Show < i 0 r I ifi C L c I I q I 1 7 IInIbi dc1 L 11 ri yV7i 1 fi c L LL 4 to 1 t I ii q ui c 11 i 9 > This Week Sal Lake Theater Salt Lake Opera company In The Mandarin Man-darin Monday Tuesday Wednesday I and Saturday evenings with Saturday I matinee A Man From Mexico Thursday and Friday evenings Grand A Black Sheep Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday and Friday evenings e c Any man who would attempt to find reasons for theatrical conditions good bad or otherwise would rack his brain out before be had spent many years at It The same rules which apply to other oth-er professions are seemingly valueless as far as any application may be made of them to the stage With the splendid splen-did reputation left behind him It was only reasonable to suppose that Mr Clement aided by such a sterling actor as Louis Stockwell could return to Salt I Lale and do a tremendous business Unquestionably these were his cxpecta lions since he made one Jump to get I from San Francisco to Salt Lake r The first three nights of the business here wa s wretched in spite of thc fact that thc performances were highly artistic and very complete The fourth ngbt that of A Southern Gentleman to the astonishment of all packed the house and proved the least deserving oC the whole engagement Salt Lakp had beard a great deal of A Southoin Gentleman Gen-tleman and looked upon It as a com panionpiece to Mr ClementsNew Dominion Both plays were written by 1 him both plays had for their locale I the South and both were of anI Idyllic romantic character yet there is as little I I lit-tle resemblance between them as between be-tween the highgrade horse and a streetcar plug In The New I Dominion Mr Clement gives us by far his best work since tho role of Ilohenstauften fits nicely to his temperament taStes and natural traits Mr Stockwcll when given anything to do docs It well His character work as the cellar man in A Great Obstacle as Father Walter In The Bells and as Posket In The Magistrate were examples of artistic art OC the support Mr King told to best advantage In the old days when King was here with Blanche Bates Frawley Edwards and other wellre membered people of the Frawley company com-pany he impressed theatergoers as a player who never failed to make a pleasant Impression Indeed it was predicted pre-dicted for him that he would climb to stellar heights but it would seem that he Is doomed to be of the support tho remainder of his days He Is too valuable valu-able a utility actor to be given a chance at leading business The misfortune of being useful In a great variety of lines has condemned more than one man to obllvloti Such seems to be Kings fate Good Jolly likable willing he never wants for an engagement but Isi I never put at the front Of the rest of the company It may be said that It is acceptable which in the theatrical dictionary means that it does its work fairly well but never rises I I to any extraordinary heights Bishop OMalley Is seen to advantage In several sev-eral small bits and Is one of the loyal worshipers at Clements shrine From here thc company went to Denver where it will be playing the present week S S Speaking of the oldtime stock company I com-pany with which he was associated at I the Grand Charley King was Cull of Interesting In-teresting reminiscence and observation 3t is not every day that so strong an I organization as the one that opened the Grand Is gathered in a city of the size of Salt Lake Chatting of some of the I members of the company who had ap I parently disappeared from the public I view for a year or so Mr King reports t that Blakey Blakemore Is now with I f a stock organization In Chicago while Tookcr who was engaged at the Tlvoll I ID San Franciiico for a long while Is I now with a stock company at Toronto Canada Tookcr by the way married rlcjcn Henry whom theatcvgoers will recall as a brighteyed llaxenhalrcd vivacious llttlo miss pert and pretty who held the boarda at the Grand for some time However the way of mat t imony did not appear to run smoothly I between the heavy Tookcr and the fair Il9nry so the lady secured a divorce aud ia now married to a Mr Cook brother of the noted lawyer Carroll I Cook of San Francisco A Salt Lake girl of whom Mr King Bpcaki In the highest admiration Is i I Julia Dean who is now Ingenue with the Nclll company which will be seen hire about a month hence Mr King saya that Julia Dean is one of the com ing actress that i he has developed rapidly since liar first appearance on the stage and Is now generally recog fixed an one of the clever girls Many friends will turn out to Gee her on her return to Salt Lake II 01 Both the Grand and the Theater pre sent repetitions of wellknown plays the coming week At the Theater The Man from Mexico and at the Grand A Black Sheep both of which are well known to theatergoers make up th0 bills A Man From Mexico Is the play I which shook the audiences with laughter laugh-ter at the Theater last season when Willie Collier was the central figure A Black Sheep Is one of Charley Hoyts last travesties and is to be pro Rented by Big Bill Devere for whom the part of goodfellowGunnlng editor of the Tombstone Inscription is written Devere Is strictly Bohemian and the role requires no acting on his part to make it a realistic one The story tells of a Western cowboy hich turned into a society dude under the polishing process pro-cess applied b3r a wealthy maiden aunt The Introduction of a stranded burlesque bur-lesque company adds to the briskness oC the play George Allen takes the part oC HotStuff and the rest of the cast Is In competent hands S < i Apparently the newspapers are being worked with Increased vigor by sensa tionhunting people whose troubles and frailties are exploited for advertising purposes Eugenie Blair Is suing for a divorce from her husband Robert Downing and Robert Mantcll Is held j I In prison on the chargo of kidnaping A whole lot oC other offcolored sensations I sensa-tions are being exploited none of them to the benefit of the rofesslon as a I whole if