Pope's villa stopped by
one?"
"Yes," rejoined Lavinia hastily, "but he was a brutal ruffian. Not your
Captain Macheath at all. Mr. Quin chills me. I can't fancy myself in
love with him. Nor can Mrs. Egleton. She says she could no more quarrel
over him than she could over a stick. His singing and his voice give us
the 'creeps.'"
"Faith, both are bad enough, but Mr. Rich seems bound to him."
"Why doesn't he try Tom Walker? When Tom isn't drunk, he sings like an
angel."
"I know--I know. Well, we'll see."
But nothing was done, and at the second rehearsal Quin's Captain
Macheath was more droningly dismal than ever. A dead silence followed
the dance with which the last act concludes, and amid the stillness came
from somewhere behind the scenes the sound of a mellow tenor voice
trolling Macheath's lively melody, "When the heart of a man's depressed
with care."
"By the lord," quoth Quin, "that's the voice of Tom Walker. He's the man
for Macheath. Mr. Rich, I resign the part. It was never meant for me.
Give it to Walker."
John Rich grunted, but he made no objection. It so happened that Walker
could act as well as sing, and that made all the difference in Rich's
estimation. So one great obstacle to success was removed. But there were
others. The duets and the choruses sounded terribly thin without an
instrument to support them. The "tricky" duet between Polly and Lucy,
"I'm bubbled," broke down constantly, and both declared they would never
sing it properly.
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