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Show !2 "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" is a strange operatic mixture of national airs, army uniforms and balloon skirts, u Marching up and down the stago aro soldiers galore soldiers who, vocally U bravo enough, would not care to face powder. Then, also, marching up and j down the stago thero are girls galoro l who face powder and show their bra il very on their cheeks. But this is V merely a contrasting incident sacred V to the seclusion of the dressing room. 'I There nre other things less evident, J perhaps, but dimly seen through the fl vocal mist, showing that tho star-I star-I spangled banner is still waving and 9 that "Johnny" Is marching bravely on. fi Indeed, If "Johnny" were less in evl- dence, the reason for -the opera Itself 1 would be a Sherlock Holmes mystery V and sot all tho Conan Doyles in king-5 king-5 dom come to futile guessing. But there ! is always a saving grace In every mil t itary opera the soldier lover is ar ! ardent wooer. His heart gushed out f in limpid song. Climbing his high ) C's he vaults lightly over tho battle-i battle-i ments and lands, with vocal smiles, i in Cupid's rosy bower. What maid can resist his Impetuous charges-charges charges-charges so timed that tho clanking sword becomes part of the swinging music. What's the use of "winning reputation at tho cannon's mouth" when my lady love offers a surer and easier victory? It's a wise hero who knows his own bravery and "Johnny," in tho show, is vocally bravo. To tell just what all tho musical fuss and feathers are ablut is something I shall avoid by frankly confessing Ignorance. "When Johnny Comes Marching Homo" had been called a hoop-skirt opera, but this is merely avoiding the question by hiding behind tho crino lines of tho chorus girls. Still, "hoop-skirt "hoop-skirt opera" Is perhaps as good as any other name. Thero aro plenty of balloon dresses In tho show, and, be- 1 yond question, they glvo tho perform ance a buoyancy which ho who listened lis-tened may see. But, anyhow, whoever who-ever you are, if your patriotic heart needs firing, go and see "When John- i ny Comes Marching Home." 2 All tho national airs, born of tho storm and strlfo of tho Civil war, are sung throughout tho military length and breadth of the show. ! & & 'Way Down East" will bo seen n't tho Salt Lako Theatre for ono week, beginning Dec. 11th, with matinees ednesday and Saturday. It is a play of which Salt Lakers, never see enough. I said once before nnd I say again, if Miss Parker, Its author, had written nothing else, '"Way Down East" would cover her brow with dramatic dra-matic laurels. It Is tho heart of Now England set beating so that an audience audi-ence may hear its overy foot-light throb. It Is ono of those "human Interest In-terest plays," which grips and holds you because of Its forceful naturalness and strength. Thero aro many plays which claim to bo "human Interest plays, but, to tho average ticket buyer, buy-er, they make a comedy of things se- ; rlous and a tragedy of foolish things. Tho characters In these plays aro as unreal as tho wax dolls in tho Christmas Christ-mas windows. Tho types seen in "'Way Down East" aro, somehow, like mirrors held up to our own faces. They aro men nnd women who say and do things with overy Instinct of real, throbbing action. In their veins thero Is tho ebb and flow of blood as rod and thick as the stream of life. I gladly pardon Miss Parker for having written "Under "Un-der Southern Skies" when I remember remem-ber her " 'Way Down East." A week of this wholesome play Is none too much for a town like Salt Lako. Christmas week, Dec. 25th to 30th, "Ben Hur" will drlvo his victorious chariot across tho stago of tho Salt Lako Theatre. Klaw and Erlangor, tho managers of tho show, promise It in all tho metropolitan completeness which marked tho New York production. produc-tion. Excursions will be run on all. railroads for tho benefit of out-of-town patrons. Persons living outsldo Salt .Lako may order seats, by remitting to George D. Pyper, and be assured of having their orders filled promptly, In the order of their receipt. This nr rangemont, by the management, gives residents of outside towns tho same advantago as people living In tho city. Tho opening of the Orpheum is romlsed for Christmas day. A force f men Is engaged night and day put-"ng put-"ng tho house into shape so that verythlng will bo ready on schedule time. Ono of tho special features of the new houso will bo Its excellent orcbstra. Indeed, with Prof. Welho, 'ilmself tho leading violinist of the West, as the leader, surrounded by thoroughly competent musicians, tkore will be no Orpheum theatre In America Ameri-ca with n better orchestra than tho local playhouse. The prices will bo popular, ranging from seventy-five cents to twenty-flvo cents. When tho Orpheum opens Salt Lakers Lak-ers will seo the best vaudeville shows In tho business a thing for which every lover of vaudeville Is to bo congratulated. con-gratulated. HARRY LE GRANDE. . o |