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Show Ml h 'lull tOith the Firjrt JVfighter. vg B 'fl I flii IB R1 via Ift ft HM mm) : ' :! la gioconda. Biti HI Bfl 1 flf'tB (Appreciation.) BU'llU lili 8 D'Annunzio is essentially a poet. His language Hfjlju 1)1$, B sparkles with the irradiant jewels of rhetoric or H iW, l!S murmurs and thunders as it sways to the tumult B lut '' ' m m of a Srea Passln One leaves the place where My !j II his resonant voice has been heard, sounded by W i 81 some soulful artist, with his heart still thrilled I i Is I 'III fi wn d8:an' rumblings, harmonies that blend with B ; I 111 8 luted melodies, like summer showers falling upon Hi 1 4h8 red-lipped roses in the garden of the muses. Hi l I ill' 8 Above all the Italian genius is an apostle of Bi I If 18 tho transcendency of art. In the simoon ofji B B great passion this note is still sounded art that 8 I ' t 'm 8 ls auove al1 earthly gifts and far surpassing the B ' HJ B ove of woman' t is idolatry of art which evades B ' ' h 8 no renunciation and causes all else to be laid as B '111! B a votve offering to the superior goddess. That B . i till1 jffl is what Silvia, the beloved wife but the lesser B s "118 goddess, learned in Gioconda. And Florence B f5 v'Si II Roberts' art is called upon to portray the hopeless B ill I w 8 struggle of the deserted wife against a more pow-Bi pow-Bi ' ill U 1 erful and over-mastering passion, in which there Bl 2 III Bfl are occasional glimpses of sensuous abandonment Bh ii ' ill B I ljut tue veIIe(1 fl&ure oC art Is always predominant. B; i 1 Ii Nothing Miss Roberts has done is more beautl-V beautl-V M II I fully or appreciatively artistic than when, mas-8 mas-8 ' H 8 tered by a great love, she combats the unseen 8 ' ' ' 'S 8 enemy by a futile deception and when on love's W I "' 'ill 8 altar was laid the sacrifice of her hands, which If! "IH 8 were surpassingly beautiful and the inspiration i fH 88 and dellSnt o Settala m other days. Nothing f Vj 88 could be more imposingly tragic than the closing 8 fe 88 scene between Silvia and her daughter Beata. B ?1''II 88 The Perfrmance was marred by the strident and B 1 1 ill 88 over-done work of Lucius Henderson, whose pow- B' I'll 88 ers are inadequate for a characterization so in- B' Mil 88 tense. Mr. Howard Scott was about the same B I ill 88 doleful and inane piece of statuary as in previous B 1 ' "I 88 performances. A. K. N. B 'iJifl There is entire curcease of sorrow ahead for B llIB ne Salt Lace theatregoer, who has been jaded B l$tl$Bfi ul1 oft durinS the winter months by perform- B $ 'ffslB ances that hardly called for demonstrations of Bi ilifBB unmixed delight. All in one cluster, in the merry B ' IH month of May, when the buoyancy of spring 8 aMB makes everything else looks good to us, there 8 l Jmavlrm wI11 seen at tlie Salt Lae theatre Anna Held, 8 llilB8 Richard Mansfield, Maude Adams and E." H. 8 8BB Sothern, who "willarrTve "here fresh from eastern BB H triumphs in the order named. It is some time B ;';r8 since Mansfield and Adams have ventured more B. PMBHh tlian a ew furonSS from the glare of Broadway, BiH HIBiB an( "ne Prosnect of seeing them and Held and Bv " 8B Southern all in one month is quite overwhelm- B MgiPBi1 Ing Ifc is certainly reaching the wine on the B 11888 theatrical menu for the local season, which has B if iBBi scarcely been more than an indifferent one, large- B i tHHJ ly uecause many stars whom we expected could BB mw no e induced to come west and largely through B 1BBB courtesy of the fight being made against Messrs. iB 4BBI IClaw & Erlanger. IBb 1h88h Mr Mansflel(1 will be seen in Ivan the Terri- 88 flHB ue' which so moved the cynical New York critics B" 18E9I t,iat tliey forSot themselves long enough to refer IB fIwBm to Mr. Mansfield'3 performance as the best thing H )BBi seen there during the season with the possible 88 ifiBl exception of Henry Irving as Louis XI. "The Lit- BBB rw tie Sister of Jose" will be Maude Adams' bill of IBBi nniB fnre' ne nretty romance in which Miss Adams BIH ' MM nas mado a ereat impression. The bill for E. H. 1HB I8n Sothern will probably be "The Proud Prince," 8 HB In which he is said to have achieved an even great- Bl flSflB er success than in "If I Were King," which he Hj WwHi played here to crowded houses near the close of BB fBB lnst season- 8 r88B 0ne G' Pyper is certainly td be congratulated SBSB liifWH upon securing such attractions. BBB SW: fl' ml i LA GIOCONDA. (Depreciation.) There is no one to question the poetic quality in the glorious lines from the mighty mind of D'Annunzio in his tragedy of Gioconda. That is not the point. The beauty and thrill of his glorious language cannot find a place of lodgment in the heart, if overshadowing it all is a repellant thought echoing echo-ing from this tragic muse. The "jewels