e is a lighter-comedy touch in the courteous and
gentlemanly rendering of _Octavius Caesar_ by Mr. F. KEMBLE COOPER--one
of the best things in the piece, but from the inheritor of two such
good old theatrical names, much is expected. And then there is
the _Mark Antony_ of Mr. CHARLES COGHLAN, a rantin', roarin' boy,
this _Antony_, whom no one, I believe, could ever have made really
effective; and finally. Her Graceful Majesty, Mrs. LANGTRY, Queen of
Egyptian Witchery. Now honestly I do not consider _Cleopatra_ a good
part, nor is the play a good play for the matter of that. I believe
it never has been a success, but if, apart from the really great
attraction of gorgeous spectacular effects, there is any one scene
above another which might well draw all London, it is the death of
_Cleopatra_, which to my mind is--after the fall of WOLSEY, and a long
way after, too,--one of the most pathetic pictures ever presented on
the stage. So lonely in her grandeur, so grand, and yet so pitiable in
her loneliness is this poor Queen of Beauty, this Empress-Butterfly,
who can conquer conquerors, and for whose sake not only her noble
lovers, but her poor humble serving-maids, are willing to die.

[Illustration: The Run of Cleopatra.]

Her last scene is beyond all compare her best, and to those who are
inclined to be disappointed with the play after the first Act is
over I say, "Wait for the end," and don't leave until the Curtain has
descended on that gracious figure of the Queen of Egypt, attired in
her regal robes, crowned with her diadem, holding her sceptre, but
dead in her chair of state. _Ca donne a penser_.

_The Gaiety_.--In calling their burlesque _Carmen up to Data_,
possibly the two dear clever boys who wrote it intended some
crypto-jocosity of which the hidden meaning is known only to the
initiated in these sublime mysteries. Why "_Data_"? On the other hand,
"Why not?"

However attractive or not as a heading in a bill of the play,
the Gaiety _Carmen_ is, on the whole, a merry, bright, and light
burlesque-ish piece, though, except in the costume and make-up of Mr.
ARTHUR WILLIAMS as _Captain Zuniga_, there is nothing extraordinarily
"burlesque" in the appearance of any of the characters, as the
appearance of Mr. HORACE MILLS as _Remendado_ belongs more to
Christmas pantomime than to the sly suggestiveness of real burlesque.

[Illustration: Scene from the Cigarette History of _Carmen_.]

As Miss ST. JOHN simply looks,