The Portland daily press., 1886-04-30
MUSIC AND DRAMA.
rnE cHIMEs or NoRMANpn.

L.
There was standing room only at Portland
Theatre last night when the performance of the
Chimes of Normandy by Bennett & Moulton's
company commenced. Every seat in the house
was sold, and the rear and sides of the house
were packed with people evidently glad of a
chance to stand The company gave another
strong representation, doing justice to one of the
brightest and prettieSt of the comic operas now
before the public. Mr.. Clayton, as Gaspard, made
a capital miSer, and was especially strong in the
scene in the chateau. Mr.. Lodge as the bail
and Mr.. Wooley as the notary were the cause of
abundant merriment, their efforts being rewarded
with laughter and applause. Messrs. Miller and
Alberto as the Marquis and Jean Grenicheux,
respectively, were satisfactory. Miss Fairbairn,
as Serpolette, sustained the part in her usual
pleasing manner. Miss Murphy as Germaine
sang to great acceptance, and Miss Madigan was
good as Gertrude Tonight the company appears
in the Mikado
THE MAY DAY CARNIVAL.
Tomorrow afternoon and evening the May Day
Carnival will be sure to draw large audiences to
City Hail. The ladies of Bosworth Relief Corps I'M
derstand thoroughly the art of providing pleasing
entertainments for their friends, and the pro-
gramme Tor the carnival is an attractive one.
reserved seats Ior the evening performance may
MAY BLOSSOM
Mr.. Daniel Frohman's company, which will play
May Blossom or The Fisherman's Bride on Tues
day and Wednesday evenings of next week at
Portland Theatre, contains as leading members
Miss Georgia Cayvan and Ben Maginley while
the entire troupe is well calculated to prouuce
both the pathetic and comic scenes when nave
given TO Belasco's play its success IN New i0rk
and other cities where it has been gwen Inc
sale of seats will begin today at the box ONCE.
ENTERTAINMENT AT KAvANAGH HALL.
The entertainment at Kavanagh Hall last even
ing was entirely successful. The different num-
bers ON the programme met with hearty
reception from the large audience present The
fan drill was pretty, and the comedy with which
the entertainment concluded was bright and well
acted
BOOTH AND sALvINI.
Onr dispatches say that the second performance
of "Othello' with SalVini and Booth in the prn-
cipal roles at the Academy of Music in New York
city, Wednesday night, was anything but great
presentation, owing to the unfortunate condition
of the American actor.
From the very first Booth appeared to be in very
poor FORM His rendering of the lines was ex-
ceedingly uneven and there were instances where
he lost the thread. AS the story continued his
walk was ungraceful, and positively unsteady. 1t
was not however until the third act, in the great
scene with Othello, that the growing apprehen-
sion of the audience was completely confirmed.
After Othelo, L. g. Salyini, had thrown IagO to the
ground IN ms burst OF wrath ne assisted Booth to
natural course of action. AS Booth regained his
feet Salyini let go his hold, and the American
actor lost his balance, staggered backward and
dropped down on the ,footlights, breaking por-
tion of the footlight rail. A few of the audience
nearest the stage jumped forward, as it seemed
that the actor was about to fall into the orchestra
He recovered his self-possession wonderfully,
however, and continued throughout the act. His
conduct called forth some Misses, but the audi
ence generally seemed to extend their Sympathles,
encoring him as usual. His entrances and exits
from this point were tmid, and made with per-
ceptibly faltering step. His great scene where
Roderigo is killed was played with great force,
and he was warmly called before the curtain. He
seemed to. have recovered again, but in the last
act he weakened once more, and his closing scene
was extremely weak. With his hands tied behind
his back his condition was too painfully apparent
to even the ordinary observer.
NOTES.
The prize contest of amateur singers in Music
Hall, Boston, next Tuesday evening promises
many novelties. Two sackbutters, sackbutting
with their sackbuts, will enter into spirited con-
test. A performer upon the psaltery will appear
and one duet by Sackbut and Psaltery will be
cymbals" will also be introduced One
of the features of the contest will be the grand
trial of skill between Signors Giuseppe Domian
and Fabric Mardo, both Italian organists