THE NEW " BELVIDERA."
"Silva me from my friends," should be the motto of every aspirant to theatrical fame. The trumpetings which have preceded the first appearance of Miss HUDD /MT on the London hoards, will prove highly injurious to her success ; they have excited expectations which will not be realized, and conveyed a challenge of rivalry which will ,not be justified.. _.We.are not among the blind worship- pers of -Miss FANNY KEMBLE ; but.We are convinced, that there is as little risk of her rivalling the fame of Mrs. SIDDONS or effacing the memory of Miss O'NESL, as of her suffering by comparison with her new competitor. The part of Belvidera was on Monday last chosen for the first appearance of Miss IlunnAnT at Drury Lane ; but whether chosen by the manager or the debutante, we have not ascertained: if by the former, it was well selected, for though the tragedy, however popular, is but a bad one, the character of its heroine is well calcu- lated to call forth the powers and try the judgment of a candidate. The part abounds in traps for exaggeration, and temptations to had taste : if anctress can steer clear of them, especially in the last scene, we may pronounce favourably of her discretion. But the aspirant who selects it for a first appearance is wrong—she invites direct comparison with the most celebrated names of theatrical history, and undertakes a task which only well-tried strength can support with uniform credit. Miss HUDDART'S qualifications appear to be a pretty and expres- sive countenance, a tolerably good figure, as far as an intolerably heavy and ill-made dress would allow of our judging of it, consider- able talent, and strong feeling. Judgment she may acquire—taste may be improved bf cultivation ; but the defect of her voice is, we fear, incurable—there is a constant lisp, apparently occasioned by the loss of a front tooth ; and in her higher tones, which are too frequent, she becomes inarticulate. These defects may be less evi- dent in a small house, and may have been exasperated by an over- estimate of the difficulty of filling a large one ; but unless they are overcome (the possibility of which we doubt), they will interpose in- surmountable obstacles to success on the boards of our great national theatres.
We must now, by the by, protest against the guttural growl, which all our performers are adopting as the recognized method of expressing intense feeling. We know that a painful constric- tion of the throat accompanies a paroxysm of sudden grief; but these and other pathologies are unfit for representation. We can- not tolerate, except in farce, a full course of hysterics, with the appliances of cold water and burnt feathers ; nor can we commend in tragedy the contortions and convulsions which are incident to our vile nature, but conventionally confined to the privacy of our cabinets and our bedchambers.
It may be expected that we should mention those passages in the performance of Belvidera which struck us as peculiar, either for excellence or defect. We are compelled to say, that though many points were well given, only one, the eulogy on Portia, was pre-eminent—it 'drew plaudits from very many disinterested palms. On the other hand, the-whole of the last scene, except the manner of dying, was absolutely bad. We are sorry to say this ; be- cause, no doubt, the fair debutante has been advised and believes it to be a very perfect piece of acting; but in mercy to herself we must speak the truth—if her forthcoming performance of Con- stance does not counterbalance her failure in Belvidera, she will have done ill in risking her provincial reputation by appearing be- fore a London audience.
We have now only space to say that WALLACH'S Jager was only respectable;' he could have done better. MACREADY could not have done worse. As he is among our favourites, we never wish to see his Pierre again, till he reforms it altogether.
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