| Show I DRAMATIC AND LYRIC I I + The theatre will be dark every night I of the coming week except on Tuesday Tues-day when the long awaited charity j ball under the auspices of the Young I Ladies Aid society comes off Besides the ball itself there will be a minuet danced by well known young ladies and gentlemen and the court costumes arranged for it are said to be goregous in the extreme The galleries will be thrown open to spectators at 50 cents I 0 < 5 > 0 I Griffiths Faust company closed avery a-very prosperous engagement at the I Grand last evening The matinee was packed and the performance seemed to j I I give genuine pleasure to the throngs I of ladies in attendanceS 0 < attendance-S > < S > j Manager Burton has just given i the Salt Lake Opera company a I decided testimonial in booking it for a repetition of the Chimes of Normandy for the afternoon I and evening of New Years day The four performances of the Chimes given here week before last did not by any means run the opera out and the closing house was one of the largest larg-est of the season Mr Burton is confident con-fident therefore that there are two nights more good business in the tuneful tune-ful opera The company renders it in Ogden tomorrow night in Provo where the house has been sold by subscription subscrip-tion Friday night and in Logan I Saturday So that by New Years Salt Lakers should see a very smooth and finished performance t > < 9 < S > I Ve are assured that Maude Adams I left behind her at the Empire the most remarkable record in the history of I that theatre says an eastern paper I No such receipts as have steadily I 1 flowed in since her debut have been I known at the Empire Neither Mr I Drew in his most popular role and in I his best week nor the Secret Service I company in us remarkably successful j engagement nor the stock company in the plays that drew some extraordinarily extra-ordinarily large houses have touched the hoxofilce figures that this young woman has drawn in The Little Minister I Min-ister When Mr Drew had 11000 written down as a single weeks receipts I re-ceipts at the Empire he was thought I to have made a wonderful record but the stock company once went him 200 better But along comes Miss Adams who has steadily played to more than record figures and during the last week set the mark at 13000 0 0 Advance notices are reaching us of the success of the Scalchi Opera and Concert company which is heading this way and which appears at the theatre I in the near future Chattanooga papers I pers give a glowing description of the I entertainment offered by the company which consisted of three parts the first being a concert of five numbers the second a complete performance of the third act of the opera Faust and the third the fourth act of Verdis 11 Trovotore The probabilities are that Salt Lake will have to round up its shoulders and stand an increased rate for this attraction o 0 0 The wel known baritone B B Young sang for the Phil Harmonic society in Denver last night He goes from thereto there-to appear in special concerts in San I Diego Oakland and San Francisco I and a number of his friends are trying Ito I-to induce him to call at Salt Lake on his return The charming recital given by Mr Young and his wife at the Congregational Con-gregational church last year left so pleasant an impression that there can be no doubt as to the greeting he would receive should he decide to remain re-main over in this city a night 000 DeWolf Hopper should do some scouring around Salt Lake In a resent re-sent interview he says You may not believe me when I tell you that New York is the poorest place in the country in which to recruit re-cruit a chorus The reason for this is I suppose that the old timers of the profession there stand together Amazonlike shooing and scaring away the youthful and charming A good chorus must possess three qualities quali-ties to be able to sing to be of pleasing pleas-ing appearance and to be able to act The New York product can sign and act all right experience is a fruitful teacher but we cannot get the pretty girls and shapely figures which serve to make pleasing stage pictures We are as careful in selecting our chorus as in choosing an opera It is not our purpose however to cater to the chappy and sophomoric element That is not the idea at all Our chorus may distract the chappywe cant help that but what we seek is pleasing stage pictures It is not so easy to secure these as you may imagine It isnt every girl who knows how to stand and walk gracefully or how to make appropriate and consistent gestures ges-tures when singing it matters not whether she comes from Fifth avenue or is just off the bounding prairie > 0 Special Correspondence New York Nov 2JThe works of Ian Maclaren are to be crowned as those of J M Barrie have been by dramatic presentation Already rehearsals have begun upon a new play entitled Beside Be-side the Bonnie Briar Bush the materials ma-terials of which are taken from Dr Watsons three books Kate Carnegie Carne-gie Beside the Bonnie Briar Bush and The Days of Auld Lang