FOOTLIGHT FLASHES.

Observer, Volume 5, Issue 131, 17 March 1883, Page 420

FOOTLIGHT FLASHES.

— Singings bees are the latest rage in Adelaide, — Bland Holt lately benefited in Melbourne. Big house.' ' . — Tom Margetts is traveling -with the Daven- . ports in Victoria. — Chang the giant is in London. He still oarries his coffin with him. —Miss Marion Willis and the celebrated " Cuff " are performing iv the Victorian provinces. — Eichard Aspinal, son of the celebrated bar- . rister of that name, has adopted the stage as a profession. — Two stall tickets for the first production of Victor Hugo's new play " Le Boi S'Ainuse " were sold for £62. — Smythe has gone to his home in Melbourne* and intends to run Forbes through Queensland When; the weather cools. — In the middle of a new piece when the > audience was perfectly quiet, Mddle. Dinelli, of thePalais Royal, Paris, turned to the other performers and said : "Do you hear how they hiss me ? I cannot finish 1 ' the piece." The next day it was found that she had lost her reason, and after several attenipbs to commitsuicide, she was removed to an asylum. — In Wangaratta the Irish element is Tery strong, and consequently Irish sympathy is easily aroused. Kecently the Juno troupe were playing 1 ' " Arrah na Poguo," and in the scene where Peeny, the < villain of the piece, is taunting Shaun with regard tohis sweetheart's infidelity, a stalwart Irishman in the . audience was with difficulty prevented from rushing on the stage, and with his fists champion the cause of the' falsely-accused girl. • — A good many theatrical stories never find their wsiy into print. We wonder if this has : — Some , benevolent Jews wanted to hire a theatre so as to give a poor friend a ben. After the preliminary bargain—* in which the manager, having asked fifty pounds, agreed to take four pouuds ten— it was arranged that ; ho should select the piece and get out the bills. When they came out there was no small discontent. " S'help ' "' me ! here's a bill for a sick 'cbrew," said one ; " begins with 'Pork Chops,' chroe acks o' ' Shy lock, the Jew of Venus/ and winds up with * The Floating Bacon I' — Woodyear and Boss' Circus still continues to largely attract. The change of programme seems to be - much appreciated. The arenic spectacle, Turpin's Bide to York, iv particular finding great favour with the larrifeins. Mr Robert Love, as the dashing highwayman Dick Turpin, plays with great spirit, and compares favourably with the best exponents of the part we have seen. Signor Bartolo, Mr Gilham, and Master Jack Cozens give great satisfaction in their several acts, and Mr Matthews is wonderful as an acrobat and amusing as ' a clown. Cuzco's performances on the wire are always .- clever, and appreciated. To-morrow evening the com* pany perform for the last time. A monster bill will be doubtless the result. — Miss Sbannaghan, a lady well-known in Auck« land musical eirclos, and who in time past has frequently and freely bestowed her valuable services in aid of charitable objects, gives a concert in the Lome-street Hall to-morrow evening (St. Patricls's night). The programme, which is advertised in another column, con«. • tains some of/fche best selections from Irish ballads, and will be rendered by sorne of the best vocalists in Auckland. The overture will be played by tho Hob3on Band. We observe that Miss Swan will sing, hy request, "The Isle that's crowned with Shamroe/c," and our old friend, Miss Sbannaghan will give, also by request, " The Cruisfcoen Lawn." All loyal aud patriotic Irishmen should muster well in honour of th eir patron Saint. It should be ' called " An evening with Moore " — and more power to 'em (well we'll let this pass, but don't do it again) and Saint Pat. " God Save the Queen " concludes the programme. — The Devonporfc Musical Society gave their second concert for the season on Wednesday evening, and were favoured with a large attendance of visitors from Auc7»land and the Lafee. The programme had been selected with great care, and the concert proved to be unmista/tably the best which the Society has yet given, demonstrating in a very marked manner the great pro- . gress which it has made under tho able conductorship> of Mr Gordon Gooch. We regret that the exigencies of space, owing to pressure of advertisements at the last moment, will not permit us going iuto a detailed criti- , cisin of the various excellent selections performed hy the band, and the choruses and part songs given hy the Society. Of the solos, we must say that Miss Duder's • singing of "The Merry Zingara" fairly brought down, the house; and Mrs E. Duder, in her song, "To The Woods," showed that she possessed a voice of sroafc sweetness and modulation. Amongst the other songsencored were those by Mr 3 Clarfce, Mr Gordon Gooch (who was in grand voice), Mr Lauders,- and Mr Reid, The concert concluded with Locke's music to "Mac- ' beth," with band accompaniment, and proved a rich treat. Mr Brett toofc the leading solo 3 with his usual success. — Thus speaks a Melbourne paper: — "The Assault on a Musical Critic. — The roport in a morning 1 contemporary that Mr James Moore, who assaulted Mr Moul on Saturday night, had gone to Sydney, turns out to be quite unfounded, as we interviewed Mr Moore ' in his office at the Theatre Eoyal this morning. Mr James Moore states that the reports of the assault are I much exaggerated, and gives his statement as follows : ' — After the performance at the Eoyal was concluded, I, as is my usual custom, went over to the Opera House to have a drink. Mr Jenkins, our assistant treasurer, alone accompanied me. Whilst there. Mr Beaumont joined us, and we conversed on the abilities of some of the singers who had appeared that night at the Royal. Mr Jenkins and I then went downstairs, and whilst coming into the street Mr Movie passed aud stood on my foot. I said, 'Excuse me, but where are you going ?' Mr Moul then pushed up his hands as if tty shove me away, and I then struck him. He hit back, and I dodged the blow. There were only about four blows struck altogether, and the affair did not -last a iniuute. Mr Jenkins corroborated this statement word for word." [By cablegram we learn Mr Moore has been fined £10 and costs. l — It is no secret that during the past weelc the members of Siinonsen's Opera company have not been quite a happy family, and that where only harmony should have reigned there has been discord. One prominent member of the company, after rather a long part, rushed behind the scenes for his favourite bottle, and in the gloom unfortunately made a mistake. He grabbed and drank off some villainous fiery mixture belonging to the property man before discovering the difference. He has_ ever since suffered from severe indisposition, and his usually benign and suave temper has been irrilatcd by the two frequent use of the stomach-pump, hot bricks, mustard plasters, and other demoniacal inventions of the faculty. Moreover a few ©f the " stars " were seized with the hallucination that they were comets, and began to get irregular in their orbits— which almost resulted in an orbituary notice cf ' the company. (We present this joke to Maccahe free of charge). There were some rather lively unrehearsed scenes, in which there was a good deal of " gag" not to be found in any edition of • Shakespeare orBevised. Edition of the New Testament.- Under these circumstances it was decided to close, the theatre until the erratic stars had resumed their courses, and recovered from their " severe indisposition." We are gladto learn at this time of writing that harmony has been restored, and that Madame Sitconseu will receivea complimentary benefit this (Friday evening) at the ' Theatre Royal under the distinguished patronage of hig Worship the Mayor and the City Fathers. The bill of fare is one of the most attractive ever produced in. Auckland, and the programme will comprise acts from " Norma," "Boccaccio," and a miscellaneous concert, to be followed by the screaming face of "Turn him out," in which the world-renowned Maccahe will appear as- " Nicodimus Nobbs," one of his most famous impersonations. Madame Sitnonson deserves a crowded house, and we trust all true lovers of music and admirers of sterling talent will show their hearty sympathy with, her by mustering at her levee this evening. To-morrow (Saturday) evening the compauy will give their farewell performance of " The Bohemain Girl," and a grand • concert consisting of Irish melodies, songs, ballads, and . solos. The Simonsens leave by the Taiaroa for Napierof fcer the performance. — Mr Maccabe's entertainment, "Begone Dull Care," has-been extensively patronised during the week.. • The performance is of a most enjoyable nature, and '•- considering it is provided by one individual, extraordinary. Mr Maccabe possesses a greater versatility than any other artist we have witnessed here before. : Nofc ■ only is he a clever ventriloquist, vocalist, and instrumentalist, but ne is also a character actor of exceptional!

