OCR Text |
Show I: Che Vcar m Che Playhouse I By Harry Lo Grande. (J "0, tlioro bo players that I have seen play, have so strutted and bol lowed, that I though some of nature's journeymen had made them, .they Imitated Imi-tated humanity so abominably." Camlet. - When Hamlet spoko the above lines, ho used prophetic words, for surely the melancholy Dano must have caught a glimpse of this, the year of our -Lord, 1905. From the box-offico standpoint the year has been, plethoric."" pletho-ric."" Looked" at from other' points of vjow-r-at players and plays the past 1 twelve' months have been somewhat d(sproportioned. Never before In the history of old Salt Lake has so much money been poured Into the coffers of tho play-l&uses. play-l&uses. With the tide of prosperity r&lng higher and higher, astuts managers man-agers have taken It at tho flood and with It floated on to fortune. The auditorium au-ditorium has been generous, but has tho stage been equal In Its merit? In general sense, surely not, In a few Instances, decidedly yes. Nobody, however, blames the managers our Iffcal managers, at least because con-dltlons'wero con-dltlons'wero such as they have been. Things have .comei our way, not through any local conspiracy, but because be-cause the rails wero greased elsewhere, else-where, and, at tho drop of the flag, "they were off," before the fool-killer lihd time to wake up. Nor can this condition bo ascribed to a scarcity of stars big actor3 and actresse.3 for tho sky hereabouts has f&lrly ..played with matured and bud-d'jng bud-d'jng genlusV. Indeed tho theatric sky litis had a Milky-way of closely cfcowded stars. One engagement after another has scattered star-dust all ajong tho line. Tho greatest disappointment disap-pointment has not been tho lnck of nW material, either, for that alsb has been provided as never before. Tho nialn trouble has been the poor quail-t quail-t of the.iproductlonsi themselves. But, wJille "mediocrity has stalked tho stage f -'strutted and bellowed" it has, . more than of yore,' obtruded Itself In the lines and situations of the drama. So, If Hamlet had used the word Vi "plays'," Instqad of "players," as quoted in the.' beginning of this article, Its special reference to 1905 could not bo doubted. .It has often, beon -said, "the play's the thing," and there Is truth In every syllable of tho ileclaratlon. No matter mat-ter what tho ability of an actor, or the personality of an actress, thero must bo some vehlclo In which to ride, else thero bo an awkward creaking of cheap shoes. Take Florence Roberts In Paul Armstrong's play, "Ann La-niont." La-niont." Thero aro others, I know, but - this will servo. At tho time, I crltl- clsed this drama sufficiently to Indicate Indi-cate my poor opinion of Its claim to ahythlng above the commonplace. In- deed Its construction showed moro than tho usual paucity of strong situations situ-ations and opportunity for climaxes. "What could Miss Roberts do, loft as she was distressingly between tho expected ex-pected which did not happen and tho unlooked-for which was over present7 Afj a result, Miss Roberts, shorn of her winged chances, failed to reach her legitimate heights. She was. because be-cause of this, unjustly criticised by a press previously disposed In her favor. Tho general Impression made by Miss A Roberts was undeniably to her dlsad-vdntago dlsad-vdntago as an actress. But, tho reason rea-son for It nil, as I saw It, was, not because she was less tho artlsto, but because Mr. Armstrong had failed to hold his own mirror at tho proper angle. Indeed. "the. play's tho thing, and If "Ann Lamont" had been a creative crea-tive with backbone and red blood, I Miss Roberts would have risen to real possibilities with tho boldness which makes genius unafraid. I am not posing pos-ing as an apologist for Miss Roberts her previous good work Is sufficient answer. An actress who can successfully success-fully measure her dramatic stature as "Za 7.0." with Mrs. Leslie Carter and her "Sapho" with Olga Nothorsolo, need not go beyond an Intelligent audience au-dience for her vindication. I greatly admire Miss Roberts as an actress, and I believe there is reason In my madness. Even If sho falls to reach tho plnnaclo demanded by tho