| OCR Text |
Show :; , : Hlil j 'With the First JVfighters. "j , I - Bilj j , ACTOR, AUTHOR AND DRAMATIST WIN Bjjl TRIPLE TRIUMPH IN "SOLDIERS H f , ' OF FORTUNE." I ' U Bdii . "Soldiers of Fortune," by Richard Harding Hj' ! i Davis, and prepared for the s,age by Augustus B j j Thomas, will be employed by Henry B. Harris as B '; j J the medium in which to introduce Robert Edeson, m li one of the latest successful American stars in his B ' j new capacity to theatregoers of this city at the B ii j - Salt. Lake theatre next Monday, Tuesday and ii f ii! Wednesday with Wednesday matinee at 3 o'clock. m H hIJ tMr. Edeson has been for the last decade a m ' I I members of the most important dramatic organ- ! f I izations jn this country;" Mr. Davis' novel has en- H i 1 1 1 joyed a widespread vogue since it was first pub- B'j ' l if lished in 1897; and this combination of actor and B j J author facilitated by the employment of Mr. H j j Thomas, the foremost writer of typical American B :' i ! plays, has resulted in so great a popularity for B ' i Mr. Harris' enterprise that it is now in its third B I i year of success. The endorsement placed on m 'l the star and the play by theatre-goers of New B if York, where it ran for 150 nights at the Savoy B ' ' ? I Theatre, has been approved by those of the other K jJ 1 ' . representative American cities of the East and Ibnj'i I S North, and today Mr. Edeson is established in the if Stf'I front rank of American stars. Bij r I1 f Although the story is one of adventure, proba- Ibilities have not been strained to make of its central character, Robert Clay, a demigod. He , is represented solely as a man of action, an American Amer-ican civil engineer, who has been placed in charge H , 1 of some iron mines in South America that are K '' j owned by a New York corporticn. It is while de- jB ij fending the interests of his employers that he H j' becomes involved in a revolution there. Dur- B ing its progress he falls in love with the youngest B i daughter of his employer. Tiis furnished the R ' i i strong heart interest and much of the comedy m j , of the play. Mr. Edeson's personality harmon- m j I izes exactly with the trype of American illustrated K I j hy Robert Clay, and he is the one actor who is IHB-t, I I physically, temperamentally and mentally suited R ' : o embody the Davis hero. Therefore, it is not Hf i ' surprising that his personal success in the produc- B ,If tion was complete and will be lasting. "Soldiers B ' L Igf of Fortune" contains many good acting roles, 1 Ii which have been entrusted to the competent care Hfl m of Hurry Harwood, Ellen Burg, Edwin Brandt, Hj 'Helen Ware, E. W. Morrison, Dorothy Tennant, Hg M Frazer Coulter, Taylor Holmes, Macey Harlem, Hff m Richard Sterling, Byron Ongley, Sydney Ains- HtJ worth, and others. No region in the Western fffj m hemisphere affords more magnificent opportuni- Hraf H ties to the scenic artist than Olancho in South Hrat $ America, where ie story is laid and ,Mr, Joseph HPi 'If! ' Pbysioc having spent some years in the tropics liHii Jl was enabled to prepare a series of settings that won much admiration for their verity and picturesque pic-turesque beauty. Mr. Harris is bringing to this city a duplicate of the original production. A handsome souvenir album of Mr. Edeson in "The Soldiers of Fortune" will be presented to every matinee patron. fcj W Ic "In Old Kentucky" fills in between Robert Ed-son Ed-son and De Wolf Hopper, and as usual it will play to a p. eked house or two. "What's in a play?" cannot be asked mysteriously, in reference to "In Old Kentucky," for there are dollars and dimes in it season after season. iZ& t& t?w DE WOLF HOPPER. De Wolf Hopper and his company of seventy singing comedians will appear here next Saturday night in his latest success, "Mr. Pickwick," a musical mu-sical production of Charles Dickens' masterpiece. The entire original company, including Digby Bell, Marion Field, Marguerite Clark, Laura Joyce Bell, Vivia Ogden, Florine Murray, Nellie Victoria, Felice Robinson, Frank Belcher, J. K. Adams, George Chapman, Augustus Colleti, Guy Bartlett, George Rolland, G. B. Williams and F. R. Willing, Louis Payne and other well known principals, together with an ensemble of seventy, will be seen here with the complete New York produc- tlon. "Mr. Pickwick" was composed by Manuel M Klein, a young composer who has astonished ev- H erybody by the originality and technique of his H first effort. Charles Klein, his brother, an au- H thor of reputation, wrote the book, and Grant H Stewart composed the lyrics. H Mr. Hopper has secured a makeup which gives H him the appearance of Mr. Pickwick as drawn H by the great Cruikshank, Dickens' favorite illus- B trator, and his acting of the part is a rare treat H to lovers of Dickens' types. H Of course we get one night, and another scram- Hj ble for seats. If a production is worth anything B why book it for one night and comparitively the H best show town in the West. Salt Lake has got- H ten to the point where it can stand something B fine for a week and this one night business is B played out. Why Mr. Hopper should limit us to B one night, I cannot say, perhaps Ave can all tell B better after seeing the performance. B iv tv x fB SUNDAY'S CONCERT. B A