The billboard (Sept 1911)

18 Ttie Billboard SEPTEMBER 16, 191|. f/ISLSTT wp^y One of tbe great ontstandlns events o{ the v«ea9oaIS.«iiEetobe tbe^openlDS of ibe Hammer- ateia Open Honae Id Kinssway. I/OiuIod's ne-.v- ■tst aiia -donlitless d stlDed to be LondoD'a .irst . thoroDghfare: . At tbe present moment several -tltonsaad men are vrorkins nisbt and day to set this mognlOcent bnildiiie anished for tlie open- ing on November II. The boarding has now <been taken dorrn and for several weeiss all London has been engaged In visiting or viewing tbe colossal idea of the scheme of decoration. ^ long are tbe dimensions that it Is stated to be a photographic impossibility to secnre what might be t-.rmcd a real and compretaensire picture of the' bnge atmctnre. In a building .adjoining the Opera House, hundreds of women and. men\ ar« at work making some 15>000 -ilresses to clottae the bnndreds' of performers wbo ace:: to play fa^ the tbirty-two operas wblCb are to be prodnced In tbe-comparatively -abort space of a (blrty-two wetks season. One of the features of the building will be the gronps of statnary and carvings placed nn- .der tiie direction of tbe sculptor, Thomas Budge. They .consist of twelve statnes of over twice lite size, consisting of two gronps representlug "Harmony" and "Melody" (the central figure •of eacb gronp vrill be-abbnt 14 feet high at -each end of tbe facade).: There will also be four other fisrtires representliig respectively. ■•Comcfty," "Tragedy."' "Song," and "Dance" -and two central fignres (seated) representing "Inspiration" and "Composition." Tbe weight of each statne Is approximately 20 tons and -some of the ilgnres will reqnlre three blocks of -stone and the others two. The bonse will open with the opera Qua Va- •dls. For this Hammerstein possesses tbe sole Engllsb proilnctloa rlgbto. After tbnt will -come Masaenef8 Don Qnicbotte. Then follow in unccesaion -tlie following list oC operas: In Frencb—Thais, -Le Jnugleur de Notre Dame, llerodiade. Manon, Wertlier. Lanavarralse, Les Contes a'Hoffman. Fanst, Borneo et Jhliette, XAkme, Xe Etaphrte, IXt Hngenota. iMOlse, Tbe VIoIla - Vafcer. of Cremona. In Italian—^Norma, II. XkotaUse, La Favoilta, Siberia. Dolores, Otbello^ n Pagllaed. -thivaneila Rnstleana, Ijicia dl Iiammermoor. BIgoIetto, n Traviata, II Barblere di SevigUa, Alda and Andxea Ctae- - -nler. , ■.• Xbe slnseiB Include the foUowing: Tenors— Jean Anber. Mario Ansaldi, OrviUe Harrold. F^ank Pollock, Frederic Begis and Femand Le- ronx. Baritones—Uanrlce Renand, Jose Danse, Georgews Chailoal. M. Ftsearella, Artfanr Phil- lips and Mario EUandlr. Basses—Jean Perkln, Enzo Bozsano, Francis Combe and Giuseppe de •Grazia. Sopranos—^Lina Cavalleri, Isabean Cat- alan. Yirtnrla Fer. Aline Vallandri. Ava Old- "banski, Felicia I.yne and Lonle _ Merlin. Con- traltos—^targnerite D'.&]varei and TInkka Jo- sell. Meszosr-Jean Dncfaene and Nina Batti. Opera win -be presented each Monday, Wed- nesday, Friday and-Saturday night and Saturday matinee. - The bonse seate 2.500 In - the stalls and the two balconies. The "Grand Circle" and "Ftosceninm" boxes number 53 eiclnslve of tbe one devoted solely to the occupancy of -royalty; each of these boxes holds six. Tbe prices for admission range Crom $5.00 to W cents. Hamm-rstein says that tbe Inqniries and applications for subscriptions are ahead of bis most sanguine expectations. The orchestra, numberlnir over IflO. will be -directed by men of tbe greatest musical distinc- tion; the' chorus numbers 325 and the ballet 60. A school Is aim b-Inje opened for training sing- ers for tile chi-ms. The training -will be free •of dhsrge. • Task*' I>AK- The ezperimeut -win be a bold one Indeed, and If Hammerstein wins throngta be will deserve all the credit imaginable. But