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ENTERTAINMENTS.

THE THEATRES, &a

Despite the glitter of. the Amazonian army
at the Theatre Royal, and the splendours of
the transformation scene, the public, for the
most cart, anoear to be waiting for what is to

come next They are practically recognising
the troth of the tovjoun perdrix principle.
Amazonian amies have had their day, just aa
clowns have had theirs. If Christmas pieces
are to continue to he, they most conform to
the conditions oi the drama generally. They
must not be entirely overloaded with what is
extraneous, foreign, and inharmonious. Or
if the extrinsic 1b to be introduced, it muBt
have more of novelty to recommend it. Thus,
in comparing the two pieces at the Royal and
the Opera-house, although, perhaps, in respect
of numbers and glitter the former has tire
advantage, the latter is far before the first
in interest, because, for the most part,
the several portions are better connected
with each other. There is in it something
like dramatic unity, and the'agreeable effect
of this is aided by variety, newness, and
genuine musical interest. The Blondin epi
sode, indeed, was an interpolation, but then
it was never offered as part of the piece.' In
fact, the actibn of the piece was suspended
for awhile, and the performers themselves
became spectators. They were drawn up on
the stage, and they gazed into the air with
as much eagerness as theboyB in the .gallery
gazed downwards. There is this, too, to be
said of *" Adamanta," that the characters
have mace of individuality than they have
in. "Humpty Dumpty." They are not so

disappointingly cast in common moulds.']
They stand out in better relief, and, as a
matter of course, they prompt those, who
play them to better acting. So far as I can
see, therefore,, the run of "Adamanta" will
be longer than that of "Humpty Dumpty."
But the period of the latter is already de
termined, if report is not at fault The
Towera family are said to be engaged to
appear on the 13th oS next month. Of the
advent of " Little Faust" the date is not yet
mentioned.

The Asiatic Circus at the Princess's has
hot been drawing large crowds during the
week, but the audience has made up in

enthusiasm what they lacked in numbers. :
Increased attractions appear to be contem- i
plated, if one may judge from tbe advertise

ments inviting applications from "20 ballet i

girls for the steeplechase." . 1 j

The beauty of theFakir'slountain is greater :
every time itis'aesn.1 New combinations

form and colour am introduced. It isinex

haustible in its polychrome, its blending of {
jet, and. volume, and spray, «m<i corruscation
It delights the eye,and yetneVer'wearies it;
One, Seeihs to Srishto lookup>nitforever.
It is gorgeous in its iridescent dyes," and
yettihhyaM aU in-harmony.' One curiously
btobtitol.effefctiSgOt by sending up a cloud
of spray, and then, as it falls, catching it.
upon jets tbat are made to ascend unme
diately aftenSo completeisthe illumination,
that spine peoplewill not believe it Is water
at all, but inrist uponitsbeing some new
kind of pyroteohny. The desCeut of water
from above, too, is a new feature, and the
gapidity with which the changes in the lights
fiie produced almostseggestB that they ace
managed by some instrument lOce a piano,
upon 'the" beys of, which the Operator is
playinga wild colour tune. It is wise
of the Fakir to reserve the fountain to
thfilaat, for it cannot help sending every.,
body away in good humour, The Anoetoe
rnyBteryr is more mysterious the more
closely it is e&sinined. At first it

seemed not difficult to explain it, but I con-.
his now'to being at a loss in tryingtosblve
it, ho I am content to remain mystified.;
which is far the best' way, I think. Fdr
grown-up people are like bdys, who We all
'the pledsureof "their drams when they cdt

them Open to see whBre the noish combs,

from. ■ • j

Mademoiselle Jenny Claus gave farewell

cpnoerts 911; §ato£d#yonfi; Monday. iqst at,
the Town-hall. There <can be podoubfc of

otherteinga kto&t Opart frpmjthe, j

exceptionalfact of her bethg also a womah.
Bht.foar all this, when the history of mueic id
Victoria oomes ,to be written, it will hayfc'

to be confessed that she. wMhejwjoft^
Uttie in advance of the tinae whepshe .touM.

bepopularly appreciated. , For 'exampW °f-'
' the highest art there is herea select few ivho
'wTU alvmysbe'able; to tender a teadyteeog.
nition bflts-demand* ;but,evenfidaritiihg
the prevalence of.the broader mushudfeeUug,

the tasteisnot so gener^Vfor -classical e*T
athpleg, to make tbe |^eamape>;bf #ioliuiste,
like Mademouells Clans other than anj up-.,
citato Wnture/u -WJkre 't6 tobk;ht aijt of
toy kind through a commercial- medium.
Ai a matter of course^ her viaitto Victoria'is

\rfijqifepmstapce ppep,which WP inwjoobge*..