splendid audience filled he Grand Sunday B evening to hear the Held band cpneert last Sun- B day night, and the music was glorious. H Miss Ivy Price, the soloist, did herself proud. B This young lady has a soprano voice that will be U a wonder in another season. B The music from "The Chaperones" and other II selections were greatly appreciated, and the con- M cert was another proof of the popularity of these fli Sunday night affairs. B Tomorrow evening is solo night. Miss Tilly H Perks, who possesses a beautiful soprano yoice, U will sing, and the instrumental soloists will be: HI Erickson, clarinette; Zimmerman and Leslie, cor- HI net; Schuster, violin; and Mackey, saxaphone. H An "evening of beautiful music is promised. W t v vJv Ha A JAPANESE ACTOR. . fl Ichikawa Danjuro, the greatest of Japanese HI actors, is dead. The news came to America last M week by private dispatches, and as yet no par- II ticulars not even the precise date of his pass- 91 ing have been received. There is little doubt of HI the truth of "the report, however, since Danjuro in recent years, had suffered much illness. His death had been expected many times. In the whole world of the theater, says the Dramatic Mirror, there stood no more interesting figure, during the last half century, than this tragedian of Japan. He was great in his art, and greater still in his personal character. More than any other player of the period, In any country, did he stand Arm against all opposition for a national art principle. He brought the stage of Japan to its highest state of artiBtic perfection, and established estab-lished himself as the foremost actor and manager man-ager inhe empire. Then came the onslaught oi European Ideas, manners and customs upon the 1 M country, and many there were who railed at Dan- juro because he did not keep pace with the times. Younger actors chief among- them Ki-B Ki-B wakami appropriated the mechanical devices of I the European stage and presented Japanese ver- sions of European plays. Danjut'o held to his ar- tistic ideals. Japan awakened; Danjuro chose to dream on. And he fought sturdily for his dream which was of the glories of old Japan and of the splendor and poetry of the true Japanese drama. A traveler once asked Danjuro why he did not change with the changing times. He replied, B pathetically, that in a few years there would he B nothing save the theater to recall' to his country-B country-B men the Japanese Japan. And so he stood, year B after year, a tragic figure, fighting for an artistic B cause. With the death of Dan.turq that cause is B lost. The true native drama 'of Japan dies with B The mistake must not be made that Danjuro B sought to retard the development of his art, or that he clung to the old because of any bitter B prejudice against the new. Or the contrary, he B himself brought about many changes for the Tjet- ter in Japanese dramatic art. Before his time B players were accustomed to paint their faces in B grotesque fashion, making their features almost B like masques. Danjuro realized the power of facial II expression, and he overthrew the old manner of It make-up that made facial expression impossible. Hi Ho also made a great change in the style of elo-K elo-K cution on the Japanese stage. In the old days II every speech was accompanied by loud twanging H of stringed instruments, and in consequence the K actors were forced to declaim in a shrill key, mo-II mo-II notonously, in order to be heard. Danjuro reduced BI the music to the place that oui incidental music Bl occupies, and he and his players adopted a nat-R nat-R ural manner of speech. Bf He was quick, also, to appreviate the artistic Bl value of the electric light, and for many years K his play house has been so illuminated. It will 1 be seen, therefore, that Danjuro was by no means II narrow-minded. He was willing to utilize every- B thing European that seemed to him of value, but Uj he steadfastly refused to run after strange gods. h The actor was born about seventy years ago H there is some doubt as to the exact date and H ho made his first appearance when a child of 3, Through his whole career he devoted himself al- f moat exclusively to the historical drama of Jap- K an, and In his productions lie gave the greatest possible attention to accuracy of costume and i detail. As an actor he was remarkable for his B facial play, his pantomimic wo"k and his powers Bt of characterization. Even in his old age he was B able to impersonate a young gM or a lad with H tho utmost realism. H Danjuro made a large fortuue as a manager, H and was an honored citizen of Tokio. He never wS left Japan. When uiged to play in Europe and America he replied that in any other land he would be regarded merely as a curiosity, while in Japan he held a place of high honor as an artist. t&v fc fr The Symphony orchestra has begun rehearsals under the leadership of Mr. Shepherd. Four concerts con-certs will be given during the winter. The orchestra or-chestra has been greatly added to this year and gives much promise of being very fine. fc && v This dialogue took placebefore the box office window the other day: "Well, they're the best we've got. Nearly sold out." "Is B pretty close to the stage?" "Well, if they were any closer you'd have to perform." |
