The New York herald., 1871-09-05
.AMUsEM ENTs.

| uuuef Tue ucW muu6xcuc0I I0er6 was y ROOU
sized audience present ana paying one IA very
remarkable novelty at this establishments Messrs.
Cole anu Baker, the managers, seem to have en-.
tered upon their work earnestly, and when they
have used the pruning knife unsparingy In the
company their friends may we'll congratulate
| them. They open with genuine artist and
popular actor, and lady who grows
In the esteem OF the public. and who cvnces at times
fuud OF talent which she may be proud OF, Mr..
and Mrs. Bandmann are the first in the Geld with
drama,izaton OF the last Of Dickens works. anu
which promised TO be hts best But here comes
terrible obstacle. Eacn page OF the works OF the
Shakespeare or our times Is like a akaleldosc0pe-is
teens with variety OF incident character and idea
The great novellst-to use painters slmile-united
dey IN detail Of The is,U irouSe blew with
ms dramatsts has always been that
ny u ,ns 1Se Sofs o, Of the %a
and forget ali abOut the grand outlines OF char
acter Therefore oil the stage portraits Of the
little peculiarly carefully II not painfully copied
Micawbsr Heep, Captain Cutie QuilpIit Is all the
ensemble. But Dickens idea-orand harmony inat
HIS characters arc more suggestive than any olhers
that have ever emanated from the hYman brain and
yysn.urea out @ oi he beaten s'' pasSs S % As
well might we have q set OF clever automa-
there Is or may be found sy nmetry Of construction
| and continuity OF thought Ia ali his works Mr. De
unfinished work OF tho immortal master IN stage
form, Is no better nor worse than his predecessors
meniary, the dialogue ejacuIatory, and ihe whole
performance depends upon the actor independently
not one 10 LIT mediocre play from the bondage Of
| mediccrlty. Never before. we think. did art
again We hope viii bad actors SO ali
q COMMONPLACE dramatisI SO near a great
mere goSps Of edng IN
'The Mystery OF Edwin DroOd,'' the only orig nay
have been Mr. Dickens intentions to rather lame anne
and impotent concuson But. had as is The play IN
ITSELF It cannot be denied that the part OF Jasper, in
the hands OF Mr.. Bandmann, is very powerful per-
formance especially in the first and third acts and
cibIy The sronsess scene IN the novel and also IN
the play, with Mr. Baudmapn to play It, though not
ne drama rs mr. De Leon mas rendered
Rosa where the former declares his love In the
garden OF the nuns mouse. But weak as Is the
groundwork which the dramatst has LETT Tor the
actor the rendering may be marred, as II WAS last
night by the orchestra, and the effect OF great act
Ing entirely destroyed In the closing scene VI The
thir acl Mr. Randmann did his best TO show the art
with which he can depict the passions o. the human
harsl'ness OF the music almost entirely destroyed It,
exceptto such persons as could relentlessly shut
There Is need Tor reform here, as II was apparent
that the WIND instruments are too powerful FOR such
scenes as those In which Mr.. Bandmann can best
display his abilities.
Mrs. Bandmann made a very acceptable Rosa
admirably and only falling in being TOO decIalna-
tory. After few representations 1t viii be found
better judge Of her abnities as an an artist Aside
from MT. Bandmann's Jasper the only Wen dchned
smith the sef p'I 6rispars Of Mr. fsSrv E;tinae
the Erwin brood OF Mr. T. z. rhorne, aud the
Ing tue merit which calls for criticism. Miss rjitn
Challis showed perhaps. everything that was In the
has to DO with the drama, however Important 1t
may ne In the novel, is not easily answered.
ilon Throughout. There are too many Characters,
and none OF them are sufficiently well defined. Mr..
DiSk Dacery zoe the coach driver
two other characters could well have been spared
from the play and their being dropped. would only
add 10 the strength OF the piece and Of the per-
formance But. with all It's faults. there is an
intense interest about the play which ought to
Mr. BanamsDn's excellence that the success last
night and the certain success Of the season can be
attributed only to him.
The BURNT CORK BRI6ADE.-f any amusement
be thoroughly national 1t is niger minstrelsy.
When the Macauiay OF o thousand years to come
tries his prentice nand on the lays Of Ancient
America, II any relics OF the Shoe Fly order OF
poetry be extanh he win be strangely puzzled
about our thorough sanity. Four burnt cork
opera troupes in full blast, and Dasking
according 10 their outrageous merit in the
sunshine OF popular favor, is the state OF
New York at the present day-I0ur
6XDlbllOuS pcsluc WulCu tHC VI Asia
are natural in the gestures We may laugh 10 ex.
haustlon at the absurdics, but the Of sense Is
ashamed Of himself when he tries to anayze what
has been amusing him. That people laugh cannot
be denied, and that there is little If anything
improper In the performances OF these four
nourishing establishments Is also facf The
performance commences as heretofore with
some dozen so Of men In evening dress,
with biackened faces ana klnked hair wigs,
sitting in semicircle The man at eacn end Is irre
presslbly funny, and their neighbors are very
solemn.lo looking niggers indeed. They are generally
halt sentimental singers and half performers on
musical instruments. The latter have very re-
sponsible family appearance. Among such genial
company one is 10th to find fault, but if there Is a
hateful out OF place being on this mundane sphere
whose l!.founded pomposity and Pathological
WEAKNESS Is offensive it Is the thing that sits bolt
upright in the centre OF the troupe. ycept the mid
very saddenng effect at nrst aud this feeling recurs
from time to time through the performance when
some girl WHO Is laid In her last bed
Inis howeyer r history, n, and ,srs,nmsn, we iSrn
The singing or nowDg clog.danccrs are a great
feature some performer on multiple baDJos or
signo9 ss is another very grave i feature, 10 he ap
plauded strictly as an 'artlst" and 10 be judged ~
ana snaensr aSGSrdnS TO se s.ces.
maps, the nearest approach to rational lun, Tor
their ''hts' at the topics ana DguIes OF
the hour are sometimes WHY. The roaring
comic SKETCH" "sIdesrlittiDg oPereia." "ibe laugh
able iarceu and the screaming bnrctta' beionR 10
an order Of dramaiurGy Impossible 10 des crl0e.
1hey are the American OEspI,ng O the o!d English
pantonime grated on The iarce u other days and
passed ihrouqB o course 81 miscegenaon 0niii their
Jolly Old parents would never recognize Their
coored posterity. Thcy present BUSTING
mixture OF steer madness, imposs,nie SOCIAL
utterly unconDectei with the excuse for a
plot broken crcckeyy, policcmens cluos, blnDder.
husses and baleruAS,l, auu aiWays CuuclLdc In n
scrimmage, 10 The delight OF the enlightened
audience. One ingenious company-the Kelly
A Leon-has Introduced n panoramic afair, IN
which the colored outrages appear everywhere.
RON the Battery 10 The barrsres Of
Paris Where Is Will end can only
lie guessed IN liking limit 10 the
inventive genius OF America, ami we pity the pat
riot who would circumscribe the bounds over which
the spread-eagle may rap his iutterings wings.
Four VI thesc establishments were visited last