Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel], May 13, 1906, Page 7, Image 17

About Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911

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AT THE THEATERS
The Week's Bills I
B«1«hco — "Are You a Maaon?"
llotcnktsf'-"Ollv«U«."
' Unrbnnk — 'The Mly and the Frlnee."
: Cjrpheum— Vaudeville.
<smnA — "A Race for Life."
Heel a— 'Burlesque.
FlseheV* — Burlesque.
Tun aeries of dramas to be given
by the greatest of all living ac
tresses, Sarah Bernhardt, will be
presented at Venice Friday and Sat
urday evenings, May 18 and lfl, with a
matinee Saturday afternoon.
Never before In the history of the
atricals on this coast has there been
an engagement which means so much
to the amunement loving pubUo of
Southern California. There is onpr one
Bernhardt. and this Is her farewell
tour of America. Thousands who have
heard her In the past remember the
greatest dramatic treat of their lives
and -want to hear her again. Those
who ■ have never had the pleasure are
taking advantage of this last oppor
tunity. Besides, there arc many par
ents who have witnessed a Bernhardt
performance and desire their children
to hear thla greatest of actresses before
Bhe closes her professional career for
ever. "
j There are many reasons why Bern
hardt should piny at Venice Auditor
ium. The principal one, however, Is
the fact that It Is the only auditorium
in Southern California with a neatlng
capacity large enough so that the great
artist can make the price of the tickets
at a reasonable figure. " .
It is also necessary to have a stage
large.! enough to contain the sumptuous
equipment used for the Bernhardt
shows, and Venice Auditorium possess
es a. stage and a stage equipment
equaling those of the old Grand opera
house of San Francisco. The Bern
hardt company; numbering eighty-one
people, carries a complete equipment
for each of the shows. It takes two
carloads of scenery alone for the pro
duction "La Sorclere." The electrical
appliances, costumes and properties
are all carried by the company, relying
In -no; way upon the local houses In
which they play.
• For these reasons the Venice Audi
torium Is the only house in Southern
California' In which the great Bern
hardt could be seen. How to get there
is a question that has been easily an
swered by the management of the var-'
ious transportation companies center-
Ing'ln Venice. The electric system has
been so arranged that four lines will
be open from Los Angeles f.o Venice,
with 120 cars running three minutes
apart, enabling 7200 people to reach
Venice from Los Angeles In sixty min
utes. '
•'Everything has been arranged with
the Venice Auditorium people for the
comfort of the patrons of the engage
ment,' and special arrangements have
been made for the out-of-town people
who desire to stay over night and wit
ness all three performances. The Wind
ward, hotel, the St. . Mark's hotel and
the, hotels of Ocean Park and Santa
Monica, as well as Redondo, are al
ready receiving applications for rooms,
and many dinner parties are being
formed,, and tables reserved by diners,
both before and after the night per
formances. ,
A, few words regarding the plays.
The opening program is Vlctorlen Sar
dou's great "La Sorclere," a tragic
drama In five acts, with stage music
by Xavler Leroux. For the matinee •
but .one- play has ever been consid
ered- by those who desire to see the
great , Bernhardt— Dumas' celebrated
"Camille." For the closing bill It has
narrowed down to either "La Tosca"
or "Fedora," both dramas Intensely
tragic and both holding star positions
In the Bernhardt repertoire. '•;« ■
Blanche Bates Is Loyal
BLANCHE BATES, the California
actress, recently performed at a
. s benefit for the San Fra/iclsoc suf
ferers, at the Belasco theater In New
York. She sold kisses and programs
between the acts of the "Girl from the
Golden West," thus gaining for the San
Francisco luckless ones money galore
for every one wanted either a program
or a kiss, "and kisses at $25 per soon
made a considerable sum.
• After the poker scene In the "Girl
from the Golden West". Miss Bates,
made a speech, when she said:
, '"California Is neither east nor west.
