San Francisco dramatic review (1899)

July 5. 1913- THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW 9 Columbia Theatre The final week- of Blanche liates' engai^enient at the Columbia will conclude with tonit^ht'.s perform- ance. . The Witness for the De- fense is interesting and enthralling from the rise to the fall of the cur- tain. Miss Hates makes the charac- ter of Stella Hallantyne sympa- thetic and appealing- and she has the support of a company of excep- tional strength. Frank Kemble Cooper gives a most impressive per- formance of a hard and exacting role. The juvenile lead is entrusted to Frank Elliott. Mr. Elliott is hand- some, magnetic and convincing. .V word of praise is due Frederick Pow- ell as the i^ortly and dignified niajor- donio. The entire company is one of acting strength. Cort Theatre This is the last week of Evcry- wonian at the Cort Theatre. Every- wonian lias inspired sermons b\' man\ i>l' the local ministers and has been liic sul)jcct of numerous club discussions. There is no gainsaying tlie fact that CDlonel Savage's won- derful show has attracted unusual attention and has greatly pleased all who have seen it. The Passing Show of 1912. whicli oi)ens a two weeks' engagement next Sunday night, will i)C the first of the \\ inter (larden Siiows to invade the West. The cast includes 'i^izic h'riganza, Cliarles j. i\oss, .\delaide and J. J. ITnghes, Howard and Howard, Texas Guinan, Clarence Harvey, Louise P.runnell, Moon and Morris, Ernest Hare and All:)ert Howson. Alcazar Theatre The opinion that Mr. Ditrichstein is the finest light comedian on the American stage today, which was expressed by this paper on the occa- sion of his first visit to San Fran- cisco .some months ago, has become a conviction after following his art through the successive plays of his l)resent, all-too-short engagement. His connnand of humor, his quick delicacy of touch, his intellectual in- sight recall the elder Coquelin of French fame, but in his wholesome magnetism and his ability to shai)e foreign elements to suit .\merican needs, he is like no one but himself. In this week's offering, IJcfore and •After, a French farce adapted and expurgated by himself, his fine techni<|ue is as consi)icuous as ever, but the swift moving tangle of inci- dents that go to make uj) the farce leave no o]iportunity for those .\j)ril changes of mood that distinguish his work in The Concert and test his finished ])ower. .(iay and si)on- tancous as is his Doctor Page, it is chicfiy interesting in the emphasis it lays on the fact that he lias coni- l)letely outgrown farce with its ex- aggerations and can find adccjuate snace for his growing skill only in ihc realms of ])ure comedy, comedy like that in The t'oncert which al- lows his artistic ability free pkiy in interpreting the truth of life. .\'ev- erthelcss. licfore and After is a screaming farce, afifecting the audi- ence with the same uproarious mirth that is dispensed by its own funny powders which is as much a tribute to tlie clex er supporting coin|)an_\' as to the i)lay itself, .\mong the .\lca- zar ]ilayers this week, l>urt W'esner earns\^rst place with his distin- guishcuNrharacterization of the fiery Colonel La\ivetti, tlK)Ugh Hemiison runs him a close second as Jim Jef- freys, the backwoodsman, whose lusty soul is in tune with the \oice of nature. Kernan Cripps shines, too, playing Doctor Eatham with a breezy straightforwardness that is refreshingly promising, and Lee Millar and Roy Clements do their usual good work; but thougii Kd- mond Lowe struggles hard, he is rather handicapped by his part. The between seasons for the regular stock company lia\e brought tor- ward .