San Francisco dramatic review (1899)

October ii, 1913 THE SAN FRANCISCO DRAMATIC REVIEW 9 Columbia Theatre Dramatic interest this week centers in the Coltinbia Theatre, where San Francisco is being presented to Char- lotte Walker (in private life Airs. En- gene Walter, wife of the playwright). That San Francisco is responding with pleasitre and appreciation is a matter of course, for San Francisco prides herself on her discrimination, and Miss Walker, aside from her social popularity in Xew York and Wasii- ington, has made for herself an en- viable professional reputation through- out the East. Her equipment for her work is unique, birth, breeding and tindoubted personal attraction making more effectual the intelligence and training that have developed her act- ing ability. Miss Walker is an un- usual woman and an unusual actress. It cannot be said that her vehicle is a particularly happy one. Even The Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come, which is John Fox, Jr., at his best, is not notable for its sincerity, and in The Trail of the Lonesome Pine me- chanical sentiment and a lamentable lack of originality take the place of the atmo,sphere found, for instance, in Craddock's great story or" The Prophet of the Great Smokers. With such in- different material it is scarcely to be expected that Eugene Walter, a play- wright of great technical ability, but one whose bent is social rather than romantic, should catch the elusive po- etry of the mountains. The Trail of ^the Lonesome Pine is exterior drama, mdbdrama -if you will, with little of directness or "grip, and dependent ^^'holjy .for 'charm on the eyrie sweet- ness, -vvith which Miss Walker por- trays Jane. Its greatest value lies in its reaction against the vogue of social problems, whose remedial powers of cold scientific analysis are being im- paired by emotional hysteria; we must be grateful to whatever tends to re- store perspective and balance. For the production itself, the trail with its Rjne prrie has'both beauty and atmos- phere, and the company is capable. George Bancroft is a manly young John Hale, who would probably have acted very differently could he have ivritten ■ his own lines. Frederick Forrester, is simple and direct as his friend, :the other man from the out- side world. Loretty and Cal. Heaton are more truthful in conception and well handled by Alice Martin and Cy- rus- Wood,- the latter being especially successful in both manner and make- up. George Woodward's I'ncle Billy is a genial philf)sopher, almost too sane to have lived his life in that rugged country of feuds, but he takes the place of comic relief and relieves the strain, and Lillian Dix is wonder- ftiHy picturesque as Ole Hun, his wife. Willard Robertson makes a great deal of a poorly conceived part, his Dave Tolliver being - intense, undiscii)lincd. Perhaps the most effective character is the gaunt and gigantic Tudd Tolliver of W. S. Hart, whose first entrance is particularly artistic. Me carries with ;him all the imagination of the story, the rugged strength, the stoical ac- ceptaace of want and limitation, the primlfiye- oassion of the mountain king. J.-/The Trail of the Lonesome ■ Pine i.s a play worth .seeing, in spite of its lost opportunities, and Miss Walkef is its. greatest asset. Cort Theatre At last we have been permitted • to get a glimpse of The Encnant- ress, the perfectly good descrip- tive title of Kitty (iordon. Muchly endowed with an unusual beauty of face and figure and great feminine charms, skillfully exploited by master press agents, this stage beauty has long been a prominent stage celebrity, and just when we were despairing of ever getting our view of her. we have been rewarded, and the result is eminently satisfy- ing, for Kitty (iordon alone is well worth seeing. I'nder the manage- ment of Joe (iaites, she has been fitted witii a musical setting by X'ictor Herbert, and has been given a good supporting company who work hard and put i'orth their very best eft'orts. In the com])any are Hattie Arnold, who pla3's Miss Gordon's aunt; Inez Bauer, who plays the part of an American heiress; Gustav Werner, who portrays Prince Ivan; Walter Catlett, of the blood of the Coast Defenders, who is a