If the production of "Robin Hood" now at the Majestic does not exactly scintillate, still it possesses enough of the solid virtues of the operetta full-voiced chorus, music that has not lost its beauty, a universally familiar and appealing story--to put it over. Forty years is a long time in the changing fashions of the stage: time has left de Koven's music untouched, but has been less kind to the book, and only by the most violent efforts can William Danforth as the Sheriff extract an adequate amount of humor from his part.
It is hardly charitable to dwell on the weak-kneed humorous side, however, in an operetta so thoroughly dependent on its score as is this one. Twenty-three musical numbers, most of them of the hearty tone in which a good chorus outdoes itself, more than balance the antiquated comedy. The vocal ability of the cast is wholly satisfactory: two former members of grand opera companies, Lorna Doone Jackson and Greek Evans, are outstanding. Miss Jackson, in the graceful part of Allan-a-Dale, sings the too familiar "Oh Promise Me", and "The Bells of St. Swithins", with charm and a certain amount of delicate emotion. Mr. Evans' baritone leads excellently the chorus of "Brown October Ale". Though neither Mr. Frazier nor Miss Steck, in the leading roles, possesses a voice of such quality as these, their singing is competent, and their duet "Come Dreams So Bright" is one of the perennial hits. In the best of the comedy songs, "The Tinkers' Song", Mr. Danforth and his disguised foresters hammer, pantomime, and whistle with considerable versatility and enthusiasm. Fully half of the musical numbers are sung by the full company, and so reach a volume befitting the atmosphere of the outlaw group. Scenery, costumes, the Morris Dance in the first act, the later settings in Sherwood Forest and in the courtyard at Nottingham, are all attractive and pleasantly recall the Merrie England of the ballad.
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MUSIC 4
