The Washington Post from Washington, District of Columbia • Page 10

10 Vv 1 l0 Yjj rjTvxc aif yVVX RV JTS THE WASHINGTON POST SUNDAY DECEMBER 10 1905 WEEK OF ENGLISH GRAND OPERA flHN DREW AND HIS EMOTIONS was a genuine Kunstgrlff this crea tion of Augustus Thoaias this embodiment of seeming paradoxical attributes In De Lancey by Mr Drew Did I say paradoxical Well prodi gality in company with benevolence i lot of little vices In contrast to great virtues the selfishness of bachelor life ird the self abnegation of picturesque ilvalry the grizzle of insidious years Tarried to the rash ardor of flaming outh these are paradoxes and no doubt nd Drew embodies them all In his way hy cavil that the portrait has the placid nmobillty of an old Dutch face As well vil at Vesuvius for not belching fire and flame the year round Is It not enough to know that beneath that calm and placid rterior there Is the hubbub and bubble tremendous subterranean forces Dont know that deep under Mr Drews irreet deportment there are passions 1 hat he does not manifest any is no proof to the contrary That is art that Is he powerful force of suggestive antith Is like the gentle snowdrop blooming the craterjs brink vhat did Little ittercup the tmmboat woman say nut hark ye my merry friend hast er thought that beneath this gay and nvolous exterior there may lurk a can Kerworm which is slowly but surely eat ig its way Into ones very heart Nor does It impeach Mr Drews capaci to possess emotional fire because he ils to suggest any Even prose has its i dulatio its poetry Us ictus One need approach this sort of art in tre spirit faith rampant It may Be like olives le vulgar palate this passionless but Tect deportment the objectivity of this rvemaking the mechanics of this whole personation How do we know what is nutuously ravishing the outwardly composed bosom of the actor What would PPeT if he let out his corset strings What Think of Vesuvius or Mont Peleet Ir we have falthand believe that these fires are there only banked and smoldering what matters it though we see It i it eel it not The immortal Col Sel rs Invited his friends to partake of a til nquet of raw turnips and received them bv the genial glow cf a fireside though It was but the illusion of a candle vhose light gleamed cheerily througn the red tissue paper front of a real stove Over It all the cotonel had rpread the ar Ont atmosphere of rich fancy The cal 1 us mlnded untouched by the subtle srell of he Imagination saw only turnips I The Belasco Theater 111 have a series will go to see her in spite of the fact that she Is gifted One of the most substantially productive literary partnerships of which the public had the enjoyable usufruct was that of David Belasco with De Mllle wnich resulted in The Wife The Charity Ball Lord Xhumley and other sterling American made plays De Mllle died but he left two sons both of whom are following in their fathers literary footsteps One of them wrote Strong 1 heart which is a substantial hit and he it was who attended the banquet Of the American Dramatists Club last Sunday night In New York In the course of the evening Mr Belasco made a few remarks He said There Is one Toung man hero of whom I wish to rpeak Many years ago I had the pleasure of col laboratlng with hla father He was a little boy then and I used to bring ilm candy Til tell yo i a secret about him After witnessing his play Stronghearr I made a contract with him and I shall have the pleasure of producing a pliy ry the son of rav old collaborator It was one of the pretty sentimental Incidents of the evening FRED SCHRADER STAGE JOTTINGS Blanche Walsh has a well earned success in The Woman in the Case Mrs Fiske continues to play Leah Klescbna to capacity houses all over the country Robert Lorraine in Man and Superman has passed the century mark of his run in New York The Lion and the Mouse ha been LS SCCnd company Fez Canal and first sung In Cairo In The Valkyrie is the first of Wagners trilogy of which The Rhlnegold is the prologue with ISIegfried and Gotter dammerung following It tells the story of the love of the twin Volsungs Sleg mund and Slegllnde Slegllnde has been carried off as a child and when grown Is forced to wed the warrior chief Hundlng The first act opens with Siegmunds flight from his enemies in a fierce storm He finds shelter In Hundings hut and meets Slegllnde The young lovers escape but Hundlng pursues and slays Slesrnund while Bunnhllde the Valkyrie maid flees with Slegllnde and secretes her In a forest where later on Siegfried is born The god Wotan at the command of Frlcka the goddess of marriage had sent Brunn hilde to remove the power of Siegmunds sword She i the finest type of sweet womanhood In all Wagner works and through her compassion for Slegmund she disobeyed Wotan and gave her protection to the hero For this the angry god takes the virtue of immortality from her and decrees that she shall fall asleep and be wed by the man who awakes her This hero Is understood to be Slegfrlec Both In Us beautiful settln and In stage craft The Valkyrie production Is isald to follow the Beyreuthan effects as closely as may be possible In presenting the Vork on tour The music number most widely known Is that of The Ride of the Valkyries for which the German master has furnished the most fascinating descriptive harmony This scene Is far more difficult to picture than anything In Parsifal It Is located on the rocky heights where the fabled warrlor malds assembled before galloping through the clouds of Walhalla The piercing brilliance of the battle song of the Valkyries Is unlike anything else In the Wagner gamut of descriptive melody When the Valkyries or Wish Maidens are all assembled Brunihilde arrives with Slegllnde on her horse Granl fleeing from the angry Wotan who has decided upon her punishment Their In terview Is the great dramatic situation in the last act Immediately preceding the Magic Fire Scene where Wotan lays his sleeping daughter within the protecting wall of flames In this final pic ture is another rare opportunity for realism From the moment the fire mo tlve is first sounded the scene rivets the attention