Ixion

“‘Ixion,’ which was so successfully produced at Wood’s Museum by the Lydia Thompson troupe, is now on the bills at the Waverley, with the Willmore’s and Mr. Rogers in the leading parts, which they originally took on the first production of this clever burlesque in London. The ‘original’ representatives of dramatic characters are not always the best, but in some points they seem to be so in the present instance. It is evident that Miss Lizzie Willmore is the favorite with the audience, for her appearance on the stage is hailed every night with loud applause. She sings well, acts with both grace and vivacity, and deserves her undeniable popularity. Miss Jenny Willmore, the original Ixion, is very charming and felicitous in her part, though her style is quite different from that of her sister. Mr. Rogers makes up well as Minerva, appearing like a respectable dowager of the Middle Age; but we fail to perceive in his performance any evidences of special comic talent. He certainly does not afford in the part a tithe of the merriment that Mr. Beckett did when he introduced that astonishing creation to the delighted patrons of Woods [sic].

The minor parts in the burlesque are generally pretty well taken, and the vocal displays by Mrs. Sedley Brown, Miss Minnie Jackson, the Misses Pitt, and that excellent singing actor, Mr. James C. Dunn, are far better than those by the burlesquers at Niblo’s. In scenery, the Waverley Theatre is in quite an undeveloped state; and it has an orchestra which would be more effective if it were less noisy, for, as it is, it makes racket enough in this little house to fill the Boston Coliseum.

The language of the burlesque might be improved. Allusions to London localities like Leicester Square have no point at all here. The prevalent habit of introducing nursey rhymes is one of the most popular features of the piece, and every evening the audience are wound up to a most high pitch of enthusiasm by such inspiring songs as this:

‘How doth the little busy bee

Delight to bark and bite!

He gathers honey all the day,

And eats it up at night.’”