\nne Li\ingston and Dora .May Howe, who make good in small parts; Ethyl McFarland, whose in- telligence is reinforced by an un- usual supi)ly of good looks, and .Mice Patek, who gives a very cred- itable Odette de \'cre. Madge West is the l)right particular star among tliis u'cck's women, lier .Mrs. Page showing sjilendid ])oise, her empha- sis on the conJ:rast between that lady and Odette being especially in- teresting. .Vs the resourceful Cora May, Cora Witherspoon manages to get her ])oints over but after seeing her comedy in the inimitable Miss Merk. nothing less is entirely satis- factory though she can't help being an artist in whatev er she attempts. Taking it altogether, the whole pro- duction is so exceptionally well done in every way that anyone looking for a thoroughly enjoyable enter- tainment cannot fail to find it in Be- fore and After. Personal Mention Savoy Theatre Mr. and Mrs. E. 11. Kemp, with llieir motion pictures and colored ster- eopticon slides of the Panama Canal, began a week's engagement IMonday night. Mrs. Kemp makes the pictures additionally interesting by a charming- talk ex])lanatory of the entire scheme. Tlie theatre will run pictures all sum- mer. The Tivoli lolanthe is holding forth to l)leased audiences. The whimsical Inimor of W. S. Gilbert is seen at its 1)est in this story of fairies and mor- tals, and the charming music of .^ir .\rthur Sullivan makes an excep- tional accompaniment to the con- ceit. Henry Santrey sings and acts the role of Strephon cai)itally. .Sa- rah Edwards' contralto is heard to great advantage, and Hon Bergerc gives a good ])erformance of the title role of lolanthe. 1'eddy Webl) carries off the comedy honors of tlie ])iece with his highl}' legal Lord Chancellor. Xcxt Monday evening- Princess Chic, the Julian Edwards o])era comicpie in three acts, will be presented on an elaborate scale. Joiix ,\. BiiTi.KK has been held over to ])lay the ])art of the young fellow who ma.sc|nerades as a girl in .\re You a Mason? at the .Mcazar next week. Mrs. Syhnkv Dkicvv, the daughter of McKee Rankin, will arrive in San r'ranci.sco sometime within a cou])le of weeks and will spend the summer in California. Lkn 1)Kiivmi-:r, the impres.sario of Los .Angeles, was in town for a few days last week. Ii-"..\x M.M.i.oin write'' from Tacoma that she will be in .'-^an i-'rancisco about .\ugust I. Nki.i. Sti:\\ art, who has been play- ing leads with Dick Wilbur, will close on July 0. .M Arm: Ada.ms will close her pres- ent tour in I'eter Pan at Clinton, la., on July IJ. To.MMN' Li'.Ain' will Diue more be a member of the Tixoli compaii}-, open- ing Monda\'. TiiK Rki'okt of the death of Mar- jory Dalton in the East, turns out, we are happy to say, to have been untrue. MiiJ ARO .M.\c K and Marjorie Raiii- lieau will open in stock in Salt Lake ( ity at the Utah Theatre on ,\ugnst 11 for 25 weeks. Caroline Leonard (Mrs. John L. Kearney) has succeeded Del Estes as soubrette with the Affiliated yVmuse- ment Company's tabloid company. Charley Thell, a clever son of a clever father who before his death was (>ne of our most popular managers, i;> in town almost ready to spring a big thing. l>i,.\NCHE Douglas, who has been with Henry W. Savage the past two years in Excuse Me, arrived in town last Saturday and will visit her rela- tives here all summer. Marta Golden and Mindell King- ston were hostesses at a delightful tea in ()aklaiid last week at which some hundred well-known society and pro- fessi(;nai people were beautifully en- tertained. Eleanor Blevens, whose work with the Bishop Company in Oakland the past few weeks has been of a most promising nature, will open with the Essanay ImIui Company at Niles next Monday. McKee Rankin spent the last i)art of last week in Los Angeles and while there took in The Yellow Jacket at the Morosco Theatre. The Chinese play in the estimation of Mr. Ranken is one of the most delightful plays un- earthed by the Morosco acumen. b'oKREST Stanlicn', wlioiii it will be remembered made a substantial success at the Alcazar last summer in leads, will be the leading man during the Bessie Barri.scale .season, commencing a week after next. In the oi)inion of many, Mr. Stanely is the best leading- man the .