THEATRE ROYAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCVII, Issue 11252, 26 April 1897, Page 6

THEATRE ROYAL.

" PALKA.” The Pollard Opera Company certainly added another to its list of successes on Saturday evening, when Cassaigne’s three-act comic opera Falla was staged. The music is pretty, the dialogue bright, and the company did full justice to the amusing scenes. , The audience showed its thorough appreciation of the piece by frequent; and hearty applause, and several of the songs, duets and trios had to be repeated. The opera was excellently staged. Of the three scenes it is hard to say which was the best. The moonlight set representing the quay at Montgratz, in Hungary,'in the first act; the interior of the Governor’s castle in the second act; and the battlements of the castle in the third, were all good. Miss May Beatty, who was entrusted with the title role, acted well, and sang 'the music in a manner which delighted ; the audience. Her best effort was “ ’Tis Eventide,” in the third act, for which she received a double encore and a couple of handsome bouquets. Her other contributions, “ And You must Live Strictly by Rule,” “ O Joy, O Rapture,” and “ A Simple Girl I Am Again” were all' re-demanded, and her duets with Mr Pefcy were also nicely sung. Miss Maud Beatty made up well as the furious-looking bandit chief, and acted with plenty of life. She was encored for “I Am the Captain Boleslas,” hut her beat number was “To the Greenwood Tree,” to which was attached a grotesque tambourine dance, and this also was redemanded. . Miss E. Metcalf, as the bandit chief’s sister, acted and sang well; Miss Lily Stephens looked pretty as Alexina, daughter of the Governor; and Miss Maskeil. was good as her maid. Miss Nellie Wilson was an excellent landlady, infusing plenty of life into the character. As Falbach, the inane old military Governor, Mr Nable had a part very much on the lines of the Governor-General in the Pirates of Penzance, and to it he did full justice. Mr Quealy brought out all the fun that was in the character of the idiotic nephew of the Governor, Tancred, but altogether over-did the part, and might, with advantage to the general effect, have allowed the other characters to have had freer scope. Mr Percy, as Arthur, gave an excellent rendering of a difficult part. In the character of the renegade monk, Pelican, Mr Alf. Stephens had a splendid mate .-‘up, and played the character' well, although in one or two places he slightly overdid it. The other' characters were all well filled. Amongst the concerted numbers which were most enjoyable were the duets between Miss May Beatty and Mr Percy, “ For your Indulgence,” which was deservedly encored, and “Slumber, O Sentinel,” the quaint patter trio “ What a lot of Bother,” by Misses May Beatty and Nellie Wilson and Mr Percy, and the trio “O, Joy, O, Rapture,” in which Miss May Beatty’s solo was extremely well sung. The “ Kissing Chorus ” just bqfore the close of the piece was also excellently sung. The orchestra, under the leadership of Mr Harrison, did satisfactory service. Falka will be played again this and tomorrow evenings. On Wednesday the last act of Paul Jones will be staged, and Mr Grattan Riggs will make his re-appearance in Handy Andy, a part in which he is well remembered here. ■