The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-28 00:00:00

THE STRAND.

Under the direction of Miss Rebecca Isaacs, has
opened its winter campaign with Bellini's charming
operia of the Somnambula, the music of which can
of itself even compensate for the incompetency of
the artists—although, indeed, we had not much to
complain of upon that score. Miss Isaacs is favour-
ably known to the public, and her Amina has lost
none of that freshness and verve which won for her
that commendation which we have already felt it
our. duty to bestow upon her. Miss Isaacs is not
deficient in art impulse, and her very faults spring
from a quality which is unfortunately rare upon the
stage. There were two first appearances—that of
Mr. Manley as Elvino, and Mr. Fraser as Alessio ;
they both acquitted themselves to the perfect satisfac-
tion of the audience, and Elvino shared the triumphs
of the evening with Amina, both being encored
upon several occasions, and recalled upon the fall
of the curtain. A grand pantomime followed, en-
titled Harlequin, and Gulliver, or the Clown in
Lilliput, in which the living Marionettes made their
first debut at this theatre. Thd freaks of Gulliver
in the village of All Serene were highly amusing,
and kept the younger portion of the audience in the
requisite amount of stunning enjoyment. The en-
tertainments concluded with the burletta of Midas,
in which the part of Apollo was more than well
sustained by Miss Isaacs. A new operetta, the
music by Stopel and the libretto by Dion Bourci-
c ault, is announced.

SADLERS WELLS.
On " Boxing Night," of course, the enterprising
manager of this theatre called forth all the resources
of his establishment, and if an overflowing house
be taken as a criterion of success, it certainly was
not wanting last evening. Thefirst piece produced
was Douglas of ancient fame, which does not call
for any lengthened notice, from the fact that it was
performed nearly throughout m • dumb show, so
great was the impatience of the audience for the
commencement of their Christmas treat. As th
curtain, however, rose for the first scene of the
pantomine, the contrast was great indeed, for the
audience, whose behaviour had in other respects
not been most orderly, quietly settled down in
their places and listened with intense interest until
the end of the performance.
The pantomime is by Mr. Greenwood—the
author of several successful Christmas pieces—and
is founded upon the old nursery tale of Whitting-
ton and his Cat. The plot of the piece, which is
entitled, Whittington and his Cat : or, Old Dame
Fortune and Harlequin Lord Mayor of London,
may be briefly sketched as follows :—lt opens with
the abode of Miss-Fortune, who is in great grief at
the happiness of the inhabitants of this sublunary
world. She is interrupted in the midst of her
lamentations by the- sudden appearance of Old
Dame Fortune, who proposes as the subject of the
entertainment the adventures of Richard Whit-
tington, for the purpose of alleviating her daugh-
ter's grief, and by a stroke of her magic wand
changes the scene to the exterior of Hugh Fitz-
warren's general warehouse on the banks of Old
Father Thames. We are here introduced to Dick
Whittington, who is kindly received by Fitzwarren
and his fair daughter Alice, into whose affection
and service he makes rapid progress, in spite of a
coalition entered into against him by Ink-pen, the
clerk, and Dame Dorothy Drippington, the cook,
of exceedingly pugnacious notoriety. In the fol-
lowing scene we make the acquaintance of the
Cat, and the old nursery tale is very closely fol-
lowed out in this and the succeeding ones,
amongst which he may mention the departure
of Fitzwarren's vessel for Africa, with Dick's Cat
on board as his sole and only venture ; the mile-
stone at Holloway, with the prophetic chimes of
Bow-bells ; the Cat's successful achievements at
the " Barbarous Palace of Flibbidee Flobbidee in
Africa," and the triumphant return of Tibby. Old
Dame Fortune then appears again, and transforms
Whittington into Harlequin (Mr. C. Fenton),
Alice into Columbine (Miss Caroline Parkes), the
Cat to Sprite (Herr Death), Fitzwarren to Pan-
taloon (Mr. Naylor), the Cook to Clown (M.
Nicolo Deulin), and Miss-Hap and Miss-Chief
(Masters Deulin) into juvenile sprites. The fun
then commences, and we have a variety of scenes
in which the principal hits broadly alluded to the
passing events and follies of the day ; for instance,
the Derby election proceedings, the North Ameri-
can fishery question (which is treated much in the
style that Alexander the Great dealt with the Gor-
dian knot), the militia, Uncle Tom's Cabin, the
bitter beer controversy, the French and English
street orderlies, and the peace question, are all
successively touched upon.
Mr. C. Fenton as Harlequin, Miss C. Parkes as
Columbine, and M. Deulin as Clown, worked well
and energetically, and were ably supported by the
other artistes. The piece was most magnificently
mounted, and the scenery, by Messrs. Fenton and
Meadows, deserves especial commendation, amongst
which we may particularly notice the " Abode of
Miss-Fortune," " The Revolving Wheel of Fortune
in the Palace of Riches," " The Banquetting-hall in
the Palace of King Flibbidee Flobbidee," " Fitz-
warren's Household," and " The Road to High-
gate, with the well-known milestone," sitting by
which Dick Whittington hears the prophetic warn-
ing of the chimes.