THEATRE ROYAL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXVII, Issue 125, 29 May 1893, Page 2

THEATRE ROYAL.

ALADDIX UP TO DATE.

Polli-rd'fl Lilliputian Op^ra Company will opoa at the Theatre Royal this evening when they will pioduce the burlesque, founded upon tho romaniic tale of Al iddtu and the Wonderful lamp, of Aliddia up to dute.

The Auek'and Evening Star aiya :— lt m\v well be doubted whether there ever was,a chira who did not love pantomime. Like toffee, pvitouiitae is a fetish of our early yearn, and when we glow up md it bas lost somewhat of its charm, it still pleases indirectly through the pleasure it ocoasions others. In the old country theatrical manngerp, from thnfc prince of fairy kings Sir Augustus Harrif, down t-« the small lessen of the provincial playhouse know this right well, with the result tbat the pantomime is as established an institution as representative Government, aud o 'tnes with thn regularity of the seasons But until Ititelv the poor, benighted children of New Zealand hive bad no good fairy to minieter t) their wants iv this direction. Till within a few mantha ago, in the oaso of the Southern puts of iha colony, thete is grave euapio'ou whether any New Zoalander wbo hod never left hie native soil, had feasted his eyes on that gorgeous spectacle— a pantomime. Herein ouredmntion has been shameful iy negleoted. But an opportunity is afforded us at last of redeeming the errors of the pist, a r .d we will hftst^n to avail ourselves of it. Thank' to the Opera Company that have now taken up their abode in Wellesley-strtet, pantomime is within the reach of all. And pintcmtme of no mean order, It was a most agreeable surprise, even to tho?e who have supped full of pantomimes i t Old England to fiad what) a really oapilal burlesque "Aladdin up to Date,' as pioduoed by the Lilliputiar s lsßt night, w»p. The whispoc of pantomime, and especially tho visions of bejewelled f tiry one* aud flying borseß, whioh have dt orated thi city boa-dings for the pist week, had not failed in their appeal to the ear und the eye of buth juvenilea and adulte, aud when tbe ourtain rose yesterday the Opera House was crammed. To explain a pautoiniina is of course quite out of thequeatior. To tell tha story of ALddiu would be an iueult to bath old and young. Every well-regulated child knows the tale ar.d every grown-up person it ia to be hoped has still Borne sofc c irner of Irs heart for "The dear old Arabiau Nights," 88 Alfred de Mussat used to a ill th:.t best of ohild's companions. Aa to h>w tbe tile is enaoted by the youthful performers at the Opera House our Auckland friends mutt see for themselves To t-ay much about the gorgeous scenery, tbe skilful effect?, the dazzling dresses, would bo to take away from the pleasure of witnessing an entertainment tbat can Bpeak most eloquently for itself. Let it be tnough to say thH those who wish a cheap trip to fiirjland, those who wish to see tbe Emperor of China in all his glory, with a host of brilliant Battelitea revolving round ' him ; those who desire the acquaintance of genii, Of hobgoblina, of flying ateede, of sphinxes, mummies, and htarea knows what besid.s ; the 89 who would wander in enobanted gardens in the picturesque streets of Pekiu, or in tbe preoiuota of cejesti il palaces, let them hie them to the Opera TL.tise, where they will feast their eye?, and also laugh till their sides aobe at the atrocious puue aod grimaces that it would appjar are cor. sidered tbe best of form io. the" Empire of