Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-10-27
THE OPERA.
Chas. +. FOrd's Company In tho - Mascotte.'
A large and fashionable audience was

Chas. +. FOrd's Company In tho - Mascotte.' -
A large and fashionable audience was
present at the opera house last evening,
when Mr.. FOrd's company appeared in
Audran's "Mascotte, the latest produc-
tion of that composers prolific pen, and
one which has already attained consid-
erab!e popularity, though it will never
gain the favor which signalized the
same authors "Olivette." The action is
not SO quick, the humor far less spouta-
neous. depending largely upon the efforts Of
the actors: and it is wanting, too. in the
many catchy little tunes that gave its pre-
decessor such a snug place in the popular
sffection. Take away the "Gobble' v duet
the Orang Outang' song, the COACH
ing chorus, and perhaps q few others,
and there are not many airs left that the
average hearer would care to keep III
his head or at his tongues end,
even if he could albeit some,
though not many, Of the more SEN
timental passages are not without beauty
OF their own. In point of vocal merit the
company rs 4 whole was not up to the
standard Of Ford's previous presentations
here. Miss Lucette, who sang the part
Of Bettina, the Mascot" is pleasant
little lady with a pleasant little voice !;
her medium tones arc good, her higher
| register nothing to brag Of; she is Il
clever actress-and right here it may be
| said that the members of the company
as rule acted better than they sang and
thereby kept tho performance above the
grade of mediOcrity to which it else would
have fallen. In the ''Gobble" song she was
particularly engaging and went plumb to
the hearts Of all the young chaps in tho
house. Miss May Stembler, infused
plenty Of life and vivacity into the
part OF Ftdmetta, and made about as
ridiculous a princess as the author could
have desired. Her voice is OF fair capacity
and has a promise for the future. She
| deserved an encore on her "Orang-
Outang," but the audience couldn't see it
| and permitted one of the best num-
bers of the evening to pass un-
recognized. The men can't sing much.
There are no conspicuorsly good voices
among them and some are very bad.
1t is kindness to Mr.. Fitzgerald to assure
him that he would have appeared to less
disadvantage in the chorus than in the
part of Pippo, which he tried to sing with
such a mOdicum of success. His acting is
not bad, though, and saves his work from
positive and egregious failure. Mr.. Lang
has more than he can acceptably fulfill in
the part Of Prince Frederic his voice
does not get up to the top
notes with any style at all, though as long
as he keeps within the stave he does very
nicely. Mr.. J. H. Rennie makes the part
of Lorenzo, the king, roarinsly funny, and
sings it very fairly. The part in his hands
is an exaggeratiOn of the grOtesquely II
diculous. The role of the Sergeant received
capital treatment from our young friend
John NJ. Amweg, who seems to have sur
vived his St. Louis episode without any
ill effects and to thrive on thrashings at
ST., 500 apiece. The part is 4 minor one,
but John made all there was out of it,
and acquitted himself in an entirely
creditable manner. There is a good bass
voice in the company, credited on the bill
to Mr.. Luizi Carlberg, who had only a
small part, however, and the audience
didn't hear enough Of him. The chorus
was quite good-the "orchestra very
weak, consisting of one piano. Mr.. Ford s
own judgment should teach him that the
accompaniment of a single piano is
entirely inadequate for the proper prOduc.
tiOn of work of this kind. Then there
wero long waits between the acts that were
anything but pleasant. While, on tho
whole, last nights performance was agree
able, it is susceptible Of sundry improve
ments, which Mr.. Ford should set about
making if he is desirous of maintaining his
reputation as first class manager.