San Francisco dramatic review (1899)

lo THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW June 14.1^,1 OAKLAND, SAN FRANCISCO. LOS ANGELES, CHICAGO Superior Scenic Advertising Curtains Artistic Drop Curtains Scenery and Decorations 1938 Telegraph Ave., Oakland, Cal. Columbia Theatre 111 selecting James l'>ernard Pagan's ailaptation of Robert Ifitclien's fa- mous novel, Uella Donna, for the use of Madame Xazinima, Ciiarles Froh- man slioued again Iii^ astuteness and liis judgment as a theatrical mana- ger, for, not since her first a])pearanee ii; luiglish has this distinguished Rus- sian player had a vehicle so admirahlv suited to all of her rc(|uirements. Xazimova is exotic, she is eerie and to an extent, she is Oriental. The role of Mrs. Chcjistow, IkUa Donna, em- bodies all of these and while the char- acter is a decidedly un])leasant one and the woman herself as wicked as could possibly be found, it suits Xaziniova's I)eculiarities most admiral)ly. Large audiences have greeted Xazimova ever since the ojKMiing perft)rmance on Monday eveniug and the demand for seats for the second and last week of her engagement is very, very large. I-'rom a production stantlpoint, Bella Donna is one of the most handsomely staged plays that has been seen lo- cally in a long time. The second and last week of the engagement will open on Monday'evening. Matinees will be given f)n Wednesday and on Saturday. Cort Theatre Surpassing in size and splendor any- tiiing which he has hitherto offered to the jmblic in a traveling organization, ilcnry W. .Savage's i)roduction of the dramatic siJcctade, Everywoman, which he will offer at the Cort Thea- tre beginning Sunday, stands alone. Not a feature which was used witli this ])roduction during its long New York run has been eliminated, and the cast contains nearly a score of the or- iginal performers, including H. Coop- er Cliffe, creator of the role of No- body. .\dele Blood will be seen in the title role. Miss Blood appeared in this difficult character for more than two hundred nights in New York. The .symjihonic music, composed by George W'hiteficld Cliadwick, will be played by an orcliestra of twenty-five. There is a grand opera and a musi- cal comedy chorus in addition to the large flraniatic ensemble. Alcazar Theatre Leo Ditrichstein, his Xew York company and the .\lcazar players have scored such a success in The Con- cert that tiie charming comedy will be at the ()'l''arrell Street theatre one more week, commencing next Monday night. The advance sale of seats pres- ages another series of crowded au- diences. By his wonderful characteri- zation of the eccentric nuisician, Mr. Ditrichstein has gained the admira- tion of San l-"rancisco's i)lay patrons, his acting stamping him as a light comedian of the first rank. Isabel Irving, Cora Witherspoon, Madge West, .^nne Livingston, Alice Patek, Anna Mc.Xaughton, Louis liennison and Burt Wesner also contribute mightily to the magnetism of the per- formance. There cannot possibly be a tliird week of The Concert as Mr. Ditrichstein's newest comedy, Such is Life, nnist be produced .Monday even- ing after next. The Orpheum C ecilia Loftus still continues to de- light immense audiences with her clever and accurate imitations of stage celebrities. For next week, which will positively be the last of her engagement, she promises a new pro- gram. Louis A. Simon and Katliryn ()sterman, assisted by a com])any of fourteen, will appear in the miniature nnisical comedy, .X Persian Garden. The lines are bright and witty and re- ceive full justice from Mr. Simon and Miss Osterman, who in their respec- tive roles of a valet and an ex-chorus girl are immensly funny. Miss Oster- man has a wonderful collection of frocks and changes her costume at each performance. Frederick P.ond and Fremont Benton will amuse with tlieir laughable farce, Ilandkcrcliief Xo. 15. With only a bicycle, Joe Jackson, the luiropean vagabond, will contribute a clever and humorous bit of pantomime. Eunice Bnrnhani and Charles Irwin will pre.sent A Song Sketch at the Piano. Louis London will be heard in his character .song studies which consist of the rendi- tion of several songs in different cos- tumes. Last year Mr. London alter- iiated in the roles of the Sherifif and the Greaser in the oj^eratic version of The Girl of the Golden West. Mon- tambo and Wells, comedy acrobats, will introduce an act which is thrilling and diverting. Matthews and Shayne in .\ Xight (ju the Bowery and new h'dison Talking IMoving Pictures will complete one of the finest bills ever offered in vaudeville. The Empress Jimmy Britt, former ligiitweight boxer, will be the headline attraction Sunday afternoon. He furnishes a monologue. The extra added feature on the new bill is presented by The Xine Piano Bugs, instrumentalists, vocalists and comedians who mingle with the audience in making merry. Mae Bronte, Dixie Crane, Ko.se (iard- ner and Lillian Kendal are the lively girls in the company and the featured masculine entertainers are Stone, Jack- son and Wall. 1 lenry John.son and Harold X'incent, comedians, com])lete the vivacious troupe. Agnes Lee and Company will present The Te.st. The sketch is based on a country town in- cident, and humor and pathos are iji its action. Charlotte, character change violiniste, slips from one costume to another w^ithout leaving the stage. Charlotte is an accomplished vioiinisle. l""un on the Boulevard is the offering of The Wheelers and Company, who ])re.sent a comedy juggling act. iMjr- rest Stone and Grace Young are sing- ers and dancers of ability. Edward Barnes and Mabel Robinson have a melange containing ragtime, grand opera and a Shakespearean travesty. The Pantages Ed .Vrmstrong's Baby Dolls top the new bill opening on Sunday. The .Vrmstrong Company has plaved this city for several months at a time dur- ing the past five years. Their new offering for vaudeville is called .