•It: Is California. What we Callfornlans
•feel for it we cannot express. We never
for. lnstance go to the Cliff house pr
visit Chinatown, yet we feel them to be
particularly ours. San Franclsco-Call
,fornia, three words; these thoughts
have .'been to us a mysticism, an asso
, olatlon, a' philosophy which only we
■Callfornlans can understand. We are
. Americans, of course, . but California
Americans." i
.After the performance Miss Bates
sold the winning hand in the poker
■ scene game. An ace of clubs brought
$50. A pair was purchased by Dustln
• Karnum for $20.' And , another auto
graphed ace was sold to an enthusiast
■for $16. A grab bag at which the people
paid but did not have to grab unless
•they wished— and then they were at
perfect liberty to return what «th#y
grabbed— was another of the features&f
the benefit.
New, Opera Company
NORDICA, Nielsen and a. thorough
ly adequate Italian opera com
pany—this is the promise held out
.for, next season. Conrled undoubtedly
lost bo tremendously, by the San Fran
cisco disaster that he will hardly take
out his company again. Thus it Is grati
fying to' learn that there, will be a
company on tour, and If the San Carlo
' company comes here-*-whlch likely H
, will— a cordial hearing is assured It.
Kegardtng It, Mme. Nordlca says:
/ "During .my frequent trips across
. tbe United States, through big cities as
well ua small, where grand opera has
never been heard, I have met every
where the most earnest ' desire on the
! part,' of the leading musical people to
enable, their communities to hear the
great operatic work* at prices which
would make It possible for all. to at
■tenci.v ■■'.' ,•; •■ >. *• ■:• ■■••' .»• . .
! "Of couroe, a great organisation like
our 1 , Metropolitan ■;< opera, requiring
many, great Hingur*, protlclent Insev
- eral , languages, not ' forgetting differ
ent i-choruses and conductors required
J tp,' gtve-^ different opera every night,
. must : netd . expend great ' umouut« ne
i-eHMltiitlng pmportliuiiitf'ty high, prices
of admission. The. San/ Carlo Opera
company propoies giving. opera only In
Italian, and on account of only short
visit" In each city. ii does not need>to
prepare Kuch' an extensive repertoire,
1 iiiS¥imJ*wsi JriMSiMßiriiiiriii him f lnn
LULE WARRENTON— GRAND KATHERINE DAHL— OHPHEUM
EDWARD LYNCH— HOTCHKISS
requiring only a few^very high priced
singers in a. splendid"- and artistically
rounded out ensemble. Of course, it
becomes, under • these conditions, pos
sible for this organization to present
opera on a Scale of general excellence
at a figure which will turn it. from a
luxury for a favored few to an educa
tional factor In the tnuslcal lives of
the masses 'of the 'great American
public." ,',
Miss Alice Nielsen, when Interviewed
by a Herald correspondent as to her
engagement with the San Carlo Opera
company, said: "Oh, I am glad to
think the Americans will hear me In
such surroundings, and then, Imagine
my pride at finding my name side by
side with America's— nay, the. world's
greatest dramatic singer — Mme. Nor
dlca.
"She Is a lovely woman. I met her
In Jacksonville, Kin., and she had noth
ing but sweet words of encouragement
and praise for me. She told me to
work on, never to give In, never to
stop. How little then did I think that
I was destined to flnd my name linked
with hers, and that, too. In my own
country. I am doubly happy because
after many years of work abroad my
natural ambition is to nfako a debut
In my own country such as I made In
the old. sThus far I have not had the
opportunity, for reasons that I need
not go ..into now — not Mr. Russell's
fault, 1 by any means. But now I shall
have a real operatic debut In my native
land."
Back to the Pencil
ED. Price, for the past three years
general manager of the Beiasco &
• Mayer theatrical enterprises, on
the Pacific coast, has gone to New York,
where he will remain until the new Al
cazar-theater In San Francisco Is re
built, which Is expected to occur in
about two years. * . ,
In the meantime Mr. Price will either
engage lg newspaper work In Gotham
or associate himself 'with one of the
several large theatrical firms there, for
his services In the show 1 world 'are al
ways 'In demand. Mr. t Price was the
original newspaper man to desert a city
editor's desk for the amusement field.
