THE MAID OF THE FOUNTAINS

Evening Star, Issue 18022, 17 July 1922, Page 7

THE MAID OF THE FOUNTAINS

A ROMANTIC OPERA. Judging by tho bookings at tho box plan office tho success which .lias attended tho J.C. Williamson attraction ‘ The Maid of tho Mountains ’ elsewhere will be repeated in Dunedin. Tho story of tho ‘ Maid of the Mountains' is one of tho sacrifices of a girl for the .man she loves. But it is placed in an altogether now setting, and tho circumstances surrounding it are unique. It deals with a band of brigands, comfortably ensconced in a secret cave, headed by Baldasarro, the terror of the State. The governor lias lost his job . because ho has been _ unable to catch them. On tho eve of his departure, however, his soldiers manage to surround tho brigands’ headquarters, and realising _ tho danger, Baldasarro considers it wise to send away Teresa, the maid of tho mountains, who has boon looking after tho prehistoric homo of tho thieves. ■ They are a happy band, passing their hours of idleness away with song and jest. Their calm, however, is upset by tho nows that Teresa has been caught and lodged in tho Governor's palace. Hero all efforts to induce tho faithful Teresa to disclose tho whereabouts of the gang are of up avail. Determined to rescue their comrade, Baldasarro and his followers hold up the now governor on his way to tho palace, and the chief and a few of his lieutenants impersonate tho now governor "and Ins staff. In this guise they arrive at tho palace, and before many minutes Baldasarro becomes infatuated with Angola, the daughter of General Malona, the retiring governor. Complete arrangements are made for escaping with Teresa; but the chief cannot tear himself away from Angola. The protests of his followers are in vain, and Teresa, stung to madness with jealousy, gives her chief away. The curtain of the second act falls upon a girl suffering from the pangs of remorse. Tho third act shows the island prison wliero Teresa again proves her fidelity and secures the release of tho man she loves, but who she believes despises her, only to discover that her constancy has brought its own reward.

Miss Sheila Gale will appear as Teresa, with Messrs Robert Gnishplm, Will Percy, (an old favorite of the Pollard days), Leslie Holland, Anew M’Master, and Misses Miono Stewart, Nellie Payne, Vida Edwards, and Hazel Stewart in important parts.