London's Coliseum.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 7703, 4 January 1905, Page 4

London's Coliseum.

LONDON, Nov. 18. A month hence London will rejoice mildly in the possession of a | theatre with several claims to spc- ' cial -distinction among the playhouses of the world. This is "The Colis-|. eum," which is to bo opened a week',' before Christmas, In the first place this theatre hvill hatve |ja bhjjgiqr,' stage than any of its contemporaries here or abroad. It will be over 100 ft wide, with a depth of 80ft, ; house will be capable of holding 3000 people. Apart from its great size—magnitude is written everywhere—the Col-I i-seum .promises many novelties. The: stage for the greater part of its area i consists of three mammoth tables | which can, if necessary, be made to] revolve each other at any speed up to thirty miles an hour. Then again - from an overhead railway are sus-1 pended three travelling cradles. In j these._ anything from a ship to a I street of houses can be let down on I to the"*stage, and, when no longer required, run .railway-, and I thus.carried to a platform out oil the : way. There are to be four perform-' ances daily, each of two hours' dur- ' ation, the first commencing at noon, and the final one at.9 p.m., and they will be made i-:,i primarily of "song spectacles"—that is to say, everything portrayed on the stage will i )e accompanied by appropriate music arid choruses. The interior of the house promises to be a gorgeous spectacle in gold, alabaster, marble, and but the patrons ol the Coliseum will for a modest sixpence be able to book an armchair seat in advance in .'the cheapest part of the house, and all through the prices are to be on an equally economical scale. There are three sweeping tiers—the balcony, which corresponds with the gallery in an ordinary theatre, the first tier, and the grand tier. Each leads out at the back into a cosy tea-room, which will have artistic floral decorations, and where during the intervals between the performance a band will play. From the front or the house a lift will ascend to all the tiers, and anyone may use it. The management are engaging a chorus of about one hundred voices. The majority of the singers will be accommodated in a spacious box on either side of the stagej-where. they may be seen i:y the audience. Altogether the latest. of London's theatres promises to be one which we shall be able to point to with justifiable pride.