Event Comment: DDaily Advertiser, 26 Feb.: We are inform'd that last Night a new Entertainment, call'd Harlequin Student...was rehears'd at the late Theatre in Goodman's Fields, when several Persons who were present generally concurr'd in Opinion it had the Preference of any yet perform'd there, and more particularly that Part of it in which the Monument of Shakespear is introduc'd

Event Comment: A New English Opera. [By Lewis Theobald.] Set to Musick by Mr Galliard. Boxes 8s. Pit 5s. Gallery 3s. We are oblig'd to being exactly at Six, some of the Performers being afterwards wanted at the other Theatres

Event Comment: HHeidegger gets a new leave and license to perform operas at Haymarket Theatre from 8 Dec. 41 to 30 Oct. 45.-Deutsch, Handel, p. 526, from public Record Office L. C. 5@161, p. 97

Event Comment: A New Oratorio. Tickets will be deliver'd to subscribers (on paying their Subscription money), this day, and every day following at Mr Handel's in Brook Street, near Hanover Square. Attendance will be given from 9 o'clock in the Morning till Three in the Afternoon. Pit and Boxes to be put together and no persons to be admitted without tickets, which will be deliver'd that day at the Office in Covent Garden Theatre, at Half a Guinea each, First Gallery 5s. Upper Gallery 3s. 6d. N.B. Each subscriber is to pay Six Guineas upon taking out his subscription ticket, which entitles him to three Box tickets every night of Mr Handel's first six performances in Lent; and if Mr. Handel should have any more performances after his first six nights, each subscriber may continue on the same conditions. The Gallery will be open'd at Four O'Clock. Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Six o'clock. [These notices concerning price, subscription, and time of performance recur regularly, but will not be recorded further here.

Event Comment: Announced only as A New Sacred Oratorio. [First London Performance.] See Universal Spectator, 19 March, for emphatic objection against performing oratorios in theatres

Event Comment: In a short time will be perform'd at the Theatre in the Hay-Market, a Concert of Music; and the Tragedy of Othello, Moor of Venice. The character of Othello will be new dress'd agreeable to the Manner and Custom of his own Country. As both these entertainments will be perform'd by a set of Gentlemen for their own Diversion, no Money will be taken, nor any person admitted but by printed Tickets; which (by order of the Gentlemen) will be deliver'd gratis by Mr Machlin, at his House in Bow-Street, Covent Garden; where Ladies, by sending their Servants, may take Places for the Boxes.--Daily Advertiser

Event Comment: We hear, that on Saturday last an entirely new Scene of the Temple of Gloryv was shown for the first time in the Opera of Alceste, which as it excell'd everything of that kind for its Magnificance and Elegancy hitherto exhibited in any theatre, so it met with an universal Approbation from a numerous and polite Audience.-General Advertiser, 4 June

Event Comment: The Proprietor of Drury Lane Theatre having receiv'd letters from several Gentlemen pressing him to revive the Tragedy of King John; to comply with this request (as he shall always make it his business to oblige the Publick) he immediately put the play in rehearsal; but upon information that the author of a Play on the same subject, had insinuated that this was calculated only to prejudice him, the Revival was intended to be deferr'd till the run of his play should be over; but upon perusal of the Bills he finds this is no Alteration, as was thought, but a new Tragedy founded only upon that plan; therefore in compliance with the above request, and at the same time to take off all imputation of an injury to this author, the Proprietor has deferr'd the bringing it on till Tuesday next, the day after the author's benefit, when will be exhibited the Historical Play of King John, as written by Shakespear