positive hit in alH)Ut seventeen dift'erent character- izations ; ^Sidney Deane, who imjier- siMiate.s the Regent, and Arthur I'urrcst. wiio is better known in dramatic work than in musical comedy; howex er, he is always a commanding figure in either. The Enchantress is played in two scenes, both elal)orate and attractive. Monday night there was a three hours' delay on the part of the rail- road, and the curtain did not go up until 9:15, and it was twelve o'clock before the last phrase was sung, Init tile audience was good-na- tured and everybody was happy. Alcazar Theatre The Alcazar Stock Company never had a better farce comedy on their stage than they have this week. The Elixir of Youth is one of the best vehicles that can be pre- sented anywhere, and they get away with it in a masterful manner. Ralph Herz, portraying the physi- cian who discovers the Elixir and attempts to benefit mankind by dem- onstrating it, is a scream. A big one. Jerome Storm is two screams, a big one and a little one for good measure. Between the two, the very rafters ached from laughing. Jerome is Phil, the youth who is in k)ve with Sylvia, the doctor's pretty daughter, played by Lois Meredith Miss Mereditii is certainly pretty, young enough to be almost any- body's daughter, and she display's enough feminine charm to make anybody fall in love with her, .so how could anyf)ne blame Jerome—oh no, Phil. Then she has anotiier suitor, (ieneral Burbeck, in ])rivate life Kernan Cri])ps, and the antagonism between the two suitors was won- derfully simulated. One almost wonders if—well anyway Mr. Crii)ps did very good work. The i)oor old general is refused on account of his age, and merely for $10,000 takes the I'.lixir, or starts to. In the mix- up it is si)i!led and the Professor mistakes the l)aby that is later brought in for the General rcju- \'cnated. Then starts the fun. The Judge Sanderson of P>urt Wesner is good, and Burt does a lot in the little time he has to do. There are a lot of small parts done Very ac- ceptably. l'".dmond Lowe as the Chief of Police: Charles I'redericks, as the i)f)liceman; .Adele Belgarde, as Mrs. Weissmiller; Jane O'- Rouke, as Marcella. The Mrs. Viv- ert of .Mice Patek is not up to this lady's usual standard of excellence. The comedy itself is a long howl of delight, and the ])eo|)le all seem to fill their ])arts. It is brought home more and more every week that Jerome Storm is a most un- usual young man. He is so effer- vescent—so fresh. That is just what this ])lay is. Fresh. It is easy to take tor tonic. The Tivoli (;ir()fi(.--(lirofia is oik' of ilio old comic operas that make you feel like reminiscing. In fact you have to hang onto your admiraticjn for some of tlic more modern creations, like the (iil- bert and .Sidlivan masterpieces, The Chocolate Soldier, or The Merry Widow, in order to keep from ])ara- phrasing Holmes and saying: "There are no comic operas like tlic old ones, W'hen you and I were young." Like these operas, it is a hap])y com- bination of a witty libretto and gay, sparkling, well-written nnisic that ex- actly interprets the .spirit of the book, and like them, too, has an entertaining- plot full of mistaken identities and pirates and all their accompanying thrills. But in spite of its seeming frothiness it is sometliing more than merely anuising, there being an un- derlying stratum of witty .satire on mercenary marriages and the uncer- tainty of knowing whether they w^ill result in a desirable-like Marasquin, or a boomerang - like Mourzouk. Though continental in its viewpoint, it is still easily American in its appli- cation, and is altogether a thoroughly interesting offering for the Tivoli's farewell week of coiuic opera, as there are good parts for all the principal members of the company, and some exceptionally fine ensemble numbers. But as a matter of information, is it a new adaptation of the old opera? The last act seems to end so abru])tly as to be almost unfinished, the audi- ence sitting uncertainly in their seats until the asbestos curtain solves the question for them. My recollection— which may easily be at fault—in the old version restores Girofla bodily to tiie waiting arms of Mourzouk. Henry Santrey is a very arti.stic