MR. MASSETT'S ENTERTAINMENT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume II, Issue 609, 15 April 1878, Page 2

MR. MASSETT'S ENTERTAINMENT.

Seldom indeed are the public afforded an opportunity of passing a couple of hours in a more pleasant manner than they were at the Masonic Hall on day evening, when Mr. Stephen Massett gate one his. pleasing entertainments to a very fair attendance. From first to last Mr. Massett succeeded in riveting the attention of his audience in a manner but rarely attained by persons who undertake the arduous task of giving an entertainment unaided. We have seldom mot with a public entertainer who to such a degree of perfection possesses the power of passing with such ease and grace " from grave to gay, from lively to severe," as does Mr. Massett. His pathos is of the most exquisite tenderness, and capable of bringing into full play the emotions of his audience, while his humourous powers are of the broadest and most mirth-pro-voking description. Amongst the more pathetic passages recited by Mr. Massett, we may mention the " Death of Poor Joe" and the "Death of a Little Shoeblack," both of which were rendered with such an amount of feeling as to perfectly enchant the audience. Nothing could have easily surpassed Mr. Massett's rendering of the beautiful language of these two little gems. He was equally successful in his rendition of " The Beggar and his Dog" and "The Dame with the Camelias." His reading of the companion poems " Betsy and I are Out" and " How Betsey and I Made Up," both of which contain a veiy considerable admixture of pathos and humour, drew forth bursts of applause from the audience. Mr. Massett is an accomplished mimic, and treated his audience to some admirable imitations of the voices, attitudes, and peculiar mannerisms of several notable personages, many of whom were known to some of those present. His imitations of Madame Anna Bishop and the Rev. Charles Clarke were wonderfully correct, while that of | Artemus Ward, accompanied by the great American humourist's description of his experiences amongst the Mormons, was droll in the extreme, and elicitedroars of laughter. -He also possesses considerable control over his features, and adapts facial expression to almost everything he repitea, and this lends an additional charm to his recitations. More especially is this wonderful control of features noticeable in the comic portion of the entertainment. During the evening Mr. Massett sang a couple of ballads in such amanner as to enlist warmapplause. At the conclusion of the entertainment, Mr. Massett announced that, in compliance with a very generally expressed wish, he would give auothe? outertainment this evening. We hope to see a crowded house.