The Portland daily press., 1879-11-01
MUSIC AND THE DRAMA.
NORMANDY CHIMES

The story of Normandy Chimes, or Les
Cloc7es de CorneyMe, which will be produced
by the Emma Abbott Opera Company at CITY
Hall Thursday evening next is as follows:
The Marquis of Villeroi, who has been since
childhood owing to certain political uli,
pleasantness, an exile, returns to his ancestral
home, on the occasion of the great annual ialI
which is being celebrated in the village tlaU
receives its name from his chateau. LII Is ID
truly Norman village, OF the old Norniai'S
type. .o..;,,o .oo1lac-
t;on Of village oossips, discussing the usual
scandal and small talk of rural district.
Miononette. a sort of Fanchon or Nan, the
good-for-nothing, is q topic OF conVersaeGii1 'n
among the village maidens and matrohs. : ono
She comes lust in time to save her reputatlon'
Inv hrninq the tables on her traducers. Gas
pard, an old miser, proposes to give his niece
t;ermaine in marriage to the representative
official dignitary of the village, the Sherlli'
The niece decidedly objects to TINS arranSe
ment; and although she declares tlia' e sh0
bound in ties of gratitude to certain hSL I.r
man named Robin More, for saving her llio
las she thinks) yet she asserts that her heart Is
touched by the dart of love. To escape tne
marriage so hateful to her d Robin, ana TO
fly from the vengeance of Gaspard and the
Sheriff, both parties take advantage oil the
privileges of the fair and become servants OF
the Marquis, in which position they lind them
selves joined by the scapegrace, Mlgonette.
The second act is taken up with the exposure
of the ghosts in the haunted castle of V lllerol.
The Marquis, confident that there was nothing
supernatural about the strange appearances
which for such q long time perpleXed the
simple villagers, introduces his men into the
CASTLE and finds out, after many persistent at
tempts that the entire army of ghosts is COM
prised in the person of Gaspard. The old
miser is discovered, and becomes crazy on &C
count of the fear of losing his treasure, which
he has concealed in the old castle. The act
ends with the celebrated bell song and chorus,
the most taking musical number to be 1ound
in the entire range of the opera comique.
In the third act the chateau is restored to all
its pristine splendor, and the Marquis has en-
tered it as master The villagers are lnVltea
to a grand tete, and the miser, Gaspard, is still
crazy. Mignonette comes in as a grand lady,
and Robin as her factotum. After love
scene between the Marquis and Germaine, it
appears that the latter is the rightful heiress
and the true claimant of the little Marchioness,
before conceded to Mignonette. The opera
closes with the reconciliation of all parties and
the romantic story is brought to a happy end.
The tickets can be procured at Themes UNI
der Music Hail.
Kit or the Arkansas Traveller, is all old ac-
quaintance in new guise. 1t is the story OF
the backwoodsman's wife stolen from him in
the Arkansas forest, along with his little
daughter, by q gambler and his subsequent
pursuit of them until he is recognized and his
end is achieved. In his pursuit he introduces
us to the familiar scenes of the Mississippi
steamboat, the gambling for high stakes, and
in fact, all that Southern life that has been
often painted. The kind-hearted, courageous,
quick-witted Kit, ready for a drink, game,
or fight finds an admirable delipeator in Nh
Chanfrau, and the various characters in the
drama were all well taken.
Perhaps the "two beats" Judge Suggs and
Major Squiggs stand out more prominently
than any of the other subordinate characters
especially the judge because his characterize
ton was so perfect it was artistic. Mr.. Russell
was very good as the English lord, and Mr.
Russell as tho gambler Manuel Bond, Miss
Victoria Cameron received 4 hearty welcome
and was lady-like and natural as the mother OF
James Temple A good word should be said
for little Nellie Maurice as Kits chlld1n the
prelude. Mr.. Verney's presence seemed quite
natural on the boards. The other characters
were well taken. The tableaux were excellent
and that of the game of poker, quite thrilling
The play has considerable of the bar-roon
flavor but it captures the crowd, and the house
was filled to Overlooking. The play will be
repeated tonight.
We hope our readers will not forget that
Mrs. Chanfrau will appear in parted at the
matinee this afternoon.
KERRY Cow.
Next Monday evening Mr.. Joseph Murphy
with his reported excellent company will ap-
near at Portland Theatre in the beautiful
Irish drama of Kerry Cow. An exchange
says:
Tie drama is especially framed to produce
striking and effective emotions, without
violating either sentimental or comic proprie-
ties, and Mr.. Murphy's acting as Dan O'Hara
therefore invariably enlists the sympathies OF
his audience in evoking tears or in eliciting
responsive merriment. In the company he
had charming heroine in Miss Emmie Will
mot, who played the part OF Norah Drew with
almost marvellous effect. Her face was SYM
pathetic: so was her voice; ard there was a
tenderness in her acting which is seldom found
so graphically presented in what is called a
stock company. In fact, she possesses voice
of striking sweetness and volume that would
fit her for the highest range Of tragedy; and
she has graceful and graphic action that con-
tributes a picturesque effect to every scene in
which she appears. Indeed, there.is no occa-
sion for singing out the company for its pro-
fessonal merits; for it is q good one, and sue
ceeded in making a series OF impressions that
left lasting and favorable effect on the au-
dience. Such a drama and such acting cannot
fail to be productive of popularity aud success.
The tickets are ready at the box office.