Event Comment: [This Pastoral Serenata first appeared 21 March 1744 at the Crown and Anchor in the Strand, qv. At that time Beard, Savage, Mrs Clive and Miss Edwards sang in it.] By Subscription for three nights will be performed an English Pastoral Serenata, set to Music by Mr DeFesch. Pit and Boxes laid together at 5s. First Gallery 2s. 6d. Upper Gallery 1s. 6d. On the 20th of March and 3rd of April will be performed a New Oratorio call'd Joseph, also set to Music by Mr DeFesch. For the encouragement of such persons as shall please to favour Mr Defesch by subscribing one Guinea, they shall be entitled to six tickets, each of which will admit one into the boxes, or Two into the Gallery. Nobody to be admitted into the boxes without printed tickets, which will be deliver'd at the theatre. Subscriptions to be taken till the 5th of March, at Mr DeFesch's at the sign of the Angel and Trumpet, in St. Martin's Lane, at the Bedford Coffee House, Covent Garden; and at Mr Page's Stage Door-keeper. To begin at half an hour after six. This day is publish'd Papal Tyranny in the Reign of King John. [No price given, but the 1st edition lists it as 1s. 6d. Watts would have had to sell about two thousand copies to cover his investment in copyright and printing costs.

Event Comment: Benefit Mr Dove and Mrs Dove. Boxes 3s., Pit 2s., First Gallery 1s. 6d. Upper Gallery 1s. [Theatre designated as the Late Wells in advance notices; as the New Wells on the day of performance.

Event Comment: Benefit T. Cibber?. Afterpiece with a variety of songs adapted to the several characters. The Music entirely new, composed by Lampe. The songs are printed and will be deliver'd gratis at the theatre

Event Comment: A concert, etc. [repeated in all notices for this theatre]. Benefit George Pinner. 6 p.m. 2s. 6d.; 2s.; 1s. At the New Wells, Mayfair

Event Comment: The Subscribers to the Opera are desired to take notice, that upon Saturday Morning Next, there will be a general Rehearsal of the New Opera call'd Anibale in Capua, upon the stage of the king's Theatre in the Hay Market, agreeable to the printed proposals. The Doors will be open'd at Ten, and the Rehearsal will begin at eleven precisely. No person whatever to be admitted without a subscriber's ticket. Attendance will be given this and every Day 'till the Operas begin, at the Office in the Haymarket, from ten in the Morning, till three in the Afternoon, in order to take in Subscriptions, and deliver out tickets.--General Advertiser

Event Comment: TThe Suspicious Husband deferr'd by Garrick's Indisposition [repeated in the bills]. From The Museum, or Literary and Historical Register, No 25, 28 Feb. 1747, p. 382: On the Present State of the Theatre: I remember when you and I were last in Town together, some years ago, we were eternally repining at the wretched condition of the stage. Quin was then at the head of the Fraternity; but a very different man from what he is at present, and merely a bad copy of Booth; with all his mouthing and pageantry, but without his musical elocution, or his dignity. Whether Time or Emulation has had the greatest hand in Improving him, I know not; but certain it is, that he is improved, beyond what you will really imagine. He has got much more variety, and much more Spirit. He was always a tolerably just speaker; but then he has hardly anything more; he recited rather than acted....However, Rich has...got Quin, Garrick, Mrs Cibber and Mrs Pritchard to the new house. The consequence has been, that the stage was never, in my memory, so fashionable; not even in the Time of Mrs Oldfield's highest fame. A good taste both of acting and of plays themselves, is much more general than I ever expected to have seen it; and those who are skilled in such matters, tell me, that Rich will be a greater gainer this season than has been known for these many years. Receipts: #108 1s. 6d

Event Comment: Pit and Boxes to be put together, and no person to be admitted without tickets, which will be deliver'd that day, at the Office at Covent Garden Theatre at Half a Guinea each. First Gallery 5s. Second Gallery 3s. 6d. The Galleries to be open'd at Half an Hour after Four o'clock. Pit and Boxes at Five. To begin at Half an Hour after Six (General Advertiser). New Oratorio by Handel (Account Books, Egerton 2268). We hear that Mr Garrick, who has been lately very ill, is now out of danger (General Advertiser)

