The daily critic., 1890-09-30
ADJUSTMENTS

"Casties ia the AiTn at the national.
A comedian, a lot of pretty chorus
girls, a singing soubgctte and a scene
painter, Of such Is the drama Of the
day which has superseded Shakespeare
and relegated Sardou 10 the top shelves.
But that II Is the winning combination
there can be little doubt, aud that Mr..
De Wolf Hopper has struck Il for
all II Is worth there can De
no doubt whatever In the mind
Of any one who was present AZ the
National Theatre last evening. When
a comedian, by years Of hard work, has
won his spurs or lauTels, or whatever
else II Is comedian wins, he IS Justly
entitled 10 bloom forth as a dramatic
big sun flower Of the largest dimensions
In bold relief against a gorgeOusly.
variegated background OF the daises,
hOllyhOcks and lilies Of the ballet
Such, at least, seems the natural eyolu.
tion Of the comedian Of the period. and
the evolution and apolheosis Of Mr
Hopper Is marked by a very particular
and especial degree OF gorgeousness.
Everything that bright aud pretty
music and still brighter and pfettier
girls, charming scenery, clever COS
tunes and a bewilderlng enhancement
OF silken and shapely tights can do 10
distract the mind of man from the cares
Of state and the woes Of life Is done
after the most approved modern fashion
in Castles IN the Air" Ii matters not
that the plot aud rationale Of the piece.
like the castles, are wholly In the air or
that the dialogue would never be al
lowed IN any legislative assembly which
had any reasonable gag" law In ef
fectiYe operation. The lively waltz
music WhiTls you along from act 10 act
till the final curtain descends reluctantly
upon the gliiteTiBg phantasmagOTia Of
girls and jOkelets, and leaves only
joyous chaos Of bTiliancy and beauty
in the mind Of the spectotOT.
Mr. Hopper as ftLdeOUlrs. the Judge.
is the same jolly Cyclops Of humOr We
have ever known him. Not only that
be has an eve ever single 10 fun aud
frolic, but that the HOppeTian smile aud
yaWp and auiic are on the same colossal
scale as when we first became accus
toned % their vastness. There Is some
thing Of The fTisky young NewfOund
land cub, who fairly tumbles over him
self In the clumsy eXuberance Of his
pnUdeTous glee I'm the large aud ample
comicalities Of Dir, Hopper, aud one
laughs ull he Is sore iu spite Of himself
The star Is ably seconded in his eli
forts 10 amuse by BIT SeabrO0ke lCI59l
dsfT0l, a comedian Of DO little force and
uncIiOn, and funny htue blr Klein
tRfpetttOl who couldn't be anything
but funny n be tried no brighter or
more scinul.aut star of the comedy
stage has appeared above The dramatic
horizon in many seasons than Della
Fox lB.uHchsG who Is grace. piquauCy
and charm peTs0uihei. Her u4ut5
mimic duet with Mr Hopper Is one Of
the cleverest thugs Of the sort seen here
for a long time. as The quaint little song
OF The pig that went % market is q
pretty cOnCeil quite out Cf the ruu Of
the average comic opera.
Miss Anna % keefe has bI0ss0med
out into a singer and actress of especial
attraction and her BL BsL was as
graceful a Young sCapegTace as could
reasonably have been desired The
highly s. mmciric4I chorus, which was
as numerous as pretty. the queer
policemen and in short the scenic and
musical tom 6HslWl.s combine % eudtle
Mr. H1ppeEs production b even more
than The applause 70 received from what
Has oy Far The largest and most fashion
able audience of lie dramatic season up
J0 date
"a Poor Relation" at AIBaugbrz.
Whatever may be said of The above
name Tie play as q play. a. AIblugh's
last eyeniDg VAS anything but a poor
of the scenes aud incidents it
plrporled lo portray Il Is legitimate