HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 67

HIS MAJESTY'S THE ATR E.

" Rip Van Winkle." A welcome revival of " Rip Van Winkle " provided change of fare at His Majesty's Theatre on the Bth. Planquetfco's delightful a-nd well-known opera would prove a strong card in the repertoire of any company able to produce it adequately, and firmly retains its hold on public susceptibility It furnishes the attraction of much quaint humour, a romantic plot, and a succession of charming songe and choruses. The present production recalls the successful appearances of the former Pollard Company at no very distant date in tho 6ame work, and moie recently the opera has been well pre c «Tited by amateurs in this city. The music of " Rip Van Winkle" makes considerable demands on the performers in its sparkling variety, and while at times there vaa I lenty of room for improvement in its rendering by the present company, no surprising fact in view of the juvenility of a. laree proportion of its members, the standard reached in a somewhat heavy undertakine: was such ac to make the production successful and enjoyable. The numerous fine choruses were ifi\en with zest, and the vocal freshness of the voices of rho performeis renders their contributions the more agreeable. The absence of a male chorus was felt particularly in the heavier concerted number 5 ; of the 6econd act. and there wa» a tendenry of the pairs to be out of tune in tin's portion of the opera that was rather obtrusive, but the action of the piece never flagged for a moment, and the audience was highly appreciative. The staging of the work was exceedingly good moreover, the «ffecta produced in the weird scene in which Heindrik Hudson and his orew hold revel in

the Catskill Mountains being particularly striking, and the dressing of the opera generally being all that could be desired. The onerous part of the important Rip was taken by Mr Charles Albert, who sang surprisingly well and acted in a manner that stamped his impersonation, generally as one of high merit. Mr Albert did particularly good work in the 6cene in which Rip encounters the ghostly crew, and his consistent performance naturally enhanced the interest of the story. Mies Minnie Topping, as Oretchen, acted natuially as usual and sang pleasingly, among her best numbers being the legend and the Letter song, a repetition of the la-tter being demanded. Mr J Willis gave a capital presentment of the part of Derrick yon Slous, and revealed a good voice on the few occasions on which he was required to iiso it vocally. Mi6s Ciseie O'Keeffe. as Katrina, was better in her singing than in her acting, which was somewhat unnatural in a tendency to overplay the part of a hoyden; while Master Bert Nicolson provided a lot of amusement as the lardlord, Nick Vedder, but burlesqued the part unnecessarily. The numerous other parts in the long cast were satisfactorily sustained. | The Aldous sisters hsppily impeisonated tho children Alice and Jan, Mr Will Rayner (as Captain H'tdson) sang with eff<«ct, and Mr G. Wiilia.-nson (as the pompous Burgomaster), Mr George Edwards (as Knickerbocker)! and Mi&s May Topping (as Captain liowlev) all made something of their opportunities. In her acceptable rendering of the charming " Serenade " of the second act Miss Clarice Buckmann displayed -very promis'! ng vocal ability In such taking concerted numbers as '" 0 Bevaro " "The night is Jark," and the "Slumber and ninepin" chorus-ec, to mention a few of many, the members of the choius had unusual opportunities, and. as indicated, their work hid pleasing features. " Rip Van Winkle " will be found in >ome ro&pecta the most attractive of the season's productions. NELLIE STEWART SEASON. "Sweet Kittt BellaibTs. '* But few exponents of the modern drama have met with as great popularity as Miss Nellie Stewart, and probably on© reason of h&r popularity is to be found outside her actual high capabilities as an actress. Miss Stewart has the faculty of attracting the public by her winning personality and her fascinating 6tage manners. To most of the parts she- has played — at least, _as far as Dunedin is concerned — she has imparted a coquettishness that in itself is sufficiently alluring to win the favour of an audience. In other words, Miss Stewart as, apart altogether from her powers as an actress, many means of attraction at her disposal that some others, in many respects equally gifted, have not even been able to cultivate: and in Miss Stewart's