New York critics, In her coming engagement, en-gagement, there can bo no lowering of tho esteem she has won In the big-hearted, big-hearted, generous West. Perhaps I have dwelt unnecessarily upon this matter, but from a certain point of view, tho subject matter is worth more than a passing notice. Among tho big things, among the dramatic molo-hllls of the year was Dustln Farnum In "Tho Virginian." Dustln Farnum, ever since ho first came hero as the dashing "Denton" in "Arizona," has not only filled the eyes of Salt Lake matinee girls, but the less emotional, who read between tho lines, have read tho coming fortunes of this promising young actor. When Charles Frohman stars him, as Is proposed next year, Mr. Farnum should step at onco from a somewhat provincial obscurity Into tho spot light of widened prominence. During tho year Margaret Anglin committed tho unpardonable by appearing ap-pearing hero in "Zlra" before New York and San Francisco had seen what really proved to bo a lukewarm rehash of Wllkio Collins' forgotten "Now Magdalene." But oven Gotham Is now clapping Its hands over "Zlra." What a fickle dame Broadway is! She turned her proud back on Nanco O'Nell tho darling of the West and welcomes Margaret Anglin with extravagant ex-travagant hysteria. Wo among the crags and peaks of the wild, and woolly can never quite understand the dramatic inclinations of thoso who frequent the playhouses on Broadway. Many a play has been damned with faint praise by the New York critics which received a warm reception In tho West, and we hero have sung tho merits of a drama which there has frozen the East river with Its cold reception, re-ception, If Stoddart glorious, old man Stoddart had not visited us during dur-ing tho year many a weeping hoop would have been hung upon "Tho Bonnie Bon-nie Briar Bush" and ZIon would have been disconsolate. .But dear Stoddart camo and wo lifted up our hearts in song as wo rushed to the ticket window. win-dow. All along tho lino there has been a coming and going of stage personalities personali-ties actors who appealed to femininity, feminin-ity, actresses who had charmes for masculinity such as John Drew, Chauncoy Olcott, Ethel Barrymoro and May Irwin. Each of them appeared ap-peared In chilly plays, but tho personality person-ality of tho performers Insured n warm reception. And tho least substantial sub-stantial of all, "Mrs. Black is Back," was a clear revelation of tho possibilities possi-bilities of personality. Its dramatic Infirmity would havo been sadly smashed by tho avoirdupois of tho bulbous May, had not tho Irwin personality per-sonality supported It with two strong understudies of which wo said nothing, noth-ing, but suspected much. Of musical shows thero has been, as Hoghelmer says in "Tho Girl from Kays," a sufficiency." suffi-ciency." I had fondly hoped last season sea-son that Apollo would tako offense and break his hoop over some of the musical show heads. This season, however, there has been a still greater great-er flood of cheap music running through stained glasses. From tho ticklish "Red Feather," with statuesque Graco Van Studdl-foril Studdl-foril In a revelation of generous gen-erous tights and saucy hat-plume, hat-plume, to tho tuneful charm of tho "Prince of Pllsen," wo havo heard all tho tingling tuinpty-tunes of which disordered musical genius Is capable. I must note, however, an exception an exceptional exception In tho appearance ap-pearance of our own sweet-voiced troubadours In tho "Jolly Musketeer." And, be it further said, tho homo company com-pany was so far abovo tho "Tenderfoot," "Tender-foot," "Buster Brown" aggregation and others, too as to mnko comparison compari-son not only odious, but odoriferous. Ono of tho saving graces of tho numerous nu-merous musical shows wo havo seen, was tho comeliness of tho various choruses. Nearly everywhere in tho desert of tho musical shows grew pretty flowers flow-ers of show girls, who, although like tho lilies of tho Held, sang not neither could they dance, were, nevertheless, n constant visionary charm to tho Front Row club. Tho gcnlses of George Ado, hardly moro than suspected sus-pected last season, has been amply-fled amply-fled during tho year. While his "Sultan "Sul-tan