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CLOSE OF MR. ALBERT SMITH'S " SEASON" AT...
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* Sjpeakihg of tho Eciyptian Hall remind...
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"Vauxhaix, after remaining closed for mo...
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SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE. The Tempest was ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Close Of Mr. Albert Smith's " Season" At...
CLOSE OF MR . ALBERT SMITH'S " SEASON" AT THE EGYPTIAN HALL . Mb . AlbertS ^ itbc , on Saturday evening , bade his audience a temporary Jare ^ relL preparatory to recruiting himself for a few months in his favourite land , and renewing his impressions of that great mountain which he has rendered almost ; as familiar to the hoine-staying Londoner as to himself . . By this ! . time , he . is either up at the top of Mont Blanc , or sunning himself at $ he foot ; no . longer bored with the necessity of repeating his story more than the thousand-and-first time at the same hour , or of racking his brain for sparkling verse-chronicles of the events of the day , almost of the moment , wedded , to ! airy tuneSj and sung ofl > hand with exhaustless spirit , life , and humour . He has gone to the scene of his successes ; partly to enjoy his own well-earned repdse and recreation , partly to look out for fresh materials for our amusement . He will leave behind him , in the minds of his thousand visitors , many pleasant recollections of this the most perennial of exhibitions—a perfect ; wake of cheerful and kindly thoughts . He has popularised Mont Blanc ; has introduced the Monarch of Mountains to the hearths and homes of John Bull and his children ; and has rendered it almost a fashion to : make the ascent . The enterprises of which we have recently read may yery possibly have been suggested at the Egtptian Hall ; and thus the vivacious tongue of Mr . Albert Smith and the vivid pencil of Mr . Beverly have : been the means of raising recruits for the great army of Swiss tourists . . * ' t ^ hen we say that the performance of Saturday night was the eleven % yndred and jifty ^ fiftli , we need make no further remark as to the extraordinary , success which has been achieved . To this success , the lecturer made ^ p leasant allusion in his farewell speech , some passages hi which we append : — I ' ft ; iavery difficult in an address of this kind to keep quite clear of anything that may ! be / construed into an expression of egotism or conceit—in fact , inflicting 1 that most'ierrible of all bores iipon hearers—talking about yourself . Yon will ,. I trust , aequit me of this vanity presently , even after hearing the following extract . I bought , by chance , at a book-stall the other day , a volume of plays , amongst which wi & the lifrrettb of one of the celebrated " Mathews' Entertainments . " It was called the Matt Coach Adventures , and in a memoir of Mr . Mathews that preceded it , I wSwaittusedbythis remark : — " That one man should have it in his power to please
tor forty nights buccessively is almost incredible . Still , " it is no less strange than trae ! " NoWr-ladiea and gentlemen , I have told you the same story , in the same room , up do thia ievening , eleven hundred and fifty-five times . I was never so fortunate as to , hear . , ftfr . Mathews ; but . from what !• have heard of him , I should imagine I am no . more to be compared to him than Mr . Waverley Belleville , the light comedian O ? . tjie Theatre Bpyal , Stoke Pogis , is to the Charles Mathews of our own days . I Attribute " this success to two pauses—firstly , to studying your amusement , and socon ^ ly . ydar coinfortj' in a practicajj straightforward manner . ' WltHfeaperat ' to your amusement , I endeavoured to preserve it from degenerating fcrtoborej 1 by teeplng it within moderate limits , and fixing the time of the commencement at an'hour possibly better suited to the habits of 1854 than of a century Ago . ' I put a clock before you' that yon might be your own timekeepers , and the few most
minutes of interval . between ; the parts have been , I am sure I may say , punctuflUyjobaeryed . i . t . I hope you willallow mo to say , in addition , so anxious was I for this ifeguIaTitjy to be observed * , that during four years ,, under every circumstance of health , and spirits , and business , I havo never , abridged tho lecture of an'important sentence , ' nor been half a minute behind my time ; and , above all , . 1 endeavoured to avoid ,- as rinich as possible , the cant of " instruction . " Aa Fielding observes in . the preface to Joseph : Andrew : —" Nay , I will appeal to common observation , whether the same ? { Hinpaniea are not found more full of good humour and benevolence , after they fiave -been sweetened , for two or three hours , with entertainments of this kind , than wfi ^ A ' spured by a' tragedy or a dull * lecture . " , ^ i ^ a ying alluxlod , as in his address last year , to the arrangements for previfyiting QxtQrtion , Mr . Albert Smith concluded with a promise which all ms hearers will sincerely desire to bo realised : —
