San Francisco dramatic review (1899)

April 18, 1908. THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW Van Ness Mclntyre and Heath will conclude their tremendously successful two weeks' engagement on Sunday night. Notwithstanding the time of years, their" presence here has brought out great audiences, and the performances have been most enjoyable from all points of view. Princess Talk of traditions. If any old-time Tivoli devotees have heard Songbirds, be sure that their ever-dear standards have not been outraged. There is no superlative for best, and in this the Princess has given the best. Herbert and Hobart, by grace of Win. Burress, O. C. Apfel, Arthur Cunningham et al., aided by perfect support and every adjunct of a top-notch production, are a combination unbeatable. No wonder New York applauded and approved. And we of this independent* West, claiming our own attributes of discrimination, herewith approve New York's approval, and are grateful for Mr. Burress and grateful to Mr. Loverich and Mr. Lask. Miss Bertram, contrary to her interview on cooking and Ibsen, seems very happy in her work this week. Zoe Barnett, of course, is always dependable. Ben Lodge, with his jokes, and Harold Crane, with his songs, make customary hits. While Little Christopher is somewhat slower than Songbirds, the performance, all in all, is one considerably above par. American One of the surprises of the week is furnished by the performance of Brown's in Town by the Lumley Stock Company, which was brought in from the road to fill in an open week, without any flourish of trumpets. This clever little company has demonstrated the good quality of its makeup, and good-sized audiences have been laughing heartily over the misadventures of Brown's matrimonial entanglements. Frank E. Montgomery, as Dick Preston, alias Brown, proves to be a very clever light comedian, and in Elmer Ballard, who plays the father, there is a comedian who will soon come into particular prominence. Mike Horley is pleasing as the gardener, and Leo Lindhard and Ivan Miller are two juvenile men of good presence and considerable ability. Mae Keane, who several years ago was popular as an ingenue in our local stocks, returns a leading woman and demonstrates that she has retained her pleasing personality and added to her dramatic worth. She plays Lithy with skill and effective ingenuousness. Hope Mosher is a pretty and attractive Suzanne. Harriet Jocelyn is one of the hits of the performance in the role of the colored cook. Miss Jocelyn presents a real "colored lady" and gets much delightful comedy out of the part. Mable Alberta, who plays the German heiress, has a decided talent for comedy and arouses much laughter. Central who are particularly well qualified to handle that old, old one — Ten Nights in a Barroom, and as the play has not been seen here in a long time, the performance is one of interest. Thomas Heffron plays Joe Morgan, and to his credit be it said that from a purely legitimate standpoint, it is one of the best and strongest characterizations the local stage has seen in a long time. Elmer Booth allows his effervescent comedy full sway in the part of Sample Switchel, and delights his audience. Frank Bonner, who is one of the strongest aetors we have in dramatic characterizations, is more than excellent as Simon Slade. James M. Ward makes his reappearance locally in the part of Romaine, and all of his old-time skill is in evidence. Kernan Cripps is seen as Harvey Green, and Ben McOuarrie plays Willie Hammond. Laura Hudson has the weepy Mrs. Morgan, and presents the part in a manner to win much sympathy. Georgia Haynes is entrusted with the character of Miss Carnation, patterned after Mrs. Carrie Nation, that is a feature of the new version, and plays it with striking ability. Claire Sinclair is Mehitable and is good. Little Dora Parker is Mary Morgan and gives a very clever portrayal. Winnie Kay is noticeable in the part of Lizzie Tucker. Alcazar In Mizzoura, that standard American product by Playwright Augustus Thomas, is given an altogether admirable production this week. Like all the Alcazar presentations, every attention is paid to detail and the atmosphere of the play, which always enters heavily into all of the Thomas' affairs, is very much in evidence. The Sheriff is entrusted to Bertram Lytell, and his portrayal of the character is as pleasing and life-like as anything this popular leading man has given us. Howard Hickman, who fits into the various lines of work that is demanded of a stock actor of his ability and versatility, with so much success, is very good as the train robber. Will Walling is an imposing blacksmith, and Adele Belgarde gives a true picture of the hardworking wife. Burt Wesner imparts a breezy personality to Col. Tom Bollinger, and John Maher, whose one aim in life aside from a great desire to wed 'Lizbeth, is to "get a steady job," does the comedy of Dave in a manner to suit the most exacting. Thais Lawton has the unsatisfactory part of Kate Vernon and plays it discreetly. Daisy Lovering revels in such character comedy parts as 'Lizbeth, and