Twenty years ago he was city editor of
the Detroit Free Press, which position
he resigned to become business man
ager for the late John T. McCullough,
the tragedian. After McCullougu'a
mind fulled Price assumed the manage
ment of Richard Mansfield when that
actor was a struggling Thespian glad
for any crumbs of critical praise that
■were tossed t<y him. It was Price's
chief duty to Impress on the dramatic
oritlrs of this country and London the
fact that Mansfield was a reully-truly
actor, for while the Sir Richard of to
day occupies a I ppce . of eminence In
the theatrical worla, eighteen years ago
hla . "Parisian Romance" and "Beau
Hriinunel" uttructed . Bcunt aydlences,
unit the work of paying snlarles with
any great degree of regularity was tt
difficult proposition.' |
I'rlee whs also'Mra, , Leslie. Carter's
flrat „ manager » and remained with ■ her
during the troublous days of her '"Ugly
LOS ANGELES HERALD: SUNDAY MORNING,' MAY 13, 1906.
Duckling" and "Miss Helyett" experi
ences. „
From managing the Manhattan thea
ter and several prominent, stars, not
ably Anna Held, Grace G^eorge and
others, Price came to the Pacific coast
in the capacity of general manager for
Belasco ,& Mayer. He is responsible,
perhaps, for more newspaper men leav
ing the Journalistic field for the amuse
ment business than any other manager.
Washington, D. C, was always a fruit
ful field for Price. From the papers
of .the capital ho Induced a quartet of
dramatic editors to enter theatrical
work— Wlllard Holcomb, the dramatist
and business manager for Llcbler &
Co.; Paul Wllstach, business manager
for Richard Mansfield; Charming Pol
lock,' the bright writer who dramatized
"The Pit" for Wilton Lackaye and au
thor of, "The Little Grey Lady," one
of', the 'season's bier New York suc
cesses, and' John 11. Blackwood, who
left 1 ; the dramatic editor's desk of the
Washington Times to become manager
for Mrs. Leslie Carter, and finally, after
five years r with that actress, came to
Los Angeles as manager for the local
Belasco theater.
Stage Folks' Courage
MISS CORINNB SNELL'S pluck
In playing her part' in "Monte
. Crlsto" „at the Grand opera
house last Wednesday night after hav
ing been Injured by being run over by
a horse is reminiscent of many famous
Instances of the courage of stage folk
in playing their engagements in spite
of grave difficulties. It Is a point of
honor with actors and actresses gener
ally* not to miss a *Jngle performance,
iiiui Mlsß'Snell is not the first Thespian
In Los .Angeles who has fought against
her weakness to tho drop of the hat—
or rather the drop of the curtain. '
Two years ago Jklre. Leslie Carter,
appearing hero in "Dv Barry," did so
against her physician's orders, having
not yet recovered entirely from an at
tack* of nervous prostration, and she
f ought It off for three weeks before Bhe
finally was forced to cancel her engage
ments.
Valeric Bergere, now playing at the
Orpheum, received a blow, from her
leading man's dagger early this sea
son and played her part for five weeks
with one hand behind her back, hiding
a bandage.
Paul Concha*, a strong man who ap
peared at the Orpheum last season do-
Ing heavy Juggling with cannons, can
non balla and shells, strained his back
the first of his two weeks' engagement
In San Francls<y>. Doing Juggling with
a strained back is about as painful an
operation as can be Imagined, but Con
chas filled out his two weeks, although
he was forced to lay off for the first
week of, his engagement In Los An
geles.
ilaiTlnon King, leading man at the
Grand opera house, was with Edwards
Davis In hla sk#trh, "The Unmasking."
at the Orpheum last winter uml In tin;
duel scene one night he received a bad
rut on tho ankle, r Notwithstanding the
lntoime pain King uevar mlu»d aper
fornuuii'tt, ami by tremendous will
MILLER BACON— HECLA
power did not even limp, although It
was several weeks before his wound
was healed.
Eugenic Lawton's last week at the
Belasco 'was one of agony, too, as she
played every 'night with a' sprained
ankle.
But probably the most spectacular
case of determination in meeting en
gagements was that of the meteoric
"Scotty," whose "King of the Desert
Mine" did things at the Grand not long
ago. • In spite of the sheriffs, washouts,
writs of attachment and threats of all
sorts, Scott missed only one perform
ance, owing to an engagement with the
Judge at San Bernrdlno.
From Mr. Jahn
LOS ANGELES, Mny 13.