of his rhetoric" cannot counterbalance the decadent nature na-ture of the theme, in which such a repulsive character as Settala is created, and such a play, no matter how glittering the poetic embellishments, embellish-ments, serves no good purpose on the stage. A sociological study, my friend Nicholson would say, the triumph of art "above all earthly gifts." And incidentally the triumph of the courtesan over healthy love, even when in defense de-fense of that love the wife has made great sacrifice. sacri-fice. Mrs. Leslie Carter and a number of others have said that "woman is born to sacrifice," but when realism produces such a spectacle of sadness sad-ness as the loss which Silvia suffers, for a degenerate degen-erate who, pitiless and obdurate, casts her off, the whole baneful story running to a harrowing end, the tragedy is intolerable, and not even the poetry of a D'Annunzio is recompense for the unbeautiful thoughts from his most fertile brain. Strange as it may seem, there can be decency, even in the poetic mind, and while Gioconda may be very real, and very true to modern Italian life, Settala's devotion to art is a most unpleasant spectacle in the guise of Its portrayal, and Gioconda interrupts the sunshine of life for the same reason that many another play Intrudes on good nature the direful paucity of healthy dramatic material. There is the basis of a drama in most lives, and men and women even men and women who can appreciate true poetry would rather laugh than suffer. J. T. G. fcyV i& fc HELD PROGRAM FOR TOMORROW. 1 March, "The Cavalier," (new) Harris 2 Grand selection from "Dolly ' Varden," Julian Edwards 3 Violin solo, "Rondo II." DeBIot Mr. Shuester. 4 Andante from Haydn's Surprise Symphony Haydn 5 Tenor solo, with violin obligato, a. "Beloved," serenade Neibeling b. Irish Love Song Lang Mr. Fred Graham. G Caprice, "A Musician astray in the Forest." , A.Herman 7 March, (new) "Hold's 40." Mr. Shuester 8 Solo for soprano a. Still as the night Bohm b. Florian Song Goddard Mrs. Mary Partridge Price. 9 Songs for Cornets a. "Gypsy Love Song," Herbert Mr. Zimmerman. - b. "Shubert's Serenade," Shubert Mr. Leslie. 10 Grand overture to "Bohemian Girl," Balfe t? w "The Unwelcome Mrs. Hatch" has been seen here before, and is generally looked upon as the bent thing in Miss Roberts' present repertoire. Mr. Henderson also shows to better advantage in this performance. A small house testified to a lack of enthusiasm here over the "Sapho" play. t & When the manager for Miss Isabel Irving asked her whether after two seasons wlth "The Crisis," she would prefer to invade Europe or come west- H ward, Miss Irving decided in favor of the west H ! for which we are duly thankful. It is certainly H a source of joy to be permitted to see the drama- Hi tization of Mr. Churchill's novel, which everyone B including the cook, has read and gone into rap!, H. hires over. The dramatization was by mFi H Churchill himself, and the story has lost none of B its vital interest in the transformation. As Vlr- B ginia Carvel, a great success has been achieved B by Miss Irving, who is a great favorite with local B playgoers. mk v vx v B! SHAY. B The Rose Cecelia Shay Opera company comes B to the theater the first of the week, playing "Caj. B men," " II Trovatore," "Bohemian Girl," and B "Faust." B Miss Shay, when heading the Gordon-Shay B Opera company a year ago, considered the treat- B ment accorded her by the press as extremely B cruel, but the treatment was on account of the B detail of her performances, rather than of Miss B Shay personally. She possesses a beautiful B voice, and her interpretation of Carmen is a note- B worthy performance. Joseph Fredericks and B Francis Carrier appear in the support, and It Is B said that the chorus and general detail has been B greatly improved since Miss Shay's former ap B pearance in this city. Let us hope that such is B the case. H (3 w 3 IBt Richard Mansfield rarely commits himself. Hj The other day, however, he admitted that the two B loles of Ivan the Terrible and of the Prince Karl B Heinrich in "Old Heidelberg" are the most tax- B ing that he has ever played. Only the fact that B they are distinctly opposite in every fibre of tern- B perament and that by alternating them he is meas- B ureably rested would it be possible for him to H continue to play either. The assumption of ex- H treme youth or extreme old age, absolutely nai Wk vete or masterful passion equally absorbs the ar- B tist's vitality. B i5 tv id R 'WcFADDEN'S FLATS." B The E. W. Townsend, Glenn MacDonough K farce, "McFadden's Row of Flats," with its mer- B riment and song, and show girl chorus comes to H the theatre next Friday evening and Saturday aft- H ernoon and night. It is said that this edition of B the farce is a great help to the laughing habit; and B the