The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-27 00:00:00

rnx SU.N, .LON 2N ON, FRI DAY MORN' ;NG, DECRAI BER, .27. 1344.

kind, naturally formed the grand attraction of e
Christmas entertainment. It was founded or
a well-known tale of the nursery by the Countess
D'Anois, entitled Graciosa and Percinet. In a case
of this sort it would be fruitless, and itj certainly is
not necessary, to give any detail of plot, since all the
world, or at least that part of it who are addicted to
such amusements, must be aware that the whole
charm is in the dialogue, which, in the present in-
stance, was most skilfully constructed, with
view to exciting the risible powers of the
audience. It may be as well, however, just
to state that the piece turns upon the love of King
Uxorious, a widower, unexpectedly bewitched (Mr.
J. Bland), for the Duchess Grogon, a maiden lady
of a very uncertain age, the owner of a capital cellar
(Mrs. Stanley), and the jealousy of the latter against
her step-daughter, for whom she conceives an invete-
rate dislike at first sight, which she evinces by invent-
ing every method of torturing her. We should
mention, by the way, that Lord Nimroddy,
who acted as grand huntsman to the King, exhibited
the character in the most amusing light. In the
working out of Duchess Grogon's plots against Gra-
ciosa ample opportunity was afforded for introducing
a very sprightly and most unexpected collocation
of words, which, as they fell upon the ear in quick
succession, called forth shouts of spontaneous laughter.
Miss Julia Bennett, as the Princess Graciosa, a model
for daughters, and Miss P. Horton, as a Fairy Prince,
and the perfection of lovers, were each truly admirable,
and sustained the characters throughout in the most
effective manner. Several duets were executed by
them during the progress of the piece. The ballet
evinced that great care had been taken in the prepa-
ration of this most necessary department. We must
particularly notice the introduction of a number of
tiny dancers, who were introduced incidentally.
Judging from appearance, they could not have been,
on the average, more than five or six years old, yet
the greatest order was preserved; and Masters Dot,
Trot, Tiny, Tip, Mite, Atom, and Grain, together
with Misses Midge, Mok, Speck, Spangle, Drop,
Pinshead, &c., exhibited a perfect miniature of the
elder ballet. On the whole, it is impossible to speak
too highly of the evening's entertainment. Not a
single incident occurred to interrupt the harmony of
the scene.

Carlotta Grisi and Perrot. The dance over, and the
mutton demolished, Orson has a hunt after some pea-
sants who have been poaching on his preserves, hav-
ing previously vowed vengeance against the editor of
an Orleans newspaper, who has been denouncing him
as a public nuisance. Then comes the combat with
Valentine, interrupted by a friendly glass of sherry
drank by the combatants and the bear, while they
stop to take breath, and the captivity of Orson, who
humbly expresses hope that
.the bonds with which
he is bound

are not of Pennsylvanian lands,
For then I ne'er shall get them off my hands."
Orson is then conveyed to the Court of King
Pippin, where he creates great confusion. He
wishes to know the designation and use of
a certain article of male attire, the name of
which King Pippin informs him is never
heard. He skewers a cook for wishing to dress his
meat, and he winds up by getting very drunk and
kicking up a row. In the meanwhile Eglantine has
conned male attire, has transformed all her maids of
honour into warlike knights, and has sallied forth to
free Florimonda from the power of Agramant. The
scene of the evolutions of the female warriors told
admirably. They were excellently drilled, and Miss
Fairbrother made an admirable Commander-in-
chief. Before her absence is discovered, Valentine
has undertaken the adventure of the liberation of
Florimonda, and Henry and his brother meet Agra-
ment at the station of the Orleans railway, for the
purpose of plotting the destruction of Valentine. In
this scene Wigan introduced an admirable bur-
'mine of Macready's style, which was much
and deservedly applauded. The imitation was
perfect. Voice, action, manner, positions, or, to speak
more correctly, poses—all the Macreadyisms were ad-
mirably hit off. Their schemes, however, fail ; they
attempt to shoot Valentine in the back, but he catches
the bullets in his hands, a la Satan, or Don Cmsar de
Baz an. Agramant is overthrown. A magic brazen head
explains everything to the satisfaction of everybody, and
Orson is endowed with reason and marries Florionda,
while Valentine is rewarded with the hand of Eglantine.
Keeley's Orson is a very rich and racy piece of
unctious acting. From the first scene to the last he
kept the audience in a roar the whole time he was
on the stage. Mrs. Keeley's Valentine was ex-
ceedingly spirited and clever, and Frank Matthews
went through the part of the King with becoming
dignity. There are several witty parodies on popular
songs, all of which were well given, and one of them,
very prettily sung by Miss Arden, was honoured
with an encore. The house was crowded, and the
success of the piece was complete and triumphant.

