A very hard-working Opera for the principals, and a thankless
task. _Hamlet's_ drinking song fine, and finely sung. But the whole
point of the Opera is in the last Act, where there is a _ballet_ that
has nothing to do with the piece, but pretty to see little PALLADINO
in short white skirts, dancing merrily in a forest glade, among the
happy peasantry, to whom comes _Ophelia_, mad as several hatters,
and after a lunatic scene, charming, both musically and dramatically,
throws herself into the water, and dies singing.
Here is a suggestion for the effective compression and reduction
of the Opera, and if my plan be accepted, DRURIOLANUS will earn the
eternal gratitude of those who would like to hear all that is good in
it, and to skip, as PALLADINO does, the rest. Thus:--
ACT I.--_Enter_ HAMLET. _Solo. Exit. Enter_ OPHELIA. _Solo. Re-enter_
HAMLET. OPHELIA _and_ HAMLET _love-duet. Exit_ OPHELIA. HAMLET'S
_Friends come in, and he sings them a Drinking Song with Chorus. All
join in Chorus and Dance. Curtain_.
[Illustration: An awkward moment for Hamlet. Row with his Mother and
Ophelia.]
ACT II.--_Opening Chorus (anything; it doesn't matter if it's only
pretty and bright). Enter_ HAMLET. _Solo_. "_Etre, ou ne pas etre."
Enter_ OPHELIA _with book, pretends not to see_ HAMLET. _Solo. Enter_
Queen. OPHELIA _complains to her that_ HAMLET _isn't behaving like
a gentleman._ Queen _upbraids_ HAMLET: _So does_ OPHELIA: HAMLET
_depressed, Exit_ Queen R.
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