The daily critic., 1890-09-23
A1IUSEMENTS
.rhe sea KING" At Aibaucn ~.

King. The piece is admirably staged
attractivcly c0snmod, and well castand
presented. and affords an evening
entertainment of rather more than
ordinary enjoyment While the lIbrettO
viii certainly escape conviction on auv
charges of originality on literary or
humorous merit that might by any pos
sibiIity De trumpel mo against 10. and
the music will hardly bear the test
of too critical an analysis. the general
effect is undoubtedly pleasing and the
material success of the output should he
tn proportion.
The trouble with Mr.. S'ahl, as libret
list and composer appears 90 be that
he thinks too much with his memory
doubtless, one of those truthfulIy
trcachtrous reColleCtive apparatus. So
often encountered in the realm of lit.
crature and ant, which retains nm i'm.
preston without remembering IT'S
source The result Tn the present IN.
stance, is a brilliant and vivid kaleid.
OsCUpe Of musical fragments, flashing
into ever new combinations before the
eyes of the audience before 10 is possible
TO determine The quality or origin of its
prismatiC componenls Buff the music
Is very generally reminiscent The remi.
nisCCuce is Of themes we would very
unwilingly forget. and the public is so
much the more Mr.. Stahl's grateful
debtor for the ingenious if unconscious
ability Of his recombinations
The costumes. from designs by the
famous illustrator, De Grimm, are as
kaleidoscope and varied in their mo
tives and sources as the music, and the
effect is both bewiiderinp and brilliant.
There are a number of new faces and
voices in the cast and they are vel
come reinfOrCements to the ranks of
the old timers. Miss Ada Glasca. as
Dolores, Displays a mCzgD voice of con
siderable range and power. which she
handles with the skill Of the thoroughly
equipped artist Miss Katie Gilbert. as
ROSita. Is somewhat more than satisfac.
tory and Mr.. Mark Smith, an old ia.
vorite Of the comic opera stage. In the
title role, Is everything that Is pictur.
esque, dramatic and uneful. though
perhaps his effective baritone has lost
somewhat of the pristine brilliance Of
its upper register.
Mr.. Graham has nearly a monopoly
Of the humorous clement Of the niece
as the elongate and erratic Don Bgm-
b0Ul1 but he is quite equal 20 the
emergency and fills the stage and all
reasonable requirements OF the role with
his usually all pcrvasive comic person.
aliiy. The finale chorus Is very becom
ingly arranged and sings quite as well
as could be desired consistently with
proper regard for It's individual lowell.
ness. "ThU Sea King" 10 fact, up.
pears tu be what the public have long
been seeking and being found at last
appears 10 bg appreciated accordingly
Marks' European Intcrnationais at the
National.
II the vaudeville stage of Eugl4ui
and the Continent Is not wholly de.
rud,d of ils bright and particular stars.
Il Is certainly not the fault of tue en-
teIpfising American managers, whose
astronomical scoop net has been So iu-
dustrlously spread this season for dra-
matte ncbulU Of this description. Al
least he has given the variety theatre
COunOisseur of "thc States" the Oppartu.
nifty Of deciding that in some lines of
the profession they manage these things
better In Frauce-aud elsewhere.
The performance last night at the Ma
tiOnal demonstrated very thoroughly 20
the satisfaction Of q large and enthusl.
astiC audience that our artistic brethren
across the water are as far ahead of us
In some things as we distance them In
others. There Is nothing drearier 10 be
conceived, for Instance, than the English
Idea of humor and sentiment, as en-
bodied Ia the average English serlO-
comic song, and set forth 10 "a most dis.
tresstul small voice by Miss Minnie
Cunningham, pretty little damsel
with MtgH0HHe Du Maurier face and
head and awfully fetching gowns, from
the DTury Lane Theatre, London But
when Miss Minnie began TO dance, she
Immediately took steps 10 convince her
American auditors that they had much
10 learn In that direction, and skipped
into their very heart of hearts forthwith.
SO with The marvellous COntOrtiOn act
OF the BoTani Brothers from CoVent
Garden; the AyolOs from the Eden
Theatre, Paris, in phenomenal
tTapeze act Cazman, the shadow
gTaphist, and Lieutenant Travis. ven
tTiloquist, rarely, II ever, have we seen
anything 10 approach these unriValsd
performances The human monkeys,
JaCO and Coco, from Berlin, Mons
AldOW, pastel artist, ETC., from Madrid.
the Natuskies Nylophonists from Riga,
Mons. LeOnce and Mile. Lola, jugglers
from Portugal were some of the
other pOlyglot and Cosmopolitan at
fractions Of the thoroughly UNIQUE and
enjoyable Tower Of Babel and Noah's
Ark of an entertainment. Every night
and malinees throughout the week.
"a PsriIous Voyage" at Harris nIjou.
A crowded house greeted the pre-
sentation Of Harry Merediths melo-
drama, "A PerilOus Voyage" al Harris
Biiou Theatre last night The play IS
full Of powerful situations aud startling
climaNes. The scenic effects are re
malkably good, particularly the scene
on the deck Of the IT, s. S. America
and the closing scene Of the fourth act,
when the ship burns up aud sinks
The east Is a powerful one, the lead
ing part being taken by George Vessels,
as the drunken captain of the America
His rendition Of the delirium scene at
the climax Of the fourth act was an eX
Ceedingly realistic piece of acting, and
IL held the audience spell bound
Miss Nellie Eldug Is a charming
little actress who takes the part of hIis
Myrtle, and afterward the disguised ap
prentice boy, Gs1rgs Harry Clifton as
FTaEk Character makes handsome
and manly hero
The comedy element Of the play Is
very strong one The funny ContoFtions
Of Henri Lynn as EatlHus. ds B04rsEsy.
the ships orderly. were greeted with
shouts of laughter and Thomas Meegan
as the captains cook gave au excellent
imitation of a negro eNhOrteF. Mr. De
Lacy as the b0atsWaiu's mate aud Mrs.
Hooker as The mOtherly Dsl5I BtaHigGH
also contributed their share in The fun