The Sun.
London, England, 1853-03-29 00:00:00

DRURY-LANE.

The holiday entertainments at this house commenced
with the popular play of The Lady of Lyons, respecting
which it is only necessary to say that—thanks to the
exertions of Miss. F. Vining, Mrs. Griffiths, Mr. Daven-
port, and Mr. Charles Selby, in the several characters
of Pauline, Madame Deschapples, Claude Melnotte, and
General Dumas---it was received with cordial and well-
merited applause by a large and good-humoured audi-
ence. Mr. R. Sands' " grand, antipodal experiment,"
of walking across a marble slab with his feet up and his
head downwards, was then introduced. After which
came the principal Baker novelty, which was described
in the bills "as a seasonable attempt by one of the
authors of The Sphinx, the last edition of Ivanhoe,
Enchanted Isle, &c. (the brothers Brough, of course),
to get up a few magic effects with the assistance of Sir
W. Scott's Talisman, and to illustrate the story of Sing
Richard Caw de Lion and the Knight of the Couchant
Leopard in a series of entirely new views, calculated, it
is hoped, to gratify the panoramic zest of the age. We
are sorry we cannot say much for its success. Of story or
plot there was next to none. A few only of the detached
incidents in the history of the Crusades have been seized
upon by the author, and reproduced in the form of
a burlesque—laughable enough in parts, it must be ad-
mitted, but exceedingly flat as a whole. There is, how-
ever, some good music (under the direction of Mr. J. G.
Reed), several pretty fairy dances, and at least ono
beautiful piece of scenery, viz., " the Grand Fairy Wind-
up," which is radiant with

" Such magic light and rainbow dyes
As dazzle even the steadiest eyes."
The principal characters in the burlesque were King
Richard, by Mr. Charles Selby; Sir Kenneth of Scotland,
the Knight of the Couchant Leopard, by
Miss P.HOrtoll
(who made her first appearance during the present ma-
nagement, and who, we regret to say, was too unwell to
perform the whole of the music attached to her part) ;
Queen Berengaria, by Miss Kate Saxon ; the Lady Edith
Plantagenet, by Miss F. Reeves ; Saladin, by Mr. Moor-
house—of whom, it is only fair to say, that if the piece
failed it was from no fault of theirs. The curtain fell
amid several determined hisses and a few faint cheers.
The performances concluded with a new ballet, entitled
L'Artiste de Terracina, which few remained to witness,
it being past midnight before it commenced.

HAYMARKET.
Mr. Buckstone last night inaugurated his accession to
the management of the Haymarket by a new extrava-
ganza entitled Buckstone's Ascent of Mount Parnassus'
the purport of which we took -to be an allegorical inti-
mation to the theatrical public of the new manager's
desire to give a poetical elevation, worthy of the Muses,
to the future amusements at this theatre. In the com
mencement, Mr. Buckstone is discovered in his private
room meditating on his future prospects, and the course
to be pursued to hit the taste of the town. Fashion, /ft
the dress of a west-end exquisite, admonishes him, and
Fortune, with her wheel, counsels him. The most pro-
minent of the furores which have been prevalent in Lon-
don appear before him in succession. Mr. Albert Smith
gesticulates in a white waistcoat from a rostrum in a
Swiss chalet ; and the duel in the aoriiceen Brothers, with
the ghost of the murdered man, shadows another g the
most remarkable popularities of the day. The diggings
at the Drury-lane Theatre, the scenic splendour of
the Lyceum, the Uncle Toms everywhere, and the
polyglot varieties of the Royal Italian Opera are em-
bodied, or typified, in turn ; and Mr. Buckstone, plis-
zled at the diversities of the public approbation, is in-
clined to give up his task as hopeless ; but as the "As-
cent of Mount Blanc is, in his mind, decidedly in the as-
cendant," he determines "to get up—something, but i 4
uncertain as to what." Fortune whispers him to try
Parnassus ; and this is the pretext for an elaborate pano-
rama by" Mr. Marshall, who guides him to the top of
the mountain, stopping by the way at the Castalian
Fountain, where he is introduced to the Nine Muses,
and is further regaled by a ballet, in which Pan is the,
principal gymnast. The vision of Apollo at the summit
of the mountain revives his courage and his hopes. Ile
appeals to the god, and as he promises to encourage the
poetical drama and other analogous good works, he is
fortified by the smiles of the deity, and the curtain do-
scends amid crimson fires and the plaudits of the midi-,
ence. The dialogue was full of Mr. Planche's usual
witticisms, all of which told remarkably well. Th°
scenery and dresses were excellent, and altogether "
may congratulate Mr. Buckstone on a very successful
commencement of the campaign.

