Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-12-15
The ldyli Of the Mill.

The opera 1.-THE Idyll of the Mill COM
posed by Burton .E. Leavitt. iibretto by
n. w. Leavitt. was produced in city haii,
last night. for the first time As the
Journal has intimated from time to time,
the opera is one of romance. founded, 1t
is said on fact and taken from the old
colonial times. IL required the combined
efforts of 60 people To successfully pro-
duce the opera, and they did III well. IL
was purely home talent affair, with the
exception of n. w. Leavitt. who took the
millers role. Listening to the piece 1t
takes one way back to the time when the
men of Lexington heard the shots or the
Tories and saw the blood of the colonists
running in the streets: when the Minute
Men gave this country the example Of
men fighting for liberty and when the
New World was Yet young.
There was "A jolly miller who had n
pretty daughter Then there was an old
Insurer named Graspall who seemed to
want to grasp all there was in sight and
then travel for more. The battle of Lex
ington and ION TO Bunker Hill was WV
idly depicted on the stage. The Insurer
plots for the old miller's mill or his
daughter. The young women of the
neighborhood form company of Minute
Girls. The fighting men are off at war.
The usurer gets in his work and when
the miller returns from Bunker HUI he
is confronted with note for Sohn and
the usurer demands the daughter or the
mill.
This is a strange condition of things TO
the miller. who of course will not sell his
daughter. and SO the old mill goes Ia the
usurer But there are others i'll the piece
and they make themselves known to all
hands in way that brings out tragedy
and comedy enough to satisfy the audi
ence. AIS fair in love and war. Rose
sings of happy sprinGtime. Jack makes
a resolve. Aurora Tribulation Buckwheat
is the gay young thing of the piece. The
old lr "a
and she has il in for the Insurer who has
at some time caused her trouble. She
tells her story and things begin to look
disagreeable for Graspall. and as the
piece proceeds. the old fellow is having a
hot time.
Jack is taken prisoner and things look
dark for somebody else. but after the old
mill is gone. Jack makes his escape. and
then there is more of the Minute Men
business. with plenty of opportunity to
show what the spirit of the times was at
that particular period. Songs and dances,
solos. duets. quartets and seXtets and
by the dozen follow. The music is good
the costumes elegant and the calcium
light effects are all right. Following is
the cast:
Squire Flower. the Joly miller,
Algernon Abjah Podd. the mill boy.
r. A. Knowlton
Aminadab Graspall, the usurer
c. l.. Witham
Jack Knowlton. ward of the Insurer.
Orrin Learned
The Minute Man of Lexington.
T. ". Branch
Rose Flower. the miller's daughter.
Mrs. Freeland
Aurora Tribu!ation Buckwheat. coquet-
fish maiden. Geneive NJ. FreeSe
Old Wampum the witch. Lura Emery
Then of course there were Minute Men
by the score and Minute Girls by the
dozen. and all the other necessary parts
that went to make up the piece. All the
parts We're well taken. The Journal does
not care to make any distinction in the
characterization of the parts. The opera
was Il very pretty thing. 1t took well and
will be repeated tonight. by the same
cast. The opera is given under the aus
pices of the Y. =. c. L. of the tniver-
SaliSt Society.