Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), Tuesday 6 September 1921, page 7


MUSIC AM) DBAMA'

The ïlasqucraders, who had a cordial reception from a good audience at tho Theatre Royal on Saturday evening, have a very attractive and versatile programme, and giv<i patrons plenty of onjoyment and fun. The season, ex-tends throughout the present week. _

Tho Yoguen and Vanities, maintain thftir popularity at the TemperancehaD, and in the new programme the stage settings and effects aro on a scale of grandeur rarely attempted by musi-cal costume comedy companies. The performers are all well placed, with the result that tile show runs with smoothness and success. Mr. Cedric Johnson is inaugurating a singing and

dancing competition for local competi-

tors. .

"At the National Theatre the Cracknells are tho chief attraction, with their remarkable whip manipulation. Other leading features include a miniature circus. -In addition; there are several excellent pictures, sweet «inging by Miss Olive Tedman, and clover dancing by Mollio Millburne. Fred. Smiles

gives much satisfaction with his sing-

ing items.

"Fifty Thousand Miles with the Prince of "Wales," tho authentic oificial film record of the Prince of Wales'e recent triumpjjal tour of the Domin-ions, will bo presented at tho City-hall for three nights and matinees, com-mencing on Saturday afternoon, Sep-tember 17. A portion of the .profits of tliis picture are. to be' given to tho Boy -Scouts' Fund of Australia and New Zealand, and another portion is to be devoted to tho Prince of Wales's Fund for Maimed end Blinded Soldiers of the/. World. Box plans for the sea-son /Will bo opened at Findlay's Pro-prietary Iitd. on Saturday, and day silo of tickets will bo obtainable at

Messrs. Propsting and Morris's from

Saturday next. '

I ."The Babes in the Wood" panto- ¡ minio is making rapid strides towards perfection, under tho able direction of

Mrs. Zoo Richardson. Tho scenery, ' gorgeous dressing, harlequinade, and i transformation effects promise to i eclipse anything yet attempted by local I amateurs. The ballets, original dances, J marches, and groupings are being ar-ranged on a scale worthy of a profes-

sional production. I

His Majesty's Theatre has a fine list or attractions for the current week,

and the programme now being screened j comprises "Mother o' Mine," one of Thomas H, Ince's very best releases. Viola Dana is to be ¿ben in "Cirrder¡ elbVs Turns," and, with -the usual

soenio and gazette support, and music by a capable orchestra, His Majesty's

is an irresistible attraction for picture

lovers.

Business at tho Palace Theatre is brisk, with the management always on the qui viv« to obtain the best for patrons. This is Paramount week, which means that the gems from tliiB firm's productions aro tho features. Dorothy Gisli, tho over-popular artist, is to be seen in "Flying Pat," ana there is n, fiiio drama in "The Bronze Bell." Mack Bennett comedies pro-vide tho humour, and tho gazettes,

otc., complete a programme of great

merit.

Hobart has had no dparnatic enter« tamnients for some months, the last occasion being Miss Olive Walton's ex-cellent production of "His House in Order." The public will bo glad to hear that Miss wilton is producing, at the Theatre Royal, on September 17, for a season of threo nights, "Passers By," by O. Haddon aiambers. This is a delightful play, with a strong human appeal, where pathos is inter-woven with tin» most delioious humour. Miss Wilton is herself playing tho leading part in "Passers By," and, judging from her last production, pat-rons may look forward to a treat.

It is on record that Talmadgo films lUsvor fail. Confirmation of this state-ment is given by the splendid business now being done at the Strand, where, a3 usual, Oie programme is of rare excellence. Constance Talraadge, in 'lessons in Love," is simply charm-ing. Her naturalness and beauty ap-peal to everyone, and there is not a picture-lover who will willingly miss

seeing her in this brilliant First Nat-

ional rnmorlt*

Cyril'Mackay,, who appears as the artist, Sutherland York, in tlie J. and N. Tait production of "Scandal," at Melbourao King's Tlieatre, has had a long record of successes on the Aus-tralian stag«. Many will remember liis brilliant work as tho victim of the tliird ciegrco in tho play of that namo, which made such a. sensational success throughout Australia. Ho was also im-pressive as Stove, in the J. C. Wil-liamson production of "Tho Virginian," in which Charles Waldron was the lead-ing man. More recently, phvygoorB saw him as the fateful_ crooked partnei of "De Lu_o Annie," in which charac-ter'Emolió Polini added another to her fine gallery of stago portraits. Cyril Macleay has played all sorts of stage

characters, and has always played them

well.

