H.M.S. PINAFORE."

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 3020, 4 October 1888, Page 2

H.M.S. PINAFORE."

The Mastorton Philharmonic Society;!, had-a-capital .audiencetor their.■','. third performance.at the Theatre .'. Royal last evening, all parts of tho '■■."■ ■:/ house being well filled, : ; rAfter^a :; brilliantly played overture the curtain ; J ; . rose! and amid loud iplaudits, ,disv; »':.- closed the quarter deck' bt H.MiS.v \ ?. ■ Pinafore, as delineated■hyfoiirlcleyej. } ■■■ \ localscenio artist, ,: ;■ The opening oli6rusiWn^fff-%efli ',.- :■ tho picturesque. nautical members 'beirig^muohVad*^ ■:.-'- ;■; mired,; Then. Riverton) came on board^ndliyenedy things up a little. ;A; v tlie enjoyment, of the evening was: duo to tbjß sprightly maimer in which'; : ';; this part'was taken. The aoting.was .undoubtedly, tame in some oharao'tors, and the audience was all the more grateful to Buttercup., Mr E. o,'Ooloman as "lialph"strengtlienod , the piece by.his faultless yocahzation, ' and his careful and correct studyof ■/■■■' ' his part... He was well supported,; too,. by having as the heroine , (Mrs G. Hooper) a finished actress, and an accomplished singer. These two parts wero decidedly above the ' ordinary level of amateur representation. ' Mr Rowe aohieyed a marked success as. the admiral, Hois a clever self-possessdd- actor, and • : well deserved the large meed of " praise and admiration that foil to his . share. Mr Gaskill was a capital '' Dick Deadeyo," but he had to" pull against the stream," in Laving-to play to an audience whioh appeared afraid to laugh. - Occasionally it happens that an audience does not thaw very rapidly. This was the case last evening, and the.rosult was that the acting was depressed in the first partof the entertainment, butiuiproved vastly as the evening proceeded. Mr S. H. Wickerson sustained his part as Captain Corcoran very creditably, and- participated with Mr Gaskill in the only genuine encore awarded throughout the entertainment. Jhera ought to have been more redernands, but the fault lay with the audience, MrW.Mooroas the Boatswain sang and played well, boing-free from the diffidence and - hesitation which frequently mars an amateur delineation.! The .sisters, ■■■ cousins, aunts, sailors, marines, etc, ' worked well in their respective parts, . but occasionally displayed that nervousness and lack of confidence which is not unusual in a first representation of a new piece. In the second acta song, "The Midshipmite," from Mr H. W. Jaokson was loudly applauded, and step dances by McssrsGaskillaudGranthain brought down the ihouse. Too much praise cannot be given to Mr A. von Keisen- • berg, the bonduotor, who has succeeded iii obtaining an almost perfect orchestra. The, servioes of Mrs Paige . as pianist, too, are invaluable in this department. To the stage manager, Mr Gant, is of course duo the oredit of the excellent stage arrangements, v and the improvement perceptible in the acting oapaoity of several members of the Sooiety. Mr Gant's ' efforts were woll seconded by Mr Bradbury, whose scenio effects were quite a.feature iri the programme, and wore reoognised by a call before, the ■curtain. .-•■ We trust to see a good house to-morrow evening, when " Pinafore" will for the last time bo placed before the Masterton public by tho Philharmonic Society,

The First Ordeal. ■ There lmvo been many instances which go to provo that a young , soldier ought not always to bo hastily ■ tacrificed for flinobing in his first engagement. Upon one ocoasion, during a desperate assault in whioh the attacking column was under a withering fire, I saw a company oflicer desert his men, and run to the roar as pale' as a corpse, trembling liko an aspen, the picture of an abjeot craven. He oven tore off his shoulder straps that ho' might not be rocognised as an officer. He heeded neither urging or threats,; he was past all shanio;ho was absolutely ' domentod. It was tho moro distressing because he was a man of ■ great intelligence and possessed of many good qualities. When the engagement was over, the only question seemed to be whether he should be cashiered or shot; but he begged so bard of his commanding officer to give him another trial, to grant him ono more ohanco to redeem himself from disgrace, and gavo such earnest pledges for his future conduct, that he was finally released from custody and allowed to go m\o baltlo again with his company, He fulfilled his pledges most religiously. Whorevor thore was danger he could bo seon in the very midst of it;. hiscoudaot in every subsequent fight .was • that of a hero; and he was' finally ■ promoted to tho rank of a field officer, : He had effaced the blot from his escutcheon. The man was no coward at heart; he had for tho mppitj in army parlance," lost hit grip" under that first murderous fire, ',■ '■•"'.'.-. Boucicault, in his play called tho ' " Eelief of Luoknow," introduces the character of a young English officer fired with professional ambition, who has just joined the servioo, and finds himself in.tho belcagured city, sur-' rounded by robels, He is ordered to make his through the enemy and carry a message to ttib column advancing to the garrison's relief; but his heart fails him.hisc'ouragodesorts him, and he turns back and stands before a brother officer a miserabjo poltroon. This officer brings him to a realising sense of the wretphed position iu Y/hioli he has placed jipsolf, ' and prooures him an opportunity. wipe out, his disgrace. -He embrace? v ':*.'.t it, and afterwards becomes;ipne))f thp I J; :'X S most heroic 'figures in the '="! : 'l conversation'with ;''j' \ £ once asked him sMneL:':, Fv; }, was founded on fact, .'Ho.saidit.waS; ■ 'f% not, that he had mtroducedth_e:inoi- <±Ms dent merely because he dramatid, and eoinowhat in a military. , play. 'l.then told him ! the. stpjy . related,aVove,'abput the company oiljporwhpso nerves were unstrupg hi hi's'first encounter with danger; as ;.-• c'obfii'matiVe of the truthfulness : • ■ ; ' whioh:the.'distiriguißhed author had held the-ipirrbr up to NaturV : m hie.,. admirablemilitatydraroi. I '. :!:'-.'"■■'■: :>>