indeed they are to the parties i I par-ties Interested The excerpt taken from John S Lind I says article in the New York Dramatic Dra-matic Mirror and republish In last Sundays Tribune relative to the early days of the Salt Lake Theater awakened awak-ened the liveliest sort of Interest among theatergoers and players of the old day Mr Lindsays statement that the I theater was encouraged merely as a commercial enterprise by Brigham Young with a view of making a handsome hand-some profit from the Institution and his further statement that the original policy was to exclude any but Mormon players from the stage have provokeJ some criticism Touching upon this point Phil Margetts the veteran actor says the house was erected primarily to provide amusement for the people here and while It was expected that it would be self supporting it was not opened with a view of making money Mr Lyric who was brought here from Nauvoo to coach the home company was not at that time a Mormon but on the other hand had been excommunicated excommuni-cated from the church Lyne had been put out of the church by Joseph Smiths brother and until his death entertained very hostile sentiments toward the Mormon church For this reason It could hardly In good faith be charged that nonMormons were excluded from the Theater staeu It was Brigham Youngs policy In theatricals as In other oth-er matters to foster and build up homo enterprise and to that end he desired as far as possible that home people should cultivate the dramatic tAll t-All the stars however who came to Utah were received cordially by the Mormon president and In fact he was looked upon as a liberal patron of dramatic dra-matic art He paid far more attention to players than to those of other professions pro-fessions and all the people J who stopped here In that day have warm recollection recollec-tion of tho treatment they received from the head pf the church Speaking of the circumstances under which the Salt Lake Theater was opened Mr David McKenzie who was another of the players of that day said that for a number oC years the Deacret Dramatic company had been playing at the Social hall The building was inadequate in-adequate In size to accommodate the demands of the theatergoing public and the company was very anxious to have more commodious quarters Some 30000 had been laid up as profits from the appearances In Social hall The members of the company called upon Brigham Young and submitted a proposition propo-sition to the effect that if I he would build a new and larger theater one that would surpass anything west of the Mississippi thoy would contribute the 30000 In the treasury toward its f erection taking Block for that amount Thla proposition the president accepted and the Salt Lake Theater which is to day a monument of Brigham Youngs interest In amusement was erected The statement of Mr Lindsay that the president favored the ligiucr side of drama and discouraged tragedy is i to a great extent true He felt that the hardships of the pioneers were sufficiently suffi-ciently arduous without making the atmosphere at-mosphere heavier by the presentation of tragical playi He said that if he could have his way only comedy farce and those things which rested the brain should be given When a year later Mr Lyno arrived and began his train Ing oC the home company a desire was expressed that be should be given un opportunity tp present some of his fa vorlto parts In this way tragedies were Introduced and thereafter given at occasional intervals It would be wrong said Mr McKenscie for any ono to flraw the Inference that Brigham Young was unfavorable either to plays or playhouses On the contrary as the disposition of the present generation of amusement people will testify ho 1 cultivated and encouraged the stage Any other conclusion would wrong the man who did so much for the drama In the early days oC Salt LakeS S S Lake-S Maude Knowlton who is the central J figure In Browns in Town which I has been on the boards at tho Grand the past wcekr Is ayoung lady of more than ordinary vivaclty pluck and mental men-tal accomplishments Like many other oth-er talented actresses Miss Knowlton is from California She made debut on the stage about three years ago in a small part and has since forged ahead at such a rapid rate as to surprise those who did not know of her early career She Is the daughter of a prominent prom-inent educator of California Prof Knowlton formerly a professor In the let her I State university She has not beauty carry off her head but has applied I ap-plied herself devotedly to her stage work Last year she was seen here In I Browns In Town and won admiration admira-tion from the large audiences which attended at-tended the laughable comedy Since I that engagement however she has made a striking improvement and Is now nol only bewitching in appearance but most clever and finished as an actress act-ress The past summer she spent abroad seeing foreign productions and I supplying herself with the handsome gowns which she wears in Browns in I Towp It is uncommon to find a young I lady whose work on the stage Is combined com-bined with constant study of literature 1 as la the case with this gifted young woman Much may be expected from I her In the future 0 S S j I 1 The Man from Mexico tholaugh able satire which will bo seen here I the coming week will have for its central cen-tral figure George C Boniface Jr Mr Boniface takes the part of Benjamin I Fitzhugh a man of family and fashion fash-ion who with an old friend goes out I for a lark In New York They visit I music halls and after imbibing freely I become involved In an altercation with a cabman which results In arrest and I afterward a sentence to Blackwolls Island for thirty days He Induces the I Sheriff to take him for an Interview with his wife before final Incarceration j i To his wife he reports that he has been called suddenly on a business trip to Mexico and will be absent for a month The complications which ensue are the cause of the fun which the play aft af-t fords |