The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-02 00:00:00

A DELPHI.

The novelty provided;itiii;itlace of entertt siument
for the holiday folks was a new historical en d anec-
dotal vaudeville, evidently an adaptation frt ,r a the
French, called Playing First Fiddle; or, Fa it ow my
Leader. The aim in such productions is of course
less the development of any kind of plot, or t' he pre-
senting a concatenation of circumstances endi a gin
happy denouement, as to collect together some slight
materials for a brilliant exhibition of all the re s ources
of an establishment. In this respect the enter :1~ trising
managers of the Adelphi were successful last; night,
though the piece was received with some slight
marks of disfavour. To attempt to cl,s scribe
within a small compass a production in which
so many fantastical matters are introduced would
be difficult, but we may give a general outline
of the manner in which it is constructed_ The
time in which the piece is laid is 1652, at id
.the
opening scene is the kitchen of the Chateau Choisy.
The aspirations of the chef de cuisine (Mr. La filbert)
are concentrated in the culinary art, and he esysrcises
the utmost of ,his skill to please the palate of his
mistress, the Duchess of Montpensier (Miss :Emma
Harding), whose tastes aro as capriciows as she is
fastidious in the selection of a husband. This hero of
the kitchen has a numerous body of cooks in e rnbryo,
who are marched and paraded with military exact-
ness, and whose incongruous proceeding is are
in the highest degree humorous. Among
them is Lulli, a young Italian of nineteen
(Madame Celeste), who is invested wit b. the
honour of the legion of stewpans for his inven don of
maccaroni, but he disdains his occupation, and his
imagination soars from soups and stews to tb s more
delightful art of music. Philippe Quinault, a 'baker's
boy, aged 17 (Miss %Voolgar), writes a a asirical
ballad upon the Duchess, which is set to music by
Lulli, and the circumstance comes to the knowledge
of one of her repulsed suitors, the Margr ave de
Bareuth (Mr. Bedford), and he conceives the :ietea of
circulating it at court and making it popular out of
doors. The ballad is brought to the Duchess by
Jeanneton, her tirewoman (Miss Kathleen .Fitz-
william), and she is so annoyed at the prospect
of being made a subject of ridicule for h esitat-
ing in selecting a husband, that she deteranines
in despair to marry the Margrave, but t bis is
prevented by the sudden appearance of the Duke
de Lawzun, who is her favourite lover, and the
curtain falls just as the angry Marquis is disccerered
by the whole household ascending a ladder to marry
away vi et armis, his lady love. Madame Celeste: and
Miss Wooltrar made very pretty and charming cooks,
and Miss Emma Harding played the part taf the
Duchess with her usual fascination and grace. .Miss
Kathleen Fitzwilliam made a most successful. first
appearance at this theatre, and was well received.
Tne scenery and decorations were splendid, arsei the
dresses of the most superb and expensive kin 1, and
we have no doubt the piece will have a sucoussful
run throughout the holidays. The other entertain-
ments of the evening consisted of the Mothers'
Dream, the extremely laughable Lrce of My Pre-
cious Betsy, and Mr. Haynes 13ayly's popular piece
called Tom oddy's Secret.

LYCEUM THEATRE.
Time has once again brought Easter on his 'wings
—that joyous season to the youthful heart that Imows
no sorrow greater than the return to school, an d had
uo hope so full of promise as the welcome back again
to home ; and many there were last night, a t this
elegant theatre, who, by the able managem ant of
Madame Vestris, were satisfied to the full besot of
their inclinations with gorgeous spectacles and fairy
splendours, that brought back to our recollections the
brilliant imagery of an Eastern tale. And ninny,
too, there were of riper years, who seized this oppor-
tunity, apart from the every-day cares of an anxious
life for a few fleeting hours, to cheat Sorrow •)1' its
sting, and make companionship with

" Sport, that wrinkled Care derides,
And Laughter, holding both his sides."

