(gruttro.
We have already taken a survey of the various entertainments with which the Christmas of 1850 has been solemnized; but one of them is se- very admirable as a work of scenic art, that it deserves a few words more.
We mean Xing Charming, the Lyceum burlesqne; which Mr. Planelre- has founded on the Countess d'Anois's tale L' Giseau Bleu. This story, setting forth the devotion of a lover to his mistress even after a malig- nant fairy has transformed him to a bird, is one of the prettiest in the fanciful collection from which it is taken ; and it has been worked with equal tact and accuracy by Mr. Planehe. The incidents offered to him were various and striking ; and he has made use of them all in the best possible manner, so carefully following the thread of the story, that the student of fairy lore will be -delighted to see one of the pleasantest trea- sures of his memory brought in a visible shape before him without omis- sion or adulteration. The only improvement we would counsel would be a shortening of the incidental ballet, which has nothing to do with the plot, and it is too long. Mr. Beverley, who is not only the first scene-painter of his day, but is. a consummate master in the art of applying machinery to the production, of picturesque effect, has this season surpassed himself. An humble- looking plant, which expands into a pavilion, peopled with children and surrounded by more mature beauties, is an enlargement or rather a mul- tiplication of the principle employed in the faked of Jewels, and presents one of the most magnificent coups d'ceil that can be conceived.
Elegance is aimed at far more than humour by the author and the cha- racters of the piece. Indeed, the same tendency has now been marked se long in Mr. Planche, that it would be no marvel if in a Christmas or two- the burlesque element with its modern allusions faded away altogether,. and left a versified fairy drama, equally distinct from the modern parody and the prosaic supematuralisms of former days. There is this advantage in regarding a fairy tale with a semi-serious disposition, that if laughter is missed, the attention of the public may be riveted by the interest of the story. And, after all, burlesque "fun" is subject to two perils : if allusions are made to the political and commercial topics of the day, the chance is that the subject is already worn out by Punch; if on the other hand the dissipations of London life are too constantly brought forward, the audience will at last declare, by a yawn, that all human interest is not centred in the Cider-cellar or the Casino.
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