" A MOORISH MAID.

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 61, 9 September 1905, Page 13

A MOORISH MAID.

"A' Moorish Maid," the new Hill- , Birch » comic opera, would at tho first blußh eeem ,to have 'little enough to do with that popular pastime of English and colonial people— hockey. As a matter of fact, however, the only European element in an otherwise completely Oriental atmosphere in !Mr. Birch'e libretto is a team of hockey-girls on' tour. These young ladies are supposed to havereached the interior of Morocco, and make no secret of the fact that they are on 'holiday 'bent, and in search of 'husbands. Eventually they are kidnapped iby a 'band of brigands, who in the- second act woo and win them in a double sextet entitled "Let tia igfet married " — one of the probable "hits" of tha opera. Mr. Hill has been fortunate enough to secure a talented sextet of young ladies for the ihockey-teara, and ■bis six ibrigands are also particularly well chosen. The engagement of Miss Rosina Buckmann, the girted young Masterton soprano, to fill th© role of La Zata (which Madam Lilian Tree (had to ahandon owing to serious illness) will give that artiste a magnificent chance, vocally and histrionically. The character is that of a, woman, "half Spaniard, half a Aloor," who, by the magnetism of her beauty and 'her superior ■will lias won the allegiance of a band of Riffian bandits. In tho plot she i 6 chiefly concerned in the kidnapping of the comic man, Gastro (Mr. Fred. H. Graham), believing Ihim to be a prince. She has on. her first entrance a strong acting song, "Hush, My 'Brigands," and follows this with the ballad "Loverland" (which created such a furore in Auckland as to lead to its publication). In •the second act, Miss Buckmann's chances aTe even 'better. She has a passionate love Bong, " O'er the 'Mountain," a duet with the baritone "Do nob repel me," a share in the quartet " We've all been served the same," and a magnificent solo, with chorus, "The Parting Mona." PatTonß of the opera will bo enabled to guage the value of Mr. Birch's lyrics, na they are being published in souvenir form, with fu\l explanatory annotations .by the author The Wellington season of "A Moorish Maid" commences on Monday, the 25th September, and will run the whole week.