The Sun.
London, England, 1858-03-31 00:00:00

cox ke :.11,i n;-111._lings of the most
elaboie . whole dolor;, a leautful
te..ture in lirkki r: ateh.t tu, , appal entiy rests on
fous atetres—tbre fornvng ti.e front and side
galleie?, rind on over the eroscenium. The latter
has : •-k ‘n cow, yin te.l wit! ~pe.lat reference to its
acou tic ?rop ti, s, and will be croe3ed with a !Jet-
wo.. . a • :yo,) a wei Le ground, correspond-
g with the style of the ceiling. As we have said,
both "house" and stage of the new theatre are one
rifth larger than the old, the latter giving an un-
broken square of 90 fet-t, and upwards of 50 feet
high. The shape of the old house was a perfect
horseshoe, with the proseseium columns projecting
inwards, so that those in the side boxes could
scarcely see the stage at all. The present building
approaches more to the form of the old Greek
theatre—a perfect semicircle with the sides pro-
longed, and only sloping in sufficiently to give a
graceful outline, without at all intercepting the
vfew even from the end bone'. Those who like
the loft and somewhat imposing appearance which
many tiers of boxes always impart to the house
will be sorry to hear that in the new one
there are only to be three—the pit, grand, and
upper tier. Every one, however, will be glad
to learn that the increased space thus left at
the disposal of the manager has been employed in
giving to the public an amount of accommodatiolt
they never had before. There are 36'boxes on each
tier, each of which is wider and t'eeper than in the
old house, and each of which is built no less than
nine feet six inches high. Above the third tier, at
the beck feting the stage, is the amphitheatre,
much larger in size and infinitely more commodious
with regard to seats than in the old house. On a
level with this, at each side of the house, is a row
of 10 or 12 upper side boxes, and above these are
the two side galleries, with the large gallery at the
back of all over the amphitheatre. A spacious
corridor, eight feet wide, lofty and richly deoorated,
will run behind each tier of boxes, communicating
with all parts of the theatre from end to end.
Strong wrought iron girders built into the walls
form the boxes, supported on cast-iron columns at
intervals of 10 feet apart, and resting one on an-
other from the top of the top tier down to the floor
of the pit. The pit will hold no greater number of
spectators than the old house used to do. There are
to be 11 rows of pit stalls, each stall of which is to
be, in fact, a comfortabla arm-chair two feet two
inches wide, and with three feet three inches inter-
val between each row, so that all may pass to and
from their places with the most perfect freedom
and ease. There will be ten rows of pit seats, with
the same width for each seat and the same interval
between each row as was the case with the stalls in
the old house. The slope of the pit will be 1 in 18,
and the stage will be raised 4 feet 6 inches above
the level of the front pit stalls. Seen from the
stage, then, the house will rreaent one grand
amphitheatre, about 80 feet high, 65 feet broad,
75 feet deep. The effect of this when brilliantly
lighted, when all the tiers of lofty boxes are hung
with rose-coloured silk, and the architectural fea-
tures of the house enriched with the most
massive decorations in white and gold, will
be grand and rich far beyond all that has
hitherto been seen in this country. The
Queen's box will be on the right hand side of the
house, and will have a private entrance and stair-
case from Hart-street, and a beautifully decorated
ante-room attached to it. the Duke of Bedford
has similar accommodation, but of course, on a
more limited scale. The places of entrance and
exit for the public are unusually lofty and numerous,
and in all the public staircases, those fertile sources
of accident, well holes and balustrades, are com-
pletely avoided, by carrying solid walls in their
stead. 'the grand entrance is to be in Bow-street,
where of course, there is a " colonnade, where
tender beauty waiting for her teach protrudes her
gloveless hand and feels the shower." This en-
trance forms a kind of basement story to the grand
portico which rises over ; it, and from which the
entrance porch is separated by a roof. Five large
double doors admit from the porch to the entrance-
hall, which is 60 feet long by 27 broad, and pro-
portionately lofty. This is on a level with the pit
tier. A staircase 12 feet wide conducts to the
crush-room, which is on a level with the grand
tier, and willibe beyond a doubt the noblest apart-
ment of its kind yet built. It will be 80 feet long
by about 30 wide, and 30 high. Five immense
windows open from this room on to the portico
built over the carriage porch, and which in 'summer
will be available as a promenade, in addition to
the crush-room. The Corinthian portico itself
will be ono of the finest yet built for any modern
theatre. Its extreme width will be 82 feet by 84
high. All its columns will be of solid stone, 37 feet
high by 3 feet 8 inches in diameter. Our readers
will be better able to judge of these magnificent
dimensions by comparing them with those of the
well-known portico of St. Martie's Church, which
is only 65 feet wide by 60 feet high, and the
columns 33 feet high by 3 feet 6 inches diameter at
at the base. Flaxman's exquisite sculptures
were fortunately saved almost uninjured from
the. ruins of the old theatre, and these have
been incorporated by Mr. Barry into the details
of the new portico. The figures of Tragedy and
Comedy will be placed in niches on either
side, whilst the bas-reliefs representing ancient and
modern dramatic art will be over the crush-room
windows.

Now-a-days the Opera season scarcely lasts morn
than 15 weeks—by no means a sufficient time to
defray the rental and other heavy expenses of such
an immense establishment as that of Covent-garden
is to be. During the "unseasonable " part of the
year, therefore, we believe it is not Mr. Gye's in-
tention to leave his theatre a prey to dust and cob-
webs, and, though there will be no more bal mas-
ques, yet dramatic entertainments at least during
the winter months will be at once more restored to
Covent-garden. The idea is a good one, and the
manner in which Mr. Gye intends to carry it out
is still better. This is one of the chief reasons for
having each tier of boxes of the great height we
have mentioned-9 ft. Gin. The pit tier of boxes
is constructed so aF, out of the season, to remove
entirely, and allow the pit to be extended back to
the actual walls, where the height of the grand tier
will let the audience see all that passes on the stage
without stooping to avoid the ceiling above or
knocking their heads against it, as in our eld:fa-
shioned theatres. The hangings of the grand tier,
also, and the divisions between its boxes are made
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winter dramatic performances can be converted at
once into a spacious dress circle. Partly in con-
nexion with the Opera-house is hereafter to be built
a grand floral arcade, 80 feet wide by 60 feet high
and 240 feet long, running along the entire length
of the building, from Bow-street to Covent-garden.
This building will be of glass and iron, light and
elegant in form, appearance, and decoration, for the
purpose which it will be used—a floral appendage to
Covent.garden-market, and where only flowers will
be sold. On the great nights' of the operatic sea-
son this will be lighted up, and remain open as a
promenade for the audience, two or three entrances
being provided which will admit at once from the
theatre to the arcade. However, this beautiful idea
will not, we think, be carried out entirely this year.
It is quite enough if the new Opera opens at the ap-
pointed time, and enables Mr. Gye to resume his
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