jm-Tb6' bpctUudii ' of0 Mademoiselle
'Olahtfsleatingafforded theopporthnikybf

IdWribKiMr. BtohpHPfe; wbem to heftt jt.fe;

itf'piU (?') ; V-;:. hem Si. !

it The grand! o^(

.colic at these ooha
than it usually-lis,

wayin,public ft
never be a. Colo
then

of a certain kind asColotoi,
at them fromi

More recent

state that theSouthern1
pany consists of Miss

Shaw Cross, Sfiss fiinl

Mr. (bothers, with Mr. Goi
and Mr. W» H.

made their fintappearpnep"
the early part of last week, |i
Sunday, and Monday tbeyJt
maine. Their finnday

on which occasion Miss

Mercad ante's " Salve Maria,"
according to a local anthority, <
religions enthusiasm. Their j

eludes snch agreeable trifles to

"My New Maid,"Ronbilliard's "Ajfftjftt?
Blues," Offenbach's "Liscben sndBdta^>
with operatic and ballad Belectioha^

Goulstone, who in the bills Is :
" Professor" Goulstone, and who. I U^ l
known also as the "patriarch' piani^"^^
appears, able, while performing ^

piano, to accompany himself - '

dram,-cymbals, and triangle, I should tC
therefore, with so mnch talent r~J ■ ^
the Southern Cross Company ought JptMfe!
their mark daring their country toon n

My Sandharst oorrespondenttells uie \h»t

the Williamsons have had a genuinelystic. ■
ceBgfdl season there. "Struck Oirn'hu
sufficed for the 10 nights they faavephj^
there, and althongh the weather has bem
warm the audiences have been warmintheir
applause. Of the subsidiary parts, mention h
particularly to be made of Mrs. Wonldrfy,

who deserves a good deal of credit lor the
exceedingly natural manner in which she
fulfilled her part. The lessee of the tHhtn
produced the piece very well,' and MtsLlttle,
the>cenic artist, did his work fairly. 4h Short
engagement is to be played at Castleu^ine
commencing on Monday .night,

Mr. Stuart O'Brien informs me toat in
the Ballaiat Benevolent Asylum, theie-ut
MadameAlbtotihi, who, 15 years ago,w$ not
unknown on the Victorian stage. Shefe m
Americam and quite blind, and - is' Jtery
anxious to get back to her own coufcfay, I
ebould think it is only ueoeoqry £> mfk$ he
case known for eome of her countrymen to

supply her with the nitons ot returning;;} be.'
lieVe Mr. Williamson htaheadeda snhscrip. i
tion, so that the poor lady-may now haphlor

the pleasure of returningtoher friend? after j
her long exile. .

Messrs. Booty and Co., nf Sydney; send me

word that (dating Januwy ISjtheppetipel;
itemintheatricrinew8darin?;theprevh)ufer
days had been the first aptotoence prat & j
D. Davito, the ventriloquist; whoto ihittia
we're generally j^nounrod to -be of tfromufc ]

able Und. Mademoiselle Andrto 1 lb.'
vara, who had been iU < to : ah Alices;
in the throat.' had re-appeared on - tin
11th, and had been warmly received. _The

Hibernica (not Hiberaicon) was doingvrll at:
the Schooldf Arts, notiritiiistiuqdinji^Btto

lecture pqrtion.wae execrable,

mentth&ttbe scenic andothto appoftrttfonts
in "The' White Cat " at lh6 "VtototitPM
cast a thousand ponuds, waa, iit tougfpw&l
abit of badinagein a pnblic&tiQn whlto Sfeds
Joking? ''nothing'' (say Messrs. B.Co.)
"beyond the, ordinary weekly wnrewto tf

the theatto vms ^onb for ltl ahd/to*i»m<,
pany was reduced to eight t$S§6^SS»
peopW ihey aItoitoormmetbtt*'Hi.
John Bennett, not being the prime mow in
the costume cricket match, which wee*10^
on readipg fowpotioe m 2^Atts#ruJto»
a fortnight ago by Messrs. M^Gowanto
Simmon?, put up a tetofcto to the theatn b
opposition, and sq injured both the qiitt
and hinitolf." Theffiranis had leff to
California, and Messrs. Buckley, Holly,-wi.
LaFenillade were to follow; by the next mil
steamer. ; Hoes Towers, accompanied tf
Frank Towers, hadannbunoed sis •ngu*
ment at the Theatre Royal, iMribpiint i
commencing op Saturday,.. February

opening in -the "Waiftoitoe.Stowte."*
dramatic adaptarion, ^I believe, .uf-j &
Farjeon,s"Grif." i The Towere'e had 4on»
an unprecedented business to Ne wcasth804
Maitland, and hadgonq <P ^athorto ftoj