case they do nos appear to have been cultivated at all. They seem to come to her quite naturally and spontaneously, and are all the more refreshing for that very reason. They were there in the days when the Stewart ' family delighted the audiences that used to throng to tba- Queen's Theatre, and would seem to have gone on developing ever since. It is therefore no wonder' that Miss Nellie Stewart has become a.n exceedingly popular actress, and that a "Nellie Stewart season" is a thing to be looked forward to and taken every advantage of. Everyone knows before they enter the theatre that there is an assured evening's thorough enjoyment in front of them as far as Miss Stewart's impersonation, whatever it may be. goes ; ancT they have also the ■ certainty " that she will be well supported by the company travelling with her. The, audience, at .the Princess i Theatre on Saturday night, when Miss Stewart opened her Dunedin season with "Swoet Kitty Bellairs," was consequently I only what might have been anticipated. In no part of the theatre was -there seating I accommodation left, and not a few had to be satisfied without a seat. " Sweet Kitty Bollairs" is the stage version of tie novel " The Bath Comedy," by Agnes and Egerton Castle, and its preparation for the stage has been undertaken by David Belasco. There is a short prologue, which was on Saturday night spoken by Miss Marjorie Chard, and then follow four acts and a tableau. Some reference has been previously made to the plot, but in such a sketchy and partial manner as to render further reference desirable. The Inniskilling Dragoons, who idolise Kitty Bellairs, are quartered at Bath, and hold a Ladies' Day, and it is at this that the audience makes the acquaintance of Sweet Kitty, who has evidently a strong partiality for Lord Vorney, a young English lieutenant of the 51st Regiment. Verney. the " dull Englishman." as Kitty describes him, is extremely fond of Kitty, but never can find courage enough to speak out, though in all conscience he gets encouragement enough. There is a certain Lady Standish (Julia), who has very pood cause to doubt tho fidelity of her husband, Sir Jasnor Flood-, of tears aro frequent with her. an-J sho ih variously called a watering-pot and other significant names by Kitty, in whom sho confides. The whole of what follows rests upon the simple piece of ad\ ice from Kirty to her friend to " tease." or, as sho calk it, " tase " Sir Ja.sper, by which she means to lead him to believe she also has her favourites. A letter frotu one Captain O'Hara, of the Inniskillinss, who is devotedly attached to Kitty, addressed to Kitfr) hereelf. is the instrument selected for the " tasing " process, and very effective it proves. There is an indication in it that the writer is red haired, and Sir Jasper's sword is ready for anyone upon whom nature ha.s shed that colour of hair. The etory is of the time of George 111. and, therefore, swords ore worn by the gentry. Sir Jasi>ev'& wrath falls uiwn Lord Verney. who is just about as hot-blood/d as Sir Jasper him;*>lf, and a duel for next morning is arranged. This \ er> soon reaches the oais of sweet Kitty, who dees not relish the idea of the *' di 11 Englishman "' falling a victim to Sir Jasper's skill, just as she is beginning to lo\ o him. To prevent this she visits Lord Verney's chambers at 4 o'clock in the morning, accompanied by Julia, when Verney is entertaining the officers of the Inrii=killing6. These are carousing in £n adjoining chamber when Kitty enters masked, and, as far as Verney knowe, alone. There is a very fine scene between these two, in which Verney discovers the real identity of his fair visitors. One Captain Spicer, who has been a kind ot silent conspirator all this time, now takes an active part. He evidently knows something of the visit, and is anxious to have Kitty's good name compromised, but for

