Whit Monday was not forgotten at the Minor Theatres, and
the tastes of the holyday playgoers were catered for in various ways.
The Lyceum provided a burlesque of Cinderella; which, as spectacle merely, apart from the pleasantries of puns and parodies, is well worth seeing. Mrs. Keeley is Cinderella; who, in addition to her two tyrannical sisters and a ridiculous father, has to endure the scolding of a shrewish mother and the annoyance of a gnome suitor, whom she draws from a well in the shape of a frog. The transformation of the pumpkin, lizards, and mice, into equipage and footmen, is effected with fairy-like art by means of a dissolving picture; and Cinderella is escorted to the ball by a troop of Amazons in golden coralets. She is detained at the ball by the fascinations of her thernon-lover, (Collier,) who mesmerizes her in a " mazourka d'extase ": and Wigan as the Prince dances a triple polka with her two sisters; who are as handsome as they arc scornful, being represented by Miss Villars and Miss Fairbrother. The Prince's ball is attended by a corps of English girls, who dance a " pas des fleurs " and " pas des moisonneurs," in imitation of the Danseuses Viennoises; and though the pupils of Mr. Frampton are not comparable with those of Madame Weiss, the effect is very pretty. The jokes are not so abundant and felicitous as in some previous productions of the same author; and the slang phrases and allusions to current topics are beginning to grow tiresome by incessant repetition : but there is plenty of fun nevertheless, and the parodies of opera and ballet are capitally done.
The New Strand reopened under new management, with a fresh com- pany led I. y H. Hall, who plays Friday in a burlesque of Robinson Crusoe.
The absence of Madame Celeste has interrupted the flourishing career of Green Bushes; and Paul Pry has been substituted for it. Wright's Paul Pry we can believe to be scarcely inferior to Liston's, as it is said to be; and the cast, otherwise effective, includes Mrs. Yates in Mrs. Glover's part of Mrs. Subtle.
Mrs. Yates's benefit takes place on Thursday next; when two popular melodramas, the Child of the Wreck and Poor Jack, will enlist the-
volunteered services of T. P. Cooke and Buckstone, in addition to Madame Celeste, Webster, and the rest of the Adelphi company, to aid the prime favourite of the " Little Adelphi."
Astley's has produced a new " equestrian drama," called the Godolphin Arabian, dramatized by Monorieff from Eugene Sue's romance of that name; and the scenes in the circle exhibit a French company of eques- trians, male and female, who polk on horseback, and perform some asto- nishing feats of agility. Sadler's Wells has also reopened, with Shakspere's playa, under the ma- nagement of Mr. Phelps and Mrs. Warner; and the Surrey has made the Old Fleet Prison, now demolished, the scene of a new drama.
But the grand attraction was Vauxhall; which yet lifts its venerable head, green with fresh-leaved trees and bright with myriads of lamps and a blaze of fire-works; having survived its threatened doom. The Hermit sits undisturbed in his cell, Neptune rides triumphant in his shelly car, and a worthy successor to the illustrious Simpson has been found in the immortal Widdicomb. The orchestra is again filled with a band of instrumentalists in cocked hats, and a party of vocalists bare-headed; the concert is followed by a ballet; fire-works from a Chinese temple and an eruption of Etna are succeeded by dancing in a Turkish saloon; and the descent of Madame Saqui on a rope is eclipsed by that of Signor Joel on a wire in the midst of a pyrotechnic halo. Last, not least in the list or improvements, refreshments are announced at " tavern prices," (queerer what tavern?) and Vauxhall slices are no longer diaphanous.
Mr. Wilson gave his first morning treat of Scotch songs this season,, at the Hanover Square Rooms, on Wednesday. In the first part, he intro- duced some songs by Burns, showing how the poet was inspired by his fond- ness for the old Scotch ballads and the airs to which they were sung; and how happily Burns and Hector M'Neill caught the spirit of them. The second part consisted of a selection from the Jacobite relics; concluding with two humorous songs, which he gives with a quiet, parody drollery, peculiarly national. Wilson's clear voice rings through this room like a bell; and to the frequenters of the fashionable haunt of florid vocalists, his easy and simple style must be an agreeable variety. The entertainment for next Wednesday includes a very choice selection of songs plaintive and humorous. The " Adventures of Prince Charlie," with the illustrative Jacobite songs, form a distinct entertainment, for the 4th of June.
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