of the music lover holding it to the end of the pathetic farewell of the heart broken god Verdis great Egyptian opera of A13a written to celebrate th opening of the Schillers Don Carles is said to be one of the greatest nils in the repertoire of Richard Mansfield David Warfleld was the guest of honor at the annual dinner of the American Dramatists Club last Sunday Conrled will conduct a school cf acting in conjunction with the National Theater of which he Is to be rhe head The local theaters are feeling the benevolent influence ot Congress an3 all are doing an improved business and felt only the palpable effect of cold They scorned the Barmecide feast and imaginary heat But we of a more exuberant fancy know lat the materiallstl things which wo pee the turnips as well as the luxuries of fe are mere symbols and with Col Sellers higher philasorhy rejoice In the jower of representing to ourselves the Iresence of things that nomlnaly do not exist That Is the solution of the profound esthetic doctrine about the out ard seeming of the Inward meaning which enters so prodigiously Into our art He and is so widely misunderstood That Is art The actor tells us not In words nor in acting perhaps but in a personal embodiment of himself what is correct In the emotions His control of the emotions safety valve Is a lesson In sphinx lore yes his repression is marvelous too marvelous he incurs the danger of catching pneumonia from his own sang frold Voila John Drew gent De Lancey vi a eur divorcee bachelor J3C00 a year and always In debt ladles man and butt of piquant gossip inspiring a girl much vounger than himself with hope and Placing his own heart on the sacrificial ltar to accommodate a friend What atden still barkening to the promptings i romantic fancy could remain unmpved such extraordinary combination of elements in a strong vigorous man In the i ime of life Ah verily what matron her with the slightest claim to con deration as a sentient being To say I enjoyed It is hackneyed I lirllled I vibrated In consonance with ie moving pathos of it all I experienced ie emotions of a susceptible youth In his earliest throes of fascination my elings reacted upon me with a tide of lung dormant memories I was under the thrall of a new sensation These are Interesting revelations my masters about Ellis Oorey president of the United States Steel Corporation and Incidentally muHl mllllonalre who planning to be divorced from his wife in order to marry Mabelle GUman the oubrette Mrs Corey patched his old ntfras for him when he had not yet i gjn the upward climb to unlimited wealth when In fact he was earning a month That Is more than the en ng Mabelle will do for him when Sins the downward slide to poverty Th mg friends of the late Gov Tabor Colorado could give Mr Corey a valu schedule of donts apropos of dl ing the woman who does her own ookmg and washing In the days of stren ius living and marrying a light hearted wnrbler of the coulisses But whatever mo fates decree toward the Cbreys ether Mabelle shares his millions or end will redound to her profit I Jler reputation is made and her career en tae stage If she sticks Is fixed 1 ie mues have been none too kind to her She has been handicapped so far ly real talent which has kept other ae tressts as for example Virginia HarneJ i iti na illand and Margaret Anglln from coming into their estate It was Japa umas who said in that world wise way of hl Talent and genius are impotent without Intrigue He knew When Daly put on The fiunaway Girl Mabelle GUman and Jimmy Powers performed a darkey song and dance together In green moonlight that was the best part of the show But she was isrnred by Virginia Earle who had the ttle ro She was finally starred In The Mocking Bird but people asked Who Is Marjelle GUman and because she had nothing but talent to recommend her ev stayed away When Dolly Varden broke the tyranny which musical comedy had so long exercised Mabelle was sent to London with an American company to flirt in the title role but the torpid Bni of local events for the week of December IS which is the week before the holidays Nat Goodwin Is going to West Baden to try the waters aad see what effect they will have on his judgment on several manuscript plajv which he will read The Duchess of Dantzlg which really contained good music has been disbanded and Holbrook Bllnn who played Napoleon has been engaged for The Clansman That excellent comedian Thompson who has given a number of memorable characterizations In this city is to be starred by the Shubcrtsin a new verison of The Bishops Move Frances Wilson a daughter of Francis Wilson the comedian was married Thanksgiving Day at New Rochelle to Charles HOard a French actor and car 1 toonlst whom she met while she was studying music In Paris THE WINNING GIRL The fact that Manager Frank Perley Is a Washingtonian has no bearing on the fact that he comes to town this week with a new attraction The Winning Girl which will be seen at the Belasco but the fact that he lias always given Washington attractions of standard merit 1871 is one of the mo5t spectacular of Italian operas sgvptlan architecture the temples pyramid and the Nils are all pictured In lhe stage settngs The scene Is laid in Egypt at the time of the Pharaohs when the country was at war with Ethiopia Alda is the daughter of the Ethiopian King having been carriedcarried off to slavery bv the Egyptians She i treated as a sister by th beautiful Princess Amneris and both are in love with the young warrior Rhadames who leads Egypts army to victors returnng with Aldas father in chains Rhadames loves Alda and the jealous prncess spies on them and betrays the warrior to the priests who decree his death Alda JoIn3 him In th vault beneath the temple of Vulcan faithful to the last The opera has a lively martial swing and many Inspiring music numbers Celeste Alda has always ben a favorite with the worlds great tenors while the Alda March Is played by all bands Verdis Rigoletto is a work of delicious melodes of the tuneful old school sort that please the masses The orchestration Is florid and dainty and the leading prima donna role