Pollard's Opera Company.

Hastings Standard, Issue 140, 7 October 1896, Page 2

Pollard's Opera Company.

<< TIIE BLACK CLOAKS." There is an amount of magnetism about the Pollard Company that is unique. They never fail to draw crowded houses wherever or whatever they play. They have got a firm hold on the Hastings public, aud the season is certain to be a very profitable one to the enterprising Pollard brothers. Last night standing room had to be acceptable for a very large number, all the back seats being rushed a few minutes after the doors were opened. A piece entirely new to these parts was staged in " The Black Cloaks," a translation from the French. As an opera it is sparkling, the music being smart and the dialogue light, though at times it becomes decidedly spicey. However it pleases the audience, and that is the main point. As in most of the French operas it takes two acts to tangle up all the principal characters and one to make things end happily. The fun of the piece centres round a clownish miller, Drornez, who is to marry the belle of Valados, Girola, but who thinks more of her dowry than of herself. He manages to dispose of his chances of marrying the charming girl to Don Louis de Rosamonte, for a consideration of 400 crowns ; and before the fall of the curtain he has made a good many hundred crowns more out of the transaction and its complications. The scene in the old mill where the young bride awaits her husband, whom she cannot recognise, is intensely funny, and gives an opportunity for clever comedy. Mr H. Quealy was quite at home as" Dromez, and made the fun fast and furious. Miss Marion Mitchell was in splended voice, and scored at every point as Girola. Time after time she was called upon to repeat her numbers, and the duet with Miss Maud Beatty was a gem that was loudly recalled. The latter young lady made a splendid Don Luis de Rosamonte, and Miss Metcalfe was successful as the Queen of Castile. The other characters were in caj)able hands. The dresses were on the scale of magnificence that the Pollard's alone can maintain, and the choruses were all well sung. One of the brightest features was the graceful dance by Misses Lily Everett and W. Karkeek. To-night the favorite " Paul Jones " will be on the boards, and to-morrow night " Rip Yaa Winkle " will be repeated.