Event Comment: [
The afterpiece] An
Arabian Night's Entertainment produc'd in two parts with New Scenes, Habits, Music & Decorations. Full Prices. Went off with great applause (
Cross). It is hop'd no Gentlemen will take it ill that
they cannot possibly be admitted behind
the Scenes or into
the Orchestra,
the Entertainment depending chiefly upon
the Machinery and Music. [Repeated on all
Genii Bills this season.] This new entertainment...hath fully decided
the controversy and fix'd
the superiority of Pantomime to
Drury Lane Theatre, as it had before had of almost everything else;...for beauty of scenery, elegance of dress, propriety of music, and regularity of designs, it exceeds all
the boasted grandeur of
Harlequin Sorcerer, or of any I have seen ei
ther separate or collective.
The last scene beggars all description;
the most romantic Eastern account of sumptuous palaces are but faint to this display of beauty, this glow of light, this profusion of glittering gems, which adorn
the whole, and much exceeds all expectations. I rejoice and congratulate myself that I am not of that modern way of thinking (or ra
ther seeming to think) that nothing can deserve
the epi
thet good from
their superior taste, but while I am pleased will own it, and not endeavor to gain
the character of a critick, ar
the expense of violation of my senses (
Scourge No. 14, quoted in
the Gentleman's Magazine, Dec. 1752, p. 582). Receipts: #200 (Cross)