Puck — February 12, 1879 — page 4: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

PUCK. THE CHAPLAIN OF THE|AN ILLUSTRATED es PINAFORE. 'HE ebliedeip hls rs have already in- formed us t! tthe Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, while in that city, went to the theatre, for the first time in his white-souled life, and saw ‘‘H, M. S. Pinafore.” If this piece of news has found its way into the excellent prints above referred to, it is luite safe to assume that it is pretty well known roughout the country. Therefore our readers will not be entirely unprepared for the intelligence we are about to communicate. Knowing that Mr. Beecher ex- pressed himself highly delighted with Messrs Gilbert and Sullivan's charming operetta, it will not come upon them with an utterly over- whelming shock of surprise to learn that the Pastor of Plymouth has actually resolved upon making? it the vehicle for his first appearance upon the regular dramatic stage. That Mr. Beecher has long cherished the in- tention of seeking a wider field for the exercise of his peculiarly theatrical talents than has hitherto been afforded him by the pulpit or the witness-box, is a fact well known to many of the clerical gentleman's admirers, But we believe'we are the first to make any positive announcement of his plans and pur- Mr. Beecher has had the opera of “Pinafore” rewritten, in part. This was not alone in order that he might be suited with a more charac- teristic réle than the play in its former state could offer him; but also to enable him to re- ceive the support of a valued colleague, whose presence and codperation will cheer and in- spirit him on his début. “Pinafore” has, therefore, been so altered that Mr, Beecher finds a congenial part in Zhe Chaplain of the Finafore”; while the Mr. T. Dewitt Talmage, another reverend débutant, is well suited with an enlarged and improved Ditk Deadeye. We have enjoyed the inestimable privilege of looking over the libretto of the new “ Pina- fore;” and we are permitted to copy, for the benefit of our readers, a few of the more im- portant changes, in the bright and sparkling measures that have so completely captured the popular ear within the last few weeks. As may be supposed, the Chap/ain is the Admiral of the original score; the part in which Mr. Whiffen has made so great a hit—a hit, of course, soon to be eclipsed by his pro- spective ministerial rival. The Chap/ain's first entrance is made, as in the more familiar form, to the chorus: . “Over the bright blue sea Comes the Plymouth Pastor, H. W. B.t] Wherever he may show, The husbands for their revolvers go. Shout for a back-door key For the Plymouth Pastor, H. W. B.!" His first solo runs: “Lam the Brooklyn Basy The Pastor of the Plymouth ‘Whose beauty my panshioners’ spouses haunts— Same effect on their sisters and their cousins and their aunts!” But instead of the famous autobiographical aria: ‘‘ When I was a lad,” Mr, Beecher makes use of the music now allotted to the captain, and sings: [Song and chorus, Chaplain and crew. Cuartatn: Iam the Chaplain of the Pinafore! Crew: ‘And a right good chaplain, too! Citar.: You're very, very good, And be it understood, I preach to a right good crew ! HYDROPHOBIE. U lieu du jus divin, En guise de bon vin, Murphy (qu'on devrait pendre!) Murphy voudrait protendre Qu'il faut boire de l'eau! Nrest-ce pas rigolo ? Voila, au bon apdtre, Le Credo tout nouveau | Ce n'est, nom d’un tonneau Ventrebleu! pas le notre! Au sortir du bateau, Dégotté de tant d'eau, Noé fit la ribotte Et perdit sa culotte! Son fils, un puritai Le blagua, le m: Et pour fuir sa vengeance, Ce maudit, nommé Cham, Vint fonder A Gotham, L'ccuvre de tempérance! A votre Ruban Bleu, Je préfére, corbleu! La couleur du Bourgogne Qui me rougit la trogne! Vive le vin clairet Qu’on boit au cabaret! Et foin de ces grenouilles, A ventre de canard, Remplacant le “Pomard,” Par le jus des gargouilles! HYDROPHOBIA. \STEAD of the juice divine, In place of right good wine, Murphy (who needs suspending) Is going about pretending That water's good to drink! Now, what's a man to think? ‘The apostle of Croton sours, His creed is a quite new one, But, by the Mammoth Tun! That creed, sir, is not ours. When out of the Ark came he, Very sick of so much sea, Noah got—quite so—which is The reason he lost his breeches. His son, a heartless hunk, Guyed the paternal drunk. Then, scared by a frightful vision Of his father’s wrath, this Ham, To Gotham came, the sham, To start a Temperance Mission. But to your ribbon blue, I prefer, ‘pon my soul I do, ‘The Burgundy which causes The tint on my proboscis So, a health to the claret clear That I drink at my hostel here! ‘And fe upon these tadpoles, Who change the sweet grape’s blood, For the thin and tasteless flood Flowing round North River shad poles! B, Tam equally at home On the platform or the foam, Ur the lap of my beloved The. I never did commit— Well, 1 won t mention it; Bat I never, never spoke to Mrs. T.! What, never? No, never! @ What, never ? Well, hardly ever! He hardly ever spoke to Mrs. T. Then give three cheers and one cheer more, For the brass-bound Chaplain of the Pinafore! In the second act the duet between the Cap- tain and Deadeye is so re-arranged that now Mr. Talmage warbles to Mr. Beecher: «« Sweet Chaplain, I've important information— Sing hey! the gay Lothario that you aint, About a certain criminal relation— if hey! the Married Woman and the Saint Sing hey! the Married Woman— ‘The merry Married Woman— ‘The merry Married Womai And the Saint! Of course, the one grand gem of the per- formance will be.the Talmagized version of the immortal “ He is an Englishman,” now set for the new Deadeye’s tender baritone: Deapeve: He is a Clergyman! For he himself has said it. And it's greatly to his credit That he is a Clergyman! ‘That he is a Clergyman! For he might have been a Lawyer, ‘A Clerk or Copp or Sawyer— tish-i-ant Aub: Deaveve: Au: Deaveve: But in spite of wives and daughtcrs, Who'd lure to ther waters, He's remained a Clergyman! Au: Hurrah! For the solid Clergyman! Due notice will be given of Mr. Beecher’s first appearance. 5 = SS comicbooks.com