Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1878-12-11
"QUEEN ESTHER"
The First Presentation of this
Beautiful Opera.

The deities who make it their especial
business to look after the weather and
cause the rain to fall upon the just and
the unjust, seem TO have taken a spite
against performances here lately, and
have done all i'll their power to keep
people away. Last night the angel that
lngersoll speaks of, that pulls the valve
cord, must have tied the rope up. and a
more disagreeable night would be hard
to find. But Notwithstanding all this, a
fair raudience gathered at the Opera House
to listen to the Opera OF Queen Esther,
an arrangement of the beautiful apocry-
phal story of the same name.
II applause and enCores are fair critic
rions, we should say the audience was
unusually well pleased, rs at times the
former was tremendous and certainly
deserved. The part OF Queen was eN-
cecdingly well sung by Miss Murine.
In the duet with the King, where the
high f is To be taken, considerable in
terest was noticeable, but she yindiCa-
ted her skill by taking it accurately and
dwelling upon it well, though in the
effort the next note was slightly marred.
Prof. Scager still holds his offer of Il
grand piano to any lady i'll the city who
can equal it.
Mr.. q. Gutenberg, ~ the King, made
a successful hit, his dramatic ability
uniting with full bass voice to render
his performance able and pleasing. He
deserves extra credit, as he was all day
under medical treatment for cold.
Mr.. Upton Reiley, as Haman, had a
very difficult part to sustain, but ac-
Quilted himself admirably. He has a
wonderful voice, and with proper train
ing will be heard from in future.
Mr.. K. V. Arklc sustained the part Of
Mordecai admirably, his clear, sweet
tenor being listened to with great pleas
ure. lie has scarcely enough vim about
him, and division with Mr.. Kelley
would be OF benefit to both.
The part of Zeresh, Haman'S wife, is
one of the most difficult in the cast, and
one which requires, besides fine alto
voice, an unusual amount OF histrionic
ability. Miss Dillon, who took the
character last evening, made very sat
isfactorv Zeresh, and sang well in the
final Quartettc.
Miss Annie Carson, MS the Prophecies,
was complete success, acqulttln" her
self most crcditably.
OF the rest of the solOiSts and general
performers we have not space To speak
in detail, though many of them deserve
special mention. \ certain stiffness OF
gesture and hcsitanCy was noticeable in
the choruscs, which, however, will have
worn off by tonight.
A novel feature OF the entertainment,
and certainly a pleasant one, was the
introduction of three ChoruscS Of little
children. of ofgraduatcd size, who marched,
sang and countcrmarchcd. 1t was
amusing To notice among the little chill
dren one little girl about the size of Il
stick oi chalk, beating time with chub-
bv little foot uf scarcely five inches long.
Little Mamie Mcllwaine, Il handsome
miss Of some eleven years, sang beau
tiful bird song, and was rewarded with
spirited encore.
Taken aS a whole. the entertainment
NAV be characterized as quite success,
and will undoubtedly be better this
evening. The stiffness will have diSap-
peared with practice, and things will
harmonic better. 1t is Il pleasing per-
Torrance and will well repay visit.