Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Thursday 29 June 1911, page 6


LONDON GAIETIES,

THE CORONATION EXHIBITIONS.

ANOTHER "MERRY WIDOW." (Freu Our Own Correspondent.*

"LONDON, May 26.

Wo ar» In ing in w ild times Tho Tas maman ..bo ha», chosen Inng GeoTR4 s Coronation year ior his first visit to Ihe Old Country will roturn with mans pre Cvnceiveil notions aoout Great Britain oi ei turned Is this the London which is said to take its pleasures sndl} ? Dances

r cei-liois exhibitions and tha'nea productions ara follow ing one another in such rapid «n cession that oven the sea soned Londoner is not sure what notous frivohtics aro ready foi his acceptance Vt tho As hilo City at Earls Couit and at the Crystal Palace thero are fulls

fledged exhibitions Trnc, all aro sup-posed lo have their educational side But the fnv olous-niinde d does not ha e to go far ,n seaTch of a chuckle AVithin the month there will be at least four great public fanc}-dress balls somo of winch entertain so many as five thousand guests Ver Iv it will tbe said of the Britain of 1011 that its people fiddled while its ancient Constitution was do-st ro} ed

"WILD AUSTRALIA"

But I will put aside the temptation to philosophise. The most distinctively Aust

ralian gaiety of the week ti the produc tion of "Wild Australia" at the Festivival of Empire. Dr McCall is working hard upon theTasminian exhibit in the Aus tralian Pavilion. The main features of the display have been determined upon, but I will defer a detailed account for a week or so until the opening his taken place. "Wild Australia" however is in being. The show fully sustains the pro-mise held out by the alluring poster which has been placarded over every London hoarding. The poster repre

sents a stockrider with the familiar red shirt and whip dominating an imaginary up country station. The grass is as im

possibly green as the shirt is impossibly red and the boots impossibly shiny. But the promise of high jinks suggested by the poster is amply fulfilled. In a cor

ner of the ground of the Crystal Palace has been erected an Australian stock yard. The seventy head of cattle in clude the most notorious outlaws in the Commonwealth. Bobs is a Queens land horse which is advertised to have thrown 800 men. The Australian show

man who bought Bobs for £4, 10s. claims to have made a fortune of the beast. At any rate he can afford to offer £50 to the first Londonor to ride Bobs in Australian stockman fashion. On Saturday I may add no one volun teered to earn the £50.

But there are ofher attractions in

"Wild Australia." There is Noble, a pony 33 inches high who jumped 6 feet

3 inches in Sydney. On Saturday Miss Bonita Dreshler a girl in her teens cut her name out in 30 shots in 30 seconds.

She also played a tune with rifle shots upon a series of steel bars. Miss Marion Whaite cracked a stock whip 38 feet long to the wonder of the open-mouthed cock ney. Miss Agnes Hyland, Australia's

champion horse breaker undertakes to catch, teach to lead, mouth pick up the feet and ride any unbroken colt within four hours. Finally as a wind-up came the "Fun in the Stock yard," wherein the performers engaged in what appeared to be "catch-as-catch-can" wrestling with the seventy head of cattle in the imita tion stockyard. That "Wild Australia" will serve as an inducement to possible recruits is not likely. But the show certainly adds to the gaiety of the metro polis and does something to keep the name "Australia" to the fore. Never the less, it is good that Tasmania has termined that the more solid achieve ments and potentialities of the Commwea

lth shall not go unrepresented at the premier exhibitioni of Coronation year.

The State's plucky and spirited move has been warmly applauded in Anglo Austra

lian circles.

1HE WH1IL riTA

The ( oronatioa Lvlnbition at Shci beids Buh (ino White Citv) i coi troll el tv Mr Imre Iviralfj rid ^

Ttseah Ljons \ at the Tc-j ml if Impire tie main attructinn is a sine» of Jmp-nal se nes lheic are p J neram piet i es of such tl c s ir LonXiav Cil

cutta iad Afjnlcln v ith tilid figures i i Mio fe. parot. el v Inch "ive i v ind r f 1 air o iidht tor cb se-cne Ia nunn ensc natives in -ct alv ~t vori u I t piel min tu s In Madias w i be

i n the sil cmbro dolors at IJelln tai i o v caivei 'ii I alia is rep csen cn

li) is eno of S dney Harbour AVhv

b (ho vvav i this seen- i one aird ad ia s am h*>n s wclcarr-o a c1 a g could ba aflordcd br a icore ont tior et th" Di ent v ith Alounl Well nglcu U,J hftni" it3 head proudlv in tho bael

grouid ' î»ot that Tasmania is forgotten \mo-u tho tableaux is an excellent repre s ntation of a Tasmanian gold mine The South Arncan met ties lucinda n beaut

