw the play on Tuesday evening, and the people were two deep at the back of the dress ciro'.e. "Lady Madcap" has dimmed the luminous orb, and her pranks should prove popular. The bill says- it is musical merriment, and' that describes it. Mr Myles Clifton has ai part that was evidently built for" 1 him. "The Little Michus" is in rehearsal by the company, and will probably be produced here.

West's Pictures- are not finding "it difficult t!o fill the huge Town HaiU, and as these pictures' are all new and the music of L. De Groven's band an attractive feature, they should finish their long season in a blaze of glory. Fred Graham and Nellie Dent return to the Dominion in February for a 17-week engagement under the Fuller - banner. This -j short engagement is compulsory, for after it Mr and Mrs Graham return to Sydney to join a liner for tbe Old Country. It ist some years since the versatile Fred "leffl England, and now be thinks it is "time, to" "fallow the man from. Cook's" Home again/ to see how the little island has progressed, in his absence. Mr Graham .has acquired) quite a number of new sketches, andi will submit them for New Zealand edification and! improvement. A few: "Me an' 'Er," "TheCat Bite," "The First Offender," "The Expansion of Wills," "The 100 to 1 Chance," "A Mutual Misunderstanding," "The Lady Palmist," " and "A Clear Case." But there j is quite a long list: Mr Graham expects to arrive in England in July. Tbe Quealys have concluded tbeir engagement, with the MacCallums. Armstrong and' Verne leave here on the'SHb for Sydney, and proceed to America, yia> Vancouver. This trip miust be taken owing? to contracts entered into in the States which cover the next two "years of time. They then return",\ under contract ,to the Fuiller

Walter Monk, who is in advance of "The Blue Moon,", leaves next week for Pialmerston, Wanganui, and New Plymouth, -erTroute to Auckland, returning by way of Gisborne and Napier. The South Island will then! be played. Walter is as energetic as ever, despite b^e loss of bis curly moustache. It was an unfortunate accident — but he wilß tell you. The Wellington Amateurs went to Masterton on Boxing Day, and staged "Dr Bill"! in the evening. The venture was in every way successful, artistically and financially. Tbe profit on the little jaunt, I understand, was very much larger than any of the players dreamt of. Mr end Mrs John Ful/ler, sen., and Miss May Fuller leave Auckland' on - February B.i for a- montb'-s tour over the circuit, leaving I New Zealand on March 8 for Sydney to join "the Bremen for Naples, where will disembark and proceed overland to Paris, then across Channel to England, across to America, with Japan and China to follow, and back to North Shore by next' Christmas. A nice little holiday. If John senior does as much to advertise these islands as^Jobn junior endeavoured to do, then' Sir I Joseph Ward ought- to subsidise the firm, ' or else take it into- partnership in running this Dominion. Alf. Lindley. with bio, living pictures, 'comedians and song and' dance artists, is in Hawke's Bay district. They opened at Napier on Boxing Night, and business- waa reported? excellent. General Manager Ben Fuller will leave for Auckland at tbe end of the month to prepare the way for Mir and Mrs Shelenbamer, who are to manage tbe Auckland' theatre during the absence of the senior partner. - Mrs Shelenhamer (who is better known as Miss Hettie Fuller) and her busband have been residing in Hongkong for some time. Mr Gil Hoskins will have returned to Wellington in time to assume the management here, and the genial and popular Gill P. will be made welcome by bis nrony friends. This trip to Australia is the first I the young secretary has made away from bis island home, and the fact of being "three days out of sight of land" is said to have appalled him. Mr W. A. Low should soon be making biff appearance here, for Pollard's Juveniles are set down to follow "The Blue Moon" Company, when they promise, to stage, for the ; first time, "The Island of Bhong Bbong." A Melbourne -paper s-tate-s that Mr J. Brennan, of the Sydney National and Mcl- , ' bourne Gaiety f works his artists in conjunction with the Fuller firm. This, is absolutely ' wrong, and lam requested to give this denial. : The Fuller firm have no working arrangement with any other firm in Australia. They engage their artiste personally, for which purpose they make frequent periodical trips ' to -Australia, or through their accredited ■ agent, Geo. Marlowe. There is no warrant i for an artist to suppose that an engagement ■ with certain Australian vaudeville managers- '• will ensure a trip -over the Full-el circuit. "Wonderland" proved a veritable moneyspinner during the holidays. I risked my life on Boxing Day in fighting for an eye- ■ brow hold on a tramcar, and when I reached! "the Mecca of Merry Souls" I made one ] of a throng of several thousands, who wished to toboggan, or "chute, 'or helter-skelter, or '< katzenjamnxei, or swing upside down, but i bad tp be content with a ride on ai camel 'And on the' miniature train ; then formed one '.

of a queue outside the tea kiosk, and after 1 waiting for what seemod. hours turned into the laughing gallery and laugh&i. at myself and thought' "hard. It w*s a great day at Miramar was Boxing- -Day, but the huge, crowd, that day was exceeded by the immense* throng on New Year's Eve, when n«<x:y 40 special cars left the city about 11 -ycloclfL that night for Miramar, where a fireworks display was- given at midnight. It was near-

ing 3 o'clock when the' last revellers returned! '. to the city. i Day's. Bay is also claiming the public'p . attention. Tbe chute, laughing gallery, rnagio swing, camera obsoura, Punch and! ~ Judy and other attractions' have been estab-^ hahed, and over 5000 people on New Year's Day found much to amuse tbem. ■ The building of Fuller's new theatre in this city will be delayed for over six months.! The firm has been in negotiation for the acquisition of a large section at tbe reaxi of the present building, and have only just secured the lease. The section is a neces- , sary one to allow of the firm carrying out its plan of building the' largest and inosti up-to-date theatre in the colony; but as the present sub-leases do not expire until the" . middle of the year, the commencement of tbe work will have to be deferred. . - The past year has been' a" very successfur' one for the FuUers,, and,,the < returns have , established a' record, , especially for ' the 1 • special Christmas period. The expenses, of course, have been relatively high, but this! must be expected, for ihe firm are, catering more liberally for the publio than in theiu " early days, and have, succeeded in raising thff standard >of .vaudeville, ' to . a high mark* " Tbeir shows at the present time would da( credit to any firm, and i the success theyj achieve' they thoroughly -deserve, and "it will not be begrudged them by anyone. Long" may they prosper 1