what reason does not then appear very clear. It is, however, shown afterwards that it is Lady Bob Flyte, the belle of Bath before Kitty's advent, who is the I moving spirit. Spicer fails to discover v.hof the lady visitor is, though he enters the J room, and Kitty having extracted a pronnso from Verney to avoid the meeting with Sir Jasper, leaves to join Julia and proceed home. The fancied presence of someone in the hall, however, drives her back to the room recently ..occupied by herself and Verney. Here she finds* herself alone, but Julia quickly follows her, and the i two finding the officers on the point j entering the room, take refuge in a can* pied four-poster bed at the back of tho stage. The officers enter; the fact that Verney has been entertaining a lady leaks out, also that she is behind the curtains of the bed, k and several songs in keeping . with the supposed character of the lady are sung for her special edification. A' shoe drops out of the end of the bed, - is seized by Captain Spicer, and is used as a cup from which to drink the health of? the fair unknown. On its getting into tho hands of Sir Jasper he recognises it as the property of his wife, and a shcrft bout with small 6words results in Vernev, getting pricked in the wrist. At this juncture- Sweet Kitty, in order to stop} the quarrel, appears at the foot of the; bed, and states that the shoe has been! •borrowed by her . from Julia. Beloved as she is by the Inniskilling officers, they, all turn their backs on her, and to bee great distress refuse to listen to, or credit,, any explanation she gives to account for, her presence.' Verney declares their union; will take place- the following day in order to save hen good name as far as possible, and this causes Kitty to throw herself into Verney's arms and make no secret of her real feelings for him. Captain. Spicer, though the officers have sworn to keep silence as to the visit, spreads ifc quietly, and at the regimental . ball Kitty, is unmistakably shown that she is shunned. Verney, who has been despatched crt business by his colonel, arrives late, declares to the colonel, who is hia uncle, his intention of marrying Kitty; is consequently compelled to deliver u;r his sword as a preliminary step to being dismissed from the service, and falls into a, state of despair at the .idea of his regi« ment going on active service without him.It is here that Kitty makes her great sacrifice. She declares that she has only been trifling with Verney all the time, and tha bond between them is broken. The lastf act simply shows Kitty broken-hearted aft the loss of her lover, and the finish would be highly unsatisfactory to many but for the hasty entry of Verney, while his regi- i ment is passing, in quest of Kitty, and j the equally hasty embrace between the two. The warmth of the silent parting seemed to be eloquent for the happy reunion of the pair, which is, however, left to the imagination. The most critical could not fail to bs t satisfied with Miss Nellie Stewart's Kitty' Bellairs. It is one of those characters . for which Miss Stewart seems to have been' specially designed, and there was a perfect naturalness about its impersonation that at once claimed the entire sympathy of the audience for the warm-hearted,- impulsive Irish girl, who is the central figure of the play. Miss Stewart easily maintained tho interest of the audience, and there was never even a suspicion of dulness while she occupied the stage. Her conception of the part was admirable, and it was carried into effect with striking fidelity. She invested the character with originality, and never descended to the commonplace, and her depiction of rapid change of emotions .that are continually dominating Kitty was of an exceptionally high order. Her long and trying scene in Lord Verney's quarters stood out as a specially fine piece.- of work, more on account of the opportunities it offered than anything else, for it cannot be said that the scene of her humiliation by the ladies of Bfath was one whit inferior. Mr Langhorne Burton made a successful appearance as Lord Verney, and there was much to admire in his presentation of the character. It is, however, a matter of opinion whether he got the best out of the part and reached the highest standard attainable. Mr Claude King's Sir Jasper Standish was a really good performance o£ a not specially prominent character that might be easily made a burlesque of. As Lady Standiah, Miss Rosslyn Vane merita approval for most of what she did, but "she scarcely rose to the occasion when she discovered Standish was travelling with Lady Bob Flyte as a companion. That she fell short in vehement denunciation of her hus- , band most married men would aver. , Colonel the Hon. Henry Villiers and 1 1 Colonel Kimby M'Fiontain (military commanders of a similar, yet in some respects dissimilar, type) were represented by Mr Frederick Moves and Mr Harry Ashfordi exceedingly well, and both introduced 1 genuine humour into the convivial scene in Verney's quarters. Mr Templer Powell 1 had not great opportunities as