FOLEY'S FESTIVITIES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1819, 19 April 1888, Page 2

FOLEY'S FESTIVITIES.

It is oply too often the case that publio entertainment, lavishly b Had and liberally puffed, prove public disappointnier.% because falling lamentably sh rr. cf both promise and expectation, and henoa not a few of our readers wi'l have read with some sat«sfaoiion the ot'rer day of a circus proprietor m Mexico having been fined because his show was not < qu*\ to his placards. Now and then, however, the case js reversed and the entertainment provided is not only up to hat even batter than it is described to be, and o? such oertalnly Is that afforded by Mr John Diiecoll Foley, who opened his "Festivities" at the Oddfellowa' Hall last evening. The undtonoo which, though not' co large as the merits oi the performer deserved, wr>a a fair one for an opening night, wjs kept thoroughly atausod from beginning to end, and testified by fr.-qner,t applause to Mr Foley's Buooesa m catering for their enjoyment. The first p*rt of the prngramme constated of a serie3 of seven character sketches, 5a which not only was wondarful versatility displayed, but the portraiture was la each caße excellent, and the rapidity with which complete changes of costume and make-np were effaoted w*s something marvellous. Me Foley gave to the life the typical talkative and novel-reading servant girl, a "gay" old buok of aeventy-one, an exquisite of tha la-de-dah school, an Irish peasant woman, a German uncle from der Vaterland, a bride, and a country yokel, Bccomnpanyißg his representations by characteristic dialogue and appropriate Bongs, and being equally at home m eaah character. After a short interval he appeared as the showman m the time-honored ooatume of the circus clowns, then as a masher, a Chinaman, a Scotch lassie, and an Irish " broth of a boy " m turn, anon converting himself for the nonce iuto a veritable Chinaman, complete In all details down to de tail itself— that is to say, the pigtail. He also gave a really clever ventriloqaial performance wlththe usual pairof talking figures, but with much more than usual skill, Bnd a first-class rendering of a number of favorite airs, his musloal Instrument being simply a row of ordinary brandy bottles, filled to various heJghte with water, and from which he succeeded m extracting really exquisite harmonies. Finally, m the character of a flower-girl, he gave a number of national songs and dances, and sent his audience home m high good humor. He gives, indeed, a capital evening's entertainment, and we think we may safely prediot for him a bumper house to-night.