of Sulu" is a study in oriental Imbecility, Im-becility, with chop-suey music, tho "Sho Gun" fairly pointed tho way to a return to dignified light opera, with, of course, apologies to the late firm of Gilbert and Sullivan. But Ado's forto is In tho drama. His "College Widow" scored a positive touch-down, not only with tho foot-ball sceno, but throughout tho play, and most justly so at tho box-offlco. Keep your oyo on this Hoosler lad ho has moro good things coming our way. Tint boys may bo the sons of their father without further responsibility In a dramatic way, was shown In tho visit of tho Jefferson brothers in "Rip Van Winkle" nnd "Tho Rivals" two immortal plays, with nobody left to play them. If thero were a stage censorship cen-sorship in America, the Jefferson boys would bo harmless in tho future. What business have they to tarnish tho lustro of their matchless father? Blood may bo thicker than water, but inherited genius dramatic genius is often thinner than milk. During tho year, Shakespeare, too frequently treated like a Cinderella among tho ashes of shameful neglect, recelvod a Prince Charming awakening from Sothorn and Marlowe. "Romeo nnd Juliet" was given with a youthful Impetuosity Im-petuosity and passionate tenderness never before seen upon a Salt Luko stage. It was the red letter night of tho day upon which It was given and gave dramatic distinction to tho whole year. Louis James has just left us, and although his efforts aro not sufficiently suffi-ciently appreciated, ho is doing his classical best to keep alive tho heavenly heav-enly flame of tho higher drama. While the acting of Mr. James is tinged with austerity and lacking In tho rare sympathetic sym-pathetic elements to which an audi-enco audi-enco responds, yet ho Is entitled to gratitude from all lovers of tho best traditions of tho stage. In tho past season tho fad for dramatized novols has kept paco with tho year before, but in no way has it been moro Insistent. Insist-ent. At ono time tho fad had assumed alarming proportions It threatened to thwart originality In playwrlting. But wo may always oxpect to seo tho pages of a popular book Illustrated with foot-light foot-light flashes. So again tho readers of "Tho Pit," "Tho Vlrglninn" and "When Knighthood Knight-hood Was In Flower," havo been routed rout-ed from their cozy-corners and rushed to see their bloodless horoes under tho spot-lights. Tho cartoons, also, have been torn from tho papers and Issued In yellow extras from tho stage. To what extent will this craze run? Perhaps It Is merciful that few aro privileged to peep Into the future. Mai tho gods sparo us tho Breakfast iood drama and tho Chewing gum comedy! Such, In brief, is tho record of tho year In local theatricals. I havo mado no attempt to give tho , stage offerings In tho order of thoir appearanco, nor havo I attemptod to mention everything wo havo scon. Such nn undertaking would bo moro a work of offort than a labor of love. Tho running comments I havo mado upon plays nnd players aro, of course, nothing moro than personal opinions. And, while much that I havo said may bo wrong and littlo of it right from : your point of view you must "consuro mo in your wisdom," making duo allowance al-lowance for tho frailties of human Judgment. Tho picture, whilo not f painted in nltogcthor pleasing colors, Is still rainbow hucd and tho framo not entirely made of cheap gilding-such gilding-such a composite dramatic picturo could hardly bo otherwise. If the mission of tho thcatro is to amuse, its efforts havo havo been moro than partially successful. But If It bo tho province of tho playhouso to Instruct, It surely has, during tho past year, been nn Indifferent teacher. In either case, however, Salt Lakers, llko thoir brethren clsowhcro, may note the distinction without paying much attention to the differenco. Llfo is too short to cavil at littlo , things tho fato of emplro docs not j hover over flickering foot-lights. But -thero aro times whon our 'tried solves . cry out for tho rest nnd rcllof of di- i version. Weary with tho toil and drudgery of tho day, wo seek at night, llko thirsty pilgrims, tho limpid streams of recreation tho theatres with their running brooks of laughter, play and tears. |