THE POLLARDS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6551, 3 August 1899, Page 2

THE POLLARDS.

"LAPOUPEE." . J During. the last eight years the so-called "musical comedies" have gained .such.- a hold on. Old- World playgoers tliat' comic, opera has been relegated to' the shelf. This was to be regretted, as several of the new pieces of this order. were nothing more than ! " music hall turns," strung together by the i flimsiest of plots. A number o: the critics ' were far-seeing enough to declare that this sorb of thing coidd not last, and one of them, Mr Lawrence, of the " Daily';' Mail," went so far as to state that as soon as a really clever, original and melodious comic opera was produced it would hold its own, despite the public's fancy i'or "musical comedy." That his judgment was correct was amply proved when "La Poupee " came upon the scene. "The Doll" made her first bow to a London audience on Feb. 3, 1897, and it drew crowded houses for over two years, the tunefulness of Audran's music, the rdeverness of Sturgess's libretto, and the quaintness of Ordonneau's plot, capturing all classes. A feature of the production on Saturday nieht will be the fact that the piece will be staged with all ;-tho original scenery,, ward, robe and effects as used in the Australian productions, and under tlie direction or' Mr Cecil Lawrence, from the Prince of Wales Theatre, London.