The New Orleans crescent. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1866-1869, 1868-12-18
AMpsEMEKTs.

The vAKrErIEs-Benetifo of W. Z. Sheridan
splendid audience assembled last night 10 do
honor TO the benefit of this tslerted actor. The
little theaer was very full but no fuller than the
merits OF 'he beneficiary deserved. The play Sc
lected was" Under the Palm dramstzatfon OF
Iennysons exquisite poem, q Enoch Arden" Mr..
shfridan of course took the part Of Enoch, the
thipsrecsec sailor, the great-hearted csstswsv.
Mr.. Barrett the last to play this character q
New Orleans. and our thester goers we're so d..
lieh ed with his impersonation that they have eager
ly looked forward to repetition OF the play. NJ.
Sheridan exceeded our expectations, as We had n,
thought him qualified TO play such part. The last
scene OF all, when he tells hrs tale to Annie. aad
finally, his heart bursting with its weight Of woe.
in one long cry of anguish and joy reveals him
self to her. was triumph. Miss Gray made
sweet Annie. The other characters were re1-
dered with that carefulness which is distinctive
mark of the performances at the Varieties. NJ
the close oil " Under the Palm " Mr.. Sheridan. 10
response to repeated calls. appeared before the
curtain. and in neat little speech thanked the
audience for their presence, and expressed his
qualification at tbs manner in which the people OF
New Orleans had, both professionally and soci.
ally, received him. He was warmly applauded.
a. The Irish Emierant." in which Mr.: Sheridan
played Tom BO5dlisk and Mr.. Floyd ISQ,
o. BYien. the emigrapt. Tonight Bulwer's com
coy. Money" and on Monday the " Lancashire
Lsss."
ST. CHARLEs.-In viewing the performance Of
nifty of gratifying taste for the beautiful la lights
and shades, colors and contrasts. scene more
dazzling than the transformation at the close Oh
the piece IT is impossible to imagine. Each mo-
ment brings with II some fresh surprise. some
ADDITIONAL charm. throwing into. the shade some
of the effect which before We had supposed the
acme Of spectacular beauty. And then, earlier in
the piece, the Can.Can. the Amazonian march
and the wood nymph dance successfully occur,
forming agreeable oases 10 the desert of dis-
logue. lfspplause be. and il certainly should be,
an exponent Of appreciated merit, the White
Fswn" receives an abundance of 1t.
TIE ACADEMY OF Musrc.-Sull Undne ~ and
Millie Touraour combine nightly to please and en-
tertain. Mrs. Oates is, we repeat it, indispensable
In her great character OF Ider, and now that she
is here and has become so great q favorite, 1t Is
difficult to understand how the patrons OF the
Academy will be able to reconcile themselves to
her departure at all. To see her. and to see Jen-
ME Eneel as Undine, is alone sufficient compensa-
ton for o visit.
The 0PERA.-whatever may be thought of
Verdi as q composer, and whatever may be the
admiration for Trovatore," which possesses
qualities Of very high order besides introducing
q new style Of music which even the European
critics have failed to condemn, might say that
al Lombard" {" Jerusslem.'') by the same
composer, with all its gems, lacks of that charac
ter which has immortaized Meyerbeer, Rossini,
DoDizett, Mozart, Bellini and other masters. We
refer to the theme OF the music.
absence in. especially. the two first acts.
during which the listener is abruptly treated to
any quantity of airs without the least musical
nection. In 50 Les Huguenots," =" La Fovorite,"
and " lie Barber" from the coup d'd1chet to the
last note there is a smoothness and running i'm
which plesses, aye, enchans the listener. Not so,
however, with 81 Lombard" )" and that may be the
reason why it tires the audience at first The last
two acts however, are relieving. even very fine.
Last night. the first performance this season OF "Je
rusalem ;" attracted two-thirds audience who left
delighted with their visit to our temple of music
owing to the remarkable way in which Picot sang.
Without entering into q criticism Of the singing
we can say with justice to Mr.. Pcot and Madame
Gambler that the duo OF Viens je Fsime was de-
serving their recall before the curtain, aud that
Madame Gambler sang the Polonase better than
we had anticipated.
"Je veux encore entendre.
Su voix si donce ct 81 tendre.r
| by Picot. was not all that could be desired In
| fact Mr.. Picot, who sings deghtfuliy bis own ro-
| nance. Les Petits Bonheurs," does not, how
| ever, sing very well Ia romance In grand opera,
but he may DO it # he will Try. for
should he continue to progress we might
| have 70 record him among the fret
of tenors-but he has not yet reached that point.
He, too, often sings cote de Ia note. as was sp-
| parent last evening In the prelude to the trio
| finale Of the last act, (which was repeated tri-
umphsntly) when Madame Gambler and Mr.. Van
| H. fiien sung in the came tone aud Pcot did not.
But this was, probably, owing TO the difference in
the accord OF the orchestra. OF which we will
| speak at another time. We would prefer hearing
Mr. Picot sing one-quarter or half tone lower, as
| in =" Des Cbevaliers de ma Pattie" of Robert le
| Disble, rather than fall but that we know he can
sing ss the music is written If he will try. Speaking
of tone snd high singing, we believe that Madame
Gambler would do better If she did not expend too
much voice at the commencement Of an opera I; 1t
would avoid fatigue and its disagreeabe conse-
quences. Jerusalem" again on Saturday.
IL
seeker will find that by dropping in at the Museum
opposite the st. Charles Hotel, he may pass away
q leisure hour very pleasantly in contemplating
the curosities gathered from every portion of the
worlc. Col. Ames exhibits a landable endeavor
to render his place not only popular, bat credit
TO the city, and we are quite assured that every
one who visits the Museum pronounces that en-
deavor successful