that of the pretty Gilda is one of the showiest ever written for coloratura sopranos The title role is that of the humpbacked court Jester and the story of the opera follows closely Victor Hugos De Rol Amuse or The Fools Revenge The rakish Duke of Mantua his court and attendants supply the characters The duke fals In love with Gilda the innocent and beautiful daughter of Rlgoletto and a tragedy follows the attempt of her father to save her Every act Is filled with exqulslt melodies of the light and graceful style Verdi wrote in his II Trovatore and Travlata days Iine remaining rperas in iue wees repertoire were heard In Washington last season and need not be referred to In detail They are Tannhauser Lohen grln La Bohemeand Faust COMING EVENTS Caroline HulL decidedly entitles him to ones confidence First It was the Bostonlans then Alice Nielsen then Margaret Anglln In The Eternal Feminine So we are naturally curious to see what this cross country riding girl really looks like whether she Is a winner and as winsome as the title leads us to suspect Burr Mcintosh Thursday Afternoon With Secretary Taft in the Orient is the title of an illustrated lecture to be delivered on the afternoon of December 14 and a Thursday 6y Burr Mcintosh at the New National Theater Mr Mcintosh has already established his fame in the quadruple capacities of actor soldier artist photographer and lecturer He was one of the famous party which accompanied Secretary Taft to the Phl iDcines China JaDan and Korea during sh metropolitans refused to be flirted the fall months Mr Mcintosh was ac iwiii uvcc rnnuir inauc i cnmpaniea oy two assistants ma vui even the composer Julian Edwards re I fit of nine cameras of varied sires arid nouflc his allegiance Xo the crown It left Mabelle who Is an American even without that consolation Thus an uspropitlous fate was persistently casting shadows across her patn But now that her name Is linked with a candal of volcanic possibilities the public oer two tons of material The developing was all done on shipboard and consequently the surest results were obtained Over 2000 good negatives were secured and from this number nearly 400 will be shown during the forthcoming two lectures A Desperate Chance will be the Academy offering for the week of December 18 The Christmas week attraction at the National will bo Blanche Walsh In The Woman In the Case by Clyde Fitch The College Widow which had Its birth In Washington a year ago Is the next attraction at the Columbia Theater Burton Holmes closes his series of travelogues at the Columbia to morrow afternoon with Western Switzerland as Us subject Mra Fiske In Leah Kleschna Is the Christmas week attraction at the Belasco and Mme Sarah Bernhardt will commence a weeks engagement at that theater January 1 A delightful evening with Robert Burns the fjttnous Scotch poet is promised In theong and story lecture of Mrs Grace Dyer Knight at the New WHlard Hotel on the evening of December 15 Mrs Knight is said to be peculiarly fitted for this class of entertainment not only as a lecturer of eminent ability and culture but as a gifted singer whoso success as a drawing room artist under the patronage of the Countess of Warwick Lady Aslibura Lady Victoria Murray and other prominent leaders of English and Scotch society was one of the features of last years London social season The following Is the cast of the performance of Ibsens Hedda Gabler at the Belasco for the 20th George Tesm in WHlard Robertson Judge Brack James A OShea Ellert Lovbeg Paul Evans Hedda Gabler Annie Prall Mrs Elsvted Hallle Herriot MlsS Ttsman Irene Hoyward Bertha Lizzie Magie Rehearsals of the play are taking place at the Belasco Theater under the directions of Robert Hickman Several prominent people liae signified their interest in these Ibsen performances by tendering their name as patrons Followirg the production of Hedda Gabler another Ibsen play will be put Into rehearsal to be presented shortly after the holidays At Chases next week the eventful week before Christmas the attractions arlll be cf festal character and will comprise the Parisian marine sensation Dlda the creation of two women out of nothing apparently Others will be Harry Le Clair the Bernhardt of vaudeville Ferry Cfrway the faaiousVnuslcal clown from the New York Hippodrome Jefferson Gorman and Estelle West In a dainty musical comedy A Special Meeting Tonv Hart recently comedlajj with Nit Wills In The Duke of Duruth Herr gaona the noted European impersonator of celebrities Wihle Gardner roller and Ice skate dancer and the motion pictures of Th Adventures cf a Gentleman of France STAGE FAVORITES JEFFERSON DE ANGELIS MB DE ANGELIS Is a comedian who Is fortunate In being able trTcany from the theater at the close of the performance some of tae same brand of exuberant spirit which has made him a favorite wltn the public Of all the dlsap vJ pointing aismustonlng creatures the melancholy comedian takes the premium This type of merrymaker is by no means rare in his profession He laughs on the stage and the world laughs with him Let the footlights go out and he becomes completely metamorphosed The mouth which but a short while before turned up at the corners with an Eddie Foy smile of the most infectious variety as quickly assumes a sad ad droop which Charms no one There is aft old Italian proverb meaning Joy of the street sorrow of the home which In some degree best describes such actors A man Is really and truly funny when he Is born a comedian for he never loses that power of making people laugh There Is something so jolly about Jefferson De Angelis that he is likable even when he makes no attempt to be so He has a peculiar way of turnin his head which is best described as a bird like motion and various gestures with his hands which give him Individuality His eyes are unusually bright and for a man who has spent his life In making people laugh he has a face remarkably free from lines His laugh is catching In Its naturalness There Is no doubt that given the chance Mr De Angelis Is the best comic opera comedian of the present time He has had a thorough training in the drama as well