The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-28 00:00:00

LYCEUM.

The pantomime at the Lyceum this year is exactly on
the same principle as that which made such a sensation
at the same house last Christmas. The introduction is
a complete burlesque, acted by a regular dramatic com.
pany, without the addition of grotesque masks, and so
great a stress is laid on the so-called " transfermation
scene" that when this has been exhibited, with all its
glories, the spectators may at once retire, satisfied that
tbeyhave virtually seen the whole entertainment, without
waiting for the two or three scenes in Harlequin'and Co.
which appear for the mere purpose of allowing the word
" pantomime" to figure in the bills of the day.
" Lalla Rookb" is the title of the piece, which is con-
structed by an ingenious interweaving of the tales told
in verse by Feramora to the princess with the prose ro-
mance of which the prince-poet is himself the hero, the
main part of the action being occupied by the journey of
Lalla Rookh from her father's court to Bucharia, where
the story attains its close. The adversaries who molest
the travellers consist of a band of Ghibers, but they
have a constant protectress in the banished Peri, who
always makes her appearance when escape by natural
means has become impossible. Oa the canvas a series
of beautiful Oriental views has been wrought, each of
which outshines the preceding in magnificence, till all
are eclipsed by the " Aerial Amphitheati e," in which
the benevolent Peri receives the objects of her
kindly protection. Accustomed as the London public
have been to the most elaborate displays of fairy magni-
ficence from the day when Mr, W. Beverley first asto-
nisned the world by the never-to-be-forgotten scene in
the "Island of Jewels," this new combination of me•
chanical ingenuity with gorgeous decorations can scarcely
fail to become the popular theme of gossip during the
whole of the present holidays. To attempt to give a
description of its peculiar (unless indeed we borrowed a
technical account from a theatrical mechanist) would
only show the limit at which black and white must cease
to be efficient when employed to express the visible
creation of an unbridled fancy. We will therefore say,
in all brevity, that an abode apparently of solid gold,
after the conversion of its massive columns into living
women is melted into an etherial paradise of Penis, the
silver brilliancy of which is wonderfully contrasted by
the heavier splendour that has preceded it. The change
is of course effected as gradually as possible, the object
of scenes of this description being not to startle the eye
by the suddenness of the transformation, but to fascinate
i it by the slow evolution of one beauty out of another.
1 The burlesque is written by Mr. W. Brough with a

great deal of smartness, some of the puns being at once
so novel and withal so elaborate that their force can-
not be always apprehended at once, but is no sooner
perceived than an applauding roar testifies the felicity
of the bit. To give the work dramatic importance,
near'y the whole strength of the company is employed
in its representation. Mrs. C. Dillon is the fasci-
natingfLalla Rookh ; Mrs. Alfred Mellon (late Miss
Woolgar), as Feramorz, is the smartest of Oriental trou-
badours ; Mrs. Buckingham White is an "exquisite"
captain of Ghibers, whose chief assistant is a burlesque
villain, played after the Robsonian fashion by Mr. Toole;
Mr. Barrett, as the father of Lana Rookb, is a thorough-
paced despot of the old school ; and even more portentous
is Fadladeen, the chamberlain, represented by Mr. S.
Cnlhaem, with an enormous protuberance of stomach,
and a turban like the " great globe itself." The principal
Peri is acted Miss Eliza Webb, a young lady new to
the London public, and endowed with vocal capabilities
above the common order and, as another success ul
beginner, we have Miss Father Jacobs, who represents
the Princess's waitingmaid Hinds. The performers in
the trifling harlequinade consist of the veteran Mr. T.
Matthews, Mean,. A. and R. Stilt, Mr. Ricketts, and
Misses A. Malcolm and Marian Lees, with the addition
of Herr Zeliski and sons as posture-making "sprites."
However, as we have already said, the great matter in
"Lelia Rookh" is the scenery in general and the trans-
formation scene in particular, and therefore to Mr.
Fenton, the painter, is the decided success of the work
mainly to be attributed,
Although anticipating the rest of his brother managers,
Mr. C. Dillon opene 1 his theatre on Christmas-eve, and
proved the expediency of the operation by the immense
audience that he attracted, he will not make his apnear-
ancs till to-night (Monday), when he will represent
R.chelieu in Sir E. B Lytt,n's play.