The Press. — London, England, 1858-01-09 00:00:00

heavy. A review in January '5B of the life of Ste phenson the engineer, a biography which appeared in July '56, is rather after date in a monthly maga zine. The other papers exhibit talent, and the article on fisheries shows at least commendable research. _ _ _ The Irish Metropolitan; the Quarterly Journal of Dental Science, the National Magazine, Mr. Rout ledge's monthly number of his illustrated edition of Russell's War in the Crimea, as well as his .January part of the Illustrated Shakspeare—an Edition whi"b ICI coarse of time will deserve more extended notice —all continue to exhibit that amount of ability in their matter and management which originally won for them their well-deserved popularity. Le Follet, also, with its brilliant delineations of fashionable follies, must not be forgotten. PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.-JANUARY 4. BOOKS. &fusions of a Wandering Pen. Thomas Gregory. Partridge and Co. Ugo Bassi. Speranza. Saunders and Co. Dawn and Twilight. J. H. and J. Parker The Doctrine aft he Holy Eucharist Investigated. Rev. John Duff Sohomberg, B.A. Hope and Co. Sohengrin. From the German of Richard Wagner. Hope and Co. Scenes of Clerical Life. George Eliot. Blackwoods A Handy Book on Property Law, in a Series of Letters. Lord St. Leonard's. Blackwoode Fifty lean' Recollections, Lite tart" and Personal. Cyrus Redding. C. J. Skeet An Historical Connection of the Old and New Testaments._ Tegg anti Co. Forty : live Guardsmen. Alexander Dumas Hodgson The Pursuit of Knoiokdge under Difficulties. George L. Clarke. Murray The Rise of our Indian Empire. Lord Mahon. Ditto Dauntless. fly the Author of " Haab, not Hearts," Ste. J. W. Parker and Son The Angel in the House. Coventry Patwore. Mount Gars, or Marie's J. H. and J. P.►rker—L'lmdwtrie de to Suisse.—The Church of the People. Kent and Co.—Governeteni Hajtholiday. J. R. Taylor. Weaterton—The Prophecy of Khatrii. J. F. Hope—The Post Magazine Almanack and Insurance Directory 41858. Paternan—lntroductory Review of Prideauz's Connection of the Old and New Testaments. Tegg and Co.—Portrait of General Nicholson. Lithographed by Baagneit. (lambert and Co. Life anti ddveninive of Mervyn e li iheroe. Routledge. DRAWING. Inlet Tower, with a portion of the Principal Dam of the Behar Reserroir of the Bombay Water-works. Yonge and Crighton. gtt Nrama. LYCEUM THEATRE.-THE PANTOMIME. Now that the first rush of holiday folks has some what subsided, we may take the opportunity, which has Lot hitherto presented itself, of saying a few words about the Christmas pieces for the benefit of those steady persons who wait to know what a play is like before embarking with their wives and families for histrionic latitudes. Such of them as were young in 1817 may remember a poem called " Lalla Rookh," by one Thomas Moore, which created some sensa tion when first published, and besides being trans lated into various languages was, at the Court of Berlin, made the foundation of a sort of " ballet divertissement," in which figured several royal and noble personages. The poem itself, though not quite metaphysical enough for the present age of earnest ness, and consequently for the most part abandoned to sentimental young ladies and gentlemen, is cer tainly the very thing for the basis of a modern burlesque ; and Mr. William Brough, who has brought it out at the Lyceum, may deem himself fortunate in having hit upon so happy an idea, sug gesting as it instantly does the " pleasant gardens of Cashmere," the " shining turrets of Amberabad," and all sorts of other Eastern splendours, for the repro duction of which the scenic arrangements of this theatre have long been famous. We do not on the whole recommend visitors to the Lyceum to refresh their memories by reading over the original work, for they would find their ideas rather confused by the " shuffling " which it has undergone. The story is introduced by that of " Paradise and the Peri." The Peri, Natrunine (Miss E. Webb), has lost Paradise for having loved a mortal, Feramorz (Mrs. A. Mellon, nee Woolgar). She is promised readmittance on performing three tasks. In this version they are (1) to enable Lalla Rookh to marry as she likes ; (2) to " put down" the Gliebers, who molest the Pen race ; (3) to give up Feramorz. Lalla Rookh (Mrs. Charles Dillon), daughter of Aurungzebe (Mr. Barrett), has already three suitors—the Emperor of China, represented by his ambassador Nogo (Mr. Poynter), the King of Cashmere, represented by Trybac (Miss S. Lewis), HE PRESS JANUARY 9, and Khorsanbad (Mr. J. L. Toole), the chief of the fire worshippers, represented by himself. She rejects all three, and accepts Feramorz, who in the disguise of a troubadour pleads the cause of himself, the King of Bucharia. She sets out to meet him, accompanied by