as in musical presentations and when called upon can give conscientious and artistic straight characterizations He deserves much credit for not having lapsed Into the slough of carelessness for the musical mixed drinks of the past few seasons have not been uplifting In their methods which fact Is excellently illustrated In person by some partakers I am a Callfornlan said Mr De Angelis I was 130111 and reared In San Francisco My father moved to that city In 48 from Philadelphia Suppose I had been born there I often wonder If I would have been a comedian My uncle was responsible for my fathers settling out West Every one knew this uncle because he was a wealthy shipowner and It was not long before my father became still better known as a comedian and minstrel The name of De Angelis was a household word all over the State It was perfectly natural that brought up in such an atmosphere I should become an actor I cant remember the time when I was not on the stage It seems to me I must have been born there for it has always been home to me As I grew up I was filled with as great a desire to go East as my father had been to take the other direction Accordingly in 71 I left Frisco with the best wishes of my fathers friends and mine Several long seasons I tolled In that section of the country called effete and then 1 once more turned my face toward the land of the setting sun I shall never forget my reception in vFrisco It was so unexpected so whole souled and gener ous that I felt I never wanted to leave my native city again It was eclipsed however four years later when I returned from a tour of the world My company had played In China Japan South Africa and many other places which some of my acquaintances out West didnt even know were on the map When my ship came into dock there was a band playing and a crowd of people with banners and flowers Carriages were waiting and friends pushed one anothc out of the way In orfier to greet me Truly this was worth coming home for I almost shed tears I was so affected Was there any other place on earth like dear old Frisco Surely I was In a position to know for I had just completed a trip around the world I felt that my fathers popularity had fallen upon me and I was grateful It was Jeff this and Jeff that on all sides It seemed to me that I was so well known that the lampposts bowed as I passed I spent a few short and delightful weeks in Frisco and then again went East to continue my search for fame ana fortune It was a sad farewell but I promised to return as soon as possible You know how It Is with us when we make promises We mean them and hae every Intention in the world of faithfully keeplng them but somehow time passes by and other things engross our attention and so procrastination causes lis to seem Indifferent 1 thought often of Frisco and my many admirers there and I wanted to go back but somehow couldnt Each season I would say to myself thAt surely the next one would see me home Seventeen years passed quicky by and still i had not been back when one day my manager surprised me b7 saying that we were to make a tour of the West and I would have two weeks In Frisco I was delighted of course and counted the days I thought of the band and the flowers and other remembrances of my former visit and wondered what they would do this time when I returned to them carrying an Eastern reputation I remember well the day of my arrival In my home city The rain was coming down In torrents when I stepped off the train My mother and niece met me When I recovered from my Joy at seeing them I recalled the band and carriages of other days ut there were none However I sad nothing and reasoned that there must be some good explanation of this lack of attention My mother wanted me to stay with her at homo during my engagement but hotel life had spoiled me for domesticity and I decided to go to a hofel chose big new one the Palace and roceded to regs ter The clerk riaiK coldlv at my sg ptT and said nothing A little later I asked him to send my mail up to aid aked What name please De Angelis I nwered peasantlv Jefferson I Angelis I added modstlv Very well he replied In the same passionless tones Several times I wm compelled to ask the sa clerk nuetlrr anl ex tlm he would look me over from head to foot and say What name please until I nearly lost my temper Spo here I sld voit a theater a few doors from here havent you Oh you do know I wondered If voti had ever noticed It Have you ever heard of Jefferson De Angelis the comedian who Is anoearinp therp this week In The Royal Rogue Well I am De Angelis Oh said the clerk Two hours later I had occasion to speak to him and to my chagrin was greeted by the famllar query What name please De Angelis Jefferson De AnreIs and I want my bill I exclaimed In exasperation There was some attempt at a discussion as to the reason of my leaving so suddenly I gave oxjjlajiation but moved over to an old fashioned hotel known as the Occidental I went Into dinner and was sitting gloomlTy ponder hig over my unpleasant experience with the up to date clerk of the modern fashionable hotel when some one laid a hand on each shoulder and a voice said Why Jeffle Is4 it you Looking up I saw a kindly face but that of a stranger My expression seemed to say I dont know you sit but that made no difference to the man who had spoken to me I knew your father well he said We were chums Now my boy make yourself at home The place Is yours Maybe my spirits didnt rise with such a welcome Myv fathers friend proved to be the proprietor of the Occidental and he did much to make my stay pleasant My engagement in Frisco was the most disappointing event of some years Business was bad very bad the worst of the season Friends were few and far between I felt like a stranger like Rip Van Winkle No one knew me or cared Even the fondest remembrances of childhood were shattered For seventeen ears I had cherished a childhood taste for corn beef hash and tripe fried in bat ter which my dear grandmother used to cook especially for me Nothing could ever convince me that grandmother didnt possess some secret that no one else had regarding the