Event Comment: [For the Relief of the Sufferers by a late Calamity...at his Auction-Room late the Little Theatre in the Hay-Market Mr Foote will exhibit for the satisfaction the curious a choice Collection of Pictures, all warranted Originals, and entirely new. To begin at twelve noon. [Cross, Fielding, II, 89, states that Foote mimicked Fielding as "Trottplaid" on this date.] Daily Advertiser, 28 April: It being represented unto this Court, that several Common Players of Interludes, Gamesters...have for several Years used and accustomed to assemble and meet together at several Fairs or pretended Fairs, held in this County of Middlesex, not warranted by Law, to wit, Tottenham Court Fair, Hampstead Fair, in Holborn Division, the Shepherd's Bush Fair in Kensington Division, Mile-End Fair and Bow-Fair, commonly called Green-Goose Fair, in the Tower Division, and May Fair in Westminster Division

Event Comment: Gift for ye Sufferers by ye fire in Cornhill (Cross). [A column and a half "Letter to the Author" appeared in the General Advertiser this day, laying historical background for Ford's Lover's Melancholy]. The history of the stage before the Restoration is like a Foreign Land, in which no Englishman had ever travelled; we know there were such things as Playhouses, and one Shakespear a great writer, but the historical traces of them are so imperfect, that the manner in which they existed is less known to us, than that of Eschylus or the theatres of Greece. For this reason, 'tis hoped that the following Gleaning of Theatrical History will readily obtain a place in your paper. 'Tis taken from a Pamphlet written in the reign of Charles I, with this quaint title, "Old Ben's Light Heart made heavy by young John's Melancholly Lover"; and as it contains some historical anecdotes and altercations concerning Ben Johnson, Ford, Shakespear, and the Lover's Melancholy it is imagined that a few extracts from it at this juncture, will not be unentertaining to the Public. [The substance of the remainder retails Jonson's critical cantankerousness and his wounded pride at the failure of the New Inn, quoting some epigrams made at Jonson's expense on his allegation that Ford was a plagiary. This second "puff" for the play, presumably also written by Macklin, formed the basis for a Steevens-Malone controversy late in the century, centering on the existence or nonexistence of the pamphlet referred to by Macklin as "Old Ben's Light Heart made Heavy, &c." A summary account of the evidence appears in the Dramatic Works of John Ford, by Henry Weber (Edinburgh, 1811) I, Intro. XVI, XXXI.] Receipts: #210 (Cross); #208 1s. (Powel)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: Not acted these 10 Years. Afterpiece: Not acted these 20 years. Music, Dances and Other Decorations for afterpiece entirely new. [In a letter to John Gilbert-Cooper, the actor Charles Adams states that "the Prompter gave me a little Part in the Emperor of the Moon...I appear'd in it thrice." He was "paid Twenty Shilling Pr Week." See Theatre Notebook, XI (1957), p. 136. The only male parts left were Baliardo's servant Peter and the figures in the tableau of the final scene.] Receipts: #160 (Cross); #158 11s. (Powel)

Event Comment: By particular Desire. ["We have in Rehearsal a new Tragedy call'd Irene--Author, as yet, unknown."--Charles Adams to John Gilbert-Cooper, Theatre Notebook, XI (1957), pp. 138-39.] Receipts: #130 (Cross); #143 16s. 6d. (Powel)

Event Comment: Mainpiece: For the entertainment of two young Africans. On Friday 10 February will be perform'd a New Oratorio, call'd Susanna, with a Concerto. Pit and boxes to be put together, and no person to be admitted without tickets, which will be deliver'd that day, at the Office in Covent Garden Theatre, at half a guinea each. First Gallery 5s. Second Gallery 3s. 6d. Galleries opened at half past four. Pit and Boxes at Five. To Begin at Half an Hour after Six. [This advertisement repeated in the General Advertiser daily to 10 Feb. 1749.

Event Comment: Afterpiece: By Desire. [A full column, front-page letter to the Author of the General Advertiser from one purporting to live many miles from London, but whose curiosity about the New Tragedy Irene brought him to see it, details his experience in the theatre the night of Tues. 14 Feb. Seems to be an illconcealed "puff." The writer listens to three critics in the pit decry the performance, then after seeing it himself concludes: "It was receiv'd with universal approbation...Upon the whole I dare affirm that the Judgment of Posterity will concur with me in distinguishing Irene as the best tragedy which this age has produced, for Sublimity of thought, Harmony of numbers, strength of expression, a scrupulous observation of Dramatic Rules, the sudden Turn of events, the tender and generous distress, the unexpected catastrophe, and the extensive and important moral." He inquires why the play has not been so favorably received as others, and concludes it is too finely and artistically conceived to please the masses. He closes by complimenting the Ladies of Great Britain for he "scarce ever saw so shining an assembly in the Boxes. Their early approbation of a Tragedy in which not only the words but the ideas are entirely chaste; a tragedy filled with noble sentiment and poetic beauty is at once a proof of their delicacy and penetration."] Receipts. #100 (Cross); #101 (Powel)

