The San Francisco Dramatic Review (1908)

May i6, 1914 THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW 9 Bids Wanted SACBAMEirrO AMUSEMENT FEDERATION MONSTEB PICNIC AND MOONXiaHT DANCE Wilton Grove, Sunday, June 14. Sealed Ijids, separate or as a whole, will lie received until Tuesday, May 26, 5 p. m., for exclusive piivilegres for all kinds of g'ames and concessions— merry-go-round, novelties, etc. We reserve the rig'ht to reject any and all bids. Address D. E. Rothschild, P. O. Box 361 Sacramento Columbia Theatre Seen through the eye of modern science, the world is truly a very small place. For example, take the moving picture, whose advantages and benefactions we are more or less apt to accept as a matter of course. It eliminates time and space as much as the air ship and the wireless tele- phone. The far ends of the earth are broug'ht to our very door, set down, as it were in our very own back yard, becoming a part of our every- day life and making us in turn a part of the great life of the world. The particular instance of which we may avail ourselves this week and next is the picture of life in the Philippines, now being shown at the Columbia. The whole history of the native Fili- pino unrolls before our eye—his origin and development, his country, his home, his industrial arts, his man- ners and customs and superstitions; all told with a graphic art that catches the eye and holds the memory. In fact, the story of the race is so clearly set forth that there is small need for the very excellent lecturer who ac- companies the show, though in pass- ing, I would comment upon his agree- able voice and enunciation and his modest, straight-forward talk, which directs attention to special features. The scenic background is beautiful, but for me the chief interest lies in the human element and its environ- ment in action, an interest that always attaches especially to the primitive state of life from which we sprang. But with Oliver Herford, when he wrote of our ancestral chimpanzee, I can thankfully say "I am glad we sprang." I know of nothing more sal- utary, more liable to breed content with conditions here and now than this inside glimpse into how tlie other half lives. Cort Theatre The Passing Show of 1913 is the attraction at the Cort Theatre this week, and judging from the large at- tendance at each performance and the unusual enthusiasm displayed by the audiences nightly, the show is one of the best yet sent out by the New York Winter Garden Company. Heading the cast are a number of names well known to those familiar with Broadway favorites, and the songs and musical numbers are par- ticularly catchy and attractive. The chorus is also wonderfully well drilled and exceptionally well gowned, and all replete with pretty girls who can sing as well as dance. The music and ballet was arranged by the well- known composer, Melville Ellis, wlio was seen here recently with Al Jol- son in The Honeymoon Express, an- other of the Shuberts star Winter Gar- den successes. Frank Conroy and George LeMaire head the cast, which includes such well-known names as Charles King, Mazie King, Artie Mehlinger, Teddy Wing, George Ford, MoUie King, Louise Bates, Sadie Burt, Ernest Hare and others. The scenic efifects are out of the or- dinary and unusually massive and at- tractive, and i)articular attention has been given to some wonderful light- ing cf¥ects. Amongst the musical numbers that .scored heavily was Fine Feathers, rendered by Miss Bates and chorus; Ragging the Nursery Rhymes, by Mollie King; Good Old-Fashioned Cake Walk, by Charles King and chorus; I'm Just a Little Bit Afraid of Broadway, by Sadie Burt; and Whistling Cowboy Joe, by Artie Mehlinger and chorus. This is but a few of the many catchy songs, and undoubtedly The Passing Show of 1913 will prove equally as popular, if not more so, than any of the many Shubert Winter Garden shows sent to tile Coast for some time. Alcazar Theatre As a breathing sjjell between their more serious work, Willard Mack and Marjorie Ranibeau are flirting with farce in the shape of Willie Collier's I'11 Be Hanged If I Do. Like all his other plays, this one is written to ex- ploit Willie Collier and consequently Mack, who plays the Collier role of the irresponsible son, finds himself with the weight of the play on his shoulders, but it rests so lightly there that he not only carries it to a suc- cessful conclusion, but also carries his audience with him. ]t is not a diffi- cult part, nor one that makes great demands upon his artistic strength, be- ing full of time-honored gags and old- fashioned situations, but the fact that he makes it register proves him a comedian of no mean ability. The rest of the cast mostly rises to the importance of "also ran," although Dorcas Matthews gets in some telling- strokes as the bride bereft, and Mar- jorie Rambeau is very young and charmingly unsophisticated as the ro- mantic Bonny. The action of the play swings back and forth between Percival's New York apartment and the Spread Eagle Hotel in a Nevada mining camp, where Annie Mack Berlein and Howard Hickman fur- nished plenty of atmosphere with the aid of the various miners and other natives who frequent the hotel, Frank Wyman and Edna Grotchier being particularly elTective as the smart Chinese cook and the stupid German waitress. Kernan Cripps slips from a swell New Yorker to a Nevada stage driver with his usual careless ease, and Burt We-sner is in his ele- ment as the irate father of Percival, whose unfaith in his son's ability is not justified by the outcome. Charles Compton plays