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The productions of liOaang-nig4,. show that the taste for Christmas
recreations, both with respect the.calertainers and the -entertained, 're- mains pretty much the setae as last year... The theatres may be similarly classed, .'not only as they are arenas for pantomime or burlesque, but, even according to the particular class of burlesque with which the public is regaled. At the summit of elegance stands, as usual, the Lyceum; where King Charming, taken by ]Mr. Planche from his wonted source the D'Anois' collection of tales, pminiseii to rival the attractions of the Island of Jewels. It must always be borne in mind what a splendid coadjutor the mane- gem of this house )cave in the person of their scene-winter, Mr. Beverley. PJ `-.may he too much. alike, jokes may grow stale, but the genius of Wverley is sivitiy*fresh and various. The Haymarket, true to its type, adheres to the "fast" school of bur- lesque, in which thelirothem Brough are now-chief workers. The story of the Calendar turned into an Ape, familiar to every reader of the Ara- bian Nights, furnishes-the theme ; which is carried out pretty accurately, though it is not one of the most felicitous that could be imagined. The -arch-acting and very clever singing of Miss P. Horton, who is after all the chief genius of Haymarket burlesque, and who on this occasion plays the dilienchanting princess, are as effective as ever ; while something of a new tone is given to this species of 'entertainnient by the introduction of a comic, wood-cutter, acted by Mr. Buckstone with farce-drollery. - The notion of turning a ballet into a burlesque, which proved so suc- cessful i1; the:case..of Kstneralda, has again been adopted at the Adelplii;' where there is a comic versima of La Fanny Elsslcr's Tarantula, written by Mr. Albert Smith.. Here the Terpsichorean talent of Madame Colette-
allOws mach-of the original ballet element to be retained. .
TheOlympie, which being under the management of Mr. Farren re- presiente the New Strand of last year is still illustrated by the.genius of. Mr: Tom Taylor; who, taking for his subject the tale of the Prince with the Long Nose, has produced a successful 'work of the school which ho himself has founded—the "burlesque with a purpose."
A pantomime of unwieldy diniensions, foimded on a story of a rebellious Alderman, but having for its ostensible liasis the nursery-rhyme which records the vast appetite of " Robin do Bobbin, the big-bellied Ben,"
is the Christmas attraction presented ,by Mr. Anderson ' - who opens the "great national theatre " Drury Lane,. with.a.companyof that delicately moderate force which distinguished his -management last year. The -Christinits wOrkis on the modern principle of- throwing as much weight as possibleinto the "introduction" ; as if that were the chief section of pantomime. . In Alonzo anfj Imagine, the Princess's pantomime, the re- verse plan is adopted; but there is a remarkable paucity.,of now jokes. At Sadler's Wells, Adtley'a, and the Surrey, pantomimes. have been produced,' ill with success. Indeed, the Surrey has; ear after year main- tained so good a position by its productions of this class, that it is a ques-. lion whether the South bank of the Themes is not more favourable than the North to the growth of harlequinade.. It may be mentioned- as a sign of the times, that in nearly all the Christ-mile entertainments this year theCiyatal Palace of Hyde Park is in- troduCed in-some shape or other. Here all theatres meet at the close of 1850, as all nations are expected to meet in the spring of 1851.
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