Editor Herald— Dear Sir: The fail
ure of the well known movement look
ing to an amalgamation of the Los
Angeles Choral society and the Apollo
club— one so much to be desired— makes
it due to our organization and to the
public 'to cay that the Los Angtles
Choral society deeply regrets that the
minor differences arising between the
respective committees and involving
facts In which tho jiubllo could feel no
Interest, have brought about such fail
ure. ,
Mr. Barnhart and myself, In accord
ance with our previous declarations, re
signed «8 conductors, but nevertheless
the earnest efforts of the Los Angeles
Choral society to promote this fraternal
musical union failed. The choral soci
ety thinks It only Just to Us friends
and patrons to say that It cannot re
proach Itself with having fallen short
in Its efforts to ' jwcih the good end
desired. It was hardly In furtherance
of this common plan that the older bo
clety should have been expected to be
come merged In the younger one and
completely lose Its name and identity.
Th choral society took the initiative,
endeavored to follow the matter up in
any and every manner consistent with
what it felt was a decent respect to
ward its standing 1 and alms and no one
regrets more than does the society the
ultimate failure.
Because of the failure the society
with unanimous voice has determined
to continue along the lines heretofore
pursued and therein to strive for the
highest idealß In the world of musical
art without . other purpose or motive
than self-Improvement and the estab
lishment In our fair city of a credit
able and enduring mixed .chorus which
shall deserve the favor of the public
and become a source of publtc prtde.
JULIUS ALDEUT JAHN.
" Hubert ' Edeson will continue flvn
■eason« longer under the management
u( Henry ii, Harris,.*; contract to that
effect having beeu signed.
Coming Attractions
BELASCO— Los Angeles theater
Boers and local Masons, as well as vis
iting: members o,f the Mystic Shrine
will find a vast amount of 'downright
good fun in "Are You a Mason," the
farce comedy which will be played at
the Belasco this week. George W. Bar
hum, the popular stage director of the
Belasco organization, happens to be
the only Los Angeles actor who Is a
Shriner and, while he will not reveal
any of the real mysteries of the lodge
room, he and his fellow playera will
indulge in a' host of bogus Masonic
tomfoolery, all designed, to entertain
the Belasco patrons. "Are You a Ma
son" concerns the experiences of a
young married man and his:father-m
law, both of whom tell their wives
they are Masons in order to explain
their absences* from home at night.
Of course, neither is a Mason, but
they are not both aware of this fact,
and when the pair of precious pre
varicators and spurious Masons meet
and start In to fool each other the
fun commences In real' earnest, and
there is no let up until the time for
the final curtain comes, when the com
plications are all cleared up.
Besides Barnum, the Belasco per
formances will include Richard Vivian,
William Bernard, Howard Scott, Will
iam Yerance, Robert L. Dempster,
Adele Farrlngton, "Virginia Brlssac,
Margaret Langham, Mary Graham,
Fanchon Bverhart and other favorites
of the stock company.
HOTCHKIBS THEATER — The
Hotchklsa management has postponed
the production of "Carmen" for a cou
ple of weeks, and for the week com
mencing with the matinee this after
noon will present Audran's comic opera
"Olivette," one of those wholesome
operas of the same type as "La Mas
cotte," the same composer being re
sponsible.fnr both scores. The Olympi
ans gave this opera here early in their
engagement of two years ago, and
the piece Is well remembered by many
as one of their best efforts. The plot
of ihe opera has to deal with the
trials and misfortunes of Olivette and
a young; officer of the Rouslllon guards
In getting married. The libretto Is full
of good wholesome lines and, taken to
gether with the famous Audran's
score, make an opera of the very best
of the light opera style. The usual
Saturday matinee will be given. ■
OnPHEUM THEATER — Popular
songs of tho day are often very tire
some affairs, but as sung by Eliza
beth Murray, | formerly an Orpheum
road show star, they, are always de
lightful. She will exemplify this fact
at the Orpheum next Monday. Bailey,
Austin -and company are just back
from Europe with their admixture of
comedy and acrobatics entitled "Two
American Beauties.""kCarson and Wll
lard will deliver | tho goods with
a new conversation comedy act,
"Frizzled Finance." Katherlne Dahl, a
charming soprano, ' comes direct from
the Alhambra, London, and will en
tertain with htgh-class music. I
For her Becond keek Miss Valeric
Bergere will present . that .vaudeville
classic, "IIIh Japanese Wife," which
she presented with such great success
two years • ago. Edwin Stevens will
Introduce new variations In his clever
"A Night Out," and Miss Eva Mudge
will repeat her atlrlrng military
musical act. New motion pictures.