preparation of these two dishes When in the East nothing could induce me to eat such things because they never tasted like grandmothers cooking One of my first requests was for my favorite dishes They were set before me but alack and alas they were no different from the hash and tripe I had refused so indignantly In the East I wouldnt eat ft after it had been cooked for me Everything had changed Even my frends looked different I expected to find them still boys and instead they were big husky men rsome bald and some with beards They had to Introduce themselves In accounting for the bad business my manager remarked Youve been away too long Jeff Not half as long as I will be away next time I answered and I have kept my word so far for I havent been to Frisco since before They were charmine eeopte and we enjoyed our experiences Such a thin as a line between the principals and supers was unknown We gave three performances a week and as arule the remainder of the time was spent In entertainments given the company by different members of the chorus at beautiful homes I remember a funny incident In Hongkong We needed a younsr man to play the Captain In Pinafore Lieut Gam ble or the English navy played the part without consulting his superior officer who proceeded to become very Indignant at the lieutenants levity The old gentleman changed his mind however when he came to see the performance and told the lieutenant to go ahead that he was good Another time I was not so fortunate in securing some one to fill a part We were preparing to put on The Pirates of Penzance when the man who was to play the pirate king had a row and left There was no one to fill his place Finally I decided to play his role and mine too That was the hardest work I ever did for as the cockney sergeant of police I had barely time to get comfortably off the stage when I had to go on as the pirate king with an altogether different make up I spent one whole day devising ways of getting quickly Into my clothes and fierce moustache There was only one difficulty In the finale the sergeant and the pirate klrg meet and the sergeant arrests the bold DEL MONDAY NIGHT ON BROAD Wl Array of Shows There Not Distinguished by Striking Novelties carries off the freshness of a club cub as kj nru a the older one hasnt been able to these I had the sereeant arrest some one else I d0Jen years The comedy fills an evening I all these years of weak weaker and weakest dilutions of The I Mikado should an actor of Carles experience and originality put forth still another Japanese governor terrorized by mandates from his Emperor beset by court conspirators and accompanied by toddling kirn ana maidens And I have had to see or I wouldnt believe that Carle assigned himself to the role of that worn oldiwayfarer of farce the showman stranded with his company In a strange land and there mistaken for a prince and his royal party Under such self chosen disadvantages people atoaut as noisy as though they were Carle makes a whoop and hurrah break i utn 4w4v TTw 1 It 0n reason Is that he comes to the only one dollar dramatic theater ia the midst of the twenty four two dollar houses That counts for much In these declining days of extravaganza Cades big gam over Dal ley at the start however Is In hs having had plenty of time to practice addition and subtraction multiplication and division en the problem and now places but the ciphered out sum total befure us Special Corrccpondeac of Tba Waahlnctoa Po New Tone uec 8 AT GOODWIN aat at the audi ences side of the footlights on Monday night and saw himself act a new part on the stage The riw wa A lalr Exchange and the Goodwin In it was Thomas Boss who owed the resemblance of face to nature and of manner to cultiva tion The actor and Henry Blossom Jr the author had arrived two years agol with Checkers and now they endeavorea to come again The theater was filled by at a football match tout there was no op position among the rooters and If there wre others there who Uldnt wish to see the Ross Blossom team win they kept silence Of course Ross Is more like Goodwin than Goodwin Is like Ross the one Is an Imitation of the other yet the newer actor and this pleased the audience just as well We played Pinafore all over the globe even in Panang In the Malay archipelago I have not always been In comic opera but have played in the Bouclcault plays The Private Secretary was one of my repertoire I played In The Prodigal Daughter which opened the American Theater in New York in 92with a big cast Including Maxine Elliott Helen Dauvray Julia Arthur Leonard Boyne Charles Dalton and others We ran for 223 nights Somehow I could not stay away from comic opera and have been at It ever since I know the whole history of musical amusement We got away from comic opera ten or fifteen years ago and deteriorated Into a senseless inane burlesque form of entertainment Impossible Islands impossible characters and idiotic actions became the vogue The public could not get enough of this silliness A comedian was compelled to make a fool of himself In order to make the public laugh If he did not contort himself and his grammar he was not a success Even a clown had more dignity than this type of comic opera comedian which the public would have Finally people became satiated and impossibilities gradually lost their fascination We are now drifting to a better class of musical play Those beautiful operas Les Cloches de Corneville Chimes of Normandy The Grand Duchess and so on are not what the public wants to day The result will be a play and by a play I mean a real one with a musical setting The story will be consistent and Interesting with dramatic effects The music will be judiciously blended The position of the show girl will not be so Important Indeed In my opinion her importance has been very much exag gerated Call them chorus girls or show with generally amusing chatter toy a short Xn ornelan would dare do lir a first per formance all the footlsh things that Carle JlJZt I JSwTlSlhl they are the laughable girls It Is all the same In making up the stage for Its immorality might well my companies naturally I prefer