In my own mind 1 am very uncertain whether he estimates at its true value the obstacle that be has against him In tue small number of opera loving public, tbe absence of social kudos attaching to the place and which Is the sole reason of the con- tinued existence of Covent- OanKn and alsa to some extent, some amount of prejudice asahut him. ■„,.,-..',■ ,■ . .. I suppose by this time every one In the United States is familiar with tbe fame that Profeaior Kelnhardt of Berlin has acbteveil throui^iail Europe with his wordless plays, cbiet of wUdi is Samuron, wlilch was an edormona hit at tk Coliseum last winter and Is now unce more belns pJajed there. Well, bis latrst id a is to torn Olympla—far and away tbe largi'st arena In Great Britain—into the setting for biggest, and Is many more ways benldes size, the most ambi- tious of all his ereatious in tlie huge "myster; play without wonls." Everything Is to be re«ijj for opening on Christmas Eve. The central Idea of bis art Is a belief la t stage set right In the middle of tbe audieacc— as big an aodl;>nce as posrtihie—who shall thm- selves, as it were, lieconie part of tlie stage. At Olympla, the whole anna will be the stajr. tbe audience being all around exc 'pt at tbe en- trance, where there will be a big wooden gate. Some of the 2,000 pprformiTS will come throuelj this gate, bat otbt-r* wiU come on from all sides. Not a word will be spoken, but It will be a play none tbe less -and there wlU be vt meaningless processions of the pageant order. The leading pantomimlxts are to be brought ovw from France. Humpprdlnck has written all Ue music. Tbi- story will be bast-d on a Germu Ii-KCnd of tbe Faust period, and there Is t great cathedral scene, and also a cblldres'i festival, which will give the composer of Han- sel and Gretrl an esp-*cla1ly appropriate chance. It will be the big Christmas play of the yeu and It will be snrnrislng indeed if 10,000 peo- ple will not crowd the place at every per- formance. The Follies sre to go as strong as ever thla coming season. New plays and new potted plui are to be submitted. Baby Mine, Kismet and Passers-by being among the latter. Tliera.will also be a skit on tbe **hlglier drama" and i Gnignol tbrlll into the bargain. ° In the akit an endeavor will be ihade to serve ■ pot- pourri of snch anthins as Ibsen. Sbav. Gid» worthy and Barker. . In a few days tbe beantlful new opera taonai at BlackiMWl, tbe latest Innovation of tbe Win- ter Gard'iis company, will be opened to tbt public for tbe coming season. Tlie new bolld- Inpc. the exact Hfle of whirh Is His MaJMty'l Orera House, ocmples tbe site of an older bono which, after standing fer twenty years, wu pnll d down last year. The present structoR Is one of tbe most heautlfnl and up-to-date U the kingdom and shall never want for lack ot patronage. During the coming winter there will be i lively controversy here on the snbject of vaude- ville artistes' salaries. Tbe various new com- bines especially that' of StoII and Gibbous, are naturally likely to eliminate competition aod to soms extent reduce salaries. exc«-pt where art- istes already possess long contracts. It seenu tbe general opinion among managers that sal- aries have been rising to a level recently entir^ ly b'yond the drawing power of the artlatet and tbey think that If the miisie halls are tt prosper In tbe future there mast be tednctloiv all around. Of course.. other people say that It win simply have tbe effect of driving all tlv b-'St drawing cards to yonr side, but there U no doubt that the movement on foot -is certaii to have the effect of reducina the salaries of tbe tank and file wbUe \t leavea those of tbt big guns at the top -entirely unchanged. Aa a result of tlie gruwtb of the. big. vauile (Cantinne<l on page 72.)