\ .Scotch Highball, which is fme of those rollicking musical tabloids. Will .Arm- strong, a great favorite here, will carry the leading comedy role, and l'2thel Davis has the principal singing part. Bertie Beaumonte, who will be remembered as the bright little star of the big musical extravaganza. Miss Xobody From Starland. has a nifty chap. Jack .\rnoId. for a ])artner. The duo have one of the fastest comedy acts that tiie circuit lias booked. .\ San Francisco lad who has been cre- ating a big success is Lee Barth, known as "The Man of Many Dia- lects." Fri.scary, the hat tosser, has one of the most unicjuc novelty acts in vaudeville, h'rom all parts of the house headgear of all sizes and color is shot across the footlights to Fris- cary who catches them with spectacu- lar acrobatic stunts, .'\nother pair of local boys, Jewell and Jordan, will re- turn with their whistling imitations of animals and birds. .'\ pretty eccen- tric dancing and singing act will be |)rcsented by the Maraenko Russian Troupe. Ruth Chandler, called the "female Eddy Foy," in character studies with reels of comedy motion l)icturcs will complete the bill. Spotlights h'ollowing Nazimova at the Colum- bia Theatre will appear Blanche Bates in .\. E. W. Mason's termendous suc- cess. The Witness for the Defen.se. Reports from the East tend to show that Miss Bates is having one of the most successful tours since she has become a star of great prominence. In her support, Mr. Frohman is send- ing an especially strong company. The Witness for the Defense was origi- nally produced in London and its suc- cess both in that city and .New York was marked. Jacob Adier, the most famous of all Yiddish .stage stars, is coming to San I'rancisco and will jilay two si)ec- ial performances at the Columbia The- atre afternoon and night of .Sunday, June 22. It will be his first appear- ance here. Geo. M. Cohan, accom))anied by his wife and I'rancis X. Hope, the latter acting as courier in general, confidential adviser in particular, sailed f(jr Euro])e June 5. Mr. and Mrs. Cohan will remain abroad for aliout two months, visiting the while the important cities of the old world. In the meantime Mr. Sam II. Har- ris will continue at the helm of the Cohan & Harris commercial ship, one of his first duties being the launch- ing of lidgar Selwyn's latest play ettort, entitled Xearly Married. The piece is .scheduled for production at Ni.xon's Apollo Theatre, Atlantic City, the week commencing Monday, June 16. Nearly Married will enlist the services of Bruce McRae, John Westley, Dallas .\nderson, Sheldon Lewis, William McV'ay, James J. .Mullry, Rali)h Dean. Felix "McClure, llarry Loraine, Melvin Bricc, .Albert Larsh, .MIene Durano, Jane (jrey, Lu- cille Watson, Eileen Foster, Elsie (ilynn and Virginia Pearson. Moon and Alorris, who do the uni- son dance in The Passing Show of 1912, the Winter Garden show com- ing to the Cort soon, were former- ly pantomimists in London. This is their first .American engagement. Other notable members of the cast are Trixie Friganza, Chas. J. Ross, Eugene and Willie Howard, Texas Guinan, Louise Brunelle, Clarence Harvey, Ernest Hare, Adelaide and 1 lughes. The Gilbert and Sullivan forces will make merry at the Cort in the near future. In addition to the favorites of last season, Ldanthe and The Beggar Student will be given. A new theatre, .seating 500, has just been opened in Ben Lomond, Cal. W ithin the Law promises to be a . triumph "under two flags," judging I from the favorable newspaper re- I views, receipts and advance sale a|a| the Haymarket Theatre, London, 1 where it was ])roduced two weeks I ago, and is now playing to capacity i houses. .\ number of changes have I been made in the play as now pre- 1 sented at the I'-ltinge Theatre, .New A'ork, the locale being changed from Xew York to London and an entire- ly new fourth act has been written for the foreign engagement. Roland B. Molineux, ])rincipal in one of New York's most famous murder trials, has written a play 1 which will be produced next fall by David P>elasco. Molineux was ac- cused of having killed Mrs. Adams. It was charged that he sent a bottle of headache medicine containing cy- anide of potassium to Harry Cornish and that Cornish's landlady had taken it instead. Laurette Taylor reached her 200th consecutive performance of the char- acter of Peg O'Connell in Oliver Morosco's production of J. I lartley Manners' delightful comedy. Peg O' My Heart, at the Cort Theatre (N. Y.) on July 11. The success of the star and play at Mr. Cort's beautiful jjlayhouse is probably the most marked of the ! season just ended. I'Vom the first ])erformance Miss Taylor has played to capacity audiences without excep- tion, and that she will establish a new record for long runs in this coun- try by female stars seems assured. Last week the receipts at the box- office reached almost $13,000, the largest weekly receijjts during the en- gagement. That the jilay will run through the summer and well into next season a])pears ])ositive. No changes have been made in the ex- cellent ca.st. The Puqjle Road. Joseph M'. (iaite's ])ro(luction of Ileimich Reinhardl and William b^rederick Peters' histori-l cal operetta, is well into its thitl^l month at the Liberty Theatre ( N. Y| and is delighting large audiences Si < every performance. I Besides Henrietta Crosman and HjJ B. Warner, Maurice Campbell vvilifl have another well-known star un(lei!| his management next fall. Mr. Camp I bell also has three new jilays .schedidec I for production during the coming sea , I son. f