to have look to this play which quite casually makes drunkenness and gaming the best looking girls What Is the difference between those in the back row and those who may be chosen on account of prettiness to figure In a sextet The Wedding Day In which Lillian Russell Delia Foxl and I starred together was the most delightful association of my entire career There was never an unpleasant word a misunderstanding or anything except the greatest harmony MARIE SCHRADER nbtu for onlv the Jester mmseii knows how much stuff he tried cautiously before venturing Into Washington Carle Is as amusing now as Dalley may be by and by It is too late for a description of The Mayor of Toklo to be newsy but I may tell you that Its outfit of women being strangers to every one on Broaway Jogs ih tfcn rt hv nri means all the fem edy does not mean dullness Its characters nne hulriarUy flt for 8how use Is pro talk smartly and develop themselves into duced ew York The chorus exhibits positive types The best of the witty pat skIrtIght costumes roused something ter and characterizing details is at the be ke lnterest on Monday night not by ginning of the play it is so good indeed tner prettneSs or their dainty Indecorum that it starts the piece at its highest point but bause there wasnt a famlBar crea of excellence and Inevltaibly It has to to 1 ture am0Cg them It isnt possible to boggan to Its finish at the bottom of the out6trlp former achlvements In disclosure but one array of geisnas witn ineir ju mortas off and another of girl sailors with nothing on that would flap in the stlffest gale except hats and hair would cause a riot in the days when our grandfathers were grandsons What promised to be a fad with the fashionables a kind of theatrical slumming proves so transitory as to be hardly more than begun before It Is done with It consisted of going in parties to beer and smoke music halls on the special nights when amateur talent Is permitted to assert Itself This diversion started well with the visit of coachloads from Fifth avenue to an East side theater suffl cient to fill Its four boxes They arrived late of course and as they were belles and beaus directly from a dinner their costumes amazed the audience and appalled the several amateurs who reained for the ordfcal of a debut under such additionally hard conditions all save one This was a fellow who seemed Immune to stage fright Most Of the candidates for vaudeville are from the rag tag and bob tail beyond the outermost edges of society but this fellow was so manifestly a nob that the stage manager expected that a lot of fun would come of him and when the Incursion of modish lolk occurred the manager counted on the guying of a silly ass as a rare feature of the evening This exceptional novice brought a suitcase and asked for a room to dress in When he came to the wings ready for his turn he was well made up for ward as representative of society at a New York country club In that respect It Is a good entertainment But whoever wants a plot to run clear through every play should quit A Fair Exchange at the end of the first act when it looks as though the second would bring some It doesnt nor does the third Absence of plot In this Blossom com 1 decline The rise of the curtain Introduces four dinner coated chaps at a poker table The sunlight of morning Is peeking through the drawn portieres and the curtained windows Rich and modish appurtenances of Ibachelor apartment life surround the card players as they sit under a large circular lamp One man Is limp drunk Another Is shrewdly sober Two more are Just careless enough to be a prey to treachery A fifth the hero of the comedy returns from a telephone In the hallway loses to his reckless friend thus foiling the sharper and delivers a moral though simple sane and unflowery lesson Then the sunshine Is let In and the all nighters breakfast dress for the forenoon and take care of the one all In fellow Presently girls come to the clubhouse to attend a Larchmont boat race with the men and commonplace situations ensue with uncommonly deft and truthful details If Mr Blossom had written two aAs and also a half more in as good a style as the Initial half an act which Is an adaptation of one of his earlier short stories his play would be a masterpiece In American comedy The people who rushed Mrs Warrens Profession from GERMAN DRAMA IN AMERICA Yes I have been all over the world In comic opera When I took a company I rcross the sea I carried only principals We did not know Just how this plan would turn out but it proved to be excellent for we were able to make up a chorus in each place of the leading young men and women I have never seen such supers FEATS OF THAUMATURGY The Germans of America appear to be highly enthused over the results popular and artistic obtained by Richard Mansfield in his production of Shiners great tragedy Don Carlos A German writing to the Indianapolis Sentinel of the significance of this event says The well organized movement for the development of the German theater in thi3 country Is probably responsible in large measure for this turn toward the German stage for material During the convention of the National German American Alliance held here recently at the German House resolutions were passed for the propaganda and maintenance of the German theater throughout the country The reports which were read by the delegates of the different States plainly showed that the movement started two years ago at Baltimore has been partly successful Milwaukee Cincinnati New York St Louis and other centers of German Influence reported the erection of theaters for the purpose if maintaining the German drama in America Some of the cities named have been supporting an exclusive German theater as far back as fifty years others have been erecting theaters at a more recent TL A uaie aim mere was not orre delegate Gourauds contribution wnose reoori was aiscouraeinz un tne stock and race betting the ordinary practices In good society to be laughed at as weaknesses but no more than lightly reproved as vices The second act has where most authors put in plot a succe3 ransJeTand sTomhTfterahts