THE JUVENILE TROUBADOURS.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 105, 7 January 1880, Page 3

THE JUVENILE TROUBADOURS.

We must'roinind our readers of the grand treat they may expect "this evening at the Foresters' Hall.' The pro- '■ press of this talented trbupe_ h.as been one geries of triumphs, ana the Press throughout the various': districts .'■'. m •which they have travelled have been ,. united m their praises of thspetU'ei artists. .As we' expect a crowded house " ire would counsel an early application for tickets. ;Writing of the performance of tbe company m general, but of the: - acting of young Salvador Parlato, . m - character of the old cobbler, -'John Stofel" m Struck Oil, Mrs. Hardinge Britten says: — " It is so difficult to . do •justice to this wonderful little creature's genius, without seeming to fall into the. the train of exnggeratceh or .interested eulogiuiu, that! scarcely like to attempt any expression of the surprise and' admiration with which I- followed thts_ child's extraordinary impersona'tio'nr His inimitable "make-up couvejifg impression of being a dw_rf of so no- . fifty or sixty years old. His admirable^. .'Dutch accent, never lost" "si-JtHb cf inrthe entire- perforiuance, his-heayy, lumpy, grotesque dancing,' his "capital rendering of "My Grandf a"£her's Clock," air took his audience captives before the close of tbw first act,, but ■when the climax of the parting' scone came with wife and child,: and. the co- . mic little hero was, by their tender care, loaded with sausages, carrots, turnips, and other vegetable provisions, for his campaign, tlie curtain fell 3u the end of the first act with more genuine^ smiles, and tears; arid more enthusi**astic applause than has been called forth by many; a pretentious star :c6n*vpany of older growth. . In thovstoliel x. drill-by which'thVaroiy officials try to convert the little Dutchmau into a soldier, iv all sorts of guard- room"" scrapes, and camp fire- songs, the boy's geiijus still carried the piece along magnifi; cently, but the climax of his. powers is. reserved for the scenes wherp aygeairiaturely aged, tattered, palsied maniac ; he wanders back to his house, arid eu&ets^-flie^thrilling transition -£ iroaj ra vIng lunacy -to the dawn of mehiory and the final restoration of conscious identity. In those most trying and patlie- * tie scenes, every gesture, every broken word, and piteous took were marked by the inspiration of true - genius and extraordinary histrioriie art; I have|myseif y,.- ; . the„hundreth ■ consecutive, night's performance of the celebrate"d~A,m«-C'ic'ai* v actor Joe Jefferson m his matchless impersonatipn of Rip Van Winkle, and -j ani confident that if that great ertist pould have watched asl did,' little ParJato's impersonation of old John Stofel he would have said, as I "thought that the child was the master of tlie man. In a word the performance was a matchless one, arid were- -it for the sake of this "ttqdern little Rose! us alone , a visit to fJie Theatre Roy alj, and ran hour Or so • spenjt with these^aEPyvp'eople would mi- . structjthe tasto, elevate the miridj ;and .-' warm the imagination o£ every spectator, young or or"6ld, who' had a mind to appreciate true genius, and a heart to sympathise with the admirably directed talents of those modest, cha'nriing and - truly gifted children. I beg to adci-I write merely" for the truth's sakei- and -the sake of the high art which these., little ones represent, being until to • night, a stranger alike.to the hianagejnent, the managers, or even the exis\enoe pf the juvenile troupe m question