BURBANK— In order to accommo
date the thousands who were unable
to gain admission during the first week
of "The Lily and the Prince" Manager
Morosco has decided to present the
popular piece still another week, begin
ning thli afternoon; "The Lily and the
Prince" combines comedy, an abuwi'
anee of heart Interest, .gorgeous Btago
settings' and. a/strong plot, and' H U
doubtless BttrtbutnhlA to thesa sterling
qualities and to th« fact that the piece
U in the hands of so strong an urgtui
PART If
ELSIE ESMOND— BURBANK
lzation of players that It has proved
so powerful a drawing card. ,
GRAND OPERA HOUSE— "A Race
for Life," one of the newest of western
dramas, will be the Ulrlch Stock com
pany's offering at the Grand opera
house for the week commencing mati
nee Sunday. This is a real California
play, and some of the scenes are laid
in the immediate vicinity of, Los An
geles. There is a race track incident,
for example, which might be taken
bodily from Ascot park, and throughout
the piece there is a decided atmosphere
of California as it is known by Call
fornlans—vigorous, dashing and full
of life. " . -
HECLA— For the week beginning
Monday the Hecla theater announces
"His Last Chance," .a two-act light
musical comedy. The leading role will
be played by J. J. Cluxton, who will
make his first appearance In two years,
since he was with "Shamus O'Brien"
at the Grand. '"His Last Chance" is all
fun from start to finish. Mr. Clux
ton, Milton Bacon, Maude Francis.
Clark Burroughs, Tony Conley and Vio
let Conley each have roles and Bessie
Tannehill will lead an ensemble by the
company and the "California Poppy
Chorus," which is entirely new.
FISCHER'S THEATER— Fischer's
bill next week will be another of those
musical skits that are so popular with
lovers of light musical comedy enter
tainments. The new piece is a humor
ous travesty upon a well known comedy
and Is entitled "Brown's Left Town."
As is the rule with burlettos of this
kind the plot bears no resemblance to
the original production except that the
characters become involved In ludic
rous complications that work tnem
selves out during the run of tho story.
O'Brien and West will have the lead
ing comedy roles. The musical num
bers will be a special feature of the bill,
Bonnlo May will Introduce a novelty In
the shape of the "Chappie" number In
which she gives her famous Imitations
of Annie Held.
Greenroom Gossip
' J. C, Williamson, the leading Austral
ian manager, has secured the rights to
"The Prince Chao" for his country.
May li'wiu is considering a new com
edy by Reginald W. B. Plnero, a relative
of Arthur Wing Pinero, for use nsxt
season.
Adelaide Thurston will appear next
season In a new play by Pauline Phelps
and Marlon Short, authrs of her first
big success, "Sweet Clover." .
Following the example of her hus
band, E. H. Sothern, Virginia Harned
has Joined the ranks of the Inde
pendents. She will be under the direct
management of David Belasco, who will
Btnge her productions, but the business
mnnagement will be In the handß of the
Shuberts.
Forbes Robertson, accompanied by
his wife, Gertrude Elliott, a sister of
Maxine Elliott, and his English com
pany will tour the United States next
season in his Shakespearean repertoire.
Critics have pronounced his Hamlet
the best since Edwin Booth's. ■
The Shuberts have brought . suit
against Grace Van Studdlford for $25,
000 damages. They claim to have suf
fered losses by her withdrawal from the
cast of "Lady Teazle," which compelled
the closing of the season, Including a
New York run of that production.
Italian dramatists following In' the
wake of their ■ French confreres are In
arms against the trustification 'of the
Italian stage. They have organized for
mutual support and will not permit any
of their productions to be played in a
"trust" house or by a "trust" company.