Captain Spicer, but what he had to do he did well. The Captain Denis O'Hara of Mr Conway, Wingfield was a capital performance, Me Wingfield succeeding equally well as the rollicking Irish soldier, or the depressed lover of Kitty, whose suit is not regarded 1 with favour. Lady Bob Flyte found an able exponent in Miss Madeleine Meredith, but it was only in the thii-d act that Miss Meredith had very much to do. The remaining characters, and there were several, were small, and were satisfactorily, tak-an. The scenery used in " Sweet Kitty Bellairs " is good, the scene representing the interior of Prideaux Hall being strikingly handsome. The costumes are rich, . and in keeping with the period to which the story relates. An efficient orchestra is under engagement, and supplies some really good music during the intervals. FULLER'S PICTURES. Messrs Fullers' change over to the Alhambra Theatre on Saturday for a. brief season was made under most auspicious circumstances. A successful performance was given in the afternoon, and in tho e\ening the building was packed to the • doors. The seating accommodation waa fully taxed, and many had to be contents with standing room. The programme, on« ■ of excellent merit, met with a very warm, reception, and laughter - and applaua* - reigned throughout. The " star" - attraction was a Elm depicting _ M. .Bleriot's notable achievement of crossing the English Channel from Calais to Dover in a * monoplane on July 25, a feat which represented a triumph of aviation and which led to an inundation of congratulations from many parts of the world. The picture affords & splendid idea of what » flying machine really looks like in actual motion. It shows his ascent at Hes*

baraques, four miles from Calais, where the 20 horse-power machine is set in motion, and the structure, after scudding along the ground for some distance, gradu- . ally rises, and after crossing the land some hundreds of feet overhead swiftly bears out to sea. High up in the air it can be followed until it is nothing more ' than a speck, ami then it disappears com- j pletely. Th© next part of the picture j shows M. Bleriot's triumphal return to ; Calais on board the destroyer Escopette j and the ovation he received from tJhe j French people. The conclusion is a capital view of the successful French aeronaut seated in a motor car and having bestowed upon him the congratulations of his admirers. It is a capital picture and one of very great interest, and Messrs Fuller must be commended on their enterprise in securing it. The other films on the program m>3 are, without exception, remarkably fine, there being a splendid of subjects grave and gay. HIGH J WAISI) COM PA XV. "A Bachelor's Honeymoon." Nothing but standing room left was the condition of His Majesty's Theatre when the «urtain rose on the 13th for the opening performance .of "A Bachelor's Honey- j moon " by Mr Hugh J. W-ard's company of comedians. Mar \V&rdfe reputation as a comedian a<nd tho jEact (ibat he has with him Miss Grace Palotta, Mies Rose Musgrove, Miss Celia Gihilom, and others wellknown to stage fame was in itself a- sufficient guarantee for this, but another strong inducement u<aa held out, and that was the concession made in the charge for admission. After seeing lust evening's performance it may be asserted without the Least hesitation that the public 'has never had offered it such good value, and! those who patronised fche production must have thoroughly realised this fact. To say that " A Bachelor's Honeymoon " is funny fails l to describe it. Ev^n such comedies as "Charley's Aunt" and "The Private Secretary " do not surpass it for richness cf humour. Tho merriment it provides n«ver ceases for a moment from the rise to the fall of tho curtain, and is amply sufficient to move t-h-3 most staid.. The situations are intenesZy mirth-provoking-, th& diatAog-ue racy and particularly smartly written, and there is not a dull epot anywhere. Tho writer is John Sta/pleton, wiho has certainly turned out one of the most diverting, comedies ever placed on the efcage, and" it has found its way into the hands of a company • hat is able to extract to the uttermost all ■ hat is in it to amuse. The idea is one that h not. infrequently put forward by writers of comedy, but that does not detract from ihe merit of tihe comedy's composition. Benjamin Bachelor has a sis-ter, who is also hie t moral guardian, and, what is worse, con- ■ tools tho money left by Bachelor, een., deceased, and