\lcazar has had in years. John Mc Kee, stage manager of the Everywoman ComiJany, played No- body Sunday and Monday nights at the Cort Theatre, and his performance left ■ nothing to be desired. Hardly anyone in the audience nii.ssed the l)re.sence of 11. Cooper-Cliffe, who was out of the cast because of a sore throat. LoiMS Bi'.NNisoN will leave for the l^ast in a couple of weeks to begin rehearsals for his ])art in Damaged Goods. Louis VON Wii'-.TiivjEK, after a suc- cessful three years' engagement with Walter San ford at the hjii])ress Thea- tre, \'ancouvcr, has been engaged by Del Lawrence, opening again at the luniircss with the Lawrence-.Sanflus- ky Company, July 14th. The house is being entirely remodeled and re- decorated and refitted, and when fin- ished w ill be one of the finest and best e(|uipi)ed tlualres housing a stock company on the Coast. John Hocartv, who has bqen man- aging the tour of Chauncy Olcott, will arrive in Oakland next week to re- sume the interru])ted Honeymoon with his wife, Marihel Seymour. I!la\( iiK Bates and her company gave a performance of The Witness for the Defense at Sault Ste. Marie, .Mich., recently in their ordinary street clothes. The railroad company failed to get their baggage car placed for un- packing in time and the. wardrobe trunks didn't reach the theatre until the ]ierformance was nearly over. l'j)iTii Br.vdi'ori) .Mkakins was- granted an interlocutory decree of di- vorce from her husband, Charles J. Meakins, the Merry Widow star, by Judge Tomjikins at Newbury, N. Y. Meakins was charged with misconduct and infidelity. There is one child, a daughter, living with Mrs. Meakins. Nat (Joodwin filed a cross-com- plaint with the County Clerk last Sat- urday in the suit for $439 brought against him by Moses Fischer. Some weeks ago h'ischer com])lained that the sum named was due him becau.se of money borrowed. Now Goodwin de- clares that he owes nothing, but that on the other hand, $275 is owing him. (hioRGE M.VRioN, the actor who four years ago shot and killed his common- law wife in Wilkesbarre, is dying in the Eastern Penitentiary in Philadel- phia. i\X the time of the murder the case attracted attention because of the resemblance the case bore to that of James R. Gentry, who killed Madge Yorke, and every efifort was made to save Marion from the gallows. Harry Duffield, after an absence of nine years, has been in San Fran- cisco the past week the recipient of many attentions from life-long friends. ]'"or the past thirteen years Mr. Duf- field has been a member of the Oliver Morosco forces in Los Angeles, where he is tremendously popular. On Sep- tember 10, he will celebrate the fifty- first anniversary of his ap])earance on the stage. (ii-.xi-A iiA'i'. Hlinn is spending the siimnier at ."-Summer Home Park, .So- noma Cinmt}-. This clever and hand- some young leading woman is being- urged to return to the East, where she is ;i great favorite, by several leading uKuiagers, but she would prefer great- l\ to play next sea.son on the Coast. ()li\'i;r J. lu'KiiARirr is attending the l'"lks' convention at Rochester, N. ^'. this week. The Pantages Next week's bill at the Pantages com])rises a number of entertaining- acts with 'i'he (iirls h'rom the Gold- en West, a staged musical offering, as the star attraction. Programed as "the sweetest girls in vaudeville," the .Misses ,\dair and Hickey are ex- pected to score a big success with their "ragging" specialty. Myrtle \ ane, one of the best known stock actresses in the West, will make her entry into vaudeville with a comedy l)laylet, .\ii Obliging Wife. Other features will be the Cora Young- blood Carson Sextet, Henry h'isher and coni])aiiy, bicycle riders; Those l'"our Kids, a school act, and Gracia Nardini, jiiano accordianist.