The Express.
London, England, 1866-11-26 00:00:00

EXPRESS FROM PARIS.

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KR. ALFRED MELLON'S CONCERTS.
These entertainments have this year run a longer
Course than usual Commencing on August b, they have
been continued until the end of the past week, when the
Royal Italian Opera-house closed, in order to give full time
for the preparation of the pantomimic amusements pro.
jected for the coming Christmas holidays. The following
address was circulated by Mr. Mellon on the termination
of his present series of concerts :
Ladies and Gentlemen,—Having arrived at the 96th and
last night of my present aeries of concerts, I embrace the
opportunity of thanking you and the public generally foe
the liberal support and patronage with which I have been
honoured. Your continued kindness has induced and
emboldened me to undertake the production of •
new grand Christmas pantomime in this theatre,
which I trust will be found to equal if not surpass
in splendour and magnificence the famed productions of
pact seasons. No effort of mine will be wanting to
enhance the reputation this theatre enjoys for such •
class of performance ; and I hope that, aliould I succeed
in producing the usual Christmas entertainment to your
satisfaction, you will extend to me that favour I have
hitherto been honoured in receiving. In acknowledging
the kind and generous support I have for many years re-
ceived at your hands, and by which I have been enabled at
my sole risk and personal responsibility to carry on the
oonovis for the past six years, I trust I may be permitted
to solicit an extension of your kind patronage to my new
venture in theatrical management. Permit um, then.
moat respectfully to bid you farewell, and to indulge the
hope that I may anticipate the pleasure of a renewal of
our acquaintance on Boxing-night, December 26th.
•

Drama.

OLYMPIC.

The popularity of Goethe's Faust at Drury-lane
has encouraged Mr. Horace Wigan to revive an old Strand
burlesque by Mr. J. Milford, which was first produced, we
believe, in 1854, when Faust anti Atar!nurite was so Ole-
mogul at the Ptincess' Theatre. Mr. Milford, as he tells
us in the playbill, has modernised and revised his work,
and in these alterations he has unquestionably bad in view
the Drury-lane version of the poem. The burlesque, as it
now stands, is more remarkable for the closeness with
which it parodies the original Faust, excluding the two
prologues, than for the brilliancy of its dialogue or the
smoothness of its versification. In many ',tuts it resew.
bless a free and easy translation snore than a travestie o
the accepted type, although few of the well-worn tricks
of Strand burlesque have been omitted. Faust is of course
represented by the liveliest lady in the company, Miss Farren
and equally, of course, the gentle Marguerite is repre-
sented by a gentleman and low comedian, Mr. Dom"tick
Murray. The usual jigs, " break-downs," and music-hall
ditties are tianoed and sung in the various scenes, and
Marguerite is seren►ded by a band of Ethiopians.
Mr. Vincent is Mephistophiles, and tho minor
characters are fairly represented. Mr. Dominick
Murray will doubtless take- it as a compliment
when we tell him that we think he has not quite
learnt the trick of burlesque sitting. His Mar-
guerete is not vulgar enough, and his falsetto singing and
speaking is a painful mistake. He should talk like a coal-
heaver, and sing like a basso at Evans's. Mr. Horace
Wigan has put the piece on the stage with great taste and
liberality, if we except the lest scene, and Mr. Tully by
provided it with excellent diversified music. It is not so
ambitious an effort as the /nod produced by Mr. F. C.
Burnand a season or two ago at the St. James's, but when
it has a considerable portion of the p caching taken out of
it, it is likely to be tolerably successful.