Her Majesty's - Matsa

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Resource Text: Review
Title Her Majesty's - Matsa
Abstract/Description The golden sceptre of gorgeous pageantry asserts its sway at Her Majesty's theatre just now. Indeed, the wonderful spectacular effects of "Matsa" might almost be said to be of "such stuff as dreams are made of." Colossal sarcophagi yield up their dead in subterranean chambers; Ramases makes triumphal entry with his Jewelled guards, dancing girls, into ancient Memphis, where the sullen grandeur of the pyramids contrasts with the restless vanity of the moving throng, ballets move in a blaze of light upon which the heavens rain countless rose leaves, "mocking the air with colours," fire robed dancers weirdly light the darkened stage fairies are seen literally "winging the midway air" to join their glowing garlands in some new sphere and almost obliterating this confused recollection of dazzling animation rises the memory of the one sublime scene of the new piece. It is the one in which tombs and temples are swallowed up in the deepening waters of the Nile, until only a few lofty monuments are left standing darkly out against the light of the full moon that shines over the vast expanse of the relentless flood. This great tableau, perhaps the finest Mr George Gordon ever painted, may have been slightly inspired by Karl Heffner's " Desolation," as the Bavarian artist's immortal view of the Roman Campagn has some points in common with this beautiful inundation scene. It was one of several pictures in the new extravaganza which excited the enthusiasm of the immense audience that crowded every part of Her Majesty's Theatre on Saturday. The general verdict seemed to be that no piece had been more splendidly mounted by Messrs Williamson and Musgrove during the long period of their career as theatrical managers in Australia.
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Source Sydney Morning Herald, Charles Kemp and John Fairfax, Sydney, NSW, 1842
Item URL
Page 7
Date Issued 1 March 1897
Language English
Citation Her Majesty's - Matsa, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 March 1897, 7
Data Set AusStage
Resource Identifier 55135