THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL.

Otago Witness, Issue 4028, 26 May 1931, Page 64

THEATRICAL AND MUSICAL.

By Pasquin. Joseph Hislop, the famous British tenor, will open his Dunedin season on Thursday. The membership of the Auckland Little Theatre Society has risen in four years from 350 to 1700. Peter Dawson and Mark Hambourg are to give no fewer than 70 concerts in Australia. Jimmy Godden, who appeared with Elsie Prince on more than one tour at His Majesty’s Theatre, has a part in “The Bridegroom’s Widow,” a British film being produced at Elstree, England’s Hollywood. Donald Stewart, a clever magician and funny man, who always provided a popular turn at Dunedin Princess, is doing well in London and provincial variety. The famous painist, Miseha Levitzki, will open his tour of the Dominion at Auckland on Tuesday, June 2. He is, so far, solely wedded to his art. In other words, Levitzki is a bachelor.

George Wallace, one of the most popular of Fuller artists (vaudeville and revue patrons will remember his naive “ It appears ” interjection), has been playing in the Empire Theatre, Sydney, in conjunction with a picture programme. Frances Scully has a ballet assisting, and Stan Porter features the musical side with his orchestra. Josie Melville is chief dancer. When Ethel Morrison was out of the cast of “ The First Mrs Fraser ” in Sydney recently for three performances, Eileen Morris, in private life Mrs J. B. Rowe (wife of the actor who takes the role of Mr Fraser in the St. John Ervine comedy), stepped into the title role and made a deep impression. The acting was quite a “ family ” affair. W. S. (“Billy”) Percy, the Pollard comedian of the palmy days of stagecraft, still keeps up his painting. He has been a big hit at the Glasgow Royal in panto.

Mabelle Morgan, the soprano of previous Fuller revues, is playing the English provinces on a variety circuit. Noel Maddison, the son of Maurice Moscovitch, recently completed two outstanding stage characterisations in Los Angeles. He was star in the stage version of “ Rope's End,” and now lias been assigned the lead in Galsworthy’s “ Justice.” He has also commenced work on Nicolay Gogol’s famous Russian comedy, “ The Inspector General,” under the direction of the Repertory Theatre’s actor-producer, Michael Visaroff. Apropos of the distinguished visitor coming to our shores for the first time, Miss Nellie Scanlan, the New Zealand writer now in London, states that Balokovic, the violinist, is married to a sister of the famous novelist, Mary Borden. “At the present moment,” writes Miss Scanlan, “ M. and Madame Balokovic are on their way to New Zealand, sailing in their own beautiful yacht with a large crew and a valuable violin, for it is the intention of this wonder-violinist to give a series of recitals out there, in addition to cruising in those pleasant waters. Balokovic must be the first musician who has gone to New Zealand to give recitals and travelled across the Pacific in his own palatial yacht.” Australian and New Zealand composers and librettists are at last to have an opportunity to place themselves on the musical map of the world. A competition has been inaugurated in Sydney (N.S.W.), by Miss Nathalie Rosenwax for the best light opera, musical comedy, or revue. She offers a first prize of £lOO, for which composers and librettists are eligible who have lived in Australia or New Zealand for ten years or longer, and a second prize of £25 for competitors who have lived in Australia or New Zealand for not less than five years. Consolation prizes of £lO for the best score and £lO for the best Libretto, not in the winning entries, are also announced. It will be to the advantage of librettists and composers if a typical atmosphere of Australia or New Zealand pervades their work.

After Gilbert and Sullivan parted, neither was able to find a really satisfactory collaborator elsewhere. The split between the two was regretted by both, but it is well to remember that the two were friends again before the death of Sullivan. After Sullivan died, Gilbert was asked if he would ever write another opera. “ I should like to, very much,” he said, “but what is the use'of Gilbert without a Sullivan? ”

Frank Gorman, formerly well known as “ The Singing Parson ” in vaudeville, is now acting as an announcer at a broadcasting station in Australia.

. So cold was the stage at his concert in Wanganui that Joseph Hislop, the tenor, donned his overcoat.

The company formed by Lorna Forbes £iiid Alexander Marsh on the disbandment of the Allan Wilkie Shakespearian Company had an unfortunate experience Business at first was good, but it fell off and the company had to close, with loss to the promoters.

