The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-02 00:00:00

GALLERY OF ILLUSTRATION.

Last night the new " Anglo-Egyptian Entertain-
ment," entitled "The Pyramids; or, Footprints in
the Sand," written by Shirley Brooks, Esq., was
given for the first time at the Gallery of Illustra-
tion, by Mr. and Mrs. German Reed and Mr. John
Parry. At the commencement we find Mr. and
Mrs. Reed, in company with their friend John
Parry, in Alexandria, with an intention of " doing"
the Pyramids, &e., &c., the scene representing the
reception-room in the house of Signor Quarantino,
the consul for W hackpanderso and the Bicephalons
Islands. Just at the moment of arrival a quarrel
springs up between the wedded pair on a very
peculiar question—viz., the right way of stewing
kidneys, and as to wnethor mushrooms or truffles
should accompany them. The aid of their mutual
friend, Mr. Parry, is sought, and ho at once sug-
gests that both should be used; thus the admirer of
truffles can please his palate, and leave the
mushrooms for those who prefer them. His
advice is rejected, and rather than give in Mr.
Reed determines to " do" the Egyptian tour quietly
by himself, and, accordingly, he takes a fortnight's
absence without leave, confiding his better half to
the care of his friend. The wife and friend, of
course, follow the runaway by " the very next
train," and then we have the great scene of the
Entertainment, the tent of the Hon. Dangleton
Spangledore, in front of the Great Pyramid. We
must here diverge a little to compliment the artist,
Mr. William Telbin, on the extreme beauty of his
painting; the " set" is certainly one of his most
triumphant productions, and one that will on every
occasion of its display elicit universal approbation.
To the right of the Pyramid the aforesaid exquisite,
Mr. Spangledore (Mr. German Reed), has erected
his tent, and furnished it with every luxury, even
to a grand pianoforte and an unmistakeable English
bulldog. Spangledore, who belongs to that class of
voyageurs who have a desire of travelling all over the
world in a feather bed, has for the last three weeks
been endeavouring to get himself into a proper
state of mind and body to ascend the pyramid, but
as yet he shudders at the idea, and prefers doing
his " weed" and fondling his dog " Tear'em." Here
Mrs. Reed enters as Miss Rose O'Grady, and quite
captivates the fortunate owner of the tent. She
then gives a racy sketch of the journey from Lon-
don to Alexandria, via rail and boat, which is cer-
tainly the best bit of the entertainment. The next
visitor to the world's wonder is a certain English
M.P., one Mr. Barnabus Boanerges Bradshaw (Mr.
Joh❑ Parry), a political economist, who can see
nothing in the much talked of brick mountain; and
another very humorous incident is the rehearsal by
Mr. Bradshaw of the speech he intends delivering
in the "House" on his making a motion to the
effect that the British Government recommend his
Highness the Viceroy of Egypt to pull down the
pyramids and erect baths and wash-houses with the
materials. These visitors are followed by the Paella
Suleiman, Arthur Wimbledon (a cadet), and Bobby
Bow, represented by Mr. Reed; Archilles, a yoang
Greek, Abdallah, an Arab boy, and Mrs. Saiatford
Bow, a lady from London, by Mrs. German Reed ;
and Signor Morgantino (a magician), Ibrahim (a
dragoman), and Muley Ali (a slave merchant), by
Mr. John Parry. From the foregoing enumeration

it will be seen that the entertainment is rather more
dramatic than usual, and we must confess we wish
it had not been so. There is a want of that joyous
merriment which hitherto has been the distinguish-
ing feature of Mr. and Mrs. Reed's entertainments,
and another great mistake is that having intro-
duced a grand piano on the scene it is left
entirely untouched either by Mrs. Reed or by
John Parry during the whole of the evening. At
one time we thought the economist, Mr. Bradshaw,
was about to give his opinion upon things in general
with a musical accompaniment, but such was not the
case, and the disappointment was evidently felt by
the audience. The pianoforte, therefore, had better
be removed from the scene, for, without it is wanted
for some especial purpose, it is a positive absurdity
in its present position. There is a song for Mr.
Reed as the' cadet, and another for Mrs. Reed as
Mrs. Bow, but they are very ordinary pro-
ductions, and certainly not on a par with the
musical illustrations given in former entertain-
ments. We feel certain that both Mr. and Mrs.
Reed will at once perceive the weak places in
" The Pyramids," and will set about strengthening
and improving the same, more especially as they
have the materials ready to hand " cut and dry."
As far as the assumption of the characters repre-
sented by the clever trio is concerned, nothing could
be better—each was a perfect photograph of its
original ; but to make them " go," good music is
required, and as that most certainly is, as we have
already said, easily attainable, we shall regard the
representation of last evening in the light of " a
grand rehearsal," and look forward eagerly for a
new and improved edition of " The Pyramids."
The Gallery was filled in every part by a very
brilliant and fashionable company.