The Sun.
London, England, 1866-12-27 00:00:00

COVENT-GARDEN.

Although pantomime of course formed the main
attraction at this establishment last night, it was
not the only novelty of the evening, having been
preceded by a new operetta, in one act, called
" Terrible Hymen," which served to fill up the
preliminary hoar before the specialty of the
occasion ; and to maintain (although but in
a very slight degree) the associations of the house
with musical purposes. The operetta is a mere
trifle, both dramatically and musically ; in the
former respect apparently an adaptation from some
French vaudeville, while the music also has some
affinity to the same school in its lightest aspect.
The libretto is a mere thread on which to hang
three songs and as many duets for the two charac-
ters of the piece—Pierre, a timid lover, whose
courage constantly fails him when on the point of
proposing marriage to Marie, the object of his
affections; the lady taunting him with his vacilla-
tion, and proposing an exchange of names, and

being met by a counter-propo, of a clung; of
costume. In this exchange of characters a little
badinage leads to a better understanding, and the
usual happy termination. The book is by Mr. Gil-
bert a Beckett. The music, by M. Linile Jonas, has

a light vein of dance-like melody, which is pleasant
because unpretentious, and not prolonged so as to
become tiresome.. The characters of Marie and
Pierre were representod by Madame Linas Marto-
relli and Signor Gustave Garcia, both vocalists of
considerable accomplishments, who gave their songs
and duets with much finish and point. A little
more ease in the acting of the gentleman will
doubtless come with further stage practice.
The pantomime was a great and genuine success,
and was received throughout with frequent demon-
strations of applause by an audience which occupied
every available seat in the theatre. There can be
no doubt that "Ali Baba" will prove a long source
of attraction to the public, and of profit to the ►ma-
nagement IN hich has placei it on the stage in so
lavish and costly a style.

HAYMARKET.

Notwithstanding the absence of the ordinary
stock Christmas piece—the expected pantomime
or extravaganza— the Haymarket programme
was yesterday diversified even beyond the
voracious appetite of a Boxing-day public. Yet
in the midst of all its diversity, the Haymarket
so far prekrved the dramatic unities and its title
to recognition as the theatre of comedy par excellence
as to make the comic element the flavouring ingre-
dient in the preparation of its holiday novelties. To
begin with, there was a morning performance by a
troupe of Lilliputian artists, consisting of 27 actors
and actresses, varying in height from 30 to 50
inches. Most persons would be apt to smile at the
idea of a comedy performed under such conditions,
where the little actors must be supposed to con their
parts and fill their " humorous stage" very much as
parrots might be supposed to do. But a visit to
" Littletop's Christmas Party," and the burlesque
of " Sylvius" which follows, in the morning perfor-
mance at the Haymarket, will disabuse the a prior
thinking public of any such idea.
The evening entertainment commenced with a
comedietta in one act, entitled " A mere Child," by
Mr. Westland Marston, Miss Rebecca Powell per-
forming the part of the " Child." The "Child" is
seventeen, and her aunt, Mrs. Radnor (Mrs. Laws)
is anxious to keep her in the state of innocent ignor-
ance supposed to be represented ty those numerals.
But the " Child" experiences a feeling which, with
some doubt and hesitation, she supposed to be a
part of her nature ; she induces her aunt to allow
her the exercise, if only by way of essay, of her
newly.discovered instinct, and the result of the ex-
periment is that by her simple and artless manners
she takes the place of Miss Dampier (Mrs. Chippen-
dale), a perfect woman of the world, in the affec-
tions of the rich and high-born Charles Grantley
(Mr. Howe). The piece seems to have been written
expressly with a view to the special acting qualifi-
cations of Miss Powell, and in this point of view it
answered exceedingly well, for It gave ample oppor-
tunity for the exhibition of that naive and simple
style which she possesses in a high degree.
In the " Lesson for Life," a comedy in three acts,
by Mr. Tom Taylor, Mr. Sothern was welcomed
back to the Haymarket boards as to his home.

A pleasant farce, entitled " Jenny Lind at Last,"
and a ballet divertissement, in which Mdlle Sophia,
of the Berlin and Copenhagen Theatres, took the
principal part, followed, and wound up a day's en-
tertainment of a pleasant and diversified kind. The
house was very full.