they opened on the lUh\ to r ?t cwy™

house.; Mr. , Wheatleigh, , , tho origind
Snorkey fn "Under the Ga^bV'to11,1
mayadd,: ithfi, btoi^Mnny Mann Jt,ewpr 't>*~
forhf^MtoMribonrnesomelSor 14 fM*
, agOr*-wa8 expected frtoq, San; JFrepcieoq,

would appear at tbe /yfrtoria to thq " i
^hepaotoprimfL r:,

" Mr. D&rreU inlorm* me that he anA M^
Bmrellhad btotrtoGrafton; and totofSAto
fied with' tbe reshit of their Visit H««U*
he had read The AustrcUaeian oontaxnidg
opinion of an Austreliap m*

f^ericendramsyjand %is,so f

si to bpfniontb tbat.tHerein'A ,

he bto rbiiuetoed toe to bdtiliBb' riie)

-lettef toi'tCilott Of bouiiteiblstt fi— '

Jibuti, IWiwtf11.

-wimwiwwTJorneoyjmiB.1i'Kiw»"-t_/0,;f)ii

9 ■»"

Mffli ftpd tnfliift mimr

S.

theaL.

bidder j^tsihubtot
' m«, *

%o my knowledge, so far as the press of
California is concerned, and to my belief also
the press of the East, ; Than the ,J3an Fran,
efecsn, Virginian, Sacramento, ,,and! Salt
Lake City critics no more fearless and in.
- —j«ni: writers exist in an^p&rt of the
thatIhavey e*visited. Kind, gtaiaL
gid nw«attmin8-the Press %» of
g^eSc 6iope-and. to the extent 6f my
EM^^weverreadyte.greet
*uo * also—ore ever%reauy wkcbbc
e^Xrarhate (tor so they 4eera us)with
o brother *iam o««r a fuilt
a
open
fjlriniu to gloss over a fault
p than magnify a defect; but they are
rather the® .nm^nuy a uowvv r vk« swj mv
not to he humbugged. Again to quote the
writer, 'I went to Booth's Theatre, and saw
BooocMlts ''Belle Lamar," and I aiid to
Xn. —, who was with. ine,'V Them pebble
~u Bum.been hissed oft , a Melbourne
'bSis Lamar,'and J saw one qf the
seised 'Belle jnamar, am & w„„ w v
hest actreases of the day (Miss Kate Rogers!
play the heroineJohn mCalloch, a popular
star tragedian, the hero; Mr. Mackay a
—«* character actor, the heavy part; mid
great character , „
fir. Ward, imported expressly from England,
toe juvenile. The rest of the cast were
picked people. Now to generalise two
A" hate the English
picked peupio% „
further quotations—' All hate the English
like poison,' and 'Acting now is. only ah
other word for millinery, and those actresses
are thought moat of who are most expen
sively attired.' Americans like glitter and
show, and insist on pieces being1 properly
set and dressed.' Why not? Are there no
' millinery stars' in the colonies ? Bat the
Americans are still more exacting. They
require talent added to dress, and to prove
this, and disprove that they 'hate the
English like poison,' Z will'in conclusion
•'«<» 'ha names of the artistes engaged at
state the names or one aruown ougngcu au
the theatres in New York at date of onr de
parture therefrom: — Booth's — Miss K.
rwora ntar. lead, and half the company
Rogers" star, lead, and hau tne company
English. Daly's—Miss A. Dyes, lead and.
third company Englteh. Union-square—-Miss
G Thompson and Mr. Robinson, star, leads,
and nearly all company English. WaJlack'g
j jj. Toole, Miss Johnstone, and com
nanv English. Niblo's—Miss Seaman and
company (to open) English. Lyceum—Miss
Neilson and leading man (to open) English.
Wood's Museum — leading lady English.
Bowery — ditto ditto. . Absolutely every
dramatic theatre in New; York with English
artistes at the fore. Californian company—
seven-eighths English. Salt Lake—ditto;
and bo on. With regard to the 'execrable
acting,'such names asCarlotta Leclercq, A.
Neilson, Kate Rogers, Charlotte Thompson,
B. Pateman—all English—Messrs. Bowers,
Cbanfrau, Booth. Mesdames Morris, Ey tinge,
Western, and a host of others—American
are sufficient to stamp the untruthfulness of
the statement. The only difficulty Anstrali&n
artists have to encounter is a feasible one.
They must be content to bide their time, and
work their way gradually to the front, and
not expect to rush at once over the heads of
those who have Bperit years in acquiring the.
fame and notoriety they possess.—I have the'
honour, Ac., " Geoboe Daebell."
I have had this week also a letter from Mr
W. B. Gill, an old and very deserved Mel
bourne favourite. He dates from Piper's
Opera-house, Virginia City, State of Nevada,
whither he wept after a seven weeks' stay in
San Francisco, where he vainly endeavoured
to get on engagement They did not know
how good pn .actor he is, or they would have
competed for him. He says
"This is a great country for stare. I