d Jjhope fo find myself in Chamouni , with my old knapsack , my old blouse , and my ql & guides , on Thuraday morning , to see what now subjects may present themselves for ftuj ; . fufttro , evenings together . And I shall return through Paris , staying there aa Ipng' as I flan , that I may have something to tell you about its exhibition on my return . I n ' ayeheard , I may mention privately , that , with all tho splendour of tho Palace Of Industry , nothing is equal to tho exhibition " Brown" is making of himself iti tnttt ' capital ; and I shall especially watch him . In tho pictorial department I e / haU / as ; taUal , have tho advantago of tho co-operation of my friend Mr . William Beverly *' And now , anticipating tho pleasure of meeting you hero again boforo GhVtstmagj ' and wishing you during tho rocoss all tho health and happiness that you can possjbly , desiro , I very gratefully bid you good-by .
* Sjpeakihg Of Tho Eciyptian Hall Remind...
* Sjpeakihg of tho Eciyptian Hall reminds us to mention a marvel which ia ^ fng ' npw exhibited there to all marvel -lovers , though it does not come with great' fifcnosp under the heading of " Tho Arts . " We allude to a lusus nature / a far surpassing tho celebrated SiiuneBO twins , since the children in qjigstion , are united , not by a slight ligature , but by a positive incorporation below a certain point . Tho childron arc negroes , of ubout five years of ago ,
and are separate as far as the lumbar Vertebra , below which their persons are continued as one . Their parents are itt a state of slavery in AmericW ; 2 ? * rt" ^* ** h that the proceeds of the exhibition are to % e applied to the liberation of the father and mother . The case must of necessityV & sess great interest to surgeons ; but the advisability or good taste of such displays to an indiscriminate audience is , to our mind , more than questionable
"Vauxhaix, After Remaining Closed For Mo...
"Vauxhaix , after remaining closed for more than a year , has been at len «* th reopened by Mr . E . T . Smith , of Drury Lane , though at a very advanced season . £ he Royal property , " however , has not lacked its gay dancers and sight-seers ; but the fact that the proceeds during the past week were to be devoted to the relief of the widows and orphans of those who have fallen at the storming of Sebastopol no doubt contributed to draw the benevolent to the gardens . Mr . Simpson , of Cremokne , has also been devoting his-place of entertainment to the same charitable purpose ; to which enS Sebastopol has been taken in mimic show—and without the too real accompaniment of any disasters to the gallant Grenadiers .
Sadler's Wells Theatre. The Tempest Was ...
SADLER'S WELLS THEATRE . The Tempest was produced at this theatre on Thursday last , for the third time , we believe , during the present management . There was , therefore , so little novelty in the revival , that we almost wonder at the temerity of Mr . Phelps in , announcing it in his bills with all the ostentation of a fresh piece . For the . last three or four seasons at Sadler ' s Wells , we have noticed a tro wing indolence , if we may so term it , on the part of Mr . Phelps . Feeling imself , apparently , secure in the position he has fairly won in public esti ^ mation , he has , done but little during the time we mentioned to deserve a continuance of support . A few years ago , Sadler's Wells regularly produced its three or four good revivals every season . Now , one is about as
many as Mr . Phelps will treat his patrons to . Pericles , for instance , was the only real novelty of the last season . The company , too , has declined ' in strength year by year , until it is now about as ineffective as it is possible for such a mechanically trained company to be . It requires but a very recent intimacy with dramatic matters to remember the time when Mr . Phelps could boast of having many sterling performers in his theatre —when a piece well produced by him embraced the talents of Mr . George Bennett , Mr . Marston , Mr . Creswick , Mr . A . Younge , and Mr . Schabt . Of these , Mr . Mabston alone remains . Who fill their places ? We mean no disparagement to the performers at present forming the Sadler ' s Wells corps ; but we are compelled to state that there is not one of them who can claim comparison with the actors we have named .