. ability. His changes of dosturnes are remarkable for ■their rapidity, and his entire performance, while replete with wit and humour, is utterly devoid of the slightest approach to coarseness or vulgarity. Each character he presents is thoroughly different, and one can hardly realise that the good-tempered looking gentleman who acts as introducer is identical with the introduced. His portraiture of the fussy old after - dinner orator is strikingly realistic, and forcibly reminds one of a class who are everywhere prevalent, and who, because they •are favoured with a certain amount of this world's , goods, assert themselves on every possible occasion and Bore their listeners with a prosily-uttered string of nothings. Also very good is his representation of a ■ gushing damsel, who pathetically laments her want of .success in securing an eligible husband, and with true feminine conceit wonders at the blindness of the opposite sex to her charms. As the " Lady-Killer," Mr Maccabe , achieves one of his greatest triumphs. The insufferable coxcomb, who thinks he has merely to glance at a. woman, to make an easy conquest, is depicted "with wonderful accuracy. The gem of the performance is, however, undoubtedly the sketch, "Romance and Reality," in which two characters are presented us. The first, the troubadour of bye-gone days, magnificently ■clad in silk and satin, with long gold flowing hair, guitar in hand, warbling a love ditty to his mistress ; and the other, a street-singer, clothed in rags, with prison crop, endeavouring to earn a few coppers by performing on a tin whistle, and attempting to sing popular ballads. This last is undoubtedly Mr Maccabe's greatest impersonation. The churchyard cough, the voice husky and broken by intemperance — in fact the degradation of the man — is exposed with startling fidelity. This performance alone is sufficient to stamp Mr Maccabe as an actor of great genius. As a ventriloquist he completely distances any of his predecessors. Clean shaven, without the aid of puppets or anything to distract the attention of his audience, and with no apparent effort, he manages to throw his voice where and when he wills in ■such a manner as to make his hearers believe for the time that they are listening to a company of actors instead of one. In the second part of the programme an equally happy effect is attained. The Railway Porter, Irishman, and Lancashire Lad are very choice specimens of dialect acting. Mr Maccabe's soiourn among us, we are sorry to say, will be but brief ; but, judging by the patronage extended to him up to the present, there is every reason to believe it will be as profitable to him as it has been pleasurable to us. Last evening Mr Maccabe was honoured with a crowded house and a £nll dress circle.