San Francisco dramatic review (1899)

December 23rd, 1899 THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW 13 cA Closer Look at cMary Van 'Buren "Time was when I considered Mary * Van Buren a most usual person. That I never said it to the extent that I thought it, was because she kept just far enough awaj' from the shine of the footlights to escape singeing. Since her performance in "The Sporting Duchess," I have sat right hard upon the stool of repentance and yearned for the confessional. Now that I have said so, I f^el emancipated and respectable and fit to discuss the subject. Indeed she is quite unusual. In a few minutes' chat she started so many thoughts for me that I'm going down by and by to sit on the pasture bars in the afterglow to bring them to a finish. A close look individualizes her sharply. She carries the charm of pensiveness without sadness, repose without reverie and above all the wonderful charm of work without strain. Your tired woman is almost as great a bore as your idle one. The mouth, very willful, says that if ever she were perfectly miserable, she would be quite as perfectly proud. The nose and eyes are merry as the day is long — the true comedienne tips the one and flashes variously from the other. If she be free one day to choose a Shakespearean character, let it be Katheripe and the taming of her will be no easy matter. She has a most musical voice but a manner of using it not quite her own — early adopted I fancy, and perhaps rather lazily adhered to. A controlling personal bent such as hers, should make that voice a thing as individual as the soul. The drama has spread so prodigiously, such a deal more than it has developed, that when one finds a great promise the least interference with its fulfillment is not to be overlooked. "That is a beautiful view, is it not," she said as we passed the corridor windows looking east. So much that is hideous lay between us and the view that I had to change the focus completely to get at the Whistler etching she was seeing. That kind of rebuke is the neatest sort of criticism. She owes me one less now and I am made to feel that where she is, very little happiness will go to waste. And speaking of criticism brings me to her manner of using it. Not only does she wear her own cap but anybody's else that will fit, reading all good criticism carefully for her own improvement. Such an attitude is the sum of all the graces. The woman who finds the critic's words a cause for anger must have a pretty low standard to think that she fills it. "Opposition to my going on the stage ? Indeed, yes — chiefly from my mother who had visions of an easygoing idleness and a never ending series of midnight suppers, gleaned chiefly from the newspapers and the tongues of those who talk but do not think. Now that she knows the truth, she has become reconciled." That was a hard picture for the mind's eye, though — especially the suppers. So much worth keeping departs with the digestion. Miss Van Buren reflects a training that begins with the Litany and reaches through regular spring house cleaning to a proper respect for calling cards and superfluous notes. In the fanciful world of the stage where things are so often what they are not such a foundation is no idle possession. A bit of her school history would make fine material for opera-bouffe. "I had planned," she said, "to go to Vassar, but tales of the young women there, their advanced ideas and independent ways, reached the hearth and I was sent instead to a college in Albany. Very well, I said, I shall go but my most earnest endeavor shall be to be expelled j ust as soon as possible. " She lived up to her threat for the very first day she made herself acquainted with all the rules merely to break them, and the first week got more bad marks than any girl in the history of the school — except one. (That girl'sname should be published.) However, she was not expelled and in time became devoted to the place. "How have you made such strides in so short a time?" said I, thinking of The Sporting Duchess. "There is something in opportunity," she answered. "But more in being ready for it," thought I. Apropos of small parts and their manner of handling she said, "You can't star carrying your mistress' cloak and it were absurd to try." Now that is the wisdom of Solomon, and not to be pursued by a coarse intellect with its refined applications. To play big comedy parts is the hope before her and let me be the prophet who says the goal is near — very near. In Cumberland '61, she is to be a maid servant of the cockney order, and should do it well for she has studied their peculiarities at first hand in London, and has the power, if she but use it, to adjust her expression to her costume, with telling effect. She will not be looked at from the standpoint of the cold observer, but takes your good-will at a glance without so much as "by your leave," yet with a certain courtesy and dignity that shut your eyes to the theft and make you realize that an emphasis of her presence could never be a very great grief. Charlotte Thompson. Three Performances THE Man from Japan Company which went out last week under the management of W. H. Wheeler, gave three performances, Martinez, Crockett and Davisville, and then disbanded. The mother of one of the members of the cast sent tickets to the stranded actors who are now in town. Sol Smith Russell Breaks Down T n the middle of the first act of The *■ Hon. John Grigsby at the Grand Opera House in Chicago Monday evening, Sol Smith Russell came down to the footlights and began addressing the audience. The latter, unfamiliar with the play, thought the actor was speaking words written by the playwright, and not till Mr. Russell concluded with the words: "I shall therefore retire to my hotel on the advice of my physician," did his hearers comprehend he was dismissing them. Russell played in St. Louis a week ago last Saturday, but laid off last week and went to his home in Minneapolis. His trouble is mental paralysis. He came to Chicago in the morning and played in the evening against the will of his wife. When he found his memory slipping away in the first act, he pulled himself together and made his address to the audience. Manager Hamlin released him from his engagement. Death of Oscar Eliason A CABLEGRAM was received in Salt Lake Nov. 30, conveying the information that Oscar Eliason, professionally known as "Dante," had been shot dead in Australia. No further particulars have l>een received, but it is generally thought that he met death in performing the Hermann bullet-catching trick. Mr. Eliason was enjoying the most successful tour of his brief career when the tragedy overtook him. He had been in the Antipodes for a year and a half, and was greeted by crowded houses wherever he appeared. In the larger cities of Australia and New Zealand he played as many as one hundred engagements with bij; patronage. Mr. Eliason was born in Salt Lake City a little over 28 years ago, and at at early age showed marked ability as a prestidigitator. He was first brought prominently before the public by exposing the tricks of several artists who were performing in Salt Lake. After this he gave a number of amateur entertainments and met with such flattering success that Ik entered the professional ranks. A successful tour of the United States and Cuba was then made. June 2, 1898, "Dante" started on a four years tour of the world under the management of M. B. Curtis. He remained in Australia and New Zealand until the time of his death. Eliason was considered by many to have been the greatest prestidigitator the country has ever seen. Particulars of his death will not reach this country until the arrival of the next steamer from Australia January »3