On Saturday night, May 16, J. C. Williamson’s -Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Company staged “ lolanthe ” at the Theatre Royal, Melbourne. The English actor Ivan Menzies was the Lord Chancellor; Bernard Manning, Earl Mountararat; Leo Darnton, Earl Tolloller" John Ralston, Private Willis; Gregory Stroud, Strephon; Mary Hotham, lolanthe; Dorothy Gill, the fairy queen; and Marie Bremner, Phyllis. In connection with this revival it is interesting to recall that many years ago, when this opera •was first staged in Australia, Robert Brough appeared as the Lord Chancellor and Mrs Brough as the fairy queen. Another notable artist who later played the Lord Chancellor was Howard Vernon, whose performance will never be forgotten.

“TELL ENGLAND.” Mr Anthony Asquith’s and Mr Geoffrey Barkas’s film, “Tell England,” based on Mr Ernest Raymond’s book of the same title, will soon be released in New Zealand. An . English critic, reviewing the film, says it might have been differently made, and would have been differently made in any country but England. I can imagine its propaganda (leaving Mr Raymond out of account) being enforced along different lines, he continues. It might have been more powerfully, because more violently, preached. The irony could have been more heavily underscored. Its patriotic appeal could have been rendered wider by a more diversified reference to the beauty of our land in the earlier scenes. There may be some who will miss in it the more imposing passion with which is some other countries it would have been invested. But it is just the English-ness of its conception that makes it so good. There is no lack of realism in the fighting scenes and sounds. You have the thrilling landing of the Australians and New Zealanders on the Anzac heights and the massacre of the 29th Division on V Beach. The horrors of war are not spared us. 3.he implications of wire and gun and honib and trench mortar are patent. Clara ’ is a significant villain. There is, too, the biting irony of that scene on the home front when the mother, hearing again the huzzas of the troops’ departure, faints under the jealous cackle or her visitor the committee woman. Yet, in spite of its emphatic accents, the pieure is singularly restrained. Even the tremendous Gallipoli affair is not allowed to shake the English sense of proportion which, as the English humour, makes us what we are. In this sense the film mav fail of passionate weight, but there takes its place ?° n *ething else, something lyrical and Jpj r a some thing peculiarly young. The note of the opening swimming contest and the river’s graciousness is to be heard throughout. Partly this impression is given because the contrasted figures in the story, Edgar Doe and Rupert Ray, are still only two boys, but there is in it more than that. It comes from a sensitive delicacy of approadch and treatment that may prove too fine for popularity, but ought to appeal to an imaginative public.

“THE BELLS.” BEING FILMED BY BRITISH COMPANY. of .the best known plays in the world, Irving s ‘ The Bells,” is now being made into a talkie. Production is in the hands of the Associated Sound Films Industries the recently formed British combine with studios at Wembley Park. The personnel of this company have already produced “Dark Red Roses” and “City of Song.” “ The Bells ” is an adaptation of Erck-man-Chatrian s well-known story “Le Juif Polonais,” and was first produced by Sir Henry living at the Lyceum Theatre, London, in November. IS7I. It ran for 151 nights, a record for those days, and was later revived both by Irvin" and lus son. the late H. B. Irving, with phenomenal success. It is universally recognised as Irving’s masterpiece. The version now being filmed will be a complete novelty in that the settings and costumes will be entirely modern, and the idea has been ti eated to make of it a “ psychological thriller ” rather than the heavy melodrama which Irving played. Because the exterior scenes of the film demand striking snow landscapes in a mountainous country, an A.S.F.I. unit took advantage of an exceptionally cold spell, of this year, to go on location in the Scottish Highlands. The experiment was an unqualified success. The chosen location lay between the Spittai of Glenshee and the Devil’s Elbow on the road to Braemar across the Grampians, one of the wildest spots in the Highlands, where the road is generally blocked with snow until late in the spring. Final shots were taken in a howling blizzard which snowed up the unit to such an extent that they had to dig their way out, meeting villagers digging from the other end, for a distance of 25 miles. It is too much to say that another fetish has been destroyed forever, but winter exteriors can be made in Britain, for more sunshine was actually encountered than could be used.