That this is matter of general opinion rather than of individual criticism may be gathered from the complaints which , for a long time past , have been uttered by the frequenters of " the Wells" at the ineffective manner in which Mr . Phelps is so often supported . There is a supineness in the administration of every part of this theatre . The Louse itself remains as hot and uncomfortable as ever ; the box-keepers are just as exacting and extortionate . The band is as utterly reckless of time andliarmony as in the good old gory days of the melodrama , and the same ancient and exhausted farces conclude the entertainment . Surely this ought not to be . Filled as the theatre js every night , Mr . Phelps has no excuse for allowing these things to remain unconnected . If Mr . Phelps , reposing upon the laurels he nas already won , thinks there is no further need of exertion , he is deceiving himself , and the public will some day tell him so in a manner he will not like . Audiences will decrease little by little , if they find the same old pieces continually served up to them with a few new scenes , dresses , and effects , by way of novelty . Let there be more new pieces produced . Let it no longer be said that Sadler ' s W ^ ells is the mausoleum of living dramatic talent ; or if new
pieces be thought too hazardous and too costly , let there be at least some good revivals of plays , which the present generation has never seen produced . This c 6 ntinued harping upon the one Shakspearian string is very monotonous and tiring . We have but little to say of the Tempest , as produced on Thursday . _ The scenerj' was said to be new , and the brightness of the colouring was jn support of the statement . But the artist had either worked very carelessly , or with great haBte . Such coarseness of finish as was observable in several of the scenes could only have arisen from one or other of these causes . In particular , we may mention a landscape in the third act , where the _ edge of the water seemed to have been whitewashed , and the last scene , whichwas a combination of grotesque colouring and strange design such as we have rarely seen equalled . The acting was far from effective . Mr . Phklps , as Prosnero , was unnecessarily solemn and measured in his tones , giving not the
slightest variety to his performance , and almost wearying the oar by his monotony . His " make-up , " too , was anything but good . Why Prospero , who never strikes us as being a very old man , should nave his head and face so clothed in white hair , we are at a loss to understand . Mr . Phelps , not content with wearing a kind of legal wig , must needs have his chin plastered with wool , until he resembled something undecided between a Chancery barrister and an old clothes-man . Mr . Bakkett gave a conventional reading of Caliban , and showed that , although ho had a fair appreciation of the character , he lacked the power to portray it . He seemed to trust too much , to the hideous dress he had assumed , and to avoid all attempt to show
tho moral hideousnoss of the savngo and defornted slavo . Caliban is evidently above Mr . Barrett ' s mark ; Mr . Phelps is tho only actor in the company who should attempt it . Had ho done so in this instance it certainly would have invested the production of tho Tempest with more of novelty than it can now lay claim to , besides being an immense improvement in the cast . Miss Euubne gave groat promise as Miranda ^ and pleased by her innocent , artless munnor ; but she has a habit of lowing her voico—a f ^ e ami good ono—at tho end of sentences , thus rendering Jior words totally inaudible . She must remedy this , and quickly , for we soon grow tii cuo straining the oar to catch tho sonso of every speech ; and "J « u g > ai house as Sadler ' s Wells indistinctness b inoxctuinblo . Jimi iiua y a good Ariel , merry arch , and light as a zephyr m --J £ kdmSrably ! Thirl wall sang tho songs of Juno with good tnato , iwu The house was craimnod to inconvenience .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 22, 1855, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22091855/page/21/
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