Syne James MacArthur and Tom Hall are the joint playwrights and the dramatization drama-tization bears the ufrect sanction of the reverend author himself Dr Watson I Wat-son has no scruples on the subject of I being responsible for a stage play and has even expressed his regret at I being unable to attend the first performance per-formance of Beside the Bonnie Briar Bush which is to take place shortly on this side of the Atlantic When the idea of such a play was first laid before New York managers said Mr MacArthur they were genuinely genu-inely surprised and extremely doubtful doubt-ful Indeed when the subject was mentioned men-tioned to James A Hearne author of Shore Acres that distinguished au I thoractor roundly declared that a successful suc-cessful dramatization of Maclaren was I utterly impossible their tone being too gloomy and depressing Nevertheless l we went to work and wrote the play > It did not have to wait a single week for a backer Well known managers jumped at our effort and prophesIed that it would make a thorough going hit As a result preparations for the production are now under way the veteran J H Stoddart has been engaged I en-gaged with other talented people for the chief roles and the scenery is being painted The play although taken from three distinct books keeps a continuity of plot throughout and follows very closely Ian Maclarens lines In fact I lovers of the Scotch writers works will i find scarcely any departure from the I characters and doings of the old friends they have encountered in Kate Carnegie Car-negie Beside the Bonnie Briar Bush and The Days of Auld Lang Syne Instead of being gloomy and depressing depres-sing I may say without boasting that the play is full of humor Of course there is pathos too but the two elements ele-ments are combined in about the same ratio that one finds in tne stories of pIckens Dickens has yet to be described de-scribed as depressing The motive of the drama lies in an exclamation of Kate Carnegie that two love stories run through Uie piece that Of Flora Campbell and Lord Hay illustrating the inability of rank to mar love and that of Kate Carnegie and the Rev John Carmichael slowIng slow-ing loves victories over the barriers of religion The sprightly Kate Carnegie Car-negie is the actual heroine of our play but Flora Campbells sweet pathetic personality will perhaps give to that I character the greater human interest A list of the characters will give an idea of the scope of Beside the Bonnie I Briar Bush and show how nearly we I have kept to the original works of Dr Watson Our dramatis personnel is as follows Dr Maclure the Drumtochty physician phy-sician Lauchlan Campbell General Carnegie Lord Hay Floras lover Rev John Carmichael lover of Kate Carnegie rammie Soutar the station master Tomkyns the factor or land agent Tammas a rusticvswain Dr Westervelt London physician Kate Carnegie Flora Campbell Margaret Howe of Whinny Knowe Annie Mitchell Swoeth Children villages haymakers etc An excellent quartet will sing Scotch songs at different points of the drama and it is our pride that these songs are not dragged in as in so very many plays but occur naturally and with consistency Nothing can be worse than an unworkmanlike handling hand-ling of partsinging Act first shows the exterior of Whinny Knowe farm the home of Margaret Howe who is the confidante and consoler of so many young people in Drumtochty Herein the love stories of Flora Campbell and Kate Carnegie begin and all the characters are introduced in-troduced as they pass along the road leading through the glen Act second which takes place in the interior of Lanchlan Campbells cottage concludes con-cludes with the discovery of Floras love for Lord Hay her despairing flight to London and her fathers heartbroken denunciation as he blots her name out of the family Bible The third act consists of two scenes In scene first the outside of Westminster Abbey we bring Flora to London and in the second scene among the beeches beside the Tochty in flood Flora returns re-turns sick almost to death Then it is that old Dr Maclure says I brought the lassie into the world and with the help o God Ill keep herin it The concluding act under the rafters raft-ers of Lanchlan Campbells cottage removes all obstacles and ends the drama happily enough There is merely mere-ly a bold synopsis of course In every scene there are passages of comedy not the socalled dry Scotch humor either Jammie Soutar Is our principal I princi-pal broad comedy character and we have builded high hopes on him The rustic love affairs of Annie Mitchell and Tammas too supply some fun and Kate Carnegie we believe to be a humorous body The contrast between Kate and her shy awkward minister sweetheart gave us a good opportunity What part Mr J H Stoddart will play he has not yet decided In fact he is wavering between those of Dr Maclure and Lanchlan Campbell I Campbell Is the nobler creation but in Dr Maclure the author gave us a most lovable and kindly personality Indeed I have come to look upon the good doctor as the real hero of Beside