this ladj has very rigid notions of propriety; her pet aversion being the •tage and those connected with it. Benjahas, unknown to Her, taken to himeelf |as wife a meet chamning- and extremely l lively young variety actress, whose stage yiiame is Juno Joyce, and his trouble is to keep his marriage sscret from his sister, ..when she unexpectedly returns home with iiis two youii? daui?hters. He practices all sorts of deceptions to account for the youn^ lady's pre&ancs in the house, even to assarting that ehe is the wife of a legal friend, and the fun waxes fast *nd furious in coneeqtience of the multitude of complications that «msue. On on© occasion, wihen the young lady comes out in Greek "dress, a iirelic of her professional career, he bounces fcer in behind a fiHm curtain covering 1 in a window at the back of the stage, and. „'jfongetful of the fact that thie moon is shining brig-htlv outs ; de. encases in a most 'amorous Derformanoe. which is reproduced r.with startling fidelity on the curtain, tc v jfche horror of his strawht-laoed yister andi pother members of the household. Thie and 'bthter cownwt>misiini»' actions "he Is at his end to ex&lain. and in the end hit sister declares tba-t ihe only way open to him to regain rewectabiHtv is to marry *h<> tady. It is at this stage that the servant (Marianne, who has Veen nursin-c his eteoret £wkh extreme diffioulty. makes the reJationJship between the two clear. A.nd Benia-min's Vster is to some extent mollified And! reconciled to her new sister-in-law. There «re tidier characters which play a tnorw or less important p*rt in €he comeHv whose doJnsrs iit is not. neoes'sary to pa-rticulArise. Mr iWeixJ himsalf filled th<« part of Banjaroin flJaclieW a-nirt «lid so with eomoT-ete success. .Ht Is difficult to eonowve <->f anv+hincf more .jantenselv funny than Mr .Ward's fmpeirelo-na-jbion. and fcho audience ■w»/s faMy ponv-ul«yl J*Mth laughter at the broad humour th^t Tmowße'd! his performance. H<» is an adent it facial exp-jiesstan . and to look at him linVant to lauirh. That Ke made a pr^at h<t t sn tb« part there is no question. TT« eomr "An exfcwMnelv amusing sorter — "Hallifiran." — (!n( !n which Kb wm assisted by Miss Palotta. \ritii srea* drtolWy. ami also took par? in % jfaei with MI4B P&k&a illustrating the

disabilities under which a young couple afflicted with a stammer and a lisp made love, and the cleverness of this was fully recognised. Miss Palotta played the part of Miss Arbuckle (Juno - Joyce) with great vivacity, and contributed her full quota to the humour of the evening. She looked charming, and acted charmingly, and it is little . wonder that Benjamin took his " punishment " (the dictum of his sister that he must man*y the lady) with such equanimity, and irepeateH the word a little incredulously. Miss Palotta had several songs to sing, and ©he rendered tfoeim admirably and to the entire satisfaction of her audience, which insisted on repetitions. It was, however, Miss Rco3 Musgrove's singing that carried the amdience by storm This young ladj impersonated the maid servant Marianne, and her success was net eclipsed by fhat of any other member of the ■company. It was a first-class study, and humorous down to the smallest detail. Her g<st up was ludicrous in the extreme, and her ungainly deportment on the stasre caused frequent outbursts of merriment. Her sorta:, "My boy Bill," was given with gr*at effect, and won for her several recalls. Mias Cslia Ghiloni deserves special praise for her capital playiaiig of the part of Minerva, Benjamin's sister, and acted the stiff, ptrim, pink of propriety old lady with excellent results. The one song that fell to her to sine was "Find -ths man." which met -with cordial recognition. Stephen Houston was represented by Mr Reginald Wykefevm with ability, and Dr liUidwig' Schwartz was o<uite a success in thohand* of Mr Arthur Eldred. The comparatively small parts of Anthony G-umbug, a private detective, Amaryllis and Charyllis, Braijamin's twin daughters', and Jos, a man servant, were satisfaotori'v piw^nied by Mr Rnbftrt Prreijr. Miss Vlownr* R*>dfern, Miss Rribv Baxter, and Mr H. H. Wal'aos rfsnrcHvely. A notable faof i.n connection with tb» nrod'Hrtio'i of " A Bachelor's Honeymoon " , is t.bnt tber-^ i< not a w<*ak snot in the cast, and tlrat irdjeates that Mr WarH has brought -with him an unusually "trong" eompanv. IWSEMS CHORAL SOCIETY. " L.onr> of the Isles." The inclement weather somewhat affected the attendance