“THE MOUNTAIN CLIMBER” AT THE COMEDY THEATRE.
Mr. Huntley Wright has so often made us happy and merry in his studies of musical comedy, under the banner of Mr. George Edwardes, that it was with feelings of deep interest that we went to see him play unmusically at the Comedy Theatre.
“The Little Father of the Wilderness,” a comedy in one act by Messrs. Lloyd Osbourne and Austin Strong, presents Mr. Huntley Wright as Père Marlotte, a Jesuit priest of the period of Louis Quinze. He has done enormously good work as a missionary in North America, and has been summoned to the Court of the flippant monarch in connection, as he presumes, with the work of his life. It turned out otherwise, however, and to his sorrowful amazement, the Little Father finds that his presence at Court is only commanded in order that he may decide a bet of the merry monarch as to the height of the Falls of Niagara. The heart-broken little priest is disappearing from the Court for ever, but for the sudden appearance of a most important Canadian dignitary, who recognises in the priest “The Little Father of the Wilderness,” and explains to the King some of the wonderful services that Père Marlotte has rendered to the world.
The sketch closes with Père Marlotte, momentarily translated to the See of Toulouse, blessing the entire company, including the King. Mr. Huntley Wright is extremely good as the Little Father, and it would be very difficult to find another part less like those in which we have been accustomed to see him at Daly’s Theatre.
Of “The Mountain Climber” we have not much to say, but all that we have to say is in praise of the performance. Any one in search of a hearty laugh should go to the Comedy Theatre “again and again and again”; for Miss Lottie Venne is playing there, and she is always worth taking a lot of pains to see, and in this production she has much to answer for. Mr. Huntley Wright as the spurious “Mountain Climber” is most actively amusing, and a great source of laughter throughout the play; but to some of us his acrobatic antics, expressive of mental distress, become somewhat upsetting, and one could have half wished that a rest-cure could have been instituted for this too highly strung hero. Mr. Wright is always funny, and we have no doubt but that a short experience of what we suppose we must style unmusical comedy will bring him to a stage of less restlessness. At any rate, even if the entertainment is now just the same as it was upon the first night, we can confidently recommend it to readers of Baily as a most amusing entertainment. And we have been told it is better than that!
“MR. POPPLE (OF IPPLETON)” AT THE APOLLO THEATRE.
Mr. Paul Rubens is a young gentleman of proved ability, and he has accomplished a feat of exceptional difficulty: he has produced a new and original comedy with music, in three acts, written and composed entirely by himself. That is a feat, but it need not be exceptional—the exceptional part of Mr. Paul Ruben’s performance is that his comedy is drawing crowded houses at every performance, and competition for stalls is quite fierce.
Mr. Popple is none other than our valued friend Mr. G. P. Huntley, very much at home in clothes of country cut and material, with fine pocket accommodation for apples and such country produce; in fact, at the finish of the play we are disappointed that he has not produced a ferret from some pocket. Mr. Popple is at home in his ulster and travelling cap, but he is certainly not at home either at the Hotel Blitz, Piccadilly, nor at the flat in Fount Street, kindly lent to him by an eminent actress, La Bolero, played by the charming Miss Ethel Irving.
And here is another important factor which makes for success, and much of the popularity of the production could be traced to the personality and charming singing of Miss Irving. Moreover, Miss Marie Illington is here with that artistic method of hers which gives point to any lines she has to speak. Miss Coralie Blythe also is good as the maid to La Bolero, and in the scene at the Motor Carnival scores a success with a song about “Bah! said the Black Sheep.”