THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2817, 4 March 1908, Page 68

THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL NOTES.

By Pa-sqcin.

TUESDAY, March 3, 1908.

The list of bookings at His Majesty's Theatre would serve to show the importance of Dunedin as a show town. At this writing the theatre holds scarcely a vacant date.

Mr Howard Vernon and his talented wife, Miss Yinia De Loitte, who were inadvertently reported to have left for Melbourne last w&ek, are still touring the 6ma.1l to\Mis of Utago and Southland district.

By the way, the Dunedin Amateur Operatic Society has been successful in securing the services of -Mr Howard Vernon to stage-manage, coach, and play a prominent part in rhe society's forthcoming production of "Eiminie."

The conference of the Fuller Firm resuiltd in nothing in .particular being done. Sev-eral subjects for the good of vaudeville in New Zealand were diecussed and postponed until a future date. The question of floating the firm into a limited liability company has been deferred until Augmt, the end of the firm's financial year. A new deed of partnership has been drawn up, making matters more satisfactory to all concerned.

The question of alterations and improvements to His Majesty's and the Princess lheatrco has already been gone into. The improvements will "be gradually effected. For example, nothing will be done to the Princci3 3 Theatre until the asbestos curtain which it is intended to install in His Majesty's has been hung. Apropos of the decision of the City Council that theatre proprietors notify the town clerk of all cinematograph entertainments, the time has come when all cinematograph machines should be enclosed in a proper cabinet when shown from the dress circle. Apart from the safety that would be insured, the comfort of the public would be considered.

The star attraction al the Princess Thea- , tre during the past week has been H. j Patrick Lloyd, late of "Wirtli's Circus, whose [ act on the slack rope is astounding. Other performers at Fullers' vaudeville show are thep Reggardios, who swallow swords, watches, and electric lights ! Quite apart from these stars the show is a particularly good one, and is certain to draw the multitude throughout the week. The reappearance of and Chester last week i