Work in the studios is now under way, and several important sequences have been shot. Owing to the importance of the principal role, that of Mathias, the burgomaster, which Sir Gordon Craig, in his recently published book on Irving, describes as “Irving’s masterpiece,” extraordinary care had to be taken in casting the actor for the talkie part. More than 150 actors wrote to the director offering themselves for the role. A picked list of 50 possibles was eventually compiled, and nearly two months were spent in “ testing ” before the final selection fell on Donald Calthrop. one of the most popular and successful players in British films, who achieved distinction by his performance in “ Blackmail.” Supporting Mr Calthrop is Jane Welsh as Annette, and Edward Sinclair as Christian. Others in the cast include O. B. Clarence, Ralph Truman, and Wilfred and Billie Shine.

THE MAKE-UP MENACE. LONDON, May 5. ‘My opinion of the talkies is nothing to my opinion of the lipstick, which' I innately hate.. When I was on the stage I never used it.” said--the famous actress, Dame Madge Kendal, who is now in her 83rd year, to the Actors’ Church Union. “ Make-up has been England’s ruin. I once saw a girl, a stranger to me, using it, and exclaimed, ‘ Don’t make up your face to the sky. It is irreligious. I can t bear it. Give me your vanity bag and I will throw it into the Serpentine.’ “ After a struggle I got the bag and threw it away. We soon became friends, and kissed as we parted.”

BRITISH TRIUMPH. LONDON, May 6. The oft-despised British-made film has begun to triumph, according to the Evening News. While American kinemas are suffering their worst slump, and hundreds of them are closing, British kinemas are doing good business, despite the fact that it is summer time. Exhibitors declare that the home-made films are the chief reason of success. They are becoming more popular even than the first-class products of Hollywood. The only trouble is that there are not enough of them. FOUR LIONS ESCAPE. LONDON, May 5. Four lions escaped from a circus at Helston (Cornwall). One jumped on a pony's back and was recaptured outside the tent, and two dashed across a field and entered a shed, in which they were locked. The fourth jumped over a woman sitting on a park seat and plunged into a lake. The trainer (Captain Pinder) lassoed it and dragged it out, but the lion broke away. Captain Pinder then stunned it with an iron bar, and the performance was then resumed, the audience applauding Captain Pinder.

