January 1844: Emma at the Princess's Theatre

Covered in metaphorical dirt, but nuggets remain...

From the London Examiner, in the "Theatrical Examiner" section for Saturday, January 6, 1844:

...The Magic Mirror, which is founded on the Arabian tale of the 'Ninth Statue,' continues to be very attractive: and most deservedly so. As a specimen of stage decoration it is entitled to unqualified praise, and the various Chinese costumes successively brought before the audience, show a most lavish spirit of liberality on the part of the manager. A 'bit' at Hullah's singing for the million is not only comical, but the musical effect produced by the chorus of Chinese pupils and their preceptor, Mr. Paul Bedford, is exceedingly pleasing. The air is the French 'Ah vous dirai je', which is cleverly harmonized. And when the price of China, Mrs. (sic) Grattan, obtains the hand of the 'Ninth Statue' -- and he is a lucky man, for that statue is none other than the very pretty and fascinating Miss Floyd -- the curtain descends amid the loud plaudits of an audience evidently untired: an amazing thing to say of a Christmas piece.

I have little hesitation in saying that this is our Emma, using her surname, for two reasons: a non-speaking role for the pretty, "fascinating" singer and musician who's yet to earn her acting stripes, but who'll have her likeness as Queen of the Wilis (a form of polite pornography) engraved in a couple of years, and the presence of the man whose career Emma's shadows, partners or trails behind for the best part of a decade from this point forward: Paul Bedford.