The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-28 00:00:00

S Ny DECEMBER 28, 1846. PRICE SD.

PRINCESS'S.

The pantomime at this theatre was preceded by Boyle
Bernard's elegant little drama of Blanche de Valmy (in
which Mrs. Stirling sustained the part of Blanche with
her usual grace and tenderness) and Mr. G. H. Rod-
well's highly successful opera of The Seven Maids of
Munich, in which Mr. Allen (as Frederic) and Mr. Leff-
ler (as Bellejambe) were, as usual, loudly applauded,
and occasionally encored. The pantomime itself was
one of great splendour, produced, as the play-bill in-
forms us, " under the superintendence of Mr. Emden,"
and entitled The Enchanted Beauties of the Golden Cas-
tle; or, Harlequin and the One-eyed Genii. The over-
ture (" from the joint compositions of all the celebrated
composers") introduced most of the airs of the Ethiopian
Serenaders, commencing with " Lucy Neal," and con-
cluding with an imitation of the " Railroad Overture,"
and was a rich treat to the god's, who did not fail to
join in, with more mirth than good order. The plot of
the piece is very simple, Goggle (Mr. S. Smith) " a
shortsighted one eyed genii, moving his own orbit and
singularly looking to his own interest, whose cast has
not yet been taken by any eye authority," has in his
power 100 maidens who by enchantment are kept in deep
sleep, in a certain golden castle, inaccessible to mortals
unaided by supernatural power. The spell by which
the 100 beauties are bound, can only be broken by the
liberation of one of them, the Princess Joan, and this
lady is therefore guarded with extra care. Any Prince,
who can gain admission to the castle, is at liberty to
enter the chamber in which the Princess is confined, but
on turning the fatal key, the too adventurous intruder
pays forfeit by the loss of his eye, and of his liberty, for
on failing to effect the escape of the Princess, he becomes
the slave of Goggle. At the opening of the piece, ten
Princes rejoicing in such names as Queersight, Squinny,
Halfcast, and Spec, are in the power of Goggle, having
had the hardyhood to turn the key, and having paid the
forfeit of their temerity. The ten captives are
interrupted in the middle of a doleful lament
by the arrival of Prince Hiram, Star-and-Stripes,
Frizzlewig, Sovereign of Bamboozle-'em, whose
territories lie in the fertile land of the back woods
of America (Mr. S. Cowell), who having. heard-et-he
hundred enchanted maidens, is anxious to get an intro-
duction, with a view to " matrimonial alliance" with one
of them. The request is immediately granted by Goggle,
on a condition, essential in all agreements with gentle-
men of his order, namely, that Frizzlewig shall ulti-
mately become his property. The contract being made,
the Prince is carried off by a gigantic bird, who is to set
him down at the foot of the hill on which the castle is
placed. Hiram objects to this plan, but, after some con-
sideration, he assents. At the same time, however,
Prince Pop—nephew of his uncle, taking on principle
an excessise interest in the fate of Princess Joan (Mr.
Bologna)—has been commissioned by Dahlia (Miss So-
mers), the " Fairy of the Basaltic Rock," to go to the
castle under the guidance of her attendant sprite, Rain-
bow (Mr. H. Marshall), for the purpose of liberating the
Princess. He is warned that whoever turns the key of
the-Princess's chamber will lose his sight, and become
the slave of Goggle, without saving the Princess ; but
whoever has the courage to open the door after another,
has turned the key, will succeed in his object. Hiram
having been introduced to the " Hall of 100 doors," and
having " payed his attentions" to the enchanted beauty,
insists on being introduced to the 100th maiden, for he
perceives that there are but 99, and notwithstanding the
warning that he will lose his sight, he says that " Goggle
sha'nt keep the rrettiest gal for himself," and adds, " If
I die a pantile, I'll live a brick." He is conducted to
the 10Jth chamber, turns the key, and, of course, loses
his eye. Not having the courage to go on after tbis, he
hangs back, but Prince Pop, who has watched him for
some time, now comes forward, throws open the door, and
enters. The Princess awakes from her trance (the spell
being broken), and the Fairy, Dahlia and Goggle make
their appearance. The latter, disappointed as he is, has
some consolation in the fact that he has gained a new
slave in the person of Prince Hiram. The characters
are then transformed by Dahlia, Prince Pop to Harle-
quin (Mr. Bologna), the Princess Joan to Columbine
(Miss Burbige) Prince Hiram to Clown (Mr. Flex-
more), and Dame Pimple Kongue (housekeeper of the
Golden Castle and locker-up of the enchanted beauties),
to Pantaloon (Mr. Paulo). The "comic" portion of the
piece is made up fur the most part of the thumping,
kicking, and shouting of clown and pantaloon, with a
slight sprinkling of tricks and transformations, which,
however, are all good. A severe cut is given
to Mr. Hervey Leech, and his late attempt
to "gull" the public, in the character of the " Wild Man
of the Prairies." A chest, marked " Harvey's Sauce,
from California," is placed in front of an oilman's shop,
and from it, a monster apparelled after the "
it ?" fashion, appears, and, after cutting a few gro-
tesque capers, leaps through the window of an oyster-
shop, in which appears a label marked " Gone to take in
the Natives." Mr. S. Cowells, acting in the character
of Prince Hiram, deserves the highest praise. It is in
the highest degree comic and transatlantic. He sang a
new song " Taenation Strange," introducing a budget of
Jonathanisms k amongst others that of " the Nigger who
was so black that charcoal made a white mark on him),
with great effect, and was vehemently encored. The
other gentlemen also acquitted themselves " excellent
well," but truth, as well as gallantry, compels us to say,
that the success of the pantomime depended mainly on
the efforts of the ladies of the corps de ballet.

White Horse Vale, Berkshire, where we find the Danes,
headed by Guthrie, interrupting a Saxon festival, and
doing awful execution among the viands. Edwin, a
young Saxon, whose lady-love (Elfrida) is captive to the
Danes, after sundry hair-breadth escapes, joins
Alfred, who has received a magic lamp from a Druid,
and who having taken refuge in the cottage of
Dame Wonapenny, of course, leaves the cakes according
to the tradition. Alfred, with his harp, and Edwin,
with a key bugle, serenade the Danes encamped at
Stonehenge, and finally overthrow them, and then
comes the harliquinade. Mr. Cormack being Harlequin;
Miss Annie Mott, Columbine ; Mr. Jefferini, Clown
and the veteran F. Hartland, Pantaloon. Cormack is
one of the most agile Harlequin's we have ever seen, and
Miss Mott, as Columbine, was exceedingly graceful.
The names of Jefferini and Han land are sufficient as-
surance that Clown and Pantaloon were both excellent.
The scenery, by Browning, was beautiful, the tricks
were exceedingly clever, and the masks most grotesque.
The pantomime is very well written, and is what all
pantomimes should be—a quizzical commentary on the
events of the past year. The Olympic pantomime will,
no doubt, have a long run.