The moment an actor strikes a part
that anits his individual talents; away
he goes starring, and the consequence
is .the country is lighted up with con
stellations of all degrees of brilliancy.
Most of them work only on one,piece. Thus
Frank Mayo, who opens with'us on Thurs
day next, travels on 'Davy CrockettJef
ferson still finds the evergreen ' Rip' suffi
cient for his ends; Lawrenpe Barrett (out
side.his Sbakspeanan characters) relies on
'Rosedale;' Chanfrau, on 'HitMrs. Cban
frau, on 'Wais She Right;' Dowd Byron,
on ' Across the Continent; Clara Morris,
on 'The -Sphinx;' John T. Raymond,
on ' Colonel Sellers,' Ice, The theatre
I am in has a, succession of stars from
one year's end to another, mid the people
are so educated up 'to the system that
unless,* star's name heads the bill, they
would not support the finest stock company
that could be got together. .Travelling com
panies, witlia star 4$, the head, represent an
important L * " ' —"
--tont jinterest in the dramatic! world
here., Theyare all' monster combinations.'
If an actof is fortqnateenough to impress*
regard hifl ^rtuM.asf^^eV^He^B then to
provide himself with * stock of many
colouredpostera and a good agent, and from
that tune his v progress is a oonqneror's
sceneofMw^^^^earlierWritings, is a
wonderful place. Its mines,, chiefly silver,
are inexhauatihly proeperoqa, ana conse
quently piopey u plentiful. The larger
mines employ each about seven' or eight
hundred men, .who receive four dollars
a, day wages, . Some of the mipek
are 2,000!$. deep, and their machinery
is grand and costly. The railway,« oranch
, of the Central Pacific; is only 22 miles long,
huHnthat distance itaumounte 6,000ft. of
.. The ^inte^^qraievere^adUt (snow com
mencing. A week, ago 'to had three days';
knowing, and itwas soon more than a foot
deep on thegrqundj-! San Francisco is a find'
-taty. andit tl^ey oonld rpanage to make tee
roadawqd payemeuw even naaaablv aood. it
would
W'htedtete^ biiildings, ana
i $m|reop. ki^treu,
& -P,
T^^A^rit^ThlGonrlays, Who
i lnSanFrancisco,
cwr
fofidayTrip)?
T _ Francisco, and
. .I^O .not thhte I ;BhaU.
[hot., be oonteht until t
wklich impW^ °J
roent and^^?L=K^.'®r,,t^,si <^, *ov«h'
vial
much superior to 'Bailt on Sand' as a
whole; and Contains some scenes equate
auythiiig produced for the modern stage, In •
genuine humduTi the second scenb in the first
act isrieh;bufc it remainB for the scene
which follows to-givethe climax to the ludi
crous. Mr. Giil as a word-builder is a suc
cess. Some-of his phrases are exceedingly
rich, find -withal qnite original. In the hand!
of a superior -company, with two leading:
ladies; the coknedy Would certainly he;
a very pOpulat hnd entertaining one."
I judge iroto- some, remarks further
on- in this criticism that Mr. Gill
bad applied himself in this comedy , to
the tatk Of showing the - inevitable happiness
of wedded life.- If those who write teles.:
and plays reveal their own lives in .the
characters and situations they introduce, Mr.
tGill is to be congratulated upon enjoying an
exceptional blessedness. It will be seen that
Mr. Gill and Mr. Darrell are in accord in
their opinion upon the American character.
With reference to the Gourlays I see by
a Philadelphia paper that on November
10 they were at the old Chestnut Theatre,
and were well received. In the same city I
observe, too, that Miss Cushman, also on
that date, was playing a farewell engagement
at the Academy of Magic. A bill of the play
of November 30 has Mr. Gill's comedy for
its principal item, and Bickards and Lottie
by way of afterpiece.
Coming nearer home, I note that, on
January 5, Mr. and Mrs. Bates were playing
in "School," at Auckland, little Miss Stone
ham being the Bella on the occasion, Mrs.
Stoneham Mrs. Sutcliffe, and Mr. Hydes
Mr. Ernx. In Hobart Town, Mr. and Mrs.
CottereU's entertainment has been attended
by " large and fashionable audiences."
Mr. and Mrs. Hoskins are also at present
in Tasmania, holiday making, and varying the
pleasant time by giving occasional perform
ances, consisting of comediettas and
Shakspearian readings. On the Friday of last
week, they had the special patronage of the
new Governor, at the Hobart Town theatre.
They , will shortly be in Melbourne, en route
for New Zealand.
To-day Mr. Haselmayer leaves by the St
Ogyth for Europe.
TAHITE.
$