ul view of Cecil Rhodes s lovel} toro i ni Hie Ala' oppo Hills \ real î inga a vvateifall and a Nova ScDtian a] ile ir ehaid in full oloom tand ,c-r Cnnad i

iho Mother Countrv diFila}s her gr ic"s in Such ecp-ics as St at To el a Vvon Conn a} Castle thn Paso of Iv Hi clan n

and tie Ando of Avcca

another feature of th" fo-onation Ex hibition at the White ,Citv is the news raper cou t wh ra tho ce la n-1 prcs is vet} well icpicso-itcd Hcic ar-> jhov n an oil hand tvT"moild from Cn-.ton s ioaiidr and nea bv "n îp to-late Hoe printing pr»ss \ ru) y e f tho Bris toi Postbov »haws MailboroAgh' d" «¡patch after the victori at Bl nneim

llie famou P inch taolo v-ith ti e carved initial of icnnicl locci Thacke rav Jorrold au 1 the rest is al'o shorn

S VN TLBY S F vrEWLLL

Out I mus pa's on to some of tho moio import ul sta¡,j prcluc lons of Iho pj»t fev v eel s It th"- Opera Honse, ilndanie Melba Las been aopenrnig ni Li Jiohen mel laut' and singing a onlv sh-> eui sing Hie 4 iiítraiían puna donna s name it the. lieud of the ca t ens res a hou-.e lull at tov 11 learden A moio pathetic event at t io Opera Houst has b cn Mr Chailcj San

le} s aicwcll to the 6tage lh" lea leis in evory blanch ot sUgc ait is^istcd ni the faiowcll peiformaiiec on lue day afternoon tiom Air Han y Lauder in Roamin in the Gloanmi to Sir Her heit liée m Beethoven Ali«s Maud allan danced the 1 coi- Gjit bint-» and ildllo \elehne Genoe (daintiest of dniut} diicirs) ii A lit JJryjc I he clou if the performano was Santlev s own ar

pe trance in Ile AVatcrinan When the veteran appeared-he is "6-as the vouthful lorn lug the great audionco could scarcely believe ths eviience of its eves V flaxen wig a rudd} beard «.nd the assumpt-on ot a jauntv s'ait had made Sir Challes 20 once more Re \ is

the jolly voung watcrmin to the» life He san,, the soug with ill the cid spnit Then came Sons of the ocan wa e

Rule Bntanma, ai.ei lastlj Geid save the King One bus to heal Sant ley s rig the Natío ml \ntheru to fully tealise what God «ave the King rcallv means k. fine end to "iO renrs of dev oted service to the public oi tho Empire'

riiANZ LEHAP S OPLRA

The production of Tranz Lehar s orera Tin Count ot Luxembourg it Dalv s Theatre resulted ni the most notable first night ot recent years Both the King and Queen wore present No such compliment has been paid the musical comely stage since King Ed-vaie] and Cucen Alexandra graced the opening night of Tho Orchid" at the Gaietv Theutro in 1003 Lehar is the compo»tr of the Merrv Widow which broke all musical comedy records a í w vears ago

lae Count of Lusembouig is aheady being plavcd in 1 SOj theatres on the Continent and Vmenco It«- waltz Sholl wo tn just we two is being plaveel in every cale between Afilan and Stocl holm The royalties for the composer amount to hundreds of pounds a week vet a few years ago Lehai was only a humblo Viennese bandmaster Pranz ¿char came over to London to conduct for the open ing night of The Connt of Lniembonrg

The success of the play justified the jrurnc} The story is of no particular eoasequonce Tho impecunious Count Pene of Luxembourg marnes a girl he has never seen in return ior £20 000 He promises to divorgo his brida within thiee uiunlhs to enable her to marry a certain Russian grand duke Needles» to siy the unwiUtng info falls m lovo with the unwilling husband long before the three, month» end Result happiness and moro marnago bells The music, how-

ever moro than makes np ior a rather ordinary "book " The ercheetrahon, in particular is full of charm and clever noss Lehar proves himjelf nearer to a.rthur Sullivan than any tnusieaan who has written for English audiences for a quarter of a century

