Life, 1895-10-31 · page 12 of 18
Life — October 31, 1895 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# Life Magazine Theater Review Page This page reviews the comic opera "Leonardo" by T. Pearsall Thorne, with book by Gilbert Burgess. The critic gives a mixed assessment: the music is pleasant but the libretto is weak, relying on disconnected gags rather than coherent storytelling. The cast is underrehearsed and poorly drilled. **The performers praised:** Miss Marguerite Lemon (as Beatrice) and Miss Lucille Sanders (as Lucretia) sing well. Virginia Earle (shown in the portrait as "Jimmy Corbett, Taken When Four Years of Age") performs competently as a singing comedian. **Those criticized:** Mr. Devoll and especially Mr. Aubrey Boucicault fail to deliver on their roles' potential. The cartoon "A Word of Advice" (lower left) depicts street boxing slang, advising hitting an opponent hard enough to cause disorientation. Overall, the reviewer concludes "Leonardo" could succeed with better male casting, tighter choreography, and script revision—suggesting American opera could match foreign imports.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
6¢ 7 EONARDO,” by Mr. T. Pearsall Thorne, is not by any means the ideal of comic opera. But it is better than a good many that have found a long life on the American stage. Given to it the same care and perfection of production that have been devoted to less worthy compositions, and it would furnish a pleasant evening's enter- tainment, musically, at least, It contains several clever and attractive numbers, and in spots shows originality. Lack of smoothness and continuity is its principal fault. The book of this “romantic, comic opera" is by Mr. Gilbert Burgess, and is neither romantic nor comic, especially not the latter. The librettist threads a story, and then permits the stage-carpenter or some equally qualified person to hang on a series of gags, antique, or stupid, or both, as the case may be. The cast is not a strong one, and the company is not well drilled. Its work would make the hair of a competent stage manager stand on end. Miss Marguerite Lemon sings the pretty music allotted to Beatrice sweetly and naturally and without straining after effect. Much the same can be said for Miss Lucille Sanders as Lucretia. She sings the solo in the third act with excellent feeling. In fact the honors of the production fall entirely to the ladies of the cast. Miss THE GROWTH OF GREATNESS. Jutmy CorBetrT. TAKEN WHEN FOUR YEARS OF AGE, Virginia Earle develops quite an amount of ability as a singing comedian, and makes the most of the bits of fun that fall to her share, The important part of Leonardo, with two or three capital opportunities, is not brought to its full possibilities by Mr. Devoll, although his performance is not a bad one. Mr. Aubrey Boucicault is distinctly out of his province. With a little more precision and a good deal more snap and dash put into the work of the company, “ Leonardo” would be vastly improved. With the male portion of the cast completely changed for the better, it could be made an artistic success. With the book expurgated and brightened by judicious additions it could be made to go with the public. As itis, it is far from bad. It is handsomely costumed and mounted, and in the chorus are some really pretty girls. As an A WORD OF ADVICE. entirety, “ Leonardo " goes to show that we can OCK HIM OUT WID AN UPPERCUT, JIMMY, AN’ IF IN DE EXctTe- Make operas in this country quite as good as many MENT OF DE MOMENT YEZ FINDS YEZ HAS GOT TER STRIKE BELOW PI that come to us relying on the stamp of foreign HIT SO HARD HE'LL HAVE SPAZZUMS AN’ WON'T KNOW DE DIFFER'NCE.” approval for success in America. comicbooks.com