PRINCESS'S.
The adaptation of Marco Spada to the English stsge
as a three act drama met with unqualified success
at
this theatre last night, mainly owing, it is true, to
the admirable manner in which it is put upon the stage.
In plot, incident, character, and dialogue, there is
nothing very far removed from the common-place, but
the ball room scene in the second act is one of such ex-
traordinary brilliancy and chaste magnificence the
dresses, dancing, and mise en scene so completely out of
the common run of stage productions, that the house was
dazzled and delighted beyond the verge of enthusiasm.
The picturesque effect of the concluding scene, where
the brigands are beheld revelling in their mountain fast-
ness is also very striking, especially in the elecution of&
joyous Tarantella, which was vehemently applauded and
deservedly encored. Tho principal parts were admi-
rably sustained. The disguised bandit and his supposed
child were represented by Mr. Ryder, who, it is hardly
necessary to say, looked and played nobly and effectively,
and by Miss Heath ; and the gallant Captain
Pepinelli, and his fair tyrant, the gay Marchesa.
San Pietri afforded'infinite amusement to the audience,
as personated by Mr. Walter Lacy, and Miss Carlotta.
Le Clercq with genuine comic numour. Miss Le Clercq,
is fast attaining the position of one of our best comedians
from the talent, spirit, and judgment, unvitiated by any
affectation, which she has developed in a surprising
degree since the commencement of the season, and which
repeatedly and prominently told last evening ; and Mr.
Lacy, a master spirit in light comedy, never broad or
low, however humorous, did exceeding credit to his
dancing master by his grace and skill in the mazes of the
courtly cotillon. Mr. Graham, as the Monk, merits fa-
vourable mention. The pains and cost bestowed by the
management on the production of Marco Spada deserve
to be amply rewarded by the public patronage. The
piece went off swimmingly, and the performers already
mentioned wefe recalled at its termination. Tice house
was crowded to excess ; and in Macbeth, which preceded-
the new drama, the acting of Mr. and Mrs. Kean and
Ryder was, if possible, more masterly than ever.

LYCEUM.
The management of the Lyceum treated the town last
season to a Chain of Events, in eight links. This Year
it presents to the public a Strange Eistory, in not less
than nine " chapters." The former piece, although
marred by not a few drawbacks, afforded a picturesque
series of scenes—several of them more or less effective-
The present experiment is, however, tamer, more con-
ventional, and less vividly coloured than its predecessor,
although redeemed, we may add, by occasional passages
in which some dramatic energy is caught by the even
smoothness by which the whole is acted, and by the very
beautiful scenery of Mr. W. Beverley. The reception
of the piece was cold ; and, had not the latter "chapters
warmed up a little, would have been colder still. The
audience were tired out, as might well happen in the
witnessing of a theatric piece of no particular interest
which lasted for nearly four hours and a half. if the
"story" has any lengthened run it will be owing t°
the character of the scenery, which is very charming'
A Swiss valley—with villages on the mountain slopes,
and the river winding through the vista—opened the ElaY
with great effect, while a mountain view in the ravine,
with the mist rolling down over glacier and snow slope,
gave us the higher Alps under a different aspect.
" Grounds of the Chateau," a brilliant Italian lake scene,
was remarkable for its bright warmth of aerial perspec-
tive tive • while a " Waterfall in the Glen" exhibited
delightful a vista of luxuriant green wood, rising in rocky
ledges, down which a stream—real water—trickled into
i
indeed'
the background, that the artist was spontaneously an
enthusiastically called for—so enthusiastically,A
ex
that until he appeared the business of the scene ennf:
not be commenced—an ovation which, with the ce e
tion of Mr. Beverley, we never remember any in 3"
artist to 'have received.