The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1894-05-10

ihout Ihs.' isianas.
,0a. Nw im several uerts
ma Eugene ii,li. tht poet and bum
iat hls bpcn visiting friends boz ono oi
the subuflso Of Louisville. 49,. enjoying.
a. every One supposed. o. brief poH oi
idloness d has just leaked out how
ever. that Mr. Field has not been loaf.
ing during bis soiourn in Kentucky by
any means. on the contrary. hc has
been very hard At work The fact b..
Mr. Field is engaged In writing the
libretto book OF an opcra-an opera
bouile, a. he is particular TO call IT,
wishing il distinctly understood that IL
is neither romantic nor comic
opera.
This announcement is an interesting
one. but IL is more interesting from the
the fact that Mr.. Field himself proposes
to appear in one of the principal roles Of
the opera.
1t has long been known to his init
mate associates that not the least of his
gifts is tenor voice which he has mod
estly moderated, but which has been
occasionally heard with good effect in
the drawing room OF nursery.
While his voice is certainly not equal
to the requirements of grand opera, and
while it has not received very much
cultivation, it is ample for opera bouiIe.
for which his native abilities as a com
edian peculiarly fit him.
Mr.. Field is not willing that the ma
ture of his opera shall be yet indicated,
further than to say that i. is founded
upon the recent complications between
Hawaii and the United States. The ma
terial for genuine opera boufIe which
these afford has SO impressed Mr. Field
that for the past few weeks he has
dropped all work and devoted himself
to his libretto with such engrossing en-
thusiasism that he has already com
pleted two acts and is at work upon the
third and last.
John Philip Sousa, whose spirited
Washington POST march fully proves
his ability for the task, is TO write the
music and has now in hand the first two
acts.
A certain friend OF the humorist has
read over the work already done and he
pronounces it excellent.
"Field makes admirable use OF the
nirturaunua aud l,dicr,uu rnatariaI nra
scented by Hawaii and the Hawaiian sit
uation," said this friend tonight, "and
if Sousa shall do his part half rs well as
Field has done his, the success OF the
production should be nothing short OF
sensational"
Mr.. Field at first intended to call the
opera ''The Hawaiians," but as that is
rather difficult of pronunciation he has
selected Honolulu as its name. Lii
uokalani is to be the principal female
character, and Mr.. Field laugh
ingly tells it that his manager, 7. Henry
French, actually proposed to open ne
gotiatIons with the dusky ex.Queen
with view to engaging her to come
to this country and take the role. But
Field would not listen to that, being
determined that the opera should stand
or fall on its merits, without the en-
ployment of any such hippodrome
methods.
1t is one of his jokes that it is enough
to ask the public to put np with him in
the opera without importing any Other
freaks. He protests, however, that
Liliuokalani is not the part which he
intends to assume.
French wanted to bring out "Hono
zulu in New York first, but Field, with
his usual loyalty to the West, insisted
that its first production should be in
Chicago. 1t will be given at the Schiller
theater the second week in December.