OPERA HOUSE.

NZ Truth, Issue 130, 14 December 1907, Page 6

OPERA HOUSE.

"Bluebell In Fairyland." •Pollard's 'Juvenile Opera,Compariy j ■ opened its Wellington season m the-' Opera House on Saturday; evening last, the initial performance toeing the musical; dream play,: "Bluebell m Fairyland." Mr Pollard has cactitinly had no cause to complain. .c? the lack of puMic patronage, while, on the : other hand, Wellington play-goers must'vadinit' that the perforinaiicG: by the juveniles is a very meritorious one. Every night this week the: Op-^ era House has ibeeh well Jilled, and from the rise to .the .fall of/the curtain interest m Bluebell has never flagged. There is hot one dull , moment. Th 3 juveniles are so adapttd'vto their respective parts as trp induce ;.he: l;e---liet that the midgets are siia^b veterans. The performfanceis Vcriiainly an eye-opener. It 'is finished and artistic and redounds every- deserving credit to Mr Pollard's careful training of his midgets. ''Bluebell fin Fairyland" is a musical -dream play, of two acts. It deals '.with-the cross-ing-sweepers . boofablacKs and Eowec < sellers on London, the heroine of which is Bluebell, who on Christmas Eve is wafted away by fairies to the Enchanted Glade, under which sleeps the King, whom Bluebell awakes from a three hundred yearsK snooze and brings back to,his own and oasts the reigning usurpers. Then the dream ends.' Bluebell is .found' m her garret, where she is befriended by a rich merchant, „Mr Joplin, and Bluebell is happy evei: afterwards. There are plenty of eKects, the scenery, dressing and mountings are gorgeous, every attention being paid to the smallest detail. There arc plenty of musical numbers incidental to the play such;as the Kotoriiia Dutch Yodel and Clog Dance, by ■ little Ivy Aldous. "The Only Girl I Love," by .Mdss Lily Thompson ; "Won't 'You Came Out To-night ?" by -Vcra and Leslie Drummond; "Poor John," Chas. Albert ; "Why, Of Course," a topical duet by Leslie Druinmond and Bert Nicholson (the twins'Blipfo and Blob'b) ; "II I/Were You," by Mi' Ernestr Schatx ; "Good-Night," by Ivy and-Alma Aldous, ami dances of various natures. As Bluebell, Miss .Minnie Topping is very happily placed: Dickey, the crossing-sweep-er, is played with great effect by Miss' Lily Thompson, whilq Billy, |iho street arab,\ by Master Bert Nich-j ijolson.- is a charaeverisaj;ipn true to ' ■ ' „..■- '■■■): .• ':>.'^: ;; .'' . '■■'/.

life. There are lots of characters well and truly, played,- and "Bluel/ell" should hum for the remainder of the season. There is to be. a niiatinee this afternoon, and on Wednesday the latest American musical comedy, "His Highness the Bey," will be staged. . : : \