The Pinafore Company.

Thames Star, Volume XI, Issue 3647, 3 September 1880, Page 2

The Pinafore Company.

We hear that our neighbors of the WaikatD have become so tinctured with the Pinafore mania, that they have written to some of the moving spirits of our local Pinafore Company to see if arrangements could not be made for a performance at Hamilton in aid of some of their local charities. The writers say if the" crew " of the "saucy ship " would take themselves as far as Omahu, they would provide traps, etc., to convey them to Hamilton. We have no doubt but that the gallant crew will be happy to avail themselves of the offer when the weather is more settled, and feel certain that it would prove a great treat to our Waikato cousins. We feel an honest pride in asserting that no other town in the colony could equip and man a " Pinafore " from entirely local talent so well as we have done—even the one launched in musical Auckland was inferior to ours, although assisted by Riccardi and Hodson, both of whom may be considered professionals. It would be unfair to compare the gentlemen who sustained the parts of the First Lord and Dick Deadeye with these, but we feel we are right in saying that all the others would creditably bear comparison, while on the part of the chorus there was a marked superiority. We have already complimented the ladies and gentlemen filling the principal parts. Mrs Kilgour as Josephine was pleasing both in her style of acting and manner of singing ; Miss Coney, as Hebe, was piquant and attentive to Sir Joseph as became a young lady in love in a cousinly sort of a way ; both the ladies who took the part of Buttercup acquitted themselves well; Mr McGregor, as Sir Joseph Porter, it would be hard to find an equal; Mr Hilton, as the Captain, was capital; Mr Airey, as Ralph, sang his part well; Mr Brown, as Dick Deadeye, was good, while Mr Steward, as the Boatswain, contributed a great deal to the success of the piece. The ladies and gentlemen forming the chorus deserve especial praise for the care with which the several parts of the chorus were taken up, the harmonious blending of the voices and the wellmarked time, all gave evidence of careful training and appreciative taste for the duty intrusted to their hands. Indeed for the purposes of opera we do not think a better chorus could be got together. The greatest praise is also due to the orchestra and the conductor. In justice to the company we feel -called upon to make these remarks, and wo trust that having so distinguished themselves and displayed such hit>hclass musical ability, they will not break up, but will at once undertake the preparation of another opera to delight their friends ou a future occasion, and also to aid in furthering the best interests of our many local charities.