The great "hit" of "Tho Count of Luxembourg' is a staircase waltz

danced bv the hero and heroine It re 1 calls the famous duel and dance in The

Alerrv Wmows and is no less successful \ñ danced by Miss Lilv Elsie and Mr Bertram Wallis the number earned tho opera, to instant fortune It began at the bottom of the night of sUirs and ended at the top Tho feat was the more remarkable as Miss Esc aias only rccovermjf from an optiatioii for appendicitis. She wa» under her doctor 6 caro until she went on te the stage She onlv managed lo last through to the end by means of n hjpo dcrmic injection Miss L h Elsie is a bemitiful girl-perhao6 the most boauti

ful on the light opera stage In tho last two or three pla}s in which she has ap oeared «he has shown a great ineitafe in acting ability Her poiulai ty to day ccalls that of the inimitablo Nellio Farren hersell Hoi r co lion by the audience when the ct rtaiu fell for the last timo on satuiday eicnirg can onlv bo described as rapturous TA ith the Ttladelmein ' v» lltz Air George Ed wardes's -eautiful stage setting and the beaut} and grace of Lil» LJsie TJO Coi nt of Lusemsourg will run ^or t» o vcars it it luns for a month Tho only vcidict upon Lehar s nt»» opera i* -uno 1 cr Merl} Avidow

SOME OTiIFR PRODUCTIONS

T ipu are ol'or luteiestiug ticati cul prod c1 ions »Inch »roll dcser»e mention vlr Laurence Irving, a son of Sir Henry andabnther f IIB who is now tutu »ou in \ i trolla Us produc d a ramnrl able pla», uillfd Margaret Catchpole

It is a di imatic ricepstructioii of tho story it a f-mous figure in 13th cen hil} legend Margar t lived in theeh}5 of Na} oleon Bonapal te and t he play shows etonts in her life covoring twenty year« Wo seo her arnon,? th« Morns dancer of Suffolk captured loy the press gang and finally transported fcr 1 e to australia Alis«, M bel ilaoknev ¡s a fine Margint Lainoncp Irving playing the part of the pnate Luff lho twenty fcei es ol so m the play give a vivid pic turo of 18th century nie Nor is Air Lauicnce Triuv abovo baa mg a little jest at tho critics among his audience I ere are a few evli acts from his pla} bill v hieb is con«tiuc ed upon the lines of the transí ortivo eli ima ot the Irst ccn

tur;

\ct Iirst Scene 1 The Kitchen of .the Prior} 1 arm Rustic Capers m tnducmi, special Morns Dnoo arel II ir vest bong-Margaret Catchpol-» tht finest girl in buffoll -lhe evil Lanius-Maiga rets ttv i tmectncarls tie fnithlul and the fal«o-lhe assignation Or a,r m -

lollj lim Look half-seas over-Jnck Tars and (ben li&ses on the spreo-Laud and Luft face to face once moro-lho brawl- A\ su t it you who j ut tile prtss gang on mer No it was »oui o n girl Margaret -Laud e quest-Sardonic fclej of Lull and taltra! hurlv burly

lor the rest London can en-joy an even ut, listening to t o plays by U ruurd bha r- Anns and the Alan and 1 anny liibt Play not to mention lhe Cho o late Soldier' which is still attiactm, larg« uudienoes Mr O car vsche is mak ii g i «.mall íoituie o it c1 Kismet

v hie h ht nioniifeis to produc» in \us trail» earl» nevt year Air George Ed i» ardes s other musical comedies are ih" Quaker Girl and Peggy the olhei uni (eil succe«s c1 th-» hoir being th« tvnjoutliul Vroidians Sir Herbert lui is in the midst >f a b ia espiare test"» al in y»hich man» other London niiai"eis ire helpinD him linallv there tit tile music balls tie attractions in tins direct on ii indine, tho dancintr oi Michael Moid! in nd inna Paak/wi at th P »1 co theatre Surtí» Lol don is dont, » r fall pa in encouragn g Im iel 1 lightl t rtcdn"»«6 Indeed ore ern r'u ¿ s in up tin lire el a }oun;r «oci tv girl at tie ->rc«-o t lime - Kidicv an t L icon and p ach -d "?» tit 'o doe' ii h mornn nd th s a ter an oarh r si pit V»]J h qu ils ai el aspat lgus pi ers sp- tri- einc6 id c im i rmed -ait cr the menu Danen g tint 1 da ght and alter a «cant» II on » of slea a PO1 I pi ure aid q i c1 lrp s re;

as to np ir nopeily habited an'1 mein .<! in tie >nil at 1 alt ia 8 ilion h mu la lnlei ir>» dies-unl Pib ard ti s 11" mill th (ta P c in o et r a ly to f 1BI UP laj s hi - h't ef cnl cn tak monts 1 al PI I -,ain t Hi t!ip thor ou"hl» Li ti 1 li« -s s rvrd v thoi idii fil b «te-s s to the FUI i»oi < the jail roon- ni tie» e mall ho irs of ti e mom

1 hive onl» to add ti at for si\ isis or m re To don has b on cxrMienen " Cmeiain veithe Nalano ard bunn

t» an- e iH ing- to ma e the jeal 1911

a li PI o a le me

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