the audience appreciates her work greatly. Louise Brownell is an attractive Emily. Ernest Glendenning, Walter Whipple, Walter Belasco and Edward Coxen do small parts with ability. The staging of Joe Vernon's blacksmith shop shows the capability of the management and stage crew, and the music of Edward Lada was pleasing. Mission The Winning Hand, which embraces a little from many successful melodramas, is giving good satisfaction at the Mission this week. Margarita Fischer, to the delight of many admirers, returns and gives a fine performance of an irrepressible newsboy. Maud Odelle, whose work is rapidly coming into notice, is seen to advantage as the suffering heroine. Frederick Wilson is a most amusing tramp and Charley Edler does the rich old man and business hypocrite with dignity and ability. Chauncey Southern is seen in the lead and plays the part with excellent results. Tillie Dunbar makes a clever character old woman. Frederick Donaghey Mr. Donaghey is the brilliant newspaper man ahead of Wilton Lackaye, on the staff of Wm. A. Brady. Alfred Hamburg .1/;-. Hamburg is the affable and popular manager who is piloting Wilton Lackaye, the Wm. A. Brady star. Personals Harry Leighton will be in the support of Lee Willard at The American next week. Marie Howe is mourning the loss of her aged mother, who passed away last week. J. Anthony Smith, who at five hours' notice was called upon to take the place of Harry Pollard with the Harries-Storm Company in Vallejo, who opened Monday night in Charley's Aunt, and who made a very great success of the part, has been signed by Manager Howell of the Central Theatre to play alternate leads. He will open next week. Julia Marlowe is lying seriously ill at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, as the result of a nervous breakdown following a season of ten weeks of one-night stands, following the unfounded charges in connection with a Salem divorce suit, in which she was unwarrantedly brought into the case. Her doctors have ordered her to cancel all of her engagements for the next fortnight. It is hoped that with care she may be able to resume her work so as to appear at the Lyric Theatre in New York in May. Mrs. Elizabeth Saunders, a wellbeloved actress of the long ago, celebrated the eighty-ninth anniversary of her birth on April 4th at her home in Twenty-second Street. The declining years of this former queen of the stage find her blessed with loyal friends, many of whom made a special pilgrim' age, leaving beautiful and substantial remembrances. Mrs. Saunders enjoys reasonably good health despite her advanced age. Although somewhat frail physically, she is so alert mentally that life is a pleasure to her as well as to her friends. "There is more gold in the ground than you can find on the ticker." This is Nat Goodwin's latest epigram. He arrived at the St. Francis Thursday direct from Rawhide. When he registered he wore a slouch hat rakishly turned up, a rough tweed suit and boots. At dinner time he doffed the miner's makeup and was again the Broadway actor in immaculate evening clothes. One minute Nat Goodwin talks high-grade ore and the next box office receipts. The most emphatic declaration he makes is that he was born in i860 and that he is still in the two-year-old class. "Rawhide looks good to me. I went down one mine and chipped two pounds off the walls. Went up on the level and crushed the ore myself and panned $10.25, an<J I am the worst 'panner' you ever saw. The ore at that rate will pay $75,000 to the ton. I was crazy to open in The Master Hand on Broadway. It was a dead frost and I saw the 'Indian sign' before the curtain went up. Any time in the next thirty days I may be $1,000,000 strong from my mining interests at Rawhide. I open in a new play at Denver on the 13th of next month. Just see by the papers that I will have to dig up a new leading lady. The property I am interested in Rawhide covers 160 acres of "-round." Lecture on Old English Stage Professor William Dallam Amies of the English Department of the University of California entertained a large audience in California Hall last week with a lecture illustrated with stereopticon views on the subject of Theatrical Conditions in London in 161 1. The lecture was preliminary to an address by Professor Henry Morse Stephens, who talked on the different productions of The Winter's Tale he had seen. The lectures were delivered under the auspices of the English Club of the University in order to stimulate interest in the English Club production of the Shakespearean play by the student actors in the Greek Theatre on April 3d. The lectures were among the most interesting ever given at the University, as both men were masters of their subjects. Professor Stephens was for years a journalist in London, and has witnessed productions of The Winter's Tale, in which such actresses as Mrs. Robinson and Mrs. Jordan and Ellen Terry took part. His witty comments on the American and the English stage and his careful analysis of the play, both from the point of view of literature and of the stage, were met with applause from the audience.