a grotesque Irishman The Mist Maids Jag By way of serious interest it makes It was not the cabinet trick alone that established the fame of the Fays and their claim to the possession of occult gifts After several inor experiments such as making a handkerchief stand on end and move about at command lifting tables Mrs Fay proceeds to answer questions while blindfolded written by people in the audience and to give the names signed to them Over 93 per cent of the names and questions which they declare Mrs Fay sees are found to be correct upon inquiry of the writers Whether the people ire the audience believe in the Fays power or not their performances are surprising and enjoyable more so In fact to the skeptic than to the believer It Is a thoroughly Interesting exhibition of an obviously marvelous power MRS EVA FAY THAUMATURGIST At Ult Majcatlo tiU Wet contrary the stock companies have been doing well the houses were large and if there was a deficit It was easily made up by public spirited Germans In the city of Philadelphia the laying of the cornerstone of a new German theater took place on July 4 1906 and the president of the National German Alliance Dr Hex amer In his speech gave the following facts An unbiased Anglo American authority has declared that the American stage Is ISO years behind that of Germany Our undertaking ladles and gentlemen is the tangible protest of many hundreds of men and women against existing conditions who hunger for better productions on our stage than they can now obtain who though many of them are not blessed with worldly riches are willing to put their hands Into their pockets In order to at least show their Interest In Germany the drama has an Important cultural mission the performances enter into and form an important part of the every day life of the citizen and Ms family exerting a powerful moral educational and refining influence The German In a town with a population not as large as the German speaking population of Philadelphia has frequent opportunities of seeing performances of works of high literary value perfectly interpreted by companies of which ever actor Is a star because the constant practice of I the numerous stock companies throughout the land supplies a large corps of excellent actors Thus the fortunate citizen of a German town where the play bill Is changed almost nightly will be offeree more variety In a month than we can him declare to several persons on a club house porch that a young woman of their mutual acquaintance Is pursuing him with her attentions That seems to be customary In his set of gentlemen Several of the youngsters Indicate a desire to reform their drunkenness but none In this coterie Is aware of Its greater offense of caddishness They do wear perfect clothes but the fine feathers dont make them other than foul birds In dirtying the nests of their clean female mates with slander Peter Dalley and Richard Carle have come to town with The Press Agent and The Mayor of Toklo to fight for laughter and dollars under the new conditions described Each brings a play that has been made over and over since first it was performed elsewhere last season The Press Agent bore the name of TV Filibuster at Its beginning with amateurs In Boston and during its continuance in Chicago Like some of Richard Harding Davis exhilarating tales of reasonable adventure its theme was an ephemeral revolution in a South American republic and after a while Mr Davis is asked to rewrite it but of course he wouldnt In the new version that New York gets now the prose is by Mark Swan and the verses and their tunes are by eleven persons Including Jackson Gouraud There is excuse for digression as to Mr He was born to affluence but lost it and was thwacking a piano for a living when a young Crocker widow with Crocker millions came across hImT They married and are living happily ever after thus far anyway as indicated by their resplendent occupancy of front seats on opening nights Jack Gourauds ballad in The Press Agent Is entitled The Hammock it employed the principal soprano with a languorous chorus andthe performance was halted by calls tar the author But he slid down modestly in his seat till he sat on the mldde of his back and stayed so until the danger had passed over But the rooters for Gouraud didnt have things all their own way A party of Lambs didnt bleat they howled like wolves for Gustave Kerkers compositions a band of vaudeville friends of Ben Jerome made a noise for his sAigs and the cohorts of half a dozen music publishers took care of the ado forother entries in the composition But Mr Dalley the Tenderloins own pet Pete was getting neither help on the stage nor encouragement In the auditorium Dalley used to mend and patch Mis roles at Weber Fields and he may do it with this fakir of a showman who in The Press Agent goes to South America with a company of girls and there turns war correspondent but on the first night the responsibility of a star actor seemed to crush his courage and leave him merely an eighth of a ton of pulp The rathskeller contingent gave up hope for their favorite jester early In the evening sitting thereafter in solemn company of burlesquers usually disdain ful of these amateur Interpolations assembled at the sides to see what this one would offer in the way of absurdity Well there was a surprise This amateur gave a song and dance In the manner of a professional The general audience laughed only when he wanted it to and applauded for encors The house manager offered him an engagement at 30 a week the burlesquers manager proposed 40 if he would go with the Misty Maids and then they bid against each other tip to 60 which i the of limit with them but the fellow said he would think it over Neither of us will get him said one showman to the other some Broadway manager will snap him up Did you no tice how the swells in the boxes went wild over him That was because those swells after the first verse or two recognized him thiough his disguise He was Lquls Fitzgerald who belonged to their own social sec And he never made a second appearance on the professional stage for he was hurt two days