(_By a Commoner of the Nation._)
As licensing day was approaching, I thought it my duty to visit the
Empire Theatre of Varieties in Leicester Square, so that if needs be I
could appear as a witness either for the prosecution or the defence. I
am happy to say that my expedition has put me in a position to join the
garrison. From first to last--from item No. 1 to item No. 10--the
entertainments at the Empire are excellent. And in the general praise I
am able to include "Living Pictures," which are all that even an
archbishop could wish that they should be. But the chief attraction of
the evening is a new _ballet divertissement_ in one tableau, called _On
Brighton Pier_, which has evidently been put up to teach the members of
the L. C. C. how much better things are done in the Sussex watering
place than in the great metropolis. According to "the Argument," when
the scene opens, people are promenading in the sun, and "some gentlemen
bribe the bath chairmen to give up their places in the evening so that
they may flirt with the girls accompanying the invalids." But possibly
as an afterthought this was thought a little too strong for the Censor
of Spring Gardens. I found the "gentlemen" (most of them in high white
hats), and then I discovered the bath chairmen, but there was nothing to
lead me to believe that the connecting links between the two were
bribery and corruption. In addition to this _plat à la Don Giovanni_
there were an _entrée_ in the shape of a gathering of schoolboys and
schoolgirls, a _soufflé_ in some military plus naval drill, and a _pièce
de résistance_ in a change of scene from the deck of the Pier to the
depths of the sea beneath it. And here let me say that I use
_résistance_ in a purely culinary sense, as nothing could have worked
more smoothly than the transformation.
[Illustration]
Madame KATTI LANNER, by whom the ballet has been invented, is a past
mistress in the art of concocting terpsichorean trifles, and never
admits any difficulty in combining the poetry of fancy with the
actuality of fact. In her latest production she finds that after a while
a change of scene is necessary. The public, after admiring the
refreshment stalls and the distant view of the Grand Hotel, want
something more. Certainly, why not? The daughter of an American
millionaire, who has met a rather effeminate gentleman for the first
time, overcome by the heat, falls asleep. Then, to quote from "the
Argument," in her dream she sees sirens and sea-nymphs, led by the
_Queen Coralie_ (Signorina BICE PORRO), unsuccessfully attempt to lure
away her lover, but--awaking from her sleep--the vision disappears, and
she finds him at her feet. All this was very pretty, and the scruples of
the L. C. C. were considered by the lack of success of _Queen Coralie_
to shake the swain's fidelity to his betrothed. Although evidently
interested in the dances of the sirens and sea-nymphs--in spite of their
treating him with little or no attention--he was _ultra_ discreet in
making the acquaintance of her submarine majesty. When the Queen stood
on one toe he merely accepted her invitation to hold her hand, and thus
enable her to revolve on the tip of her right toe--but went no further.
And really and truly, as a gentleman, it was impossible for him to do
less. At any rate his conduct was so unexceptional in _Grace Dollar's_
dream, that his _fiancée_, who, according to "the Argument," had had "a
slight quarrel with him," immediately sought reconciliation. Besides the
submarine interlude, _On Brighton Pier_ has a serious underplot. _Senora
Dolares_ (Signorina CAVALLAZZI), who has been searching all over the
world for her daughter, who had been stolen from her ten years ago, is
personally conducted to the pleasant promenade off the beach. Husband
and wife seemingly spend the entire day on the Pier. They are here in
the morning, in the sunshine, and here when the variegated lamps are
lighted at night. The Senora is pleased at nothing. She regards the
vagaries of a negro comedian with indifference, and does not even smile
at the gambols of a clown dog. Suddenly a girl called _Dora_ appears.
And now once more to quote the Argument. "_Dora_ plays upon her
mandoline some melody the _Senora Dolares_ recognises. She quickly asks
the girl where she first heard it; and _Dora_ says that a lady used to
sing it to her in her early days and that the same lady gave her a
cross, which she produces. The Senora, by means of the cross, recognises
in _Dora_ her long-lost child. Amid great excitement she leads her
tenderly away [in the direction of the Hotel Metropole], and, after some
further dances, the curtain falls." Nothing can be prettier, and more
truly moral, than _On Brighton Pier_. I can conscientiously recommend it
to every member of the L. C. C.; some will smile at the eccentric dance
of _Major Spooner_ (Mr. WILL BISHOP); others will grin at the more
boisterous humour of _Christopher Dollar_ (Mr. JOHN RIDLEY); and all
must weep at the depressed velvet coat of _Don Diego_ (Mr. GEORGE
ASHTON), the husband of _Senora Dolares_, in search of a (comparatively)
long-lost daughter. Judging from the reception the ballet received the
other evening, I fancy that _On Brighton Pier_ will remain on London
boards for any length of time.
[Illustration: "I can conscientiously
recommend it."]
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