THE DRURY LAKE PANTOMIME

New Zealand Mail, 15 February 1900, Page 23

THE DRURY LAKE PANTOMIME

"JACK AND THE BEANSTALK.” NELLIE STEWART TOO ILL TO APPEAR. i th A c ?';i lediul9 Lave "felt their Christmas Colossus lias settied down into working order, ‘‘.Tack and the Beanstalk, says London “Daily Mail,” will be one of the finest—perhaps the very finest—pantomimes ever produced. Ykx, it has to be said once more. It is as magnificent as any of its predecessors, its story is much simpler and clearer and more straight forward -than usual, and, besides cite two accepted stupendous spectacles, there is a scene which roused the audience to a frenzy of applause last night, applause which will reverberate, probably, until Easter is within speaking distance. Admirable as was the Zoo last year, full oi Tivacitv and spirit and patriotism, it cannot compare in any of these with “The Fall of the Giant.” Beautifully poetic as is the "Land of .Harmony.” gorgeously magnificent as is the "End of the Century, it is this scene of the prostrate monster which will make the children scream with delight and grown up men and women feel a flutter and a thrill. A magnificent giant, the finest ever seen, lies prone on the ground. He is so large that he takes up the whole of the vast stage, from the back wall to the footlights. Jack lias cut the Beanstalk and he ' has fallen. He has tumbled oil a village, smashing up a castle, tearing off a church steeple, causing havoc everywhere. His eyes flutter,'and-his vast chest heaves in the last throes. All this is very wonderful, but it is nothing to what follows. His pockets open. From them

STREAMS FORTH TEE BRITISH ARMY. Scrambling over bis body, climbing down his legs, regiment after regiment comes forth. Soldiers in red. soldiers in khaki, soldiers in kilts, colonials on the tiniest little ponies, sailors with tlieir Maxims—on, on they come, in one long stream, inarching, drilling, manoeuvring. Such an animated picture as these scores of perfectly drilled children, so full of life and energy, has surely never been seen. And when, alter they have sung about a certain "box of chocolate," they begin to shout and cheer and scramble back again till they cover tlie giant, and the Union Jack is waved, the effect is indescribably exciting, picturesque, and pleasing. It is an open secret that the original giant was to have represented Air Kruger, and, ot course, the meaning of the scene suffers through the alteration rendered necessary bv our temporary check in South Africa. All tlie same, this scene is the triumph of all the triumphs of the pantomime; it is the scene which, above all others, will pack Drury Lane Theatre till 1900 is well past adolescence. More pee tic and assthetically charming than usual, the LAND OF HARMONY, which brings the first part to a close, is not only a feast of colour and movement, but a delightful musical entertainment as well. Tins year, under the director-gene-ralship of Air Arthur Collins, not only have M. Coiuelii, the artist who has designed all these wonderful dresses, and the .scene painter, and the ballet-master, had a chance of distinguishing themselves, but Mr James Glover, who has composed and arranged tlie tremendous musical score of the pantomime, has been able to "let himself go.” The result is superb.

Here we have no clockwork procession, but'an Apotheosis of Music, as varied as it is comprehensive, as melodious as it is demonstrative, embracing all times and ail countries. It is not an attempt to reproduce instruments by costume, but to give, in allegory, a history of music front the beginning till to-day. The art and the resources with which this has been clone are past belief. Tlie music of all nations and ail centuries, the episodes or harps, mandolines, pipes, drums plaintive softness alternating with grandiose marches, graceful old-world stateliness with furious rallies, simple melodies with the blare of brass, piping pastorals with Wagnerian harmonies, this feast of music displays such all-embracing invention, such a. poetical spirit and such an instinct for effect, that the eye and ear are not merely bewildered by extravagance, but delighted with loveliness. Nothing more tastefully enchanting lias been seen on the stage. More bombastic and conventional, but none the less effective and clever, is the last scene of all, which illustrates the chief inventions of the nineteenth century—locomotion, photography, transmission. We trace tlie birth of the steam engine, the dawn of electricity, the beginning of the sun-picture. The stage is filled with idealised representatives of the world’s engineering. Tlie manner in which the most commonplace tilings arc beautified is remarkable; the costumes representing machinery are among the most fanciful • of any. Cog-wheels, driving belts, governors, are made positively handsome, and yet clearly indicate tlieir meaning. Iron, copper, silver, gold are vivified for us into one great nieture which is as dazzling as anything Old Drury lias shown us. And when the end comes, and the stage is filled with showers of golden rain and hundredtinted streams of fire, the pantomime is over, in a blaze of glory.

Of the scene on the roofs with the revels of the cats, designed by Air Louis Wani; of the giant’s dinner-table; of the troupe of wonderful giants; of the growing beanstalk. illuminated by glowing beans; of the fine markets, with the lovely processions an.) ballets of fruits'and flowers and birds and beasts, of the dozen pretty scenes 'and the innumerable quaintnesses and novelties scattered through the pantomime we have not space to speak. Mr Arthur Sturgess lias written tlie story clearly and well, with many opportunities for fun. of which the comedians will speedily avail themselves. Unfortunately, Alias Nellie Stewart, the "principal boy,” was ill and could not appear. Her part, of .Tack was admirablyplayed at short notice by Miss Molly

Lowell, who did remarkable welt under the circumstances. Miss Mabel Nelson, a pretty and tuneful heroine, Air Campbell, Mi* Danvers, the Grigolati troupe of hying fairies—all put heart and soul into their work and help to make "Jack and the Beanstalk” "cue better” than all its predecessors.