STAGELAND.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 257, 28 September 1929, Page 7

STAGELAND.

(By “Jack Point.”) The Westminster Glee Singers will be in town on Friday, October 18. They are in Hamilton this evening. The Wellington season opens on October 19. Tho “Rio Rita” company loft Auckland yesterday for Sydney, en route to Brisbane. The Hamilton Little Theatre Society are rehearsing "The Constant Wife,” by Somerset Maugham. Tho Wanganui Operatic Society will stage “The Pirates of Penzance” on Monday and following dates. ' “Hold Everything,” a new musical comedy, is to be presented in Sydney this evening. Mary Lawson, an English importation, will be the soubrette, and Alfred Frith will, it is said, have a part worthy of him. Pat and Terry Kendall, who danced in “The Five O’Clock Girl,” will play leading parts. “Tho Five O’clock Girl” was only a moderate success. A Sydney journalist writes: “Ihe Five O’Clock Girl,” which is saved from absolute mediocrity by Frith, Gus Bluett and Cecjl Kellewav, with a little assistance from Tui Black, the promising young comedienne, is to make way for “Hold Everything.” I notice that so far Helen Patterson, lead in the present offering, and William Valentine, who plays opposite her, have not beon announced as appearing in the new show. J.C.W. have beeji rather unfortunate of late with their leading ladies, especially Americans. Somehow Australians, I fear, prefer the old favourites. Marie Lohr, the famous actress, who was born in Sydney, is at present appearing in two. London plays—“ Those Pretty Things” at tho Garrick, as a redhaired mannequin, and in “Yesterdays Harvest” at the Apollo, as a white-haired old woman. Her double appearance is possible because she does not appear at the Apollo until halfway through the play. A Sydney correspondent writes: Nothing shows tho precarious nature of theatrical enterprise as much as the Firm’s experience with Maisio Gay. This sturdy comedienne came in with tho “This Year of Grace” company and revealed herself as an accomplished actress. But she was too completely English for Australian audiences and she was too individual an artist to adapt herself to local requirements. She was tried on the Tivoli circuit in Adelaide, with the result that her employers would not risk a season in the other cities and shipped her home again. She was being paid £250 a week. The Mastcrton amateurs recently staged “Katinka,” tho delightful musical comedy that first introduced Gladys Moncrieff as a star. The Masterton amateurs have a reputation for meritorous work and “Katinka” proved ono more in a lengthy list of successes. A local resident who attended a performance during the season of five nights states that it was probably the best amateur show he had seen in New Zealand, and his experience of amateur work extended tho length and breadth of the Dominion. There were fifty-two people in tho comedy, and some splendid acting and singing—the roles associated with Gladys Moncrieff (Katinka) the late Florence Young (Mrs Helen Hopper) and Phil Smith (Thaddeus T. Hopper) being particularly well filled. There was a delightful ballot, an efficient orchestra to interpret Friml’s entrancing music, and beautiful settings. Mr W. E. G. Pagualin produced and stage-managed. The Masterton amateurs have produced a variety of musical plays over a number of years. The society is consistent, for since 1909 it has an unbroken run of successes —“The Sunshine Girl,” “The Toreador,” “Dorothy,” “The Geisha” and “Les Cloches do Corneville” are but a few of them. The death of Bert Roylc, the Williameon firm’s representative in New Zealand for many years, recalls' the fact that it was largely due to him that New Zealand was permitted to see “Peter Pan.” This exquisite fantasy of Sir James Barrie was presented in Australia, with Tittel Brune and a very- adult cast of characters, who failed to 'catch the delicate spirit with which the fairy tale is invested. “Peter Pan” failed to gain tho approval of the public, and the whole production—costumes, scenery, etc.—was going a-begging, when Bert Royle, Richard Stewart and the late Harold Ashton put their heads and purses together and bought it for New Zealand. Lizette Parkes played Peter charmingly, and the tour of iNjpw Zealand was a success. Out of his 6hare of the profits Mr ltoylo built his seaside cottage on the hill at Day’s Bay, which he called “Peter Pan,” and there he has entertained most of the famous players who have visited Wellington. Gwyneth Lascelles, of Manly, Now South Wales, last Saturday night became leading lady in “Show Boat,” the Williamson production in Melbourne. Miss Lascelles, who replaces Nydia d’Arnell, an American importation, is 18 years of age and made her debut on the professional stage a few weeks ago, when she went on for Miss d’Arnoll' Last November she played Maude Fane’s role in “Kissing Time,” with tho Manly Amateur Theatrical Society. She was Portia in the trial scene from “The Merchant of Venice,” when she was 12. Miss Lascellos was trained at Andrew McCunn’s school of singing and dramatic art, in Sydney, and last May she won the J. C. Williamson scholarship for singing and general stage adaptability, which entitled her to a year’s free tuition and understudy work. She learned the score and musical numbers of the part in 24 hours. “Though I always knew I would go on tho stage and have always imagined myself in leading parts, the sudden realisation of my dreams is rather overwhelming,” said Miss Lascelles to a newspaper correspondent recently, “I know X am extremely lucky, but lam not going to get a swollen head just because I have beon placed in this position. I have always worked hard, and will always work hard, because I love the stage and because the more I learn tho more I realise that there is always something to learn. I have seen enough* to know that the person who thinks she has learned enough is finished.” Ever ready to foster Australian talent, the Sydney Bulletin states: Gwyneth Lascelles ran through tho gamut of emotion as Magnolia of ihe “Show Boat” crew on Saturday, and a packed house voted the performance admirable. Gwyneth is a demure, gentle little thing of 18 years who, until a few months ago, was performing for Manly amateurs. Her chance came when Nydia d’Arnell received such a tempting offer from America that tho Taits magnimously released her from tho rest of her engagement. At least, so ran the reports, though a sophisticated playgoer might not have been surprised by another explanation for her retirement from a role in which this paper found her quite inadequate. The new lady is distinctly pleasing, without being overwhelming. She has a delightfully frosh-tjntcd voice, a feature that her predecessor so conspicuously lacked that one could not help wondering whether the person who selected her wasn’t colourblind at the moment, musically speaking. In addition, Miss Lascelles has an innate simplicity of demeanor and a self-controlled delivery which are in keeping with the role she has been suddenly called upon to play. The part of Magnolia, is a difficult proposition. It demands pathos, some dramatio intensity and a lightness of touch appropriate to musical comedy. Misa Lascelles meets these requirements with artistic restraint, where more hardened performers would bo sure to overdo things.