THE MAMMOTH MINSTRELS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7926, 18 July 1887, Page 3

THE MAMMOTH MINSTRELS.

This minstrel company continue to draw big houses night after night, and Ithe lower portion of the.Princess Theatre was exceptionally '.crowded on Saturday night, when tho second change of programme was made. For the first part, entitled " Harve:t Festivals," the stage was very prettily set. In the background was a painted presentment of a Harvest field, and th« stage was littered with loosely bound shelves, amidst which sat smiling the harvesters, i.e., the members of Messrs Moore and Ashton's minstrel troupe. To a bucolic eye there might have been technical objections to the stage arrangements. Thecompany may have looked too cool and well-combed for genuine workers, and the whiteclothed, straw - hatted gentlemen who perambulated in the rear may not have looked overmuch inclined for the real business, which in hot weather is no joke, and takes the dignity out of a man quicker than would be imagined. Still the effeat was good, as was testified by the prolonged applause of the audience as the curtain roße. ri'he programme was fully equal to, although not better, than the former one, and when that is said there is little necessity for individual comment. Miss Desmond, who has not before been heard in a solo, sang " Lovers and Friends " in a voice of considerable range if not much power; and Miss Blackie,whose reception showed that she has become a warm favourite, gave the ballad "Kever miss your mother "—certainly one of her best efforts so far. The sentiment of the song was perfect, although the title was misleading. It was not intended to adjure the audience to feel no oere.-.vement at a mother's death. Neither was the title an exhortation not to miss your mother in a crowd, or not to miss your mother with a shotgun. The song was really a pathetic little ballad which appealed-rightly—to tho feelings of all who heard it, audit properly ran, "You will never miss your mother till she's gone." The curtailment of the title set the sentiment a little bit adrift; that was all. Miss Ulackie sang it charmingly and received au encore. Nearly all the other singers in the first part received a like compliment, and the. curtain came down on an amusing though notoriginai finale, " The French Conductor." Messrs Waning aud Cottier, the Woodward Brothers, and Messrs Moiyry, Croyden, and Holland (the step-dancers)- distinguished themselves as usual in their several lines, but it is unnecessary to particularise each performance. A new feature, however, waa the performance of Mr Frank Woodward on the alack wire. He did everything that the old slackwire walkers (Wainrata included) do, only out of deference to the sensibilities of the audience his wire was not stretched over the auditorium, but over the stage. He undressed, dressed, lay down, got up, and smoked cigarettes, and although he had only three or four feet to fall, he did not avail himself of the opportunity, but stuck persistently to the wire. From his manner Mr Woodward should be quite equal to a more dizzy venture, and he probably is; but the management are right in confining the performance to its present limits. The skill of such a feat can be quite as well appreciated without the superadded element of danger. The triple bar performance of the three Woodwnrd Brothers was as wonderful as their former exhibition, and tho programme concluded with a farce, " Thompson's Dead," in which Mr Faning's drollery was well assisted by Mes3rs Turner, Ashton, and Croydon and Miss Clifford. In the course of the evening Mr iAshton. on behalf of the management, presented a handsome sihxr cup to Mr Shepard, captain of the Montccillo football team. The trophy was intended for the winning toam, but Urn match having ended in a draw it was presented to tho Montesillo club as being so far premier for the season.