There are many who remember W. S. Percy in Hobart with the Pollard Company, when "Les Cloches de Corne-ville" and other operas were produced at the Theatre Royal. Mr. Percy is returning to Australia from England, and on October 1 will commence an engagement under the management of J. C. Williamson Ltd. Mr. Percy succeeded the late Genge Lauri as the firm's comedian. One of the few Australian comedians who went to Lon-don, Sir. Percy quickly made good in his profession. Before the war he re-ceived most flattering notices for his work in some of the more important musical comedies. In one or two Gil-bert and Sullivan operas he was fav-ourably compared to leading English artists. Mr. Percy began his career as a boy with the well-known Pollard juvenile opera company, which gave to the Australian stage so many ex-cellent artists-another of whom, May Beath, is now doing well in the Old Country. He adhered to the school

which had the late Will Elton for its pattern.

George Augustus Sala, in his "Not"» of the Week" in tho "Illustrated Lon-don Now.'." of 40 years ago, refers to Muybridgo, an -¿morican inventor's reading of a paper at tho_ Boyal In-stitution, and of an exhibition given there of what probably caused tie first scientific acceptance- and positive vis-ual proof- that pictures of fast-moving objects could bo taken and shown in public. Sala tells us that Muybridgo had written io him in 1879 about the photographs ha was taking in that year of fast trotting horses at Pi^lo Alto, in California, and liad come over to this country (about 18S1) to show the re-sults. The Prince of Wales and four othor members of the Boyal familyj iib well as Huxley, 'Gladstone, _and Sir Frederick Leighton, went to view what was called the ZooprasJECope ; and Sala, after seeing this novelty, describes it as a "magic hurtern run mad," oddins; "that it Muybridgo liad exhibited this Etrange camera of- his 300 years earlier he would havo certainly been burned alive »s a devil's emissary." Tho attitudes of tho running horses weio pronounced ugly, and were even doubted as impossible, but the antics of au acrobat who turned somersaults were consideiod wonderful. Whether tho American Muybridge preceded our British Frieze-Greene or followed him as a developer of the invention is a question still in dispute.

"Ginger Mick" ivas not long in foi-1 lowing lus first cousin, "The vSentimentnl Bloke," on to foreign picture Bereen!. A cablogram received by Messrs. E. J. and: Dan. Carroll an-nounces that the well-known English and Continental firm, Gaumont, UA., has acquired the sole rights for Europe of "Tlie Moods of Ginger Mick," the film version of C. J. Dennis's popular poem, and a sequel to "The Èfentimental Blokoj" for which the Ameri-can . release with Firat National was

recently announced. Both pictures wore-, inado in Sydney and produced by Mr.

Raymond Longford, now engaged in I making for E. J. and Dan. Carroll'] 'Tho Blue Mountain Mystery," an

adaptation of a sorel Try the Austra-lian writer, Harrison Owen, who is at present in Jjondon. <

Miss Kitty Morton, who ia playing the soubrette roles with, a dramatic

layers' company m Melbourne, has ad a lot of experience in costume comedy, having been a, member of Huxham'8 Serenaders and Bransoombo'a Dandies, and although this is Miss Morton's first appearance in stock diurna, she is said to be quite at home in this branch of the profession, and has alrerdv become popular.

Watching Mr. Wilkie Bard a second tune, one realises with something of a shock that the comedian gets the same results very often with different words. Even^n -Jlie comedy gem, ''The Bootshop" (which might have been written try O. Henry, according (o n Sydney writer), Mr. Bard docs not stick strictly to the author's lines. Maybe that is because ho is his own author, and any accusations of "gagging" would receive scant attention. That portion of "The Bootman" in which th« old bhopman talks to and answers himself, has opportunities ad libv al-most pantomimic, in _ scope. Wilkie Bard proves that during his stay in .Australia he,_ has made himself fully conversant with local politics and peo-ple.

"The Lilac Domino" will run the full season at Her Majesty's, Mel-bourne, and will then be transferred to Adelaide. Meanwhile, the captivat-ing oomio opera is still playing to crowded houses, and is as popular as ever. Jamieson Dodds, Rene Max-well, George Gee, Hugh Steyne, and others make up a particularly brilliant cast, and the interest in the production

never wanes.

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