was the occasion of increased pleasure to vaudeville lovers. The threo weeks' season of West's Pictures and Dc Grosn's Band concluded in a blaze of success on Saturday evening. In a chat with Mr C4ee, the manager, the other warm evening, that gentleman said he was sorry to leave such business as he had been doing in Ihinodin. The picture show dropped down (o Invercargill on Monday for a five nights' season, and good business is certain to be thr> portion of the show in the southern city. After Invercargill West's Pictures tour the North Island "smalls." Writing under date Wellington, February 3, a correspondent states that the business done by Carter the Great in Wellington eclipsed that in Dunedm, and that the season had to be extended a week. Mr Carter, by the way, has a warm spot for Duncdtn. and wishes to be remembered to Us citizens. His Majesty's Thcaire has been booked for another season of West's Pictures, commencing next year. Further novelties will be introduced, including manj special picture** secured by Mr West. Messrs Fuller and Sons have reccnily taken over the whole contiol of (heir various enterprises in Dunedin, which inchido the Alhambra, His Majesty's, and tho Princess. The booking and all other arrangements in conection with the sub-Jotting of the theatres are in the hands of Mr Ben Fuller, in Wellington. Mr Walter Monk, tho advance lcpicsrntative of the "Blue Moon" Company, is due in Dunedin this week to herald tho coming of the music comedy company, which is due to commence a «eason in His Majesty's on March 13. The glad hand will be extended to Miss Amy Murphy, who is a lending member of the "Blue Moon" show. Mr Lempricre Pringle. the talented baritone, who toured New Zealand as a member of the opera company which included Madame Slapoffski, Signor Berthold, and Agnes Janson, is a member cf the re-cently-formed New Meistereingers' quartet, in London. Mr Pringle is the principal basso, and has the supervision of a series of operatic dress recitals which the combination include in their work. Miss May Beatty anpears to ha\e scored an immense ssue.esse s s in the pantomime of "Dick Whittington," at the Tyne Theatre, at Christmas time. The Northern .TournaJ, in notioing her performance, cays : "Miss May Beatty, the Australian recruit to the limited force of our 'principal boys,' will be a sure favourite. She is fitted in every way for the exacting role, and in songs descriptive or sentimental she was equally happy. In short, Miss Beattv is an ideal Whittington." Dear Pasquin, — We are now working our way Aucklandwards. We journeyed by the main trunk line, after a mest successful entertainment in Taihape. So as to avoid missing a* night I put the company into Ohakune. > The only show place in the town is the hospital building, generally used as the morgue. Hisrh prices were charged, and a full house the result. Biz. all along the line has ben exceptionally good. The company will put in a week or ten days at Hotorua, showing three nights during that period, afterwards working the different towns en route to Auckland. After a season at Auckland we leave tor the south, and I anticipate the Edinburgh of the antipodes will be visited some. Tim» during April. With regards,— Rod. R. Mac-Callum, advance, MacCallum tamilv of Entertainers. Rotorua, February^ 15. John Fuller, sen., will finally leave for bydney on March 8, per Bremen. for Naples, thence to England. Mr Fuller intends to visit America and the East, and sxpects to return to Auckland about next - hristmae. Following is the cast of " Erminie," to be produced on April 8 by the Dunedin Amateur Operatic Society: — Marquis de Pontvert . Mr F. G. Murphy Ernest (Viscount de Brissae) Mr Geo. Perston Capt. Delauney Mr A. A. Binnie Chevalier de Brabazon Mr J. E. Walsh Eugene Marcel (secretary to Marquis) Mr Colin Gray Simon (waiter at ihe Lion dOr) Mr P. Barling Sergeant Mr J. D. Crisp Ravannes and Cadeaux (two thieves) Mr Howard Vernon and Mr Wm. Hoff Benedict Mr C. Jones Erminie de Pon+vert . . Miss Rosina Buckman Cerise de Marcel Miss Ethel Shannon M *rie Miss D. Lichtenstein Princess de Gramponeaux Miss Elsie Clark Javotte Mrs J. Connor Dancing under Mr J. Connor (late of Auckland). Scenery painted by Mr Reuben Cole, late scenic artist to the late Queen Victoria at Windsor. Stage manager, Mr Howard Vernon. Musical director, Mr Sidney Wolf. It has been decided by the J. C. Williamson management to produce " Brewster'e MyiJons" at the Princess Theatre on March 7, for the first time in Melbourne. The- now famous comedy has had, since it was first produced in New York, a remarkably successful career. It ran there continuously for over a year, and is s.till a strong- attraction "on teur" in the United States. _In London, where it was first staged in May last, it has repeated its American success, seeing that it has already passed its three-hundredth performance. Out here in Australia and New Zealand over 100 performances stand to its credit since it began its six weeks' season at the Theatre Royal, Sydney, last October, and half the Commonwealth has yet to be visited by the organisation. As a "producer" Mr Julius Knight has already proved his worth in such pieces as "Brigadier Gerard,"' "Raffles," and j "Robin Hood." A« a designer capable of the. most artistic arrangement of colour schemes and the most eclectic taste iq, costuming and mounting, his work in " Claudian " has received a deserved measure of flattering: recognition. But by all accounts " The Pri<K>ner of Zenda " is to eclipse them all. He has had a mandate from the management to spare no expense in dressing the play, and the j wealth of rich dresses it contains has given j him full opportunity for exercising hi 6 ' predilections. It is whispered that the . frocks to be worn are the forerunner of i what Australian society -will wear next ' winter, and in every detail the production is to be one of tho best-drepsed pieces ever staged in Australasia. After a season of 11 weeks and a total of 87 performances, and an aggregate attendance amounting approximately to a quarter of_ a million people, "HumtptyDumpty" ie to be withdrawn from Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne, next Friday (March 6). The principal cause which has

