OPENING OF THE WINTER THEATRES.
TIME was when the opening of "the Winter Theatres," as the two Great Houses were styled par excellence, WIIS an event in the theatrical world, and was ushered in with all due pomp and circumstance. Ru- mours of the novelties prepared for the season floated in whispers about the town ; anticipatory opinions of the merits of the new actors and actresses were listened to with deep attention ; and the question of the relative strength of the respective companies was discussed with great gravity in every circle. But now, the Big Houses fling open their doors as a matter of course, and the public feels very little inte- rest in the circumstance. A faint demonstration of novelty is made by the name of no extraordinary actor or actress, printed in large capitals at the foot of the bills ; which with this exception present a counter- part of those of the previous season. The old dull round of "stock pieces," respectably cast, forms the staple commodity, with the addi- tion now and then of a new farce and a gewgaw spectacle. Not so the Little Theatres. The Adelphi and the Olympic have furnished us with abundance of novelty, at least; and were filled to overflowing on their opening night.
Anticipating some of those awkward hitches which generally occur in the working of the machinery of a spectacle on a first night, we receives eschewed the Adelphi on Monday, and repaired to the OlYmpiee
tit the trio of new builettas which VESTRIS treated us with, the first a vaudeville, entitled the Loan of a Lover, is by far the best, and will be an established favourite. VESTRIS personates a Dutch girl; and very pretty she looked in her figured gown and close cap with deep lace border, and the gold head-bands and trinkets of the Dutch pea- ants. No actress, perhaps, has appeared in a greater variety of cha- racters and costumes than VESTRIS, though she has abundant scope for fresh ones yet ; and no one becomes them better. She looks "native and to the manner born." So habituated, indeed, is she to suit the ac- tion to the nature of the characters she assumes, that when she stood forward at the head of her corps to sing " God save the King," as usual on the first night of the season, she instinctively displayed, in the leavings of her bosom, the palpitations proper to a debutante in the character of Manager. But this by the way. The incidents of the Loan of a Lover are brought about by the ingenious arts of Gertrude, the Dutch girl, to draw forth a declaration of love from Peter Spyk ; rich, spruce, sober, but very stupid little Dutchman, who is in love a;ith her without knowing it. KEELEY is his representative ; and the simplicity with which he asks Gertrude's opinion of the merits of the several young girls of their acquaintauce—his perplexity when she finds some objection to every one—and his utter unmindfulness of the 'charms of his pretty little counsellor, and disregard of her hints that the very person he asks her to look out for is before him—contrast most amusingly with his amazement when he afterwards learns that the is going to be married to another ; his rage when he sees suitors coming to her from every side ; and his chagrin and despair at not flailing out until too late that he was over head and ears in love with her himself. Happily for poor Peter, however, Gertrude, though a clever girl, is no coquette; and having frightened her dull swain into his senses, she returns the lover she had been lent by her young Lois- tress (who has too many), and makes little Peter Spyk happy. The archness and naivete of VESTRIS—her rusticity of manner (her speech was too studiedly fashionable)--and the delightful way in which she sang the little songs allotted to her, especially one, the burden of which was " I'll marry him to-morrow ; " and the excessive drollery of KEELEY—would have made a less clever production successful. The piece which followed, entitled A Little Pleasure, has very little to recommend it, besides the excellent acting of Mrs. ORGER, as
a pert, hustling, and curious chambermaid. Indeed, it would almost seem to have been got up for the mere purpose of introducing a counter- part of a certain Count of rifle-shooting celebrity, in the person of
Mr. Fitz Flash, a coxcomb and lady-killer, who is also represented as a bully and coward. We do not suppose any personality was intended beyond the costume; but the resemblance in that particular, even to the flourishing black whiskers, was not to be mistaken by any one who has ever seen the original ; and as he was among the audience on Mon. day, the likeness might have been recognized. Henpeck, the citizen who is in search of a " little pleasure," as played by KEEI..EY, had also the air of being a portrait : but there was nothing offensive in this cha- racter. Vssvais is in danger of losing the favour not only of her fashionable supporters, but of the right-thinking portion of her audi- ences, by such deviations from her usual good taste.
The third novelty, also a vaudeville, entitled My Friend the Governor, is written by Cuanses DaNce, the author of the Water Party and other pleasant Olympic buriettas ; to which, however, this one is very inferior. LISTON is the bets); and the fun consists in the agony which he endures when he is made to suspect that the favours heaped upon him by his " friend the Governor" are the price of his wife's infidelity, —until he discovers that the Governor's delinquency is limited to the crime of having caused his ruin by stealing limn him a bag of gold, and that the honours and rewards now bestowed on him are amends for that wrong. The jeelous alarm of the husband was only innusieg from the force of association : it would be almost impossible to help laughing at seeing Lima really indignant and agitated ; and admirably as be de- picted the rage and anguish of the supposed injured husband, one could only fancy it a burlesque, because the actor was LISTON : yet his acting in this instance was no more ludicrous in itself than the circumstances and situation of the character rendered it. The Spanish costumes in this bairletta are very rich and characteristic. Of the two flew debutantes, Mrs. MACNAMARA is a capital terma- gant ; and Miss PAGET a passable walking lady."
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