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Show , : - ' a - ! : &Jii;h the Firt-JHighter H SOTHERN AND MARLOWE. H ; In presenting Shakespeare's comedy, "Much Ado About Nothing," at the Salt Lake theatre next week with E. H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe in the roles o Benedick and Beatrice, Charles Frohman confers upon our theatre-goers another dramatic feast which will long be remembered, as it has become a custom to associate complete excellence with anything connected with his name. It is said that every possible rcquire-ment rcquire-ment in the way of support, scenery and costumes has been supplied, and nothing withheld that is requisite to give an entirely adequate perform-ance perform-ance of the inimitable comedy. Though this is Mr. Sothern's first season as Benedick, his inter-pretation inter-pretation has been highly extolled by the critics and public wherever he has been. He has long given special study to the part and his personality is unquestionably particularly adapted to its por- B trayal. In the battle of wit and raillery between B Benedick and Beatrice, Benedick is more often B discomfited than victorious, and it is then that B Mr. Sothern's graciousness is seen to advant- B age. Shakespeare's genius shines more brightly fl than in the sprightly dialogues and interchanges B between this interest-exciting and mirth-provok- B ing pair, and Mr. Sothern's depiction makes clear B every subtile meaning of the text, and his concep- Wm tion exemplifies his close study and understanding B of the requirements of this very difficult part. B Miss Marlowe has presented Beatrice in times B past, but never before did she have scuh a Bene- B dick, and a newly conceived impersonation of B jMy Lady Disdain" may be expected, far surpass es ing any of her previous efforts, satisfying as they B have been. "Much Ado About Nