MASTERTON AMATEUR OPERATIC SOCIETY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4884, 23 November 1894, Page 2

MASTERTON AMATEUR OPERATIC SOCIETY.

'V i • V'- . V.. The Sorcerer.," , • ".v.; Vr'X For some time past we liave f hearing a gooddoal about, terton AmateiuvOperatio-IMsfyi:-: and have been looking fomifetot thi Society's as the majority.of those, taking van:; active part in the Society's have hot .before assisted at tflurperfdrnifttice given in Mattel's in this connection had been-' languishing in this town for a long time, until a few months ago somo movQ'.enthiisiastic lovore/;of musio;. anil jtlio', l\istrionio; a,rt-lieaded by Messrs' W. and J. Simms and Mr R.

At.Davys— l undertook tlio formation of an Operatic sjoon sue-' oeedod* in: ,mafeng a • good start. After some.consideration it ™ re-

solved' that'' "tlie" first'"production t should be "Tho Sorcerer," ono of the . now . celebrated, operas whioli, kve'ikdeP'6i|^toji^rArlhrir' speakingland;' ' was co):tainly;'a good one, for as a musical work'jt is worthy of its'composer and presents the .many ,charing : of his in? imitable inl and fine oroliestral,work,:.,The plot', too; is fanciful .and ingeniousi' and the idea of a Sorcerer running: his business on modern lines, and dealing in Tvitch'en'es,' ' curses, 'pro?-' phe.sies,.audNother ; 'uncanny things ' is certaiiily riiost.miquel'jS It must have been • very. pleasing last evening to all ■ the performers, to find the house packed in overy part, and that the first impression made on the audience, at tliei rise of the Curtain, was a good one, was demonstrated by the hearty applause so freely given. " Tlio opera opens with the chorus

"Ring Forth Ye Bolls," and the manner in wliioh it was renderedand indeed ovory succeeding chorus —showed the most careful training, and also that every individual mem-

ber was equal l to his.or lier part, and and what is a great dealmore--knew it thoroughly,. The first of the principals to appbarHvero Miss' A. Wat-

son (Mrs Partlct) and Miss 0. . Corbett (Constance, her daughter). * Both sustained; tlieir parts well, and J on.: several occasions '.earned the 2 special plaudits of theaudienco. Misjfl Watson Lnd a difficult part to pc^| form, but she carried it through wiß fine effect. ; Miss charming village maiden, and denH with her solos very, nicely.' Perhafl her ; best effort was the scene Witß the Notary (Mr A.;B. Biiiiny),'iiftcH the dreadful potion had taken and for, this she, received floral tributes from the audience. v Dr. Drily, the vicar of Plpverleigh,,' in the person of Dr, Douglas,% next to make our acquaintance, and from the'first' lio finds favor with his > audience; His fine pourtrayal of the old : rector's part is an evidence '■[ of his ability as an 'actor, and his . singing—particularly ; in tlio song : " I m engaged to So-and-so," was ; distinctly good,, v Then come oii tho'scene Sir. Marmadnke (Mr,J.;Simms) and his son, Alexis Pointdoxtre (Mr, W. Simms);a stately baronet, full of old- •; time'eoui'tesyj and his love-stricken and very, much more modorn- son,;/ To wliioh' of these two. belongs the greater credit as an actor, or which - sustained his character more faith-/, fully or more peiiMHMMp[id' other, it would bo j dom indeed—if evi&Kiis anything better been seen in Masterton, than the acting, of Mr W. Simms' with ; Aline; while his singing, particularly in the ballads "ILove that Love an4"lt.is not;love,"was indeed worth hearing, and although many: have heard Mr W. Simms before in solo and part singing, very few were j awaro of the power of his voico .and'; the command he has over it. Mr Simms'acting was really fine, and ;- his singing also gained him well-A merited applause. Perhaps his host; effort was in the duet"Welcomo ; Joy," with Lady Sangazure: at any-, - rate this seemed most to please the audience.