Fadladeen (Mr. S. Calhaem), and her maid Hinda (Miss E. Jacobs, originally known as the heroine of " The Fire•worshippers"). On the way the party are attacked by Khorsanbad and Hg red (Mrs. Buckingham White), who is " keeping com pany" with Hinds. The Ohebers are discomfited by Namoune, who waves fire over them, and Lalla Rookh and her escort arrive safely in Bucharia, where Feramorz leaves her, not a little dissatisfied with her matrimonial prospects. Here Auruogzebe, " with carpet-bag and umbrella," suddenly arrives, having been informed by Namoune of Feratnorz's real rank. Hafed and Khorsanbad having been taken prisoners, the former is released at the request of Hinda, and on promising to become respectable and forswear Gheberism ; Khorsanbad remains coarse and bad to the last. As regards Feramorz and Lalla Rookh all of course, is " quite serene." The Pen is pardoned, and received back into the " Peri home " and the " golden corridors of the aerial amphitheatre," gorgeous in the extreme, and we trust comfortably warmed as well as lighted. To this succeeds the Pantomime, with the usual tricks and transformations. Mr. Brough has shown much ingenuity in the con struction of his burlesque, and his puns are quite up to the average standard ; but the pantomime public appears to be sated with puns, and they wore not " taken " so often as perhaps they deserved to be. The part of Fadladeen has been made very amusing ; his dress is most excellent, and is acted with great spirit by Mr. Calhaem. The idea of introducing the Orhebers, who are represented as a sleepy set of ruffians, always drowsy with keeping up their fire all night, is nct a very happy one. They rather, as a body, overweight the piece, and are only male tole rable by the acting of Mr. Toole. whose imitation of Robson was received as one of the most telling bits. It is a pity that Mr. Brough—for the sake, appa rently of introducing Anrungzebe with a carpet•bag— should have departed from his original so far as to omit the scene where Lalla Rookh, on being led into the court Bucharia, recognises Foramorz in the person of the King. This would have been more dramatically effective as a "situation," and would have afforded quite as good an opportunity for the " Oriental alcove " business as the Peri's garden, while the latter might have been kept for the con clusion of the pantomime. That is at present occupied by an illuminated repetition of Scene 1., which, after the blaze of magnificence occurring at the end of the burlesque, produces the effect of an anti-climax. Miss Woolgar displayed her usual languid energy as the troubadour, and her song of " The Minstrel Boy," apropos of organs, is perhaps, in a facetious point of view, the best in the piece, though we must not forget to express our admira tion of Miss Webb's singing in Scene 11. A mild crusade against street nuisances is kept up through the piece, and is expressed in Scene lll.—probably on the principle of "taking a hair of the dog that bites you"—in a parody of " Old Dog Tray," which was of course one or the songs most appreciated. Of the pantomime the less said the better. There are no tricks which even rise to the level of ab surdity, and its merit may be estimated from the fact that the audience began steadily to melt away from the conclusion of the burlesque, and that we do not remember to have heard a single child's laugh during the whole course of it. It is, indeed, rather notice able, as showing bow conventional the mirth of pan tomimes and burlesques really is, that far more amusement, to all appearance, was derived by the audience from that excellent play The King's Mos heteersiwhich occupied the first part of the evening, than from its more ambitiously facetious successor. Here Mr. Charles Dillon was naive, humorous, and spirited as D'Artagnan, and embodied the concep tion of Dumas with perfect success, while Miss Woolgar, whom we must confess we much prefer in petticoats, was tender and fascinating as Constance Bonacieux. But during the pantomime pit, boxes, and gallery were attentive, solemn, and silent, or only excited by the certainly marvellous feats of en athlete, whose name we cannot find in the bills, but who is all legs and no backbone, and, with his little brothers (?), constitutes the most elastic family we ever saw. What the pantomime lacks in invention is made up in advertisements, but as these develop into nothing more funny than the corresponding sheet of the Times, and as we can see them all on any dead-wall, we should prefer some other back ground for the evolutions of harlequin and clown. THE ROYAL MARRA of FICEITIVAL.