Event Comment: Afterpiece: A New Musical Entertainment in Two Interludes. The words to be sold at the theatre (General Advertiser). Some Gentlemen crowding behind ye Scenes, ye Audience resented it & ye farce was stop'd for half an hour--I drew lines with chalk, but Miss Norris applying publickly to Capt. Johnson, desiring he wou'd retire, He did & ye farce went on with great Applause. The words of this piece were by Mr Mendez, & set by Dr Boyce (Cross). Added to salary list, Mr Campioni. Paid him for cloaths #21, and for 51 days work, #42 10s. (Treasurer's Book). Receipts: #140 (Cross); #142 13s. (Treasurer's Book)

Event Comment: A new musical entertainment compos'd & wrote by Mr Arne--it was much hiss'd but suffer'd to be given out again (Cross). No latter account will be taken. Books of the Entertainment to be had at the theatre. [Pages covering this date missing from Treasurer's Book. Larpent MS 85 indicates the Character Capt. Sancho-Blakes, deleted.] Receipts: #100 ($Cross)

Event Comment: nother long letter to the author of the General Advertiser pleading attendance at the benefit performance of Comus]: Whoever then would be thought capable of Pleasure in reading the works of our Incomparable Milton, and not so destitute of Gratitude as to refuse to lay out a Trifle in a rational and elegant entertainment for the Benefit of his living remains, for the exercise of their own Virtue, the Increase of their Reputation, and the pleasing consciousness of doing good, should appear at Drury Lane theatre tomorrow April 5, when Comus will be performed for the Benefit of Mrs Elizabeth Foster, Granddaughter to the Author, and the only surviving branch of the family. N.B. There will be a new Prologue on the Occasion written by the Author of Irene, and spoken by Mr Garrick; and by particular Desire there will be added to the Masque, a dramatic Satyr call'd Lethe in which Mr Garrick will perform. Tickets to be had of Dodsley, Bookseller, Pall Mall; Messrs Payne and Boquet, Booksellers, Paternoster Row; Batson's Coffee House, near the Royal Exchange, and of Hobson at the Stage Door

Event Comment: Benefit for ye Author (no more Noise) (Cross). Tickets as of 5 Feb. Tickets deliver'd out for the third and sixth Nights will be taken. Receipts: #140 (Cross). Gentleman's Magazine, Feb. 1751, pp. 77-78, concerning Gil Blas: To animadvert upon a piece which is almost universally condemned is unneccessary, and to defend this is impossible. There is not one elegant expression or moral sentiment in the dialogue; nor indeed one character in the drama, from which either could be expected. It is however, to be wished that the Town, which opposed this play with so much zeal, would exclude from the theatre every other in which there is not more merit; for partiality and prejudice will be suspected in the treatment of new plays, while such pieces as the London Cuckolds, and the City Wives Confederacy, are suffered to waste time and debauch the morals of society....Upon the whole the Author appears to have intended rather entertainment than instruction, and to have disgusted the Pit by adapting his comedy to the taste of the Galleries....Perhaps the ill success of this comedy is chiefly the effect of the author's having so widely mistaken the character of Gil Blas whom he has degraded from a man of sense, discernment, true humor, and great knowledge of mankind...to an impertinent silly, conceited coxcomb, a mere Lying Valet, with all the affectation of a Fop, and all the insolence of a coward. [Thomas Gray wrote to Horace Walpole 3 March 1751, "Gil Blas is the Lying Valet in five acts. The fine lady has half-a-dozen good lines dispersed in it."