Aline (Mrs . J. B. Keith) follows ' thoappearanco of tho baronet and his son, and to many who had not before had tho pleasure 'of seeing this lady take part in a public pcrfor-' mance, her 1 acting and singing came as arevolution. Sheatoncowon' : tho good graces of her audience,and : . and as the piece proceeded, and she. lost the trifling nervousness, which was at first noiicoable in her man-; ' ner, she was greeted most kindly oil; all occasions, arid entering heartily,, in tho spirit of tho play, gavo a de-■ lineation of her part naturally, and in a manner most life.-liko. Her.

singiiig called forth warm applause, and many choico bouquets were thrown to heiytlius prettily marking appreciation of her efforts, .Lady Sangnzuro (Mrs ,W, Butement) is also introduced to us about this time, and a courtly dnme sho does appear. Mrs Butemonfc La's—although a comparatively new arrival in Masterton—mado,agreat. namo throughout the district as ona: of our 'finest lady singers, and last uight she ably sustained tho reputation gained. Her acting, too, was finished and natural to a fault. Almost tho last of tho principals

—bht by no means the lefist—corner Mv D, R. Robinsojjj who, under tlie guise of John TMlington Wells (of J. W. Wells ®iCo,, Family Sor> cerers), last a great hit,.f Mr Robinson was certainly tlio right J man .for .this difficult, part, and his \1 " business'' tlii-ouehout, from Va}, first appearance toliis disappearance. "It matters not to wliom or 5 ivhere," kept eVoiybody! in ' ! great merriment, 1 ' The character r; is' whiriisical' in this oxWeme, and ;; very few could deal with it as Mr i Robinson; did last evening, ThQ | pai't is certainly one of the in tlio whole cast—to leam tha palteij song 1 . alone, being quito a largs ;? enough' oi'dcv for most people; incantation Scene was a masterpiece] f! and' wtf musVagain congratulate Robirison' on liis interpretation of the]i;| pai't of John Wellington Wells! ' N J.,l'ho : ,very,;last.of tlio : principal characters to- make; audience, is an old friend in the per-- If son bf Mr A: R/'Bunny, asrthet® Notaiy ! of" the ; Village. : It is;not fiiii-prising, after liis very many years: || professional practice, that ho should} $1 have acted iiis pari W pei^ection,and; §1 simply,, could,; not have i-be'en provqd >upon. f -His 'duet with''Cbn«@| stance, (alluded: to above) was able in tho' extreme, and many other items—i e-demailded. i. ! | Kvoiy pait seems to luuo boon-',® allotted to the right ; one to &tiiiif<is it, ant] Inst, evening's, an®, unqualified ■SucMsi^nr.^ Noyiire'Thornton, 'nbtifcHifby) 'uffiijl pei-atively insisted oii his:

The costumes of tho whole cast wero nicely soloctod and most pleasinjEr, tho wholo scono harmonising well when the chorus . singors woro on tho stago. Referring to tho ohoruß, it is only fair to state that not ft hitch occurred with their work in any particular. Included in tho ranks were Mcsdames D. R. Robinson, Smythson, Edwards and A. Mutrio; Misses Casolborg, Orann, Bunting (2), Mmiro, Dcnnan, Cbamborlain.Hcsaoy, V,i3oddiiigtoU| Bockoll, Jago, Walker and Finney; Mossrs T, Hutchison, R. A. Davys, W. Sollar, W, Dougall, J. Lilly, D. Cfiselborg, J. Onsclborpf, Ij. Casclberg, n. Broad, J. Ankotoll, J, Arthur, W. Whitt, and Master A. R, Boddington, who made a most olficiont page. Coming to tho instrumental music we can only say that it would certainly be haul to beat, and clearly demonstrated that the instrumentalists, as well as vocalists, liavo beon hard at work, and aro well under tho control of Mr Geo. Gray, to whose

'.careful condnctorship much is duo, _iMr W. Ford ably presided at tho and no fault could be found with this part of tho performance, Tho other members of the orchestra woro: —Violins: Messrs J. Mowlem, C. Winchester, B. Giudors, Dupro, Hurtmann, Russell (viola), E, H. Eton (double bass), T. Gray (baritone), Geo. Gray, jnnr,, and S. Minitio (cornets), W. Jeffries (flute), and E. I/angton (drum). In conclusion, we liavo ono fault to find, although the performers nr not to hlamo for this, By some blunder a number of people were allowed to occupy reserved seats taken by others. The consequence was when tho rightful owners arrived there was some confusion, and in a number of instances a good deal of annoyance caused, The management will, wo are sure, rectify this to-night,