CRAVING FOR NOVELTIES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 329, 14 May 1877, Page 4

CRAVING FOR NOVELTIES.

(Fron an exchange.) It is hard to say where the rage for novelty in public amusements will end.. Apparently sensational performances r.rs nut iensational enough, and the resource hit been cried of legitimate drama with the interest sustained in an illegitimate Tray. The latest novelty i;i this line is, according to the Era, "Richard the Third," with a different representative or the "hump-backed tyrant" in each of the five acts, which is announced for performance at the Theatre Royal, Blackburn. Dual clowns are not new, or even a multiplicity of clowns, but the nest thing now to be looked for is a perfornrance of " Hamlet," not with the chief character dropped out, but with several representatives of the melancholy prince put in, each to give iris own reading add dressing of the part; and who knows, indeed, but what there may be a lowcomedy Hamlet, for in this age of novelty all tilings are possible. As an insiance of how far the Americans have gone in this direction it may bo mentioned that the latcsi' sensation ohere is marriage on the stage ; and, shameful to say, ministers of religion are found who, for the sake presumably of the contribution they draw from the theatre treasury, niaLc their appearance in the ■performance, for s damn ceremony it certainly is not. Lately two' circus artists, after perform!: g as equestrians on horseback, assisted by the ringmaster, performed as bride and bridegroom on the sawdust, assisted by a e'er ;-y.nan. Prom the E:u we extract-the following : " Married on the uutge. David Mercer, professionally known as Ned Mason, Ethiopian comedian, and Miss Florence C. Edgerton, song and dance artist, were married on the stage of the Acr.deray ul Music, South Bend, ind., U.S., February ~>. Cards of invitation fiated. than iao ceremony would be performed a: 9 o'clock. The opcucd at the usual I our with i: minstrel hr;A pari". A. ;. out 10 minute'- before 9 o'clock tec Ua/. John li. Boyd, .vrtor of t, e M<chiga.n-sti\ ct M. hj!. Ci ;tic'~, r.cceirpanied by his wife, entered the ii eairc, a"-..". i->. ': a :,<*at in i-e lower pri.v.te u d:: .>~s. i'v? left oi t-.o sir/re. At the coaclusinn of t'.:c first pert tie curtain »..:s a";•:!, after a iew minuter/ Cclzy, v.:.s _ mug rp. The arches .a began ilia Wadding Marc'', aod the brilal part--, preceded by Will Middie to"*, and _.o:-a, stepped oiyfc up n the r.tage, t c minister emerged from t e box, and all was ready f--r tLie ceremony. A_b.-- it-, perfmmnce, turning to the lie.»ly-:narried couple, t-ie minister co.ngrafuiaied. them briefly. On taking the bricie's hand t '.: a minister recognised in her a f liner fhrad.ay-schoe-I pupii .-'d church \ umber. The bride, a pretiy b.o ».de, wars attrre"_ _n a snnpie \.niLe < re.s. The .. ridegrooin was . Itirec in a., fnli-J-'c.'/; suit, quite in ce-iiir.-rd wic-i nis a >pearamc~: as iatcrlocutor. At the conclasiwn of the ceremi ~y the member.- of t e troupe offered them t air eo '-pr.f:v.a----iiuii„, and the two end-mc ■, Bur.o,r, an'd i'landaU, dedicated t' e hriir to ii .:• c nx-n profession by :übbing thai b... eke-Kit f..ces against her fair cde~.-d' vjananyv~ ing be conceived in. worse .■ T.e whole of the " ' is eery'fra.'lieally described, the ".'Jy tiiLssin,' oe" ig a t-escriptoi' of the cooi.: T . : .ie ::dopieu >jj . e reverend perfo.v.ier. A suit of tiglit:, a/nd or better still, the oiack face, elaborate frill, &c, of the man oi; a nigger troupe, would have been exceedingly appropriate.