company is full of well known performers. B O 5 0 k As a master of beautiful pianoforte tone Bauer B can rank with Paderewski and De Pachmann at B their best. Besides his ear-wooing beauty of B tones, elastic, buoyant, resonant, without a suspi- B cion either of woodiness or of striking through, B clear and brilliant in pianissimo as in fortissimo, B he plays with a sure sense of rhythm, with a H comprehensive totality of conception that bo- H speaks the master. To play like that is to be I one in ten thousand. W. F. Apthorp, in Boston Transcript. I 3 5 JJ The banjo recital of Mr. Alfred A. Farland at the Congregational church on next Friday evening, April 1st, will be an important musical event. It has been four years since he appeared before a Salt Lake audience and during that time he has been abroad where he created a sensation by his wonderful playing. In his concert here he will be nssisted by Mr. C. D. Schettler, guitar virtuoso. Miss Margery Mulvey, mandolin soloist, and the Ladies' String Quintet. A very enjoyable programme pro-gramme has been arranged for this event. , tV (Jw t3 Under the able leadership of Miss Nora Glea-son, Glea-son, St. Mary's choir will repeat the concert glv en on St. Patrick's night. The proceeds will go to Mrs. Smith, whose unfortunate case has ro- H My been brought to public attention, and a I urge "oUse should sreet he choir. The perform- B nee will be on Monday night, April 11th. flflj tv 5 3 B HACKETT AND THE INDEPENDENTS. B The reports that James K. Hackett, the bril- B Hant young actor-manager and one of the main- B tays of the independent theatrical movement, was B to withdraw from that association and rejoin the B trust forces with the coming season was definitely B denied last week by Bayard Velller, business man- B ager for Miss Isabel Irving, who is starring under B the direction of Mr. Hackett. B Mr. Veiller is not only Mr. Hackett's represent- B ativo in the business management of Miss Irving's B tour, but he is an old and close personal friend B of that actor as well, so that his words have all B the weight and authority of those of Mr. Hack- B ett himself. B "These reports originated when Mr. Hackett B secured the Garden theater from Mr. Charles B Frohman in which to continue the engagement of B William H. Thompson in the "Secret of Polichl- B nelle," the Madison square theater, in which the B run was begun, having been permanently closed B by the city authorities. That play, which is one B of the few real successes of the year in New B York, is still crowding the theater to capacity at Hjj every performance. Mr. Hackett was either B obliged to find a New York home for his company B or to send it on the road. The former was by B far the most sensible thing to do, as it would B have been the height of folly to have interrupted B the successful run of the piece in New York. B "It was not possible to secure the Manhattan B theater, which is managed by Mr. Harrison Grey B FIske, as it had been previously rented by Mr. B Kirke La Shelle. Mr. Hackett was therefore B forced to go to a market outside the confines of B the independents for a theater and he managed B to secure the Garden theater. You can secure B trust theaters in New York very easily this sea- B son! B "It must be borne in mind that Mr. Hackett's B personal relations with Mr. Frohman and others B In the trust are entirely amicable. There have B never been any quarrels between them. Mr. flf Hackett merely prefers to run his own business H , in his own way and to book his companies hlm- ' self. Bf He secured the garden theater because it suit- fl ed his purposes in nearly every respect, and he B rented the house just as you or I might rent a B dwelling. Yet you would not assert that I was B going into the business with an undertaker, for B example simply because I had rented a house B which he happened to own. B "Mr. Hackett will not resume business rela- B tions with the trust. He will continue to book B his attractions independently. He will next sea- B son have many companies on the road, and as B soon as her contract with Mr. McKee expires, B Miss Mary Mannering, in private life, Mrs. Hack ett, will be found in the ranks of independent jj stars. j "You cannot be too emphatic in your denial of the reports that Mr. Hackett will withdraw from I the independents. He will do nothing of the j sort, but will continue in the future aB he has in the past, to be entirely independent. $ t5 $5 I A house full, of lovers of good music listened to a delightful concert last Sunday evening, at which Held's fine band was the principal attraction, attrac-tion, assisted by Miss Grayce Berge, who has a sweet soprano voice, and Mr. Odenwalter who scored a hit with his basso rendition. "The American Ameri-can Patrol" was the feature of note in the band selections. |