—The dramatic performances to take place at Her Majesty's Theatre in honour of the Princess Royal's marriage are announced. They are to be under the direction of Mr. John Mitchell. The first night (Tuesday, 19th) will comprise Macbeth, with Mr. Phelps and Miss Helen Fauna in the principal parts, and Mr. and 858. Mrs. Keeley in Twice Killed. On Thursday, the 21st., The Rose of Castille will be played by the English Opera co►npany, under the direction of ;11r. Alfred Mellon. Mr. Robson and some of the Olympic performers will appear in an after-piece. On Saturday, the 23rd, Mr. Lumley's company will appear in an Italian opera (not yet settled), and an original " Festival Cantata," composed for the occa sion by Mr. Howard Glover, will also be given. On the 30th Mr. Buckstone's Haymarket company will appear in a comedy, and Mr. Webster's Adelphi forces in a farce, neither of which are yet announced. The public will pay for admission, and we are in formed that the prices fixed for these interesting pei formances will be about the same as those ordinarily paid at the Opera. utt. HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE. —The performances during this week at Her Majesty's Theatre have attracted ureequal audiences. Indeed, the fashion able chronology of the country must be going to utter destruction if we are any longer to estimate the height of the season by the audience at the opera. The Trovatore, the Traviata, the Lucia, and the Figlia have been included in the performances of this winter season, and have drawn enormous houses. Mlle. Yiccolomini , Mme. Spezzia, and a debutante, Madame Saunier, have each appeared with success, while Giuglini, despite the east wind, was never in better voice. The operas are each and all admirably well performed, and no better proof of the success of this attempt to establish a winter opera season can be adduced than in the crowd which on each of these occasions has filled Her Majesty's Theatre. THE NEW ROYAL ITALIAN OPERA-HOUSE is gradually rising from the ruins. As yet everything is bricks and mortar and scaffolding, and general incompre hensibility, but a little patient inspection soon ascer tains that an immense and lofty parallelogram of brickwork raises its imposing sides against the sky, and that a very few more feet of altitude will satisfy the most important portion of the architect's design. The façade in Bow-street seems to be almost com plete, and the side walls are so nearly finished as to justify the raising of the first great girder, sixteen of which are to support the roof. The interior semi circles of brickwork from which the several tiers of boxes are to spring are finished, and the workmen are now busy at the back wall, which yet wants a good many feet of its proper altitude. The area, although now nearly filled with scaffolding and long derrick poles, piles of brick, waggons and horses, and workmen passing to and fro, may yet be seen to be of great extent; but the visitor is surprised when he is told that the footlights will cut this whole space exactly in two, and that a full half of the inclosure, in the centre of which he stands, will be devoted to the stage and its appendages. The intention of the architect, we believe, is to give fewer tiers of boxes and fewer boxes in each tier than in the late theatre, the object of Mr. Gye being to get greater space and better accommodation for his patrons, even although at the cost of considerable pecuniary sacrifice. The e it will be ten feet wider, the same increase being given to the stage ; and by a judicious alteration in the design, every one in the boxes will be enabled to see the stage with ease. The use of iron is substituted for wood, and every other precaution taken to render the building as nearly fireproof as possible. The works, which com menced on the 29th of September last, have been carried on with great rapidity, and in their present aspect afford every prospect of being finished by the Ist May, on which day Mr. Gye is bound by his con. tract to open the theatre. There are about 300 men daily at work on the walls and roof, and simul taneously the Messrs. Lucas's large factory at Lowestoft is fully employed on the interior fittings, while all the ironwork is being constructed at the fourelry of Messrs. Grissel. It is obvious that progress may in the same way be made with the scenery and decorations, PO that as we approach the end of the work the rate of progress will exhibit what, were we not aware of the above particulars, would appear to he an almost magical acceleration. Under all these favourable circumstances, we may fairly anticipate that an early day will see Mr. Gye comfortably installed in his newly-erected lyric temple, and we trust rewarded by that amount of . patronage on the part of the public to which his energy and unwearied exertions for their amuse ment so justly entitle him. lint 4rts GENERALS HAVELOCK AND NICHOLSON. Two excellent engravings from original portraits of these distinguished generals have just been pub lished by Messrs. Gimbal.' and Co. ) of Beroers!