the small boy, Binks, S. A. Burton and Stanley Livingston are the Japanese valet and the butler, and Louise Browncll is resplendent as the would-be mother-in-law in two very becoming new gowns. Gaiety Theatre The Girl Jiehind the Counter is go- ing along swimmingly on its merry way to the delight of all who attend. Seldom has a musical show contrib- uted so many laughs, as many satis- fying moments. The Girl will con- tinue to claim attention until the next bill is ready. Rehearsals have been going on for some weeks, and Tiie Isle of Bong Bong promises to be a particularly scintillating and humor- ous affair. H.H.FrazeeWill Control Miss Cushing's Play H. H. Frazee has come out victor- ious in a legal tilt with the Rumsey Play I5ureau over a comedy I)y Cath- erine Chisholni Gushing, which Mr. I'razee has an option on. It was originally agreed that the play should i)e produced before October ^3' 19the manuscript had to be rewritten and the work was not satisfactory to Mr. Frazee. Suit was brought to secure the release of the manuscript, but the court ruled that no time limit was definitely specified, and Mr. Frazee still re- tains his rights to the play. Mazie King Establishes Rec= ord for Toe Stepping Mazie King, toe dancer and walk- er, last Monday danced up and down the 18 flights of stairs of the Call Building, 360 steps, in just nine minutes. She did not rest a second, and not once did she come down from her toes. No one has ever ac- complished such a feat before, and, although Miss King has won much fame by dancing down the Metro- politan Building in New York, the London Monument and others, the dance up and down the 360 steps of the Call Building is the most diffi- cult. "Whee!" laughed Miss King after her strenuous climb, "that was some work. I was almost afraid I couldn't make it once. The coming down isn't so hard. Ever since I was a little bit of a girl I loved to dance on my toes. I can do any- thing on them that I can do flat footed. I think that horse-back rid- ing, swimming and long tramps helped to develop me so that I have the strength and endurance. If any one thinks it wasn't hard to dance up and down the Call Building, why I'll lend them my slippers and let them try it." Thurston Hall Will Be Wel- comed When Bessie Barriscale opens her season at the Alcazar Theatre on June 8th, she will bring her own lead- ing man to ])lay the o]iposite roles to her characterizations. In Miss Barris- cale's leading man we will welcome an old friend. Thurston Hall, who was one of the most popular actors who played the heroic roles in the pro- ductions at the old Alcazar, up on Sutter Street. Since leaving here, Mr. Hall has added a long list of dra- matic successes to his record in the principal cities throughout the East. G. W. Pughe Closes Show Writing to Tmc Dkam.vtic Rkvif.w , G. W. Pughe. head of the Orpheum Stock, ex])lains his closing. "Dear friend: Confirming my wire of yes- terday I write you to tell you that the balloon goes u]) Saturday in San- ger. I am behind in salaries, and the outlook for business is very poor in- deed. I have the finest little bunch of troupers imaginable and they are all willing to stick to the ship, but we have figured it from every point and cannot .see how we can iiossibly get by, so we have decided to close. Ray Hatton and wife, Florence Rob- erts, will go to Los Angeles. Miss Manor will go to San Francisco; Louise Koch leaves for Astoria, Ore., to join the Victor Donald Comjiany. liill l.eino goes to his home in Recd- Icy, and as for myself, I haven't fully decided as yet, but 1 have several things in view. I will ])robably ac- cept a position with my old ixd. A. B. Basco, who has a girl show in Bakers- field. It is a big disappointment to all of us to have to give up the ghost, as we are all one happy family, but after sixteen weeks of phenomenally rotten business we all think there is no use. With sinccrest good wishes, I am as ever." Some of the Inside Workings of the Chicago Opera Company CHICAGO, May i.—A radical change in the policy and personnel of tile Chicago (irand Opera Company is to take place as one result of the disastrous tour of the Far West, which this organization has just com- pleted, a tour which resulted in the astonishing loss of $180,000, which amount, added to the deficit on the Chicago-Philadelphia seasons, makes the loss bigger than any sustained by a grand opera company since the dis- astrous days when Mapleson and Strakosch were leading impresarios. Much dissatisfaction is expressed in certain c|uartcrs over the business di- rection of Cleofonte Cami)anini, and regret is being expressed that he was permitted to supersede .Xndreas Dip- ])cl as impresario. It is definitely de- termined that no Pacific Coast tour will be undertaken next year, or per- haps ever again. A prominent direc- tor of the Chicago Grand Opera Com- pany .said last night that it is \ncib- able the Metropolitan Company of New York will go to California next spring. Thai organization has not been heard in San Francisco since the year of the earth(|uake. and from the way in which the Chicago Company was received tliis year, there is little likehood that any aggregation less strong than the Metropolitan Com- l)any would draw the necessary at- tendance to keep such a tour from showing a loss. The attendance with which the Chicago Company met in many cities was so small as to be hardly explainable. The loss in Kan- sas City was $24,000; in Los .\ngeles, $18,000; in San Francisco, $20,000; in Seattle, $15,000, and in the smaller cities along the route, proportional amounts.