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Show THEATRES ON THE. COAST. I have just returned from a tour of the coast, extending fiom shot-lo-ploces 'Frisco to watch-me-grow Los Angeles. While primarily seeking the elusive thing called rest, I incidentally incidental-ly hovered around the Ilarlng footlights foot-lights of several coast towns. After one makes his escape from the ennui of Sacramento theatilcally as dead as slavery ono comes Into the breezy ozone of Oakland. This ono time town of rural homes and truck gardens gar-dens has suddenly togged itself In metropolitan ruffles. Broadway, In Oakland, has caught some of the departed de-parted glory of Market street. O'Farrell street, too, where the in candescents once bloomed In orange colored splendor throughout the night, has a small counterpart In the heart of Oakland. There are high priced theatres and the ton-cent dissipation touching elbows In Impudent rivalry. But the summer glory of Oakland Is Idora park a dreamland of lawn, (lowers and footlights. No matter how warm the day and Oakland lb hot, at times ono can go to Idora park In the evening and the cool breeze of the Pacific will kiss him back to life and joy. At tho same time you can All your ears with operatic music, and slip away from dullness over a footllght Hood of surf-color through which chorus girls are swimming swim-ming In a sea of rainbows. No matter mat-ter how proudly Oakland may raise her head her theatric head In all tho days and nights to come Idora park will bo a pleasant memory. Ono comes over to 'Frisco from Oakland across what Is now as it ever was the grandest stretch of water nature over gave to commerce. Cities may crash and crumble around tho shores of San Francisco bay, but forever and forever may Its waters carry tho ships of two worids through the Golden Gate. One slops from tho ferry boat of Market street and Immediately feHs that ho io in a cloud of nicer tabny and gloom. A ride up Market street is like a trip through a graveyard hero He burled tho glories and grandeur of tho San Francisco that was. Tho Call building, build-ing, the Grand and Palace hotels, the Phelan building stand out amidst the black surroundings like broken monuments monu-ments struggling to be brave. Over on Mission street tho Grand opera house is a wilderness of twisted Iron and crumbled brick. Just a few hours before be-fore the earthquake, tho golden volco of Caruso excited to frenzy tho most brilliant audlonco ever assembled at this historic play house. Over on O'Farrell street tho Or-plieum, Or-plieum, Fisher's, Tlvoll and Oboron are lost in debris as dead to tho past as death Itself. Tho Alcazar anil the Columbia tho pride of Powell street where tragic actors and tragic ac tresses played tho make believe tragedy trag-edy of life are now as deep a tragedy trag-edy as death can weavo from tho threads of dust and silence. Tho Rial-to Rial-to Is dead, long livo tho Rialto! Way up town for up town that was tho Rialto lives again in all tho quickening quicken-ing pulse of duzzllng footlights and Incandescent In-candescent fairy entrances. Tho Davis threatre on McAllister street, not far from Fillmore, is doing its best to win back tho vocal glory that mado tho old Tlvoll a nest of song birds. But It is only a sicken ig imitation. Its singers seem to have tho earthquake earth-quake still in their voices and its chorus girls are not tho shapely girls that mado the Tlvoll chorus an empo-ium empo-ium of well rounded hosiery. And, by tho way, speaking of tho old Tlvoll, Tlv-oll, It was tho house of song that mado Frisco famous. Today tho Tivoll Opera company Is up on Puget Sound trying to make a rae nolsu in the ears of Seattle. Clustering mound Franklin stieet and Van Ness avenue and the streets between are a score of cheap show houses. Residences, regardless of previous condition or servitude, have been rudely seized and forced into melodramatic melo-dramatic bondage or ten-twenty-and-thirty-cent vaudeville slavery. These improvised places of amusement aro the meanest kind of theatric excuses. They exist only lor the matinee today and tho performance tonight tomorrow tomor-row may see tho Phoenix boar and a now San Francisco spread Its wings. Let us never brush tho dust of supplication sup-plication from our knees until It Is so. Between 'Frisco and Los Angeles ono has a cholco of two routes, and, at tho gatoway to each, stands a good show town. These towns Stockton and San Jose although much smaller than Sacramento, aro theatrically far In advance of tho sleepy California capital. In Stockton there are several live theatres and In San Joso it is tho same. Farther south, Fresno and Ba-kersfleld Ba-kersfleld aro tho humming centers of tho oil fields fierce melodrama and fig-leaf girls in dizzy burlesquo aro tho only attractions that choke tho box ofllco. Santa Barbara still redo-lent redo-lent with tho ppirit of ltamnmi and Helen Hunt Jackson is a fashionable town of twenty thousand. Because John Drew and Murray and Mack slmetimes drop off at Santa Barbara, tho town Insists on calling itself a theatric center. When ono gets llrnily planted In Los Angeles, after riding through a wilderness wil-derness of suburbs, ho loves to tarry and hear tho wings of angels rustling over tho real estate. Real estato and climate have conspired to luro tho Invalid In-valid from tho eaBt and tho boomer from Boomtown. Either ono alone might bo resisted, together they are Invincible. Without them Los Angeles might still bo a struggling town on tho Mexican border. With them she still growing like thunder and Wearing tho mantel of glory which the earthquako stripped from San Francisco. Fran-cisco. Wonderful Los Angeles! Queen not of Southern California, but of all California north and south. No city of equal size is so multltudlous with hotels, boarding houses and furnished rooms. Theatrically Los Angeles Is Now York squeezed into Harlem and tho Bronx. They told mo that Los Angeles An-geles has fourteen theatres. Two new ones opened while I was there and I wasn't thero long. Just as' I was pulling out of town a five cent theatre opened on Main street, between Third and Fourth. In consternation I fled tho city, fearing a penny vaudovlllo might open and glvo away expensive souvenirs. Los Angeles grows so fast, that ,In tho dead of night, ono awakes from slumber nnd hears first one suburb II and then another becoming absorbed II In tho ever expanding municipality. II While I was there the suggestion was '11 mado In all seriousness, mind you II to annex San Pedro and Long Bench. l They nre, at present, thriving towiu II twenty miles away! Next year they II will bo lost In tho heart of Greater Los ' II Angeles. What think you, my mas- 1 fl tors? Isn't that "going" some? II When tho earthquako drovo Fisher l from O'Farrell street tho quick wltted I Gorman hied away to Los Angeles. u'l Fisher's theatro on First street Is now fl ono of tho busy places in tho town of . LI fluttering Angoles. At tho Mason op- Hi era house, whoro Weber and Fields jl burlesquo Is tho present rage, Rose. I mary Glosz vocally known to ZIon l Is the star of tho organization. Just I as I loft, however, it was announced jl that sho was going to tho Davis then. J I tro in 'Frisco. In tho Fisher theatro j;l I recognized some Salt Lako girls who ill added shapely and vocal dignity to the Jl Fisher chorus Salt Lako girls can do jl this every time. il All the Los Angeles theatres aro jl box ofllco winners. II Go to tho Belasco and tho crowds aro ijl there; tho same at tho Ilotchklss; the jl samo at tho Burbank; tho same at the fl Now Star; tho same at tho Orphcum; I tho same at tho Unique tho samo all I down the line. Los Angeles has grab I bed tho world's orango and Intends I eating It seeds and all. I HARRY LE GRANDE. I |