The Portland daily press., 1895-12-23
MUSIC AND DRAMA.
Gilbert Opera Company.

| mug pGrIUTlllduC6S i9ttoufutty. Liz opoIa
WAS we'll cast and the audiences evidently
enjoyed it fully, judging by the laughter
and applause.
| Miss Ethel Balch was sprightly
| Olivette, and she sang her music most
aoceptably. Roles of this character are
sure to receive good treatment at her
hands. Several of her songs were
enoored. Mr.. Ranney made most
amusing burlesque of the part Of
Coquelicot and his joke on Bob Ingersoll,
when at the reference to his destination
the lights go out and the din is terrific,
The other characters were very we'll
| taken.
Tonight f'The Mascot" will close the
engagement of the company, in which
Mr. Gilbert will assume his fayorite
character of Lorenzo, and the rest of the
cast will be carefully selected
A Black Sheep.
ga Black Sheep which gave such
universal satisfaction to theatre oers last
season. will return to the Portland thea
tire, Tuesday evening and Christmas af-
ternoon and evening. The piece will be
remembered as a sparkling comedy writ
ten in Hoyt's best vein, and wherever it
has been presented it has created a
furore. The announcement that it is to
return will attract large and fashion
able audience. ga Black Sheep is one
of the m ost dexterous blendings of COM
edy, character and specialties ever pre-
sented to the public. It's situations are
side-splittng, and the dialogue,Bor rather
the most Of it, is extremely keen, ap-
preaching now and then, real Gilbertian
drollery. A ripping stream of melody
runs through the piece, Ebroken only by
the sharp turn of witty lines, and from
beginning to end it forms most oapti-
waiting symphony of merriment and mu.
sic. The principal character is Hot
Stuff, the black sheep, most amusing
tpye. In all of Mr.. Hoyt's plays there
is creation of this sort, a travesty of
some peculiar individuality, but in the
present instance it is character perhaps
more familiar to the multitude and satir-
lied with keener shafts of wit without
sliding too deeply into the regions of the
grotesque Upon none of his former pro-
duotions has Mr.. Hoyt exercised such
care and augment in selecting cast. He
picked out from anywhere and every
where the men and women most capable
of playing the characters he has chosen to
portray. In Black Sheep" Mr.. Hoyt
wrote the principal character for Otis
Harlan, and no one could be better calou-
lated to bring out all the laughable
points
The Stoddard Lecture.
The welcome, which, with increasing
warmth has been accorded to John L.
Stoddard, SO that he may now claim a
position among the current entertainers
of the day as assured as that Of Irving,
Jefferson, DAILY and others, has been
EARNED not only by unquestioned gifts,
but by incessant thought, study and per-
konal exertion. Yet with the wealth of
material, written, mental, and artistic.
which was in his possession at the close
OF last season, Mr.. Stoddard felt impelled
to add another to the long list of trips to
foreign lands which he had made in the
desire to give the wonted freshness to his
course Of lectures now about to take
place in this city. During this trip he
has had opportunity to bask in the warm
sun of Naples and to make from that city
the excursion which are the tourists de-
light the ascent of Vesuvius, the sail
across the famous bay whose beauty has
been noted for centuries, and the visit to
Pompeii which recalls one of the great
calamities of the past, as one views it's
impressive, uncovered streets. 1t has been
possible for Mr.. Suoddard to sail laziIy
on the bosom of the Danube to the Sui
tan's capital on the Bosphorus, there to
learn something of the life of the Turk.
whose deeds are now attracting the at
tention of the civilized world as never
before. And, with his favorite of modern
times always on his mind, to successfully
search in Paris for stray sidel1ghts of in
formation and the unique photographs
which should aid him in presenting the
career of this wonderful man in a man
ner moro novel and interesting than ever
before.
This is the intellectual and artistic
feast to which Mr.. Stoddard Invites his
friends in Portland. 1t has proved ire
s1stably attractive to thousands in Cbica-
go and other cities, and viii doubtless
be found equally so here. 1t will be given
in City Hall on Monday evenings jam
airy 6, IS, 30, 81, and February 8. Stock
bridge will begin the sale of course tick
cts next Monday morning.
Pinafore,
Be sure and go INTO Chambers to-day
and secure your seats for tPinafore,,
which will be given by the Home Opera
company at City hall, under the direction
of Mr.. J. A. Montgomery Christmas
afternoon and evening. There will be
new scenery, fine effects. introducing a
full rugged ship, handsome costumes and
seventy five people in the cast. Mr.. W.
e. Chandler will conduct the orchestra
Vhare ara two hupdr od rrood eo,4 -,