 | Blue Beard |  |
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ, &c.
The Scenery by Messrs. Telbin, Cuthbert, and Assistants.
The Machinery by Mr. Strachan. The Dresses by Mesdames Glover and Bradley.
The Properties by Mr. Bradwell. The Music arranged by Mr. Tully.
The Dances, &c., by Mr. Oscar Byrne.
The Melo-Dramatists of the past century converted “Blue Beard” into an Eastern story, but every child knows that the old nursery tale, by Mons. Charles Perrault, is nothing of the sort. At Nantes, in Brittany, is preserved amongst the records of the Duchy the entire process of a nobleman (the original of the portrait of Blue Beard) who was tried and executed in that city for the murder of several wives, A.D. 1440. In accordance, therefore, with the laudable spirit of critical inquiry and antiquarian research, which distinguishes the present era, the scene of the Drama has been restored to Brittany, and the Costumes selected from authorities of the period above mentioned. But, at the same time, in order not to wound the feelings of a noble family, the last of whom has been dead scarcely three hundred years, the real name of the criminal has been carefully suppressed, and that under which he first obtained dramatic notoriety substituted.
- Dame Perroquet (a Widow Lady of a certain age—with an uncertain income, two unmarried Daughters, and two Sons in the Army) ... Mrs. Macnamara
- Fleurette (one of her Daughters) ... Madame Vestris (Being her First Appearance after her Return from America)
- Anne (the other) ... Mrs. Franks
- Joli Cœur (“a worthy and noble-minded young man,” in love with Fleurette) ... Mr. T. Green
- Baron Abomelique (surnamed Blue Beard—a celebrated Lady-Killer, who has obligingly undertaken, on this particular occasion, to sing his own March) ... Mr. J. Bland
- Page (with Invitation to the Ball à la Gustave) ... Miss Lane
- Officers and Gentlemen of Blue Beard's Household, Pages, &c.: Messrs. Hart, Kerridge, Giffin, Hitchinson, Connell, Davis, Ireland, &c.; Mesdames Dowton, Goward, Bailey, Kendall, A. Kendall, &c.
- Margot (a Waiting Maid) ... Miss A. Taylor
- O'Shac O'Back (from “the Land of the West,” Groom of the Blue Chamber, and Head Valet to the Baron) ... Mr. Brougham
- Ladies invited to see Blue Beard re-wived: Mesdames Jackson, A. Jackson, Brookes, Beresford, Norton, James, Charlton, E. James, and Ward.
- Nineteen Female Curiosities, all undeniably Good Women.
Nid, nid noddle,
Each with her noddle
Underneath her arm.”
- Bras-de-Fer (Fleurette's Brother—very Sharp Blade) Mr. Hughes
- Longue-Epée (Fleurett's Brother—very Sharp Blade) Mr. Price
Correction and Revival of Blue Beard; and Restoration of Fleurette to her “Old House at Home.”
| Blue Beard | |