Last season the Seven Champions of Christendom. were
awakened from their tombs to exhibit their prowess
before the eyes of an admiring audience, and we ques-
tion if, in the olden time the mighty deeds that have
chronicled their names could have elicited amore
genuine applause than was bestowed then upon
their fitting representatives. But this year
we were lead away from the scenes of martial strife,
to wander in the peaceful shades of sylvan gleoves,
where the Dryad wanders and the gentle shepherdess
listens to a tale of love. Cymon and Iphigenia
is the title of the new Easter spectacle at this house,
and styled a lyrical, comical pastoral. The scene
opens under the sign Taurus, March retiring and
April coming in, accompanied by Mr. Charles. Ma-
thews, as April the First, King of Tomfoolery. This
character occasionally makes his appearance throrugh-
out the piece, as a kind of censor of the age,
hurling sly hits and wicked witticisms at the pre-
vailing follies of the day, and even daring an
assertion that he could not swallow all that even
Macaulay had written. The Enchantress Urganda
(Miss Isabella Dickinson), the wife of the Arch
Magician Merlin (Mr. F. Cooke), is in love with
Cymon (Miss Julia St. George), to the great wrath
of Merlin. Cymon is living under the protection of
Urganda, listless and unimpassioned, and a very sim-
ple Cymon indeed; but Merlin, by his magic power,
brings into his presence the beautiful shepherdess
Iphigenia (Miss Manners), and a spell more potent
than any that Merlin can conjure—the spell of love—
works wonders. His intellect brightens, his manners
improve—in fact he is in love. Urganda dispatches
her handmaiden Fatima, (Mrs. Humby), a garrulous
femme de shamere, to watch the lovers, but by Merlin's
power, as a punishment for her prying propensities, she
is deprived of the utterance of any other words
than the two monosyllables "yes" and "no ;" so
that when she returns to report progress to her mis-
tress the sad confusion that occurs may be easily
imagined. Dorus (Mr. Harley), an humorous old
justice of these Arcadian regions. is smitten with the
charms of Daphne, who is jealous of Iphigenia, and
the Justice promises to remove the hated rival,
whom he had never seen, ; but just when
Iphigenia appears,. and by her excessive beauty
works a change in the old gentleman's intention,
and Daphne is driven in disgrace from his pre-
sence,tttwhhhoeee
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to the Isle of Paphos, and are united, to the great
content of all interested in the welfare of these in-
ear Thenfrosnctenoefryuirsgvaenrdyebsearmatlaifcuel.,
especially
paeirtrshsoenfarggoaemrsd. Dr. Arne are pressed into
the service, and some ballet dancing, arranged
materially heightens the attrac-
fOsctheapr piecye,rnwehich was received with unmixed
applause,and promises to reward the management fur
their liberal efforts to amuse the public without re-
gard to trouble or expense. Miss St. George, Mr.
Harley, and Mr. Charles Mathews were called before
the curtain at the conclusion of the spectacle, to re-
ceive the usual honours. The evening's entertain-
ments were concluded by a repetition of the Island
of Jewels, and an Appeal to the Public, to the evident
satisfaction of a crowded and fashionable audience.

PRINCEs—FT
Mr. Maddox has produced as an Easter piece
Queen of Roses) an excellent
music is at present drawing
piece La Fee auxßoses,
a(wudhaniiithear,t
iwtohnie mthonfHasace o f
irei
vb, s
ye the
east new,
crowded houses every night to the Opera Comique
in Paris, and we believe that every pains has been
taken to make the mise en scene of the Princess's ver-
sion a fac-simile of the mise en scene of the original,
Mr. Maddox having undertaken a journey to Paris to
see the original in order to insure the greatest pos-
sible accuracy. The plot runs much as follows :
Atalmac, a sorcerer (Mr. Ryder), swart,
ma-
jestic, and mysterious as a sorcerer should be,
has
o u ght, a
w
nought but roses,
" argal" she loves not Atalmac. In his absence one
day, two friends of hers, Gulnare and Cardige, Per-
sian grisettes, pay her a visit, and the three young
with whom
Nerilha,mb
The fair slave, however, lovese is desperately in love.
whom he has lately
b
ladies light on the sorcerer's book and staff, and amuse
themselves by exerting their magic powers. They
first set a broom dancing, and afterwards the
whole furniture, producing an extremely novel
effect ; chairs, tables, stools, Vases, trip in a
very quaint and fantastic style, to the great
merriment of the fair usurpers ; but when they
wish to still the uproar they have raised they are sadly
puzzled, and the magician catches them in flagrante
delicto. As, however, they have done no mischief, he
does not punish them, but stops the frantic dance. He
then prosecutes his suit, and promises anything and
everything to Nerilba if she will be his. He creates
her Queen of Roses, with almost unlimited powers ;
but all these she is to forfeit if she confesses love for any
mortal. With regard to his own hopes, he
trusts that time will alter her sentiment,
and so she ascends, in a magnificent corbeille
of flowers, to take possession of her fairy realms.
Her first regal act is to realise the dreams of her
two friends, and, accordingly, Gulnare suddenly
finds herself a princess, about to be married to Prince
Badel Badour, Sultan of India. Cadige is united to
Hailoun, a gardener, a lover of hers, who is forthwith
appointed h.ad gardener to the aforesaid Sultan.
Crulre.re is spoilt by her sudden el,vation, and be-
cowes vicious and imperious, behaving with contempt
to her former friends, and allowing Aboulfaris, the
Vizier, to charm her with his sweet voice and ele-
gent person to ouch A degree that we tremble