"LA MASCOTTE."

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3955, 24 March 1884, Page 2

"LA MASCOTTE."

If there was a single' churlish indiTidual in the community who doubted whether the lavish promises made by Messrs Garner, Williamson and Musgrove would- be : kept, tho rising , of the curtain on , Saturday cvoning must have been sufficient to dispel the doubt The members of ' the orchestra wci'o not only numerous but efficient; the scenery can ■; only .be expressed by the word magnificent, while naturalness had in no way been sacrificed, and each piece was not, as ie too often the case, all foreground, but thoroughly perfect and comploto ; the costumes worn by the principals were rich, while ■ the chorus shone resplendent in new garbs of beauty appropriate to the various parts they filled. The groupings, marches, and chorus all showed thorough drill and organisation, aud( wo-have no hesitation in affirming that for thorough completeness, down to even the smallest detail, the tout ensemble "rvns superior to anything that has evor been placed on the lyric stage in' Napier previously. On Saturday evening there was a fremendous attendance in all parts of the house, with the exception of the dress •role. To (horougly enjoy an opera, so as to bo able to soize on its beauties and its points, a certain amount of familiarity with iti.s necessary, and therefore, those who; so thoroughly enjoyed the performance oa Saturday evening will be able to still better appreciate it this evening, when it will bo played- for the second and last time .in Napier. Miss Nellie Stewart, as Bottina, the Mascotte, met with a warm reception from tho, audience, which-she thoroughly deserved, as she was in capital voice, and acted with great spirit. The posseasiou of a good soprano voice,- gifted with humor, very graceful and natural in her acting, and with that touch of chic which is so popular with an audionce, she at once established herself as a favorite with those in front of tho stage. In the first act, where she plays tho part o~£ a hoyden, eho did not give such a finished performance as in the second and third acts, when sho had joined tho nobility. In tho first act she. was treading- dangerously close on burlesque, but the redeeming, point was 'there, _ tho touching sadness, with which 'sho heard, of her dismissal, the grief pourtrayed being natural in the extreme. Ifer'opening.solo, '"IJands Off," was given with great spirit, whjle tho . duet " QJou.■β-lou " with, Mr Vcrnoii was loudly rodemandod, Because of tho excellent manner in which it was sung, and was .repeated. Iv the seoond act sho sung with great sweetness and oxpressipts " Give me buck," whilo hi the third act she gave a capital rendering.of ono of tho gems of tho opera, "Tho tho rosebud," and also took part in. tho concerted music. Miss Fannie Liddiard, as becamo an old favorito, mot with a warm reception , on Jier entry us Princess Fiametta, and,sahg- licr music with her. usual sweetness, "though lacking- volume. "Give me tho awain,-" and "Tho attractivo girl," wove the iolos allotted to her, and they were bach loudly applauded by the audience. Mr Woo.dfield, who made ljis. first appearance befoi'Q, :,a Napier audenco, is a"light tenor, whajt.fyo lacks in power being more than made Up. in flexibility and sweetness.'..The song, his opening number, "Love never sleeps," which of late has become very popular in the drawing-room, at once placed him ou a good .footing with his audience. Later on hei = gave "Love is blind:" and "When on tho March," both being sung with gtcat taste, , the.. former having to be repeated to satisfy hie audience, Mr Vernon's appearance was the signal of a demonstration in his favor, his best efforts during the evening being in tho duet with fiottina, " Glou Grlouj 1, and tho arietta, "My own, my own," tho latter of which was given wjth great feeling. In Messrs Walliico and l£olly wo have two of the finest comedians that hayo ever, appeared." before us, and the. fun was fast and .fiirious. Mr Wallaco as'tho Duk.o' needs seeing, for the porfqriuance Beggars doscriptiom; to describe it would, beas difliciilt as tx> attemijt to. commit .-to -paper tho atrocious puns which lio; kept'filing off tho whole evening .through, and.as usual he was never for a* moment still oh "tho etago, except it

was to catch breath after having turned round three times for luck. All his grotesque efforts were well neconded by his aider and abettor in all his machinations, Mr Kelly, and it is not easy to say of ithe two who was the more inclined to fun and merriment, and tho audience failed not to mete out applause to both liberally. The choruses were sung with great precision, and showed tho efficiency of the practice they must have had, tho Soldier's Chorus in the third act being encored, as it well deserved. The marching, of course, could have been seen to better advantage on a larger stage, but was excellent in its way, am! the laches of the stage it would scarcely bo fair to put down to the company. The orchestra, under tho leadership of Mr Harrison, deserves a word of praise for the excellence of its overture and its accompaniments generally, and as Mr Harrison, in addition to being conductor, is also musical director, much of the success achieved may bo fairly credited to him, though the g-eueral public as a rule have but little idea of the onerous duties which fall to the lot of a conductor. When we say tho scenery was from tho brushes of Messrs Gordon and Honnings, those who know those gentlemen will, understand its excellence, and to those who" do not know them we may say they aro the leading scenic artists of Australia. The opera on Saturday night did not play very close, and it was considerably after 11 before tho performance finished. This defect will probably be remedied this evening.;