The National Register.
London, England, 1812-07-26 00:00:00

THE NATIONAL REGISTER.

460

DRA3L4TIC REGISTER.

LYCEUM.

On Wednesday a new Opera wag produced at this Theatre,
under the title of Rich and Poor.

This piece is founded on The East Indian, a Comedy, by
Mr. M. G. LEwts. The success which attended his turning
his Wood Arm, 1 into an Opera, it should seem, has encou-
raged him to ;bring his Coinedy before us in this form. We
are not d:.•posed to quarrel with him in this, as in the for-
mer in when he turned a Pantomime into a first piece.
Jibe c,;n find his account in'turning his five-act rlays into
pieces of three acts, NVO care not if be take it in his head to
turn his: Alphonso and his Cusa.'e Specire into a couple of
Comic. Operas.
The tra-li which we have lotyz been in the habit of seeing
obtruded on the Public, under the name of opera, has been
so truly z-lbomiliablc, that when a writer like Mr. M. C.
J.,rwis tries kris hand in this way, he cc' tainlv has an excel-
lent chance of making a tolerably respectable figure. The
present performance of Mr. Lewis, contrasted with the rub-
bish which has gone before it, has considerable claims on
public approbation. These claims were admitted on the first
riAlit to their full extent, and the piece went off with un-
bounded applause.
This Opera, like most of Mr. Ltwis's performances, boasts
an abundant st,ck of ah ! and ohs ! starts, and embraces,
It is, however, not generally of a tragic cast, hut, on the
contrary, many of its scenes are extravagantly farcical; and
it really excites something like admiration and surprise to see
with what facility the Author can pass from bombast to
tibraldry, and from ribaldry to bombast. As usual, Mr.
Lewis has disdained to suffer his lively genius to he fettered
Ly the restrains of norality and consistency, and lie has
therefore introduced his principal character as a mass virtuous
Man, well diThstd towards duelling, tr 4 viewing the prejudices
of fe.hion and of folly with dignified contempt, while he
Limse:f appears tricked out in all the wretched finery of
modern honour. Despising those silly rides which fashion
bas. prescribed for the conduct of her votaries, he delibe-
rately ztpiroves of the iriational and immoral mode of seek-
ing sari-faction at the mouth of a pistol, with all the zeal of
a despe; ate gamester, and all the heroism of an inebriated
debauchee.

Bich and Poor, however, with these and with other tic-
fects, still boast 4 corkiderahle merit. Some of its scenes are
ilzighly entertaining, others in a more than common degree
. affecting. The songs have, gencra!ly speaking, no great
merit. The music, composed and selected by Mr. 1-lorticE,
-gave general satisfaction ; and the performers acquithd
,s-themselves admirably in their respective parts.

IIAYM.IttKKr.

A Comedy, in three acts, called The Fortune Hunters, was
performed, for the first tune, on Thursday. We understand
it is the production of a new candidate for Dramatic honours,
of the name of lIEwLETT. We cannot say it is a perform-
ance that holds out much promise of future excellence in the
Author. .The plot is not good, and the manner in which it
is:conducted is worse than the plot itself. The characters
ore extravagant, and they are not drawn with that humour
,wbile/4 can compensate for a fault of this kind. Here and
there the piece was enlivened with a few good things, but
the4"did.not occur sufficiently often to give the piece much
-4chimice of becoming a favourite. if considerably curtailed,
Liitlt4y run the usual number of nights ; but we do not think
'ffprobable that it will, be placed on the stack list.

COVENT GARDEN.

JULY 06

On Monday se'nnight a young lady named JOHNSON, from
the York theatre, made her filst appearance in London at
this house, in the character of Isabella. The difficulties of
this part were increased by the consciousness which Miss
JOHNSON must have felt, that Mrs. SIDDONS still formed
the standard of excellence in every mind, to which the pin.
sical qualities and expressive powers of a new performer
would naturally be referred,- as gold to a touchstone to try
its purity and value. Diffidence, however, served to render
her more interesting without itupait log her exertions. She
possesses a correct judgment and true feeling, which enabled
her to form a just conception, and to give a faithful picture,
of the sorrows of the widowed mother, and the di•ttessftd
madness of the innocently faithless wife. Her voice is pow.
er ful in the deep tones, and she manages with much effect
that semi-whisper which expresses so well the concentrated
grief of the heat t, almost too big for utterance. In her
bursts of madness her voice occasionally broke into shrill-
nesq, and in her milder sorrows, she sobbed with too much
violence. Her countenance is pleasing, but by no means of
a tragic cast. Upon the whole she is a correct, though not
super-eminent performer, and her greatest False is, pt:itap.,
that she frequently emitted stolen gleams of Siddonian ex-
cellence which none but a mirror, dear and polished can
reflect. Iler reception was most flattering.