induced the management to curtail the most consistently successful run of the pantomime has teen the desire of theatregoers to renew acquaintance with "Mother Goose." Their affectiors for thai festne okl danie ha\e remained steady e\or since they first l.uighod over her many eccentricities o\or a year ago, and hundreds of requests received literally begging for a re\i\al. Consequently last year's record-beater goes up once more to delight Australian audiences. Edwin Al Geach intervened: '• Wat, I born in the business, or did I come into ; ( acccfe-ntally? 1 just drifted into ir. Where do I haH from? From Melbourne. What -«as I <n the beginning? On a farm in G.ppsland, Victoria? No; I was not mi. pressed with farming — too 7 ong htfurs and too much like hard work. Then I went inrc journalism, and I expect that it. was mv jouMia'is-iic surroundings which caused me to get into touch with ps-opie in the ' business,' tnd these, together with the Bohemian otiiiOsphore of press work, were responsible for my gravitating to the theatre. My fiist and only billet was with Georgi Coppin, the doyen of the theatrical profession. I joined him in 1895 as advertising- expei t. He was running a pantomime at the Melbourne Royal, with Maggie Moore as the star I rentainod with George Coppin for the run of the pantomime. Sinco then I have been managing or directma'. .After the Coppin engagement I was with th" Sapio-TTrso ccmbijiation. You recollect Mme. de Vere Sapio and Camilla Urso, Ihe best concert party, in my opinion, Ihou^h not the most successful, that ever came 1o Australia I was for six or eight months with them, and I travelled Australasia " "You must have done a great deal of travelling, and, of course, you have been cultide the Comonwcalth? " "Rather; I know every inch from Cairo to Tokio, have been through India — north, east, west, and south, — landed at Rangoon, in British Burmah. and travelled to Mandalay ; have tour&d Java, Sumatra, and have been to Bangkok, in Siam : have played stars in Saigon (French Cochin China — a wonderful country) ; have been to Canton, Shanghai, and inland to Hankow; then, I have been to Japan, whioh is a familiar soot. Indeed. I know as much about -the East as any man ir. Australia." Mr Geach then went on ro tall: about Japan — which he reckons is all right for tourists, but no good from a theatrical point of view. Their theatres are as good, and their managers, in his opinion, smarter than ours. To verify this he tclle a story of a visit he paid to a theatre to see Donjero, the great female impersonator : "We entered the theatre, and were received with bows, smiles, and salute?," Mr Geaoh went on to say. "The same cordiality was displayed in the processional triumph to the box, which, by the way, was the best in the house. I thanked the manager, but had barely time to get settled when along came a bill fdr 30 yen (about £3). The bill-presenter smiied. We smiled a sickly kintl of smile, but the whole house was sobbing— at the play. Donjero simply had the people at his feet. Extreme grief is the height of the amusement among the Japanese playgoers. Would 'East Lynne ' go? I should think it would, if they understood it. The Japanese are in front, too, in staging p^ys. Their stages revolve, so that, when one part is in view of the audience they arc setting the others I remember when I was in Shanghai with Carl Hertz the magician." Australia's (practically) youngest, continued. " I engaged a Chinese theatre which held from 3000 to 4000 persons. At an enormous cost, 40 Mexican dollars, about £4, I bought off a troupe of a hundred Chinese actors, and I remember we were showing cinematograph pictures in conjuction with the conjuring. Now, to show you the objection of the Chinese to women, we were not permitted to show any pictures of women. The reason gncn was that it would bring bad 'joss' (luck) to the theatre for ever more." In the course of an inters iow a few days ago, Madame Melba said: "And now I wa.it to soe a permanent orchestra ; it would be a splendid thing for mu6ic in Australia if my wish were realised. An orchestra of skilled musicians, not amateurs, although many amateurs might be included. It should give one concert every week for six months out of the year, and rehearse all tha rpst of the week. Imagine the enthusiasm for the finest music that such an organisation could work up. These concerts, I am quite certain, would easily pay for themselves in a very 6_hort spnes of tim«. Australians have sufficient appreciatior of what is beautiful in music lo ensure success in this matter. One thing one misses on* here is Sunday music. I cannot &cc \%hy Sunday night concerts at popular prices cannot be heid -both in Melbourne and Sydney. I know that some people will not like my saying this, but I must say it, for I cannot see how anyone can be harmed by hearing the music of the great masters — the symphonies of Beethoven. Mozart, Haydn, the fine oratorios of Handel, a"l the beauty which one finds in tho orchestral and chamber music of the world's noblest musicians. And it must bo remembered, too, that thousands of people have oniy Stindav nights upon which to hear music. I believe that concerts of this kind would be tremendously patronised : there must be many who have lo work all the week, yet who have taste enough to appreciate good music, and who thirst for it as I did when I was a child. In London and Paris — in fact, in a1!a 1 ! the centres of art — these concerts are given, and it is only when one has been there and knows what it is to have pood music at one's command that one realises the deficiency which exists in Australia. Any objection to the public performance of fine music upon Sundays seems to me rather narrow. Yes, I suppose I shall catch it for this but I am sure there -f* ill be many who approve." I