Mourzouk, playing the ferocious ]\Ioor with a nice appiTciation of its ])ossil)ilities that is as firy as it is controlled, get- ting his points over with ease, win- ning spontaneous laughs and singing with all his accustoiued charm. .Xs Maras(|uin, John R. I'hi'lips has a fine solo and several beautiful duets with Rene Vivieime—the Girofle-Girofla, whose two final songs, one with Mar- asquin and the other with Mourzouk, are among the most delightful num- bers in the iiroduction. Myrtle Ding- wall is an attractive I'ac|uita and sings her story of the jjirates with spirit. Don I'olcro and his wife, .Aurore, arc well played by Robert Ci. Pitkin and Sarah lulwards, and Alma Norton as Paola. Jeanne Mai as tlie page, Pedro, and Charles E. Galagher as the de- lightful pirate chief, coniijlete llie cast. As a final tribute, attention should be called to the clear enunciation that pre- vails throughout the company, and which add to the enjoyment of tlie music the privilege of understanding the words of the .songs. Oriental Theatre Overnight is the howling comedy farce vehicle for the players at the The Artcraft CHINESE AJXD JAFAIT- ESE RABE 0I;D EM- BROIDERIES, MANDARIN COATS, KIMONOS AND AN- TIQUE JE-WEI.RY 347 Qeary Street Half it block lif-low the ('ohinil)la Theatre. new theatre this week. This play had a run of 325 nights in New York and 150 in Chicago, and no wonder. The wonder is that they ever dared to stop playing it. h'or comedy situ- ations, the kind that tickle the au- dience because tiiey can see what is going to happen before the bewildered characters get clear of the fog, it is, literally speaking—a howl. One long, happy howl. Everybody does it. The lines don't make any difference, though they themselves would be a thing of joy to any well-regulated liouse, but the things that happen to tiie poor unhappy honeymooners— tlie looks on their faces (their very clever facesj, and the way they all get into such terrible messes, well no words can express the satisfaction one can get out of a sideache, so no one can say just how clever this play is. Frank J. Gillen is the hit of the bill. It does not seem possible for any young man as good looking and as clever as Mr. Gillen to be so supreme- ly unconscious of things as this young gentleman is, and get away with it. He does it. He is a /;//. Mr. Shake- speare as Richard Kettle does some very good work indeed. So much so there were 1 to meet him on the street and he did not lisp, 1 wouldn't believe it were the gentleman at all. Vivian Blackburn is good, very good. And Miss Carson as Elsie Darling does some clever acting. Miss Carson does not fill the bill as a weepor. Whether her natural cry looks like a smile, or she is a little wary of her make-up I do not know. It sounds convincing, but looks far from that. She has altogether too pretty a cry. Mr. Graves was perturbed to just the right degree; once I saw a man in about the same fix as Mr. (Graves was in and he acted very much like him. He does his work conscientiously. Bar- bara Lee makes her first bow with the company and is a tyi)ical climber in the part of Mrs. S. Rutlierfortl Cleve- land. She is beautifully dressed and has a well modulated voice combined with a i)leasing personality. Miss Lee ought to be a valuable addition to the company. Dan Jarrett. i)laying Al. Rivers, is a young man who is in just the right part. He is a well-seasoned actor, and one remembers him and his gcKxl work when he was here before with James K. llackett. Mr. Jarrett will no doubt have better parts soon. He is destined for the be.st there is. The other members of the company filled the i)arts assigned to tiieni very well. The colored man is good, the ])urser. porter, hyiinotist and the—oh, yes. I almost forgot the pretty little blonde. Miss Cortland. Miss Cort- land played what is really a minor l)art, the lead really being i)layed by .Miss Carson, although it may not be called the lead. Miss Cortland is dressed very nicely and (U)es all that is required of her. Her aunt, played by Miss Neville, also is most satis- factory. Hope 1 haven't forgotten anybody. It is surely a jolly show. Nk.na Br.AKK, leading woman in Ready Money, is ill at the Clara Bar- ton Hospital, Los Angeles.