AMUSEMENTS

Observer, Volume 2, Issue 52, 10 September 1881, Page 611

AMUSEMENTS

Mr Fred Marshall's Quilp is in many respects the most extraordinary piece of character acting ever presented to an Auckland audience. To understand it thoroughlT one requires to see the piece two or three times. The subtle elaboration • of the part, and its ■wonderful perfection in detail cannot by any possibility be grasped in a single visit. The auditor requires to know the story thoroughly so as to be able to concentrate his attention solely on Mr Marshall. In " Quilp " the other actors are merely puppets, playing up to the " star." He is the be-all and end-all of the play' The drama itself is a very scrappy and mixed-up version of Dickens' " Old Curiosity Shop." To those who have read the book the piece is, of course, comprehensible enough, but others must find the numerous characters, who . are brought on apparently without rhyme or reason, somewhat perplexing. Mr Elliot made a palpable hit as Dick Swiveller ; and Maggie Knight was a charming Nell. Of the others, Mr Edmund Marshall's Brass is alone worth mentioning. We must compliment this gentleman on the striking individuality which he manages to throw into even the smallest, parts. Characters which in ordinary hands would be passed by unnoticed, in his become life-like and vigorous. — Miss Adelle is better, but by no means well. Off the stage she appears painfully wav and pale. — Walter Macfarren has written a new cantata " Henry the Fifth," for the Norwich Musical Festival. ■ — H. J. Byron's new comedy " Punch "at the London Vaudeville though clever in places was long and dreary aud proved a complete failure. — Mr Towle, of Christchtirch, whose amateur company made a hit in " Les Cloches de Oorneville," is rehearsing " Madame Favart." -" Quilp " is a palpable hit, and up to the time of -writing has drawn very fair houses. Sir Marshall leaves Auckland per Te Ancm on Thursday, — Notwithstanding that Rubonstein's concerts were a great success in London and averaged £700 a performance, the great musico has resolved never again to visit "Western Europe. — -Walter Reynolds writes to xis that ho had perfected all arrangements for bringing over Musgrave's " Tambour Major " Conipaivy, but had to give them up owing to the rapacity of the New Zealaud lessees, who asked, outrageous prices for their theatres. One modest creature wanted £100 a-week. — Mrs Marshall does not. lay claim to being a first-rate actress, bnt there are not many ladies, either in or out of the profession, who woiUdhave the strength of tuiud to disfigure themselves as she does when playingMrs Quilp in order to do justice to a small part of 20 or 30 lines. — Since Mr Marshall's advent a marked improvement has been noticeable in the stage management at tho theatre. Before he came, all room scenes used to be both barely and ridiculously furnished, and the stage meals wero of a most remarkable description. Now properties seem to be abundant, and the pieces are very differently mounted. — The great sensation at Rome just now is the American Antlan, a. violinist who plays a fiddle with more ability with his toes— he has no arms— than most people do with their finger 3. Mr Antlan also plays a cornet-a-piston, and wipes his face with a pocket-hand- i kerchief wielded by his foot. j

— G-eorge E. Sims (" Dagonet" of the Referee( is the rising dramatic author of the day. When the rnnil left England three of his comedies were were being performed in London— viz.: " The Member for Slocuni," at the Eoyalty : "The Mother-in-law," at the Vaudeville; and "French Plats," at the Criterion. It i 8 rather odd that Sims' " Crutch and Toothpick," which is one of the most amusing comedies ever written and ran nearly a year in London, has never been produced in New Zealand. — "Puck " wires' from Dunedin : — Miss Pomeroy has evidently struck oil here. On Saturday &he was greeted with an excellent attendance, all parts of the house being full, and at the second performance of "Cyinbeline" the a\idience was equally large. Good critics arc not inclined to rote her very highly as a tragedienne, thinking her forte lies in high comedy. As Imogene she has had the advantage of its being impossible to institute comparisons, the play having never before been -performed hero; but on Wednesday, when she essays Rosalind, she will be' better tested. The " star " 'has nightly been recalled at the end of each act, but she pleases her audiences most in the last ones, receiving enthusinstic applause at the conclusion of the scene where she discovers the supposed decapitated body of her husband. Miss Poineroy is well supported by W. J. Holloway, who quickly installed himself as a favourite. Mrs Holloway, as the Queen, has no chance of showing her capabilities, and J. Wallace is completely out of place in Shakespenre. He hns, however, many friends in Dunedin, and nightly receives a recall. I almost omitted to mention Hoskins, on whose appearance last Saturday the house rang again with applause, which stopped the progress of the play for | some minutes His Belnrius could not be improved on. The engagement of Pomeroy is likely to prove a trnmp card for "the lessee. Mr Willis is busy painting scenery, in order that nil Shakespeare's plays may be fittingly put on during the rest of the tour. All the properties and scenery for " Antony and Cleopatra " have been brought . from Melbourne. Apropos of Hoskins, I have to state that, h^i is not married yet. The statement found general credence in Melbourne on the day the last KM>ainer left, hence my using it. Carey did good business till nearly the finish of the season, but iicfced unwisely in withdrawing' " The Pirates." "Pinnfore" was a comparatively flat production. " Les Cloches de Corneville," on Thursday, was the funniest performance I ever saw. Morley ought to have been in bed instead of on the stage ; and Porter, an amateur whom Carey picked up at Christchurch, and whom he cast for the Marquis, was seized with an excessive fit of stnge fright, which rendered him absolutely incapable of uttering a single word of dialogue. Every thimr and everybody was thrown into confusion, but the climax was renched when in the second act Morley's armour would not fit on. For full five minutes the audience enjoyed themselves immensely at the expense of the unfortunate tenor, and the piece was only saved from downright failure by the admirable acting and spirited singing of Miss Leaf, who made a capital Serpolette. Miss Murielle is a fair Germainc, but her acting wna indifferent. Wentworth was overweighted as Gaspard. Porter was a useful baritone, but it is doubtful if he will succeed on the openttic stage. The opera is splendidly dressed, and with goodrehoarsal and a more judicious cast would draw during the rest of the tour. On Friday Morley was again incapacitated. Carey is now sole director of the company. He hopes to be able to produce " Billie Taylor " in Wellington about Christmas time. The Queen's has been lensed to Dunning for three months. It is uncertain yet whether the Pollnrds will appear there or* at the other house. Thompson's Zulu Diorama is expected shortly. W. Horace Bent and R. G. Batcheldcr, with a negro minstrel troupe, open at InvercurgiU on September 12.