Be-side the Bonnie Briar Bush I hope that Mr Stoddart will be the Dr Ma clure Mr Stoddart is himself a Scotchman As to the reproduction of the Scotch accent on the stage that is not much of a craz You see only three of the principal characters Dr Maclure Jammie Soutar and Margaret Howe speak the Lowland dialect Lanchlan j Campbell and his daughter Flora are Highlanders and spec + Ieens English I Eng-lish with only the sof lighip1 pronunciation pro-nunciation Kate Carit Oie has traveled trav-eled far and is thoroughly Ang ised I So too are General Garnegie and Lord Hay The Scotch accent has been butchered so much on the American stage and there are so many people who love it not overmuch that this is an undoubted advantage The idea of the play occurred to me about two years ago I suggested to several managers and literary men but was strongly advised not to attempt at-tempt the dramatization Nevertheless Neverthe-less I resolved to make the trial and after considerable time actually got the play written out A friend advised me to secure Mr Tom Halls collaboration collabora-tion which I did Mr Hall thoroughly overhauled my crude work and together to-gether we licked it into shape I cannot fix the exact date of the initial performance of Beside the Bonnie Bon-nie Briar Bush It will very likely be first played outside of New York Should it prove a success here the managers will send it to England In conclusion I should like to say that while our drama is chiefly remarkable re-markable and largely reliant upon its strong characterization and faithful reproduction of Ian Maclarens stories yet those who like a definite and interesting in-teresting plot will have nothing to complain of in Beside the Bonnie Briar Bush < > 0 0 London Dec 4The most important theatrical event of the coming week will be the first presentation on Monday Mon-day at the Duke of Yorks theatre of the comedy The Happy Life by Louis N Parker The play will introduce intro-duce to the London stage a newcomer Carlotta Neilson a young American of most attractive personality who is said to give promise of fine histrionic ability abili-ty The cast is to be an especially strong one Foremost of the prominent ones this year will be Cinderella at the Gar rick and The Babes in the Woods at the Drury Lane Oscar Barrett the manager of the former has engaged for the part of the Prince Helsn Bertram formerly of the Bostonians and Little Christopher who is singing the leading role in La Perichole at the Garrick with great success One of the most spectacular pantomimes panto-mimes of the lot will be The Yellow Dwarf which George Conquest is arranging ar-ranging for the Surrey theatre Terrys theatre will give a series of holiday matinees for children presenting present-ing a programme of oneact plays founded on fairy tales The plays are J by Basil Hood and the music by Walter Wal-ter Slaughter The plays will be The Princess and the Swineherd The Soldier and the Tinderbox and Little Claud and Big Claus This falls season is likely to be memorable mem-orable among other reasons because one of the foremost popular and financial finan-cial successes was Hamlet the only tragedy with Forbes Robertson as the Young Prince which continues to be the chief feature of Londons theatrical menu dividing honors in the matter of popularity with The Little Minister Henry Irving whose tour of the provinces the first in years has been a succession of social as well as artistic artis-tic triumphs with receptions addresses from municipal bodies and dinners will reopen his own theatre on Jan 1 with his sons play Peter the Great Charles Frohman has definitely decided de-cided to brim The Heart of Maryland Mary-land with Mrs Leslie Carter and the entire American company to the Adel phi theatre in April William Gillette will also appear in London in Too Much Johnson about the same time Trelmway of the Wells is the name of a new play by Arthur W ainero which will appear in January The admirers of the late Robert Louis Stevenson assembled in force at the Avenue theatre on Monday last to witness the first performance of Admiral Ad-miral Guinea an old play written by Stevenson and W E Henley An admirable I ad-mirable prologue especially written by Mr Henley was recited by Elizabeth Robbins The authors directions were minutely observed thus sacrificing the acting to the literary qualities of the play which last are the finest Sydney Valentines David Pew a truculent blasphemous old mariner who figured in Treasure Island William Wil-liam Molllston as John Gaunt Admiral and Cissy Loftus as the Admirals Daughter created a nautical atmosphere atmos-phere in a most admirable mannerS < manner-S > < S > < S > A number of well known young people peo-ple will play in Harvest at the New Grand theatre next Friday night Miss Ethel Ferguson sustains the principal female role and Charles W Meakin the principal gentleman Others in the company are Mr R B Rogers Miss Annie Calder Alice Calder Alfred Swenson Miss Ella Ermey Mr Theodore Theo-dore Maack Mr Chester Ames and little lit-tle Violet Craig |