As all the leading dramatists are In the
organisation the movement will be sue
•cesnful. -
. '.'Panhandle Pete," one of the many
characters of comlo supplement range,
Is the latest to (eel the scissors of the
adapter. He la being dramatised by
William Holcomb, With lyrlm by Kil
wartt l.iiska and muslo by Samuel Leh
man. .-The- result will be produced tit
Atlantic City li» August. ■•.- •
John C Fisher wilt present several
musical • comedies, Including "Kluio
dora". and . "Tho , Silver Slipper." In
Havana, Culm. • A company' of eighty*
live people baa already tailed... :>. < • ■
7
NOTES BY TUB
MAT/NEB MAN
MINA GLEASON, who Is;- well :.
known to local piny patron*
through her work while., ft
member of the Maker and Ralph;-
Stuart companies, ' has been en-';
gaged by Manager Moronco •« chiirac«>'
ter woman of the Burbank. theater?
stock company. Miss Gleason; arrived •;
In Los Angeles a few days ago and at
once began rehearsing for, her .'part In, '
the coming production of "At PIney
Ridge." During the past ; two * years"?';
the talented woman occupied ! the poil
tlon of character actress with: the Ma- ;
jestic theater stock company In - San , '
Francisco. In the great disaster that. j
befell the northern metropolis '.? Miss," :
Gleason lost her every possession and V
means of earning a livelihood owing V.
to the fact Uinl I every playhouse ' In,';
that city was wrecked, ' Manager Mo- ;
rosco's company lacked a . character $i
woman since the retirement > of Phono.
McAllister, and arrangements .*. have ;'•
been completed whereby Mlna Gleason ('.
will • henceforth greet ■ her friends ( In '/ ';
that capacity. ••■'•.-." > ' , i
Merle Manning , the new tenor who -•
will .be first heard with the Olympiad
company at the ; matinee today, -'Anl »",''•
native son and was born r In, Los An
geles. He has been In opera for th«
past ten years and ha* appeared lit V.
leading roles In such companies as th« I
Savage grand opera' company, ■. , th« ■ '*
Boston Lyric opera company, the: Bos- \\'
ton Ideal opera company and the Wil
bur opera company. Ed Lynch,* who
has been seen recently In leading roles H
at Fischer's, will appear for the > first ?i
time at the Hotchkls» today. ?,Mr;*
Lynch has a baritone voice of planning
quality and should be one of the moat
popular members of the company. ftSS*
Writing to Manager Oliver Morosco &
of the Burbank, a theatrical friend
sends word that Cherldah .! Simpson,
who created the part of Prince Bagla
In : "Woodland,"- will In ! September i be fe
the feature In '"The 'Red Feather ,'-M the fg
role Grace Van 'Sluddlford filled no
long. 9 Contracts calling :■ for I engage- S
ments over the Proctor circuit,' forced .
Miss Simpson to • turn ; down an offer '.
from Henry W. Savage. •• '•
Manager John ■ H. :. Blackwood of I the J i
Belasco has advices that .Willie Collier ,<«
and • his company have '.- sailed ; front •!},
Vancouver for ' Australia. .■ Collier ; and ip
company were the source "■ of ."■-. much y
anxiety for a time, as their : schedule «?
called for that reappearance v; In 'iSanC^
Francisco about the . time ; of \ the ; dis
aSter there. .". . .<. ■ .-"' .> '*;*Vv : ''.Vf
-Judging by the mall '■• of , Manager j,.;\
Clarence G. Drown of the | Orpheum. H
there are many sick and convalescent Es
celebrities. Look at the list: V ; '„'■'
■| Ethel Barrymore. who left a i Boston."'
hospital after an operation for appen- 1 '
dicitis, is back at New York theaters."^.
Joseph Wheelock, jr.,' 1 is ' recovering i,i
at. Roosevelt hospital, New ■York,: from. ffi
■ an operation for. a growth on the neck. :
He was the star of Ade's "Just Out atM
College." ' ■ .. ?. ,;;■.
