| Show PRAISE FOR PATIENCE In Favor of Home Talent Being S Be-ing Recognized THE A3IAT URS LATE SUCCESS Ilovr tho Soloists Choruses Costumes Cos-tumes etc Struck One of thc Home Folks SALT LAKE CITY Feb 28th 1885 ITo 1 I-To the Editor of THE HERALD 1 i In the midst of the varied amusements amuse-ments of the week and the week before the good people of Salt Lake came very near having a surfeit While traveling troups well heralded come to our Mormon Mor-mon town and give to the public just what they please and of a second class order it is expected that 1 and others who like music must putupwith anything any-thing they have onhand and because it is in Salt Lake Now if the Mormons Mor-mons who comprise fourfifths of the population of the Territory and who are gathered from nearly all nations can accept all this imposition for one I can notnorwithout protest do I propose to so do The people who have so liberally liber-ally patronized our theatres and took their hard earnings and have enriched perhaps the numerous companies who have adorned our boards have as a rule given us the cold shoulder as soon as they arrived at an antiMormon city Now I ask if in the face of all this can we accept their slights and slurs while we pay for the same I remember reading somewhere in my youth the question being askedcan any good come out of Nazareth 1 and I propose the conundrum Can any talent of a Mormon origin or that contains con-tains a single element of Mormonism come from this Territory Does this seem harsh as an expression of feeling or is it not the fact that local talent born and raised in this city must be sit down upon by those who would condemn con-demn from prejudice anything they might do however well rendered What I say is not from prejudice nor otherwise other-wise but from a heartfelt and earnest desire to encourage those who have itfot t talent and who will work What I have I written was first in my mind as the growth of nearly fifteen years residence I am pained to be compelled to say what I have I am a Mormon bred and born and as such I feel the impositions that have been brought to us For one I am tired of this and for myself I propose to quit This expression docs not include all who come here but it is the rule Your readers may think I am prejudiced prejud-iced and in fact and deed I am for I have yet te find as I have said before anything that has a Mormon element in it that could even be passable in the estimation of some people These are facts and ones which cannot be contro verted I now wish to speak of our Patience troup and its rendition JNo doubt many who read THE HER ILD have seen the piece as often as T have and their opinion as far as the public is concerned may be better But everyone every-one is entitled to his opinion however good it may be This is my case and I am pleased to say that it was superior to anything I have heard and seen in four of the largest cities of this country This to me speaks well for our young musicians and not only well but especially well when we consider con-sider that it is an amateur company coached by perhaps four who have faced a critical audience before and in this city too I do not propose tope to-pe IY distinguish any one portion of our last Patience more than another but must repeat what I said that I never saw It equaled and why I will tell you The chorus was without with-out a fault musically The same was true with the orchestra The stage I settings were grand and the Twenty Lovesick Maidens were the handsomest I hand-somest andprettiest and most graceful twenty I have ever seen on any stage Costumes and groupings due to two who are well known to the Salt Lake public were in my estimation the perfection of a bouquet and the blending i blend-ing of colors was all that coald be asked without hypercriticism The young people of the company are i all of our city and by their work and I ability deserve the thanks of all Costumes I Cos-tumes and everything therewith connected con-nected were home made and the house receipts went home all but 10 There has been nothing speaking for myself since the first Pinafore that has ever equaled and certainly have never surpassed sur-passed it Criticisms are always too unkind and we are too prone to find fault and too slow to praise This is more often the case when we have somethin new but when it comes to our old friends the two Johnnies the Misses Nettie Patience Tacey Edna Daisy Louise etc etc not forgetting I the ScarffsT1 and Barnes I begin to think Ill want a plaster you know Crawford the Colonel and George the Pyper with my old friend Fred the I Solicitor were beyond criticism and itis wonderful how three 3 steps could take in the whole stage And let us think of nothing at all Birde will make our score as nearly complete as will do for my amount of praise While I have mentioned a few of the soloists and have nothing but praise for themI must say for all in a lump it could not be excelled and only hope I may be asable as I am willing will-ing to hear them once again In conclusion I wish to say to all the Patience troupe that I accept it as a home troupe and my Mormon suggestions sugges-tions apply to none in the company My only reason for referring to it was because of the unjust criticisms that have been made about the ladies and gentlemen who have been but three months in giving us a musical and aesthetical treatFOR FOR THE HOME FOLKS I |
