STEAMER EXCURSIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4018, 4 January 1875, Page 2

STEAMER EXCURSIONS.

Large numbers availed themselves of the'eaccursionV boats to make trips to MkcandreW*^ Broad Bay, Portobello, and Port Chalmers aa New- Tear's Day. The weather -was all that could be desired, there not being too much suit or wind. Decidedly the most interesting trip was that of the Bruce, which cruised to the Heads, passed Cape Saunders, and rounded White Island, off the Ocean Beach. ;There wera a large number of excursionists on: board. The sea outside was pretty smooth, there-being but a. slight swell on. The" Bruce did not roll in tB» least, but the lifting was enough to "make many of the passengers sea-sick. On the return of the Bruce, a heavy tog set in, and the land was lost sight of, the result being that with a delay which took place before she entered the Keadsv and waiting at Port, the passengers got to town, at 8 o'clock instead of 6. The Bruce is a verycomfortable boat for such,a trip, and notwithstanding the delay caused by the fog^and the waitiugat PortChalmers for the train, the day was a really enjoyable one—those who were slightls-sea-sick seemed to have recovered their good: appetites with an amazing quickness. The upper portion of the town, and the townships on the Mis were remarkably distinct from the steamers? deck near White Island. The smoke stack of the Kensington brick works, the First Church, St. Matthew's Church, and Bishop NevilTs residence, were amongst the most prominentobiecfe in the landscape. But no proper conception ef the size of Dunedin is to be had from the beachhardly any of the business portion, or of North. Dunedin, being visible. If, on a future holiday, the Brace is sent on the same trip, we have no doubt that if the weather is any way fine, she will have even more passengers than she had on. New Year's Day. OPERA. The Opera given on Friday evening was Offenbach's Grand Duchess of Gerolstein. The style of the music is much the same as that of Bluebeard, to which it is, however, superiors The choruses have, as a rule, more life and character, and there is a greater number of taking airs interspersed. The singers consequently had better opportunities than the Bluebeard music gave • them of showing their merits. Of these they took eveiy advantage. The members of tha chorus were especially noticeable for the excellent manner in which they did their' workMany of the choruses were sung as choruses ought to be, with distinctness, expression, and: evenly balanced harmony. If the chorus did nofi otherwise appear to such advantage as in "Blue Benid," it is because they were not as wellfavoured by the circumstances of the piece. The situations in which they appear are not so amusing in the " Giand Duchess" as in the other opera. The orchestra is not a numerous one^ I but &r £e enough for the rajuireraeuts of the

company. , Under the leadership of M. Tleury, their performance was a very enjoyable one to listen to. Their accompaniments to the solos were beautifully played; they were effective! in the choruses, without being too loud; and throughout they performed like good musicians. Hiss May made a capital Grand Duchess, acting her part with great spirit and vivacity. "We were delighted to hear her in such good voice, the more especially as the music allotted to her gave her many opportunities for. displaying it. The regimental song, " I doat on. the military;" showed how she could master the difficulties of rapid utterance; while "Say to him" was sung with a smoothness and delicacy -very charming to heai\ Of course the famous ""sabre" song received every justice at her lands. Miss Lambert, acted well as Wanda. Her singing was very careful, and shows lier to be improving 'by practice. That very eccentric comniander-in-chief of burlesque, General Boom, found a worthy representative in Mr Templeton. This gentleman is making great strides in his profession, and bids ■fair to make himself well known. He was exceedingly amusing as General Boom, keeping his atidience laughing from beginning to end of his performance. He looked the character to perfection, and underwent his various misfortunes with a very comical show of ill-humour. The vanity, braggadocio, and cowardice of the old roue were well brought out by MrTempleton's acting. His singing did not produce as much effect as his In the first place, any singing must be very .-good to do that; and in the second, he had not ■much scope as a singer. He sang his first song, " Never baulked, n&ver hesitating," very pleasingly; as also ''Count Man conquered;" and he did good service in all the concerted music. Here and there some of the music was rather below his range; nevertheless, on the whole, his performance was .a very good one. Mr "Vernon, as Fritz, played • fairly well, and sang much better. As a piecp •of acting his Fritz was not equal to his Bluebeard. He was a little too boisterous at times, but this occasional fault did not mar his performance, it only somewht lowered its place in the ■scale of merit. His singing was good throughout. A great deal depends upon him, and he proved himself trustworthy. He was very happy in the *' Regulation" duet with Wanda, and effective in the songs he sings on his departure and return from the mock campaign. The latter was the better effort of the two, being more distinct in pronunciation than the other.

Baron Puck, Prince Paul, and Baron Grog were well acted by Messrs "Wilkinson, Levison, aud Newton, who all, in their respective ways, made themselves very amusing-. To sum up, the opera was nicely put upon the stage, well sung, and and most of the parts fairly acted, so that altogether the performance was a very enjoyable one. There was one mistake. A very effective scene between Baron Gros; and the Idleness was cut out, in consequence of which the proper development of the story was somewhat interfered with.

On Saturday "Genevieve cle Brabant" was produced. This, in music and dramatic interest •(if we may be allowed to use. the expression in connection with burlesque) is inferior to its two predecessors. Certain liberties were taken with ■ the libretto, by the introduction of local allusions, which seemed te take very well with the audience. Drogan was personated fin her ■usual manner by Miss May, of whose singing and acting it is therefore unnecessary to sa\i much more. We cannot refrain from complimenting her on her share in the balcony duet. Mr Hallam made a very amusing Duke, though he sang his music somewhat unequally. The tea song was very well sung, and was his best effort, the farewell song, better known as "Sorrow's Song," was his worst. Mr Levison made a good burgomaster, and Mr Newton's Golo was a fine burlesque of the traditional tragedy actor. The gensd'armes, Messrs Templeton and Vernon, were more at home in the action than in the music of their parts. They succeeded in amusing the audience, but their music, especially the famous " "We run them in," was hardly up to the mark. Chorus and band were good, especially the latter, and all the arrangements were excellent. A special feature was the introduction of a fac simile of a well-known locomotive. The pantomime, in which we were pleased to see no repetitions of anything approaching to that upon which we commented so severely on a previous occasion, followed the opera, and gave place to the usual transformation scene, which obtained the applause it deserved.