Robert Drouet has recovered from : &,
pneumonia and Is now at Atlantic City
preparing to spend the summer 'In the ; s - E
mountains. ■ ' .','.' '■-'.■':. S
Margaret Anglin has recovered | front &■■
an accident, just made public, and 5 Is *^
suing the New Haven & Hartford road ■
for $50,000 damages. - - , t -"■•'>. i'''.3
Press Agent Randolph: Bartlett r of ;-J
th» Orpheum -has advices that»Henry
W. Savage has signed a contract with
Harry Bulger for a term of years. Mr.
Bulger will be seen In a new musical p
comedy by John Kendrlck Bangs, Vin- ■
cent Bryan and Manuel Klein,' which ;%
Mr. Savage . will produce.,: . \V - I. ,-,;**
At the suggestion ;-; of . Henry Clay -<*j
Barnabee. himself, the benefit arranged *;";
for him and the widow of W. : H. Mac
donald by their old associates ! in the \&
Bostonians . has ' been -deferred ,'untlli ■
autumn. ; Mr. Barnabee thinks San ,*£
Francisco the ' only , proper object "• Of
benefits at present. ■• '. : ; ■. ' ■■:. l ;vv>i
Miss Anne Sutherland, who played at R
the Columbus- theater, New York,
with Richard 'Butler, an old Call-|5;
fornia favorite, '■. has accepted a
proposal from I , the | management | of ■
that house for a summer en
gagement, beginning ; May 20. - Miss #
Sutherland will present a number of f (
plays, "When Knighthood Was « In iii
Flower" and other popular dramas be- **
Ing among the first. offerings. ;
"The Lion and the Mouse" company, ,y
whose members escaped ..with their }/■'■
lives from San Francisco during the ; ; ;
recent earthquake and subsequent fire,
are on their way eastward. to begin an:.
indefinite run at the Illinois theater, ',
Chicago, May 27. '. The success of this,
play In the west was as great as I In: ■
Chicago earlier in the season and the :s
cast remains the same with the excep
tion of Miss Gertrude Coghlan, who.',
has succeeded Miss Illlngton as . Shir- 'fc
ley Rossmore. Los Angeles playgoers,
remember the play pleasantly, ■* for of S>
it a distinguished critic said: "In -"The f.V,
Lion and the Mouse" Charles Klein '£.*
lias given us, if not the most Bki'lful, Bj
at least the most clever and Interest- A.
i Ing American play of the • season,',*.^K
Has Harry Spier, the stage t manager
of the Belasco, a grudge against ' the ?'
actors?
It would be impossible to, go to th«
popular Main street theater week htttv I
', week without asking yourself H this S|
i question. ■ -
Night after night the tableaux have
been spoiled because the curtain falls m
to coma down at the right time, It l»'tf
the place of the stage director to give
. the signal • for bringing down the cur- ;; ;
tain, but evidently. Mr. Spier Is : very
slow Is giving it or his men are slow
In obeying, for the Belasco curtain Is a
most exasperating one. ■ . , : ■■ .:•:> , vc'<-;
Much of the effect of a curtain 1 de
pends on the shutting out of the pic
ture just at ■ the dramatic climax, If .
there is a quick curtain I the | audience W
naturally wants more of the " picture. K
but If the curtain drags, the Interval of ; ;
waiting becomes tiresome to both actor
and audience. " ■•"■;'. . -'■■■
In most • particulars the stage direct
ing at the Belasco' Is worthy of high
praise, but in this Instance there - Is ',:
something wrong. I'iJJ" I'Nf WUft>\W][j
Edwin Stevens, the entertainer who ..'<
was making Orpheum audiences happy
last week In his skit, ; "A Night Out,' 3
, Is one of the most versatile men on the
American atage, ; bar . none. ;. ■' lie i Is ; a '\
Callforntan. a native gun. In fact, and a
twenty years ago he was the idol of ,
Ban Francisco In a stock comic opera
company.. Since then he has played laJB
Shakespearean drama, fare* comedy,
tragedy, musical ■ comedy, ,' done . mono»^>:
logue stunts, 'sung tin: grand /■ opera, >;
played leads for Mm. Leslie Carter and nj
has nnaly wound up In vaudeville/' HI* Ji
skit at the Orpheum display* hla diver-
Btty of talent to 'the full extent. as It : :
includes light comedy acting, . chariot *r>v
work, ; Imitations. ■ .Hid . last but \ not '= :
least. Ringing. - ■