WING WHISPERS. By Peter Paw. WELLINGTON, May 22. Dear “Pasquin,”—The outstanding feature of the week’s musical engagements has been, of course, the singing of Joseph Hislop and the pianoforte playing of Isidor Goodman. The two concerts have attracted crowded attendances to the Town Hall, and the booking for tonight’s final recital is again excellent, assuring another packed audience. Hislop has had a slight throatal trouble since he arrived; thanks to a well-advised rest and a postponement of the first concert, he has completely overcome the attack, and is in magnificent voice again. He has provided programmes that have been a sheer joy to hear, and all tastes have been pandered to; to each class of music, Hislop gives it its appropriate colour. He can achieve an operatic triumph with the same simplicity of manner that invests his rendering of simpler subjects. Easy,' graceful, utterly in sympathetic accord with his hearers, he has completely charmed us all. Singing excerpts from “ Tosca,” “ La Boheme,” Purcell, Lehar, Meyerbeer, he has soared to grand heights, and then has stooped to touch < the hearts of the not so sophisticated with his exquisite bouquets of fantasies, spirituals, ballads, and the like. Two Norwegian songs were unexpected inclusions—sung in a language almost unknown here. Histrionic and facial expression was given to all his numbers, and the great man's triumph was inevitable. In Isidor Goodman, Southerners will find a virtuoso of the piano, whose work is brilliant, almost excitingly so. and above all, a delightful personage as well as a genius. His playing of Liszt’s Sixth Hungarian Rhapsody caused a sensation on Tuesday night; he has been an experience Wellington’s music lovers will not soon forget. As accompanist to the eminent tenor, the youthful pianist—giving more the impression of languid delicacy than of the full-blooded virtuosity that is his —has made a deep impression; he and the singer are in such delightful harmony that their association on the platform is a perfection of personality-blend-ing. On Friday afternoon last there was a large gathering in the lounge of our newest hotel, the St. George, when the Society of Musicians, through their president, Mr Harison Cook; the city of Wellington, through its ex-Mayor, Mi- G. A. Troup, and the Scottish residents, through Captain Niinmo, extended a hearty welcome in the presence of a representative collection of the city's musical notabilities, private citizens, and others. Mr Hislop and Mr Goodman were both impressed with the warmth and genuine friendliness of the occasion, and the reply of the famous tenor to all the nice things that were said about him was a model of modesty and reticence. Mr Cook caused no end of amusement by narrating the experience of one of two young girls, who. admiring the photograph of Joseph Hislop, the artist, in a shop window, was heard to remark, “ I am so glad I voted for Hislop for Mayor (Hislop being the name of our Mayor-elect)—he’s so goodlooking!” Mr Hislop enjoyed the joke as much as anybody. He has, on his return visit here, only endeared himself still further in the regards of admirers. Chamber music of the best kind was played in Nimmo’s Salon last evening by the Wellington Chamber Music Players —Mr and Madame de Mauny, Claude Tanner, Desmond Lavin, and Frank Crowther. The audience was numerous and enthusiastic. Another phase in the city’s musical endeavour was reached, and an improved relationship was noticed. The music demands the best interpretation, and the players are to be complimented on the results. The Haydn Quartet in G, a lovely composition, was interestingly done; it was a colourful bit of work. Frank Bridge’s Quintet in D minor was well performed, though it is a rather lugubrious selection, lacking melody. It was conscientiously played. The Dohnanyi Quartet in D flat was well developed, a charming thing, full of musical cadences, and beautifully expressive of a mood, or series of moods. Mr Roy Hill, tenor, sang “Song of the Road” from Vaughan William’s opera, “ Hugh the Drover,” “The Sleeping Beauty ” (Gibbs); “ From Far, From Jive and Morning (from VaugWilliams's cycle, “ On Wenlock Edge ); and Brewer’s “ When I Was Out Walking.” Madame de Mauny was a painstaking accompanist, also imaginative and helpful. Miss Naomi Whalley, of Palmerston North, will sing the soprano solos in the Royal Wellington Choral Union’s presentation of Sir Edward Elgar’s oratorio,

“ Caractacus ”; the performance takes place in the. Tqwn Hall on June 6, and will be the first presentation in the North Island. Mr Harold Prescott, of Christchurch, will sing the tenor solos; Mr Harison Cook, bass; and Mr William Watters, the baritone.

Two ex-Wellington girls—Miss Marie Ney and Miss Isohel Wilford—are doing splendidly on the English stage. Miss Ney never seems to be out of a part, her latest is as a disillusioned office worker, in the new play by John Van U ru s? n ’ ' London Wall,” at the Duke of York s Theatre, London. Frank Lawton. the original Young Woodley is in the cast, and a fine support of English favourites is noted. Miss Wilford has been offered and accepted a leading role in “ The Grand Chain, to be produced by Raymond Massey shortly.

Ihe M ellington dates for the appearance of Mark Hambourg and Peter J Jaw son, in association, have been set down for July 4,7, 9, 11. The Wellington season of “The First Mrs Fraser and “ Let Us be Gay ” has been changed from June 3 to June 6. Ethel Morrison, a former Wellington amateur, is returning at the head of the company, one of her best characterisations being as the irascible, lovable old rascal. Mrs Boucicault. in “ Let Us be Gay.” a part made notable quite recently by Marie Dressier in the talkie version. Miss Morrison is a woman of rare insight into her characterisations, and since leaving Zealand has been achieving fame in England and America, where she is a quite famous personage. She comes of a musical family, her brother Jack and sister Ida being well known as pianists in the earlier days of the Wellington amateurs. Her reception by local audiences will no doubt be rapturous. Miss Constance Burleigh, an actress of the London stage, is on a holiday visit • Zealan d just now, having arrived in Wellington last week by the Rangitiki from Home. This i s not her first visit to our shores, for she was out here for health reasons two years ago She received an eye injury while touring South Africa, and is taking a necessitous rest. She has appeared at the Globe, in London, ,« r, a > i>’ . M ar garet Bannerman and Our Betters ; has played in Dennis Eadie s company at the Royalty, and more recently with Godfrey Tearle in “Dawn.” one will no doubt be remembered bv the soldiers in France and Belgium, for whom she performed m 1918.