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Show i C&l-Ve Von or den Orpheum Albright f ORPHEUM. H , Nobody had any trouble enjoying the show at H , the Orpheum this week, and if the opening on Hj 'Monday night may be taken for a criterion, the Hi f patrons of the new circuit house arc in for a long H1 scream during the year that has just left the bar- j ?rier. The collection of clever stunts so far sur- j 1 passed those of the week before that there re- ' ' mained very little t compare; certainly there ' was nothing lacking from the standpoint of the playgoer. I Mr. Ade furnished most of the amusement 1 during the performance. That is an old trick of 1 . VON NORDEN The young American Tenor with the Calve Concert Company. k i that young man whenever he trots with the sup- posedly funny, though he did not by any means monopolize the sport. And whether "On His Uppers" was built for w- Mr. Lennox, or Mr. Lennox was produced for "On His Uppers," the fit is perfect, and one would as soon see Murray antl Mack in "Jekyll and Hyde" after seeing Mansfield do the double as to have any other than Fred Lennox take the center RH of the stage in "On His Uppers." Lennox is ab- HHp solutely human, and his make up and action talk t' horse and the ups and downs of the game so " thoroughly that the wit and the slang of the Ade assortment are matched superbly by a fellow as H", clever as anyone in his own delicious line. Myr- jf' tie with him helped with the cheerfulness. She B; tallied marvelously with the life story we heard ' from her. And even the butler was good among , other things being, a standing advertisement for WM the Gillett. H L The Esmeralda Sisters, dressed like a royal flush, were greeted with a large number of good hands. They sang a little and danced more, while four young women helped to divert the calciums in the background. They were rather attractive, though most of them would be at a loss if ordered to dispose of the fatted calf. Herbert's dogs individually give the finest performances per-formances ever witnessed on a stage where canines ca-nines are the principal actors. Booth never died better than the little clown dog with that convulsive convul-sive struggle and that final kick, and the work of every one of the clever brutes could not have been improved upon. Lloyd Spencer, seen here for the first time, made good, with a white face monologue. Spencer Spen-cer is a story teller who knows how, and two features of his performance the refinement and the correct use of the English language are great novelties to discover on the vaudeville stage. His Chinese story is realistic enough to make you believe you are three stories under Dupont street, listening to the tale of "The First Born." Sheck Brothers do some highly original hand balancing and a number of muscular feats that are worth more than passing notice. Murray K, Hill's parodies have made him famous, and he has a new line on exhibit this time. His talk is not bad, funny enough for anybody any-body in spots, but his great hit is his parody work at which he excells, and seems to improve in every year. There is one thing at the new play house that has marred a number of acts, and that is the ap parent lack of rehearsal of the orchestra. There is really no excuse for it, with such a director as Willard Weihe and seasoned musicians who have always played in theater orchestras. But more than once it has been maddening, and with so much room fbr improvement the boys ought to occupy the room. & & & The bill at the Orpheum next week includes Hazzard, one of the best ventriloquists in the business in a turn that is out of the old rut; Es-telle Es-telle Wordette and company, presenting a neat sketch; the Three Lucifers, acrobatic comedians; Barnold's Dogs and Cats; Kemp and Pearl, sing- 1 ers from the Sunny South; the Lucifer Sisters, J acrobatic dancers, and the Kinodrome, with some n new motion pictures. & J J CALVE'S FIRST "CARMEN." There is an amusing story being told on Calve, and incidentally on the ruling passions of all great prima donnas. The great "Carmen's" first tremendous success, the one which placed her upon a plane with the greatest artists of the day, took place in London under the management of Sir Augustus Harris, probably the greatest and brightest theatrical and operatic manager of the day. The queen of England then, Victoria, who, since the death of her husband, had never attended at-tended the theater, but who, in later years, relaxed re-laxed her rules so far as to "command" performances per-formances at Windsor, had "commanded" Harris Har-ris to present "Carmen" with Calve in the usual role. Now, the appropriations for performances at Windsor Castle, while not parsimonious, are none too generous, the royal family being fully aware of the wide advertisement which a "commanded" "com-manded" appearance at -Windsor bestows upon an artist. Harris had to secure Calve for the big part, and to avoid paying her the full salary, which was nearly as much as the whole appropriation, he made use of a little subterfuge, founded as much upon his necessity as upon his thorough understanding under-standing of the artistic temperament. He told Calve of the royal command, and she was, quite naturally, very much interested and excited; ex-cited; Harris played upon her interest cunningly. "I do not know whom to cast in the part of 'Carmen,'" he observed, very thoughtfully; "I have gone through all my list, and I can only fix upon Delna, who has agreed to " "Why DELNA?" exclaimed Calve; "why not Calve?" "I really cannot afford to," replied Harris; "the amount allowed me is too small." Then he asked, "Would you sing for the same terms as Delna for Queen Victoria?" "Yes, indeed," replied Calve, eagerly. "Delna sings for nothing," answered the triumphant tri-umphant Harris. But Calve stuck to her word, and sang for the queen for nothing. She did not go entirely unrewarded, however, for she was & presented by the queen with a gorgeous jewel for her services. Calve will sing the famous "Car- men" song at the Tabernacle, with her com- pany, on next Friday evening. & jit & FLORENCE EASTON, THE COLORATURA SOPRANO. None of the new prima donnas with the Savage Sav-age Grand Opera company is attracting more favorable attention this season than pretty Florence Flo-rence Easton, the coloratura soprano. Miss Eas-ton Eas-ton is a native of Toronto, Canada, but never sang professionally in this country until joining the English Opera forces. For two years she was with the Moody-Manners . company, singing in Covent Garden. Her first success was won in the florid roles of old Italian and French operas, such as "Rigoletto," "I Puritani" and "Faust." For the purity of her flute-like voice, its cultivated culti-vated accuracy and brilliance, she gives credit to her Paris teacher, Elliott Haslam. Her physique phy-sique is not powerful, but her voice is absolutely unique in its freshness and purity. It is a so- Miss Claudo Albright prano of peculiar silvery timbre, and so flexible that no run or roulade in the role of Gilda in "Rigoletto," with its high E, no requirement for Marguerite's sparkling "Jewel Song," and no exaction ex-action imposed in Elsa's classic music in "Lohengrin" "Lohen-grin" seems to task her. Her stage bearing is always gracious and magnetic, making her one of the favorites at any performance in which she takes part. Miss Easton is only one of five new prima donnas with the Savage Opera company this season, the others including the two -mezzo-sopranos, Claude Albright and Margaret Crawford, Craw-ford, with the two sopranos, Millicent Brennan and Mme. Serena. Gertrude Rennyson and Rita Newman, both well remembered from last year, are still with the company. & & J 1 Anyone with a craving to acquire sudden and great wealth and at the same time cut a notch in the stick of fame has a chance to do so by writing writ-ing a play which will fit the torrid temperament and peculiar talents of Mrs. Leslie Carter. David Belasco, who speaks from the fullness of experience, says that royalties on a successful play for Mrs. Carter are worth $300,000. Some years ago Rose Cleveland, the sister of the ex-president of that name, wrote a book which "died a-bornin'," since which time Rose has re- g freshed herself in oblivion's cooling shades all 1 the time "keeping steadily at it." The result? Rose has written and sold a play, so rumor goeth, to no less a divine spark of genius than the glorious Sarah herself. For some years Miss Cleveland has been residing re-siding in Paris, and has acquired a vocabulary of such desirable French that she has been able to clothe her thoughts in the language of Moliere and sell the output. The play by the president's I sister deals with an episode in the French revo- lution, having for its center a character especi- I ally designed to fit the genius of Bernhardt. Two acts of the drama are already in the possession of the French actress, with the others on the way, and the Cleveland name tiptoeing toward the high places. |