The Republican journal., 1914-01-29
PATIENCE,

The Gilbert and Sullivan Opera, Success
fully Presented by Belfast Amateurs in
the Colonial Theatre Monday and Tues
day Evenings. Jan. Goth and 9th.
"Patience or Bunthornes Bride" the two
act Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera given in
the Colonial last Monday and Tuesday even
ings by local talent, under the auspices of the
Belfast Musical Society, was unqualified
success. The scene is laid in England and at
the time when the society women were mad
about aestEetcism, or devotion to the beauti.
| full. This they carried SO far that they dressed
| only in the most aesthetic clothes and lived on
poetry and love. The officers OF the Dra-
goon Guards, whom they had previously fol-
lowed, no longer interested them. Bunthorne,
the poet was their idol. Patience, little milk
maid, however. unlearned in the ways of So
ciety, had never heard of love, having in all
her young life loved only great aunt. She
| does cherish a memory of boy whom she loved
in her childhood She is told that love must be
unselfsh and seeks to find it. Bunthorne loves
her but she spurns him. The appearance of
! Grosvenor, whom she recognizes as her boy
! she falls madly in love with him. AS he is a
perfect being, and very beautiful, she suddenly
realizes that she is selfish, rather than unsel-
| fish, in loving hin, land they part. She believes
that her only salvation is to pretend to love
Bunthorne, whom she hates, and this she does
much to his happiness In the meantime the
"love sick 'maidens, with the exception OF Lady
Jane, have transferred their affections to the
new arrival Grosvenor, and Bunthorne becom-
ing jealous threatens to curse him unless ne
changes his manner. Grosvenor admits that
| he is all sham; discards aesthetcism and be-
comes an ordinary mortal This, however
does not have the effect that Bunthorne hoped
for Immediately the maidens also discard
aestheticsm, don their commonplace clothes
and return to their early loves.
| The cast was as follows, land certainly proved
an "alI-star" one:
Reginald Bunthorne, fieshly poet,
Mr. Ralph l. Morse
| Archibald Grosvenor. an Idyllic poet,
Mr. Charles F. Hammons
Officers of the Dragon Guards,
| Colonel Calverley, Mr.. f. s. Pltcher
| Major Murgatroyd, Mr. Clarence E. Hall
! Lieut. the Duke of Dunstable,
| Mr.. Arthur N johnson
| Bunthorne's Solicitor, Mr.. E. B. Gilchrest
Rapturous Maidens.
! The Lady Angela. Miss Katherine Brier
/ The Lady Saphir, Mrs. Z. =. Read
! The Lady Ella, Miss Winnifred Sanborn
| The LADY Jane. Mrs c. W. Wescott
/ Patience, a milkmaid,
! Miss katherine C. Quimby
] Miss Katheri le C. Quimby, as Patience,
was up to her many previous successes,
and took her part to perfection. Her Dolly
Warden costume was most becoming, and her
vocal numbers were all much enjoyed, espe-
/ cially her solo "Love is a Plantive Song and
Long Years Ago." her duet with Miss Rather
inc E. Brier Miss Brier was also a distinct sue
/ cess Her role prominent one. and she
/ filled it most satisfactorily, as did the other
"Rapturous Maidens"-Mrs. C. E. Read and
Miss Winnifred Sanborn Their classic Greek
costumes were most effective and becoming.
Mrs. C. W. Wescott as Lady Jane was one of
the hits of the piece, and kept the audience in >
roar Her solo (?) on the bass viol was an ex-
cellent piece of work, and her song, "Silvered
is the Raven HAIR" and her duet with Bun
thorne were both especially enjoyable. Ralph
l. Morse as Bunthorne was splendidy cast,
and sustained his role to perfection One of
the features of the evenings was the dance and
duet by Mr. Morse and Mr.. Charles F. Ham
mons Archibald Grosvenor, when l Go
Out of Doors" Mr.. Hammons was uniformly
excellent throughout and added another to his
long list of successes on the local stage. The
three officers of the Dragon Guards. taken by
Messrs. E. S. Pitcher, Clarence E. Hall and
Arthur N. johnson, were all fine. Mr.. Pitch
j
the trio, "It's Clear That Mediaeval Art,
were among the distinct successes of the
performances. MIR. Hall was capital in his
part, and Mr.. Johnsons voice was, usual a
delight, AS the Solicitor Mr.. Elon B. Gilchrest
scored a hit. The choruses were we'll drilled
and excellent in every way. The uniforms of
the Dragons formed striking contrast to
the aesthetic gowns of the Maidens, and the
stage pictures were most effective. The set
| tings were very pretty and appropriate and
added much to the beauty of the production.
The orchestra, led by Mr.. Robert P. Chase,
who directed the entire performance, was also
feature of the evenings, which largely con-
tributed to their success The chorus members
were:
CHORUS OF MAIDENS
Misses Marguerite Coombs, Isabelle Smalley,
Irene Marks, Martha Knowlton, Florence
Libby, Edith Davidson, Velma Mitchell, Grace
Bickford, Alice Southworth, Hazel Bradstreet,
Mildred Randall. Jessie Hart, Doris Gunner,
Lillian Knowlton, Edna Curtis, Annette Holt,
Lillian Dexter.
CHORUS OF DRAGON GUARDS.
Albion Goodhue, Alton johnson, Earl Ham
mons, Frank Mudgett, Frank Mixer, John
Gunner, Joseph Haley, Percy Pendleton, Leon
Beckwith, Howard Tibbetts, Harry Coombs'
Albert Morse.