Pantaloon (Mr. Sanders), endeavoured to realise these
to the utmost. The scenes were well painted. The
allusions, political and anti-political, were well timed,
and many of them told well with the audience. The
management deserves great credit for the care with
which the pantomime was produced ; and the over-
flowing house will, we trust, be a preliminary evi-
dence of success for many weeks to come.

Tale of Sorrow, the principal characters in which
were ably personated by Mr. Henry Howard, Mr. J.
T. Johnson, from the Surrey Theatre, his first ap-
pearance here, Mr. Searle, Mr. John Herbert, Miss
Vincent, and Miss E. Terry, also from the Surrey
Theatre, her first appearance on these boards. Thia:l
was followed by the laughable burletta of The Road:
side inn, in which Miss Terrey, who is a very clever
actress, and a great favourite with the playgoers on
the Surrey side of the water, introduced the " Widow
Mahony," and was rapturously encored. The most
discordant noises, however, prevented the words
which came from the mouths of the actors being
heard in the majority of the scenes, and the utmost•
impatience was manifested by the audience for the
commencement of the pantomime. At length the
curtain drew up for the commencement of the new.,
Christmas entertainment, which bears the title of
Harlequin Hot Codlins, or the Little Old Woman and
the Demon of the Metal Mine. It is founded on the
old nursery rhyme—
" There was an old woman, ber living she got."
Like the generality of pantomimes the plot is somewhat
vague, therefore we shall not endeavour to explain it.
The first scene introduces us to the pavilion of Po-
' !Ilona in the province of Pippins, and the opening of
the Pippin Parliament by the Queen of Apples (Miss
Terry), and was much applauded. The next scene pre-
sents a rural village at sunrise. Here we find Tol-
de-rol, a miller (afterwards Harlequin), Mr. Chapino,
in love with Fal-lal-la (afterwards Columbine),
Mdlle. Levite; Rifum Tifum, a dusty miller, father
of Tol-de-rol (afterwards Pantaloon), and Dame Tid-
dyiddy, the little old woman, mother of Fal-lal-la,
are averse to the match, and at length a transforma-
tion of the characters ensues, and the fun and frolic
commences. In the scene which follows there
was an excellent hit at the wretched rate
which semptresses are remunerated for their labour.
One of those unfortunate females, who obtain a
wretched subsistence by their needle, brings two
shirts to her employer, over which is suspended a
placard, bearing these words, " Two shirts for a half-
penny." He gives her an I. 0. U. for two farthings,
and the Clown and Pantaloon immediately lay hold
of him, and put him into a bag, which, on being re-
moved, presents a " man of marble." The audience
caught up this allusion, and gave it one loud cheer—
a cheer expressive of the hatred of the British public
for a species of slavery which is inflicted on the young
and weak by their employers, whilst they are
amassing wealth by the wearying, wretchedly-
remunerated toil which they impose upon them.
Amongst the political events of the passing year
which were turned into ridicule were Lord
Brougham's Bill for the Abolishment of Imprison-
ment for Debt; Prince Joinville and the bombard-
ment of Tangier ; and the espionage in the Post-
office. Several postmen were drawn up on the stage
with letters in their hands, and were drilled
in the opening of letters by the Clown (after Punch).
This created a good deal of laughter at the expense
of the Home Secretary. Prince Albert's hat and the
present Lord Mayor came in for their share of notice.
A box is brought on the stage, directed to the church-
warden of Walbrook, from which a placard is taken,
expressive of his Lordship's unaccountable propensity.
The baths for the million also were made subject of
laughter, as also were Captain Warner's long-range
and mesmerism, but, unfortunately, many things
intended as witticisms fell still-born upon the
audience. The scenery was very beautiful—many
of the scenes exceedingly gorgeous, more particularly
the " Kingdom of Knives," a " View of the Bay of
Trafalgar and' the Victory," and the " Palace of
Fol-de-rol in the world of Song." Maddle. Levite is
a very charming Columbine, and danced with much
grace. Mr. Chapino is an agile Harlequin, and
Messrs. Cony and Blanchard (the latter of whom
was vociferously called upon by the audience to sing
" Hot Codlins" and " Tippitywitchit") sustained their
respective parts with considerable credit. With a
little judicious pruning the pantomime will no doubt
have a long run. The house was crowded, and the
audience, as is usually the case on boxing-day, was
a good-natured one. There were about the average
number of rows in the pit and gallery, both of which
were so crowded, that it would have been a difficult
matter to have obtained access for another individual.