later In a steeplechase with his chums Reginald Vahder tilt and Harry Paine Whitney and then on his way home was killed by a railway train However it wasnt the sad ending of young Fitzgeralds sportive career that stopped the fad of amateur nlghtlng The real reason as I found by going ti one or those affairs last week was that the novices are too pitiable to be funny A shabby little chap scared white sang a sentimental ballad in a wabbly unmusical voice two street urchins gave a crude dance which no doubt had been applaud ed by their sidewalk campanlons a frightened girl In a cheap imitatjon of at Spanish costume made a sorry attempt at Carmen in a song and dance and the first aspirant who deserved the ridicule that he got was a repcllant hitlk what offered a female Impersonation which manifestly was his own effeminate self The uproar of derision drowned his high treble voice and drove him from tha stage FRANKLIN FYLES Beautiful Castilian Dancers Lovers of Terpsichore as delineated by Spanish beauties will find her exponents at the New National Theater this week in the Ercole Artaza troupe of Castilian dancers and troubabours who have been secured by Mr Rapley as ap added feature to The Pearl and the Pumpkin which Messrs Klaw Erlanger are to present at that playhouse for a weeks engagement opening to morrow night These women are reported to be the flower of the Spanish dancing specialists Monsieur Ercole one of the European representatives of Barnum Ba31ey is responsible for having made up the combinationcombination He added three guitarists from El Theatre Novadoes in Barcelona and selecting Senor Ariaza as ballet master and director he put the combination on at the Theatre Royal Madrid two years ago last faster Tne combinatlra era sllpnrp an though thev icrA at fit nA of anil nnlv In nri11A nr A ated a Sensation And for t1M Tfat wm et2l a eason or 8eAasons br urA fitar stirred to joviality by signs that the corpse y33 has been constantly playing at that systemoflong runs An Impartial Amer wasnt realIy dead ot cou th theater The women are reported to be iv vif i 17 days newspapers pounced on Mm rended 1 opanisn woman performances of the various plays of together if he could Shakespeare in ayear than an American or three aeo pr Agent as rewritten and outfitted wltn can see at home In a lifetime It Is granted of course that we have mrm mlpht gIhb VKV not such history as Germany or the i jV whole of Europe for that matter We are ni AV 5ini and PauUnaLopez Carmen Garcia Eivlra in i I ony one of lts displays of those girls Guiterrez Pilar Garcia Pilar Ferrer i a country too young to be reckoned pets attention A row of pink hearts ap wprinnslv In th nrndiirtinn of nrnrlra I I pears suddenly In the blackness and Into each comes a smiling roguish face That is an oddity Throughout the show we see the owners of those pretty heads in still with seriously in the production of works of great valpe for the stage but the material we possess is sufficient for a splendid beginning Of late there has oeen rroticeaoie a sugin cnange iays fiiith tK vt have been produced which brought out except when this new trick of surprise is tendencies remarkably American but they I rprung on us They march behind the deal mostly with outward conditions of brave barytone while he sings of martial the American life and fall to express those glory and we are bored They saunter qualities and philosophical truths usually after the tenor while he and the soprano found In the German dramas The Amer oice lhe ectasles of love and we yawn lean plays are of but little literary value They tpss their skirts even thrtw them and are soon forgotten It is either melo off and we remain listless They wrenen drama which takes or musical comedy their spines and sprain their joints In and the things are written for the hour antics with the clowning comedian In his of Excitement or pleasure No other ob ditties and we dont lift an eyelid What Ject is ever allowed to Interfere with the I can they do that will make Broadway financial success of a pew play the very i dote again on show girls If you can an flrst and principal Idea of the American i ewer that question go to any of the af stage manager Give the people what fluent producers of extravaganza and fix they want cries the manager Give them I yeur own salary melodrama give tnem musical comedy and give me the money The Serpent in Eden Again From th PltUburg Gazette Mark Twain has recently revived both Adam and Eve for literary purposes but has not yet threatened to raise Cain The fact that Richard Carle made a tour of half the country before coming here with The Mayor of Toklo makes the difference between a probable failure and a sure success The play was his own to start with and hardly could he have made a worse beginning with some one elses writing Why why why after nooa au or medium height with the black glossy hair and great black eyes of the Spanish race and the oval face and olive tinted skis The combination Is composed of Senorita Salvita premiere ballerina Josefa and Amalla Zapata Ells Lopez varmen liarcia a Guiterrez Pilar uarcla Pilar Ferrer i Cardoso Eduardo Martinez and San Martin tenor and Senor Ariaza as ballet master and airector Th Crescent Opera Club The illkado the first of a series of performances to be glven by the Crescent Opera Club was witnessed by a large audience Friday evening December1 1 at Odd Fellows Hail The performance was heartily enjoyed and frequently applauded The success of the rendition was due to the untiring efforts and skillful management of Mrs Orphella Hart the musical director Excellent work was done by Mr Owens as Nanki Pooh Hill as Pooh Bah Boyce as Pish Tush and Gustine as the Mikado The role of Katisha sustained by Miss Louise Carson was well rendered The three little maids Miss Sophie Schuerger Yum Yum Miss Flora Bernhelmer Pltti Sing and Miss LIHIan Boyce Peep Boo were enthusiastically received by the audience The manner in which Jerome A Desk rendered the comedy part of Kb Ko was really brilliant and the singing of the interpolated Japanese love song by Miss Bernhelmer was particularly enjoyable.