The Portland daily press., 1871-04-06
The Pearl of Savoy.

Another splendid audience gathered at Mu-
sic Hall last evening to witness the fascinating
Maggie Mitchell in the "Pearl of Savoy per-
formed for the first time in this city.
The plot of the play is as follows: Marie,
| the Pearl, is the daughter of humble peasants
| in Savoy who have fallen in arrears ior tneir
rent, The steward of their landlady-the Mar
chioness de Sivry-informs the cousin OF the
| Marchoness (who is known as the command,
er, venerable rake,) of the circumstance and
he tells Marie's parents that the lease shall be
| renewed intending this generosity as means
| of securing Marie as his mistress. Father
Lesnrges, the village priest, sees the game OF
Laroque-the steward-and of the Command
er, and tells Marie the only way to escape is TO
fly to Paris with the Savoyard emigrants;-
Marie is in love with supposed goatherd sne
has met on the mountains named Andre and
yet she follows the priest ADVICE IA ~ .;. ar,s
she obtains celebrated name az panau sng
er by which occupation she earns ner hvlng,
and there meets with a faithful Savoyard
friend and follower named Pierrot twho IS also
seeking his bread by his hand Orsan) and
Clouchon a milliner. Andre finds Marie out
and continues his couItship, wnile tne Mar
chioness and Commander call upon her to get
her to sing at party given by the Marchon.
ess The Commander recognizes her at once
and determines to secure her if he can. She
attends the party and there recognizes in the
Marchioness' son Arthur her lover Andre-
Clouchon. Then when she has recovered the
Commander gives little supper, gets Clon-
chon intoxicated and abducts Marie Marie
thinks she is residing in her new and elegant
house at the wish of the Marchioness who de-
slres her to obtain an education that will fit
her to become her sons wife. Here she is Wis
tied by Andre who tells her that he is urged to
marry another but will not. Her father visits
her thinking to see the Marquis and discover
the whereabouts OF his daughter. In Marie
he recognises that daughter, curses and dis
owns her. Marie faints at the curse and on
reviving goes to the window Tor air alasl only
to see Andres wedding. She loses her mind
and is taken back to Savoy by her faithful
PierrOt who uses the familiar Savoyard melo-
dy to entice her along the weary! journey. Ar
sought by Andre (whose marriage was broken
off when he heard Marie's shreks at the win
dow and the play ends happily.
There is vein, or rather under-current of
sadness running through the play which is ca
pable of being worked up with great dramatic
effect. The accessories also should be perfect,
such as elegant scenery, we'll trained chorus
with fine voices, and excellent vocal qualities
on the part of the leading actress. A good
knowledge of the characteristics of the French
people is needed by the actors to give the prop
er chic to the representation. The company
last night in their efforts did not rise above
mediocrity, the stage fire didn't seem to burn
lust right, especially in the first act, the or ches
ira had not that acquaintance with the music
that comes of constant repetition, and the cho-
rus was not a success, neither was the organ
in the orchestra. Miss Mitchell was
herself in the scenes where piquancy and
sprightliness were required, such as the read
Sc 1a@k1 I,r>k -I,x
the power equal to the dramatic situations, al
though in the scene where she loses her reason
she was quite pathetic and sensibly moved the
audience. Harris was fair as Pierrot, Ryer
acceptable as the Commander, and Holmes
also as Arthur.
To o.night, however, Fanchon will be sure to
please everybody, for in it Maggie is unap-
proachable. We hope the ventilators will be
fixed and the management not permit the aisles
to be crowded with chairs.