ENTERTAINMENTS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2238, 15 November 1907, Page 2

ENTERTAINMENTS.

“BLUEBELL IN FAIRYLAND.

Mr. Pollard is nothing if not- thorough, and in “Bluebell in Fairyland” he promises .something better than, he has ever given’ us before. The opera, is brilliantly speotacular, quite pantomimic in its scenic splendor, and the thirteen scenes into which the two acts are divided mlay truthfully be described as . thirteen works of iart, many of these of exceptional beauty. The scenes in fairyland, of which there are several, excel anything which Mr. Pollard presented, in tho days of yore,, and tho grand finale, “The Oiity of Gold,” is well entitled to rank as one of the most gorgeous spectacular triumphs over achieved on the New Zealand stage. Tho plot is a pretty conception, in. sentiment reminiscent of “The. Christinas Carols,” and around the simple story of tho poor liittlo flower girl there is weaved a veritable wealth of fairy-like splendor.' Bluebell is a flower girl in tho streets of London, a sweet, uncooitaminated blossom of the slums. She •has hucl a luckless Christmas Eve, her fragrant posies languish unsold in her basket, and tired, weary, and .disheartened she bewails, not her own misfortune, but the disappointment of her two tiny sisters in her attic.home, for whom there can bo no happy Christmas. Her fate is interwoven with that of “Dickie,” a nagged, but true-hearted little cross-ing-sweeper with a generous sense ot humor and a high sense of honor. 11l the depths of her despondency she ■meets a guardian angel in the person of a beneficent old gentleman, a bachelor, whose pleasure it is to go .about distributing his wealth among the poor and needy children of the streets. He gives her a sovereign and, filled with the joy of being able after all to give little Winnie and Mab a good time, Bluebell runs home to the attic. . There, after assuring the children that Santa' Claus will surely come, and while reading them a fairy tale, she foils a Sleep on the floor and dreams the beautiful, dream which gives to the,stage story (its fascinating e lenjo!it of fairy-like romance. Of course everything ends happily, as it should do, but the working out of the _ theme affords ■ample scone for the display of stagecraft of the highest order.. And that is where Mr. Toni Pollard comes in, ■as of old, alifl reveals his genius for organisation, and, shall we say, for inspiration. We think we may fairly use the word, for the army of bright-faced children he has got together appeared to he. inspired with all the zeal and enthusiasm of the veteran manager, himself. - What a talented company they are, to be sure! Ability is conspicuous everywhere, and mediocrity is nowhere in evidence. The plans are now on view at Mr. Miller's.