Show S OLIVETTE S l The ComleyBarton Opera Troupe made its first appearance at the Theatre last night and was welcomed wel-comed by a large and appreciative audience The performance of Oli vette was an unquestioned success but did not show the company at their best not that the piece was lacking in sufficient scope to give the artists oppodunity but that after a long journey they were all more or less fatigued and could not play with that vim and verre of which they were I evidently capable The fault was S the piece seemed to move rather slowly and had it not been for the comedians the piece would possibly have been flat But John Howsonal ways a favorite here is now even amore a-more finished actor a more consummate consum-mate master of the art of provoking laughter than hewas before During Dur-ing the years of his absence he has made marked imDrovement Mr Digby Bell is also a finished comedian comed-ian though his style is entirely different dif-ferent from that of Mr Howson He certainly shared the honors of the occasion Miss Jansen as Olivette flas charming charm-ing It was evident that she was tired not only physically but that her voice suffered from the fatigue She was however a favorite fa-vorite from the start and gave the part with a spirit that showed a clear conception The lady who playe the Countess has a rare voice powerful and deep and very expressive and she used it with a good effect Mr Campbell has been here before He plays well and sings nicely but he is neither a star nor a fine tenor The choruses were i full and strong but lacking in male voices However the array of finelyshaped and wellfilled tights compensated for any defects in the direction referred tr One marked feature of the performance was the elegance and completenes of the costumes cos-tumes They were rich and elegant and added nota little to the general i effect The orchestra under the direction di-rection of Mr Alfred Cellier a noted director was enlarged but not so large as it was desired should be present but they were unable to get any more instruments though money and every other inducement was offered The orchestra nevertheless never-theless acquitted itself most creditably credit-ably As before stated the performance per-formance was an unquestioned success suc-cess cessTonight they play Patience or Bunthornes Bride the satire on cestheticism which will be more fully appreciated since the appearance appear-ance here some weeks ago of the Oc Wilde The EecordUnion says of this very recent performance and this piece in Sacramento The ComleyBirton troupe last evening to a fine audience played and sang Patience It was admirably ad-mirably presented and the audience gave a pronounced and unhesitating verdict of approval Mr Howsons make up as Oscar Wilde excited ex-cited the mirth of the spectators Miss Jansen Miss Joyce and Misses Wills and Lascelles with Hoyson Campbell Bell Frear and Cripps had the leading parts and were especially happy in them The chorus was in no respect b hind in the general succes and received warm commendation Patience is one of the rarest satires and its wit is as keen as trebly tempered blades Musically it is filled with gems that are as pleasing as they are light Very much of the success of the troupe here is due to the excellent ex-cellent drill of the company and the admirable stage business of the women of the troupe Mr Barton is probably entitled to the credit for bringing the company on to the Metropolitan stage with its poor accommodations ac-commodations with the nicety and exactness that has marked all the details but this has prevented his appearing in any of the operas given here |