at the Garrison Hall on the 7th on the occasion cf the Dunedin Choral Society's second concert of the year, but the audiece was a. large one none tihe less. Tastes vary in music, as in evcryihinjr elf<?, but the cantata is a somewhat uninspiring compjosition developing to an intermittent bagpipe_ drone calculated to indxice pessimism. It is not easy to sincr, yet lacks the compensation of being particularly attractive The Choral Society's rendering was not distinctly favourable in any case to a revelation of the intrinsic beauties of the production, and: a performance the interest in which was not sustained without effort to the finish could not be regarded as likely to add materially to the popularity of the eociety'6 appearances in public. Had the members appeared in the national garb of the historic characters whose doings a.re chanted, the performance might have been galvanised into greater life despite the temperature without, but, needless to say. such a departure would have scandalised all traditions. The honours of ihe production, such as they were, however, rested mainly with the chorus, which was heard to real advantage at times, and would have scored much more heavily but for the obvious weakness of the male section of the voices. Tho tenors and bas&as sang manfully, but their numerical paucity sadly handicapped them. Upon the soloists devolved a heavy burden of responsibility, but their numbers— for there were six of thorn — failed to compensate for indhidual deficiencies, and with an exception or two their efforts did little to enhance the success of the production. Robert tha Bruce and AUastor, Lord of Lorn, quarrelled vocally and swore mutual vengeance in the most benevolent and inoffensive fashion, and their declamation was of the meekest. Tho Lord of the Isles, fortunately, made love in a much more heroic manner. In his rendering of the musio allotted this part Mr A. Harrison indeed carried off the solo honours of the evening, using his tenor voice to advantage and singing with expression and vigour. He gave with particular acceptance the air "With restless step-" with which the second part opens, an effort well meriting the recognition it received at the hands of the audience. Miss Helen Gardner sang creditably and expressively the music allotted to the part of Edith, Maid of Lorn, though its rendering involved somewhat obvious effort and a 1 forcing of the voice on ihe vocalist's part at times; and Miss Kathleen Lawlor, in the part of Isabel, created a favourable impression as a contralto singer with a voice of limited strength but agreeable quality. The roles of Bruce ajid Allaster were taken by Mr G. Gutt (baritone) and Mr Colin Gray (second tenor) respectively, but neither vocalist possesses sufficient voice to meet the if/MB/imdn nftfH M> £h£ solo mus^ic of

such a production, though both deserve credit for conscientious effort. The duet in which Mr Gurr and Miss Lawlor participated may be* singled out as an acceptable contribution in which, the former was heard to batter advantage than in most of bis soles. The remaining soloist was Mr W. T. Reid, whose singing — for he has a bass voice of good quality — would have given much more pleasure had it been less colourless. As it was, the deliverances of the Abbot as Mr Reid gave thsm were frequently lugubrious, a characteristic which becomes monotonous. T.he male portion of the cnorus cannot be congratulated on its rendering of fche opening- serenade, which was decidiedly uneven, but a considerable measure of atonement was provided in the choral numbers by the full chain 1 . Among the latter none gave greater pleasure than the taking chorus " Merily bounds the bark," wmoh was well and briskly taken. Ij&sb successful on account of intermittent raggedness was the somewhat taxing choral number " The Brooch of Lorn," a result due to the lack of that satisfactory voeai balance which furnishes a problem to most choir conductors. The banquet chorus, agiain, was better, and on the whole, ac indicated, the members of the _ chorus achieved creditable results in meeting the eamewhtat heavy demands made upon them. The orchestra was not of a calibre from which brilliant treatment of the overture could te expected, but it acquitted itself 6atisfaoto.rLl.-5- on tit© whole in its accomDanymjy. «md was not unduly obtrusive. Mr James Cconibs, as usual, wielded the conductor's baton, Mr E. Parker leading the orchestra, and Mi=s A. Da-vison being the sookty's pianist.