AMUSEMENTS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 906, 12 July 1889, Page 13

AMUSEMENTS.

The Theatre. SIMONSEN OPERA COMPANY. “ SATANELLA.” The Simonsen Opera Company opened their Wellington season on Friday evening in the Theatre Royal with Balfe’s popular opera “ Sataneila.” The weather was exceedingly unDropitious, being cold, wet, and windy ; nevertheless the Company were greeted with a very good house. The opera, which has always been a favourite one in this city, was on the whole well mounted and performed. Miss Elsa May, the prima donna of the company, proved herself a very capable exponent of the title r6le, singing excellently and acting even better. She was perhaps heard to more advantage in the dramatic than in the lyrical portions of the beautiful music allotted to her part. Her charming delivery of the' well-known “Power of love” song, elicited an enthuBiastio encore. Miss Florence Seymour acquitted herself generally well as Leli&, although she might have made more of her song “Our hearts are not our own to give.” Miss Ethel Mackay was fairly efficient as Stella. Mr William Walshe, who rilled the chief tenor part, Rupert, created on the whole a favourable impression. He possesses an agreeable voice, sings pleasingly, and acts with spirit. Mr Percy Shannon was a satisfactory Karl. He has • a capital tenor voice, and gave his one solo with good effect. Mr Warwick Gainor, as the fiend Arimanes, had a somewhat ungrateful part, but acquitted himself creditably, as did Mr Fred England, who was the Pirate Chief Bracaccio, his song “Rovers, rulers of the sea ” being well sung. Mr George Dean was appropriately comic as Hortensio, andthe minor parts were efficiently sustained, while the chorUH and band were generally praiseworthy. • - The principal performers were recalled after the acts. ■; ,

LA EILLE DE MADAME ; * “ ANGOT.” • ' -

“ La Fille de Madame Angot ” was Btaged on Monday nigbt : by the Simonsen Company at the Theatre Royal in a veryo cfeditable ’“and as this opera is an old’established fAvoprite; it "was only natural that a latge ’ ahdlenCe should greet- its ‘reap, pearance. 'JW presphjfc” Qpht>s' Qumpsuy Bhowed in f ‘Sataneila ” that they ’are capable of doing better work than “Madame Angot” provides for them, but at the same time it must be Said that their interpretation of the opera on Monday night wa3 a praiseworthy one. True, at timea there was a tendency to gag,

but the gag was happy and in good form. The mounting and dresses of the piece were excellent. As Clairette Miss May Bcored a success. Her singing and noting throughout the piece wete characterised with consider, able vim. Miss Seymour made a very qood Mdle. Lange, although, perhaps, the musio of the opera is not in all parts suitable for her voice. Her acting in the dramatic portion of the opera was not overstrained, and in the abandon parts she played with great force. Miss Mackay made a favourable impression as Amaranthe. Her by-play was remarkably good. As Ange Pitou, Mr William Walshe had a part hardly suited to his voice/but his conception of the character was a capital one and his acting was admirable. Mr W. Gainor made a very good La Rivondiere. Mr P. Shannon as Pomponnet, Mr G. Dean as Trenitz, Mr F. England as Louehard, arid Mr T. Pollard as an officer, rendered very effective service in their respective parts. Taking the opera as a whole the company made a very favourable impression, and the large audience appeared thoroughly pleased with their efforts.

“IL TROYATORE.” Verdis tuneful but somewhat difficult opera “ II Trovatore ” wai produced Tuesday night by Simonson’s opera company before a well-packed house. This opera makes great demands alike on the voice and histrionic powers of the artists engaged in it, and it must be said that the present company gave a capital representation last night. Miss Elsa May as Leonora acted and sang ex. cellently throughout. In the opening aria the florid nmrio gave her an opportunity of displaying to the full the flexibility of her voice. In the duet iu the “ Misereire" scene she sang with great fire and power of execution, in a manner which brought down the house. The music of this part, is very exacting, and it was given with splendid effect. The duets which followed, “ Behold me ' and “ Here at thy feet,” were nicely giveu, and the beautiful aria “Bather than a thousand deaths” was capitally sung. The part of Leonora may be considered one of Miss May’s great successes. Miss Florence Seymour, who has not yet recovered from the effects of her cold, could not, for this reasou, do full justice to the part of Azucena; One of her best efforts .was in the duet, “ Home to our mountains.'’ Mr W. Walshe, who was in splendid voice, made a. very good Manrico. Mr Gainor made an excellent Count di Luna. He sang and acted in a most spirited manner thronghout the whole af the opera. His singing of “II Balen,” which he sang partly in Italian, was one of the successes of the present season, and; he is to be congratulated upon the thorough excellence of his performance. The choruses on Tuesday were very good. A oouple of new voices (previously indisposed) were introdueed with very good effect. Miss Mackay as Ines, Mr England aa Ferrando, Mr Shannon as Ruiz, acquitted themselves iu a very satisfactory manner. The opera as a whole was most enjoyable.

THEATRICAL NOTES. It now turns out, or at anyrate ‘ Pasquin ’ asserts it, that Mr Arthur Vivian himself !b the author of ‘ Neck for Neck.’ Had we known that earlier there would have been a funeral in the company. During the performance at Dunedin a fortnight ago a rat entered the dress circle, and when he had heard a few lines of the play he went baok into his hole and knoaked his head against the wall.

Mißs Solange Navarro is reported to be getting, good , engagements in London, and has lately been playing in ‘ The World against Her,’ * The Ring of Iron,’ and other pieces at the Pavilion Theatre.

The English correspondent of the Otago Daily Times has been to see Madame Melba aot aud sing. He does not say whether he got in ‘on the nod’ or not, but we should think —having had a long and valuable experience of Mr Melba must have asked him into the public-house next door. He raves thus ;—‘Her acting here was a revelation to her friends, and her singing was of the purest and most dramatic kind. Then came the mad scene, and to describe her success in it would be to pile superlative on superlative, The audience almost rose at her, and subscribers in the stalls-—gentlemen who seldom show any sort of emotion —waved their hats and cheered loudly ; as for the ladies, they did their best to swell the noisy enthusiasm.’ Jo-jo, Mr Frank Clark’s ‘ dog.faced man,’ now showing in Melbourne, has recently been examined by a committee of medical men, who agree that he is thoroughly human. Mr Bland Rolb has reaently 4 revived ’ the sensational drama ‘ New Babylon.’ Mr Holt himself played Flotsam, qf eomse, of which part this is his 400t,h representation, Williamson, Garner, and Musgrove’s Opera Company were to open in Sydney on last Saturday night in ‘The Yeomen of the Guard.’ The company as advertised was a particularly strong one, the principals being Misses Nellie Stewart, Fanny Liddiard, May Pollard, Clara Merivale (a prima donna from the Savoy, who made her first appearance in Australia), and Atneris, Messrs W. H. Vernon, Elton, Woodrield, John Wallace, Leumaine, Gruudy, Johnson, and Rigby. Mr Harry Rickards and. a variety com 1 any are doing very well in Melbourne, where also are Miss Jennie Lee and her husband, who begin a season in ‘Jo ’ shortly. The Melbourne revival of ‘Pinafore ’ was not a success, one of its defeats being that Mr Vernon, .as the Captain,’ was right 1 out of his element. I Miss Fauny- Liddiard is censured forffiurlesquing knd’Mr Eiton is said to have been 1 a very mild Sir Joseph Porter. •> 'V—.t ,u '• r i ’J be Roscian Shakespearian Amateur Dramatic Club i(Melbourne) are about to play ‘The Merchant of Venice ’ for a local charity.—Mr Grattan Riggs was at Newcastle .at latest -advices.,—The Lynch Bell, ringers rire in Melbourne, the Silbon£ at Sydney, IRf Qharles Warner in Adelaide, and ‘Fun on* the Bristol’ (Sheridan) in Melbourne,

Mr Martin Simonsen’s Opera company have been holding large audiences at the Theatre Royal during the week, aud have

produced ‘ Sataneila,’ ‘II Trovatore/ *La Fille de Madame Angot,’ and other operas. As a whole the company is a good one, and the amount of hard work they do is proved by the variety of their pieces. Mr Walshe is really a line tenor, with a true and .musical voice, which, however, does not seem to have been partioularly well cultivated. His acting is also good, though he is a little bit awkward at times. Take him for all in all, however, he is a fair average performer. Mr Warwick Gainor, the baritone singer, is a gentleman with a good deal of histrionic ability, and a nice heavy voice. His performance of the devil in ‘ Sataneila ’ was exceedingly fine. The critic who said the part was not dressed properly was wrong. We know that it was properly dressed because we are very intimate with the original. Some of these people who never saw ■■evils, except little blue ones at the foot of their bedsteads, ought to knock off setting up as authorities . on the real thing. Miss Elsa May is exactly the same lively charming little lady as she always was, and Miss Florence Seymour is really a very capable actress. Let ua not forget Mr Simonsen himself—Mr Simonsen, the world-famed, the much-travelled, the walking encyclopaedia of ancient and modern English, Greek, German, Italian, and oSier operas. Mr Simonsen sits in his usual seat at the head of the orchestra, where he is at ’ home, and presently he is going to give us violin solos which people will appreciate so highly that they will go round to the stage door after the show and ask Mr S. whether ho is a' teetotaller now. The business management is in the capable hands of Mr Boseo Wilscn, formerly owner of George Darrell.

Autolycus.