AMUSEMENTS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3551, 28 August 1879, Page 2

AMUSEMENTS

♦ ' ■' H.M.S. PINAFORE. ■ ~

On Tuesday evening, in the OtHfelloW Hall, there was a Jargo and enthusiast!* audience to witness the first performance of the original New Zealand "Pinafore" Company. Starting from Auokland, where* to* Company (not consisting of amateurs) first appeared, they subsequently presented their performance to a Dunedin audience, and ther* for three weeks a mcmt successful season wa» run. On no occasion was such a large and hearty audience assembled under the roof «f an Otago theatre as on the occasion of Mr Riccardi's benefit, and it is with pleasure that wo welcome the presence in Ohnstchurch «f so genuine an artist as this gentleman' "ÜB* dobtedly is. " H.M.S. Pin&foro " ha* already been presented in this town by a company of amateura, and the plot having been described, it is unnecessary to enter into detail*. The acts of this sparkling musical operetta areconfined to two scenes, one representing tn* quarter-deck of the man-of-war off Porttmouth by day, and in the second act tha same scone is represented by night...' In criticising this cbarminj skif, it is only righi to say that the somewhat sarcastic pen ofWS. Gilbert was exercised with no gentle force against the Hon W. H. Smith, now Kirafc Lord of the Admiralty, and also the head of perhaps the largest bookselling business in th* world. Though not a seaman, it is sufficient to say that Mr Smith has brought to » Government department a power ' for organisation which was not out of need and which has proved of the greatest service. In taking this gentleman off, Mr Riccardi, &r the Right Hon Sir Joseph Porter, First Lord of the Admiralty, gives us a picture of the Minister who is 'so fond of official utterances, and who, by reason of the same, is finally cheated out of hislady-love, which could hardlj be improved on. He possesses a rich baritone voice of powerful character, and in addition. to his splendid vocalisation Mr Riccardi i» endowed with a fund of humour, which. makes his acting very amusing. With him we are dealing with an artiste who, not only at Leslie's concerts in London, but in Italy, has gained his laurels, and it is a. matter of great satisfaction that wo now have an opportunity of hearing so ab& a singer. Miss Leaf, the prima donna of tbe» ' company, assumes the r6le of Josephine, theCaptain's daughter. She possesses a voice eC rare timbre, with a liquid purity which. I cannot fail to please. Mr Charles TT ft T^i"jgJ and Mr Grain respectively present us witS Captain Corcoran and llalph Rockstraw. Tho former is a good exponent of tho part, and Ml t undoubted morifc procured him a couple 0/ I encores. Mr Crain, notwithstanding thi ,t he is labouring under severe indispositia n , yet managed to give such taste and f ji» prcssion to the madrigal "The Nig htingale Sighed" that he, too, well deserved the enthusiastic applause with w hioh. his rendering of the song was rew ,i ve e. Perhaps the two next most notable char actors aro those of Little Buttercup and Ha' o» sir Josoph's first cousin, parts which at e we U undertaken by the Misses Hunter and Heath. The arch manner of the former • and the naivete of tho latter are alone sufi! c j en j; to secure the success of the piece. 7 'he Diok Deadeyo of Mr Henry Hodson is a w rT careful but rather overdrawn reprcsentati on . ft' ig an unthankful paTt in one sense, ba fc notwithstanding this, he manages tc , ' throw A humorous spirit into it, and to ge j 8t j me j| r y fun out of it, though we certe jnly 'do nofc approve of his manner of singu ,„ the muob. admired duet in the second ae t The Bill Bobstayof Mr Lov& is realistic ,to a degree, and the scientißc manner in wl }, 0 gofc fcj, , fnend Dick into chancery was r efreshing in the extreme. Considering the shr , rfc n me | t their disposal tho mounting of this charming operetta was exceedingly crer ,itablo. ; Last night there was agar a a good house, and the operetta went eq- D W eU. The audience were lavish in app , lau / e and oncore , the First Lord, Captain, ar id j OBep hino being thus honoured. Great amr isem ent was. caused by the Boatswain, after t De d i9COTerT o f the relative positions of Oa ptam Corcoran and Balph Kackatraw, be« jecmng sir Joseph Porter to tell! him wh ohe B WM> For answer, Dick Deadeyo exclaimed, "I think, sir, ho is Sir George G re y in di iguiß e.'» The rubicund visage of M r fc^ with the Premier n M too much for the audience, and a roar of i aug h te r, followed by partisan cheers and nißßeß -^ vent w emotions, a* well a 8 affor | ed the compftny time to ponder ovei the Babel the incautious joke had aroused. The laughtor and oheering continued, for Be* it& i m j n utes, and stopped the progress of O ie opera for the time beW. Pinafore " wiU bo rep e a t e d this evening. MjLEAN'S SU PENILE TROUBADOURS. The- progran me whic h these clever little artistjMrce- P"* ucing at present at tho Theatre ?° y l w I 1 "! 6 e 9 Uft l *<> th °8e which preceded it. The first part consists of "Patchwork," of the man* ,of whi ch mention has already ™. %™* in the*o columns. Following Patchwori ;>. j 8 ft bftllet entitlod « Kickers," m,wiich af iBB gara M(LeaD) msß Emmeiino fk '*%• /W0 P arfcnera ance a bidM wherein tney Om^ j a y considerable powers of- high. Kicking, v ltho Btj ie firat introduced to the mu T* by a member of the Soldene troupe. , Clio of dinseute is Mies Sara (alias Master SamnM j M'Lean, though the others ably supP o^* er. The scene is gone through with a Drwttj )eßg w }jj c h securos its Buocess, and the COttftf quent applause is hearty and spontaneous rphe programme concludes with a clever i ™ .ety performance entitlod " Hash, Bib and *» cker ; or, H.M.S. Pinafore hashed up^in, jioh the company give specimens of their • oility as vocalists, dancers, and actoirK The jurden of the piece lies chiefly on Master . Perman, a theatrical manager on the look-out for talent 1 Master S. M'Lean, who gives ,an excellent idea of the eccentricities of Sothem's "Lord Dundreary;" Master Parlata, a most amusing Georgia Minstrel { Miss Emmeline Fox, who impersonates very successfully a daughter of Erin ; and Miss Nina Tulloeh, who represents a prima donna with the somewhat pretentious name of Ophelia Jtfeilson. In the earlier part of this " Hash " the songs and dances went with tho usual -spirit;, and many of them were encored. The m6st pronounced' successes were the Ophelia sodr by Miss Tullooh, the " Tickle the Baby " bj the satoo-young lady, and the •' Rower Shbw" by Misi Emmeline For. Miss Tulloeh 'sang the- first with muoK exprogsion, Wd .the second with that arch drollery which she imparts to many of her efforts. Miss B. Fox "ohirmed by the pleasing simplicity of 'hW style.- 7 The latter part of " Hash '' is devoted to 'selections from "H.M.S. Pinafore^* 5 In this two others of the company besides uo^s already mentioned, distibguished themeelveß —Master F. Levy as Captain Corcoran, and Master 0. Matthews as Dick Deadeye. The selections included almost all tho gems of the popular operetta, and were given with, an accuracy and decision which wero surprising, when tho youth of tho performers is considered.. Tonight the same programme will be repeated, and to-morrow night the company will appear in Lyttclton, as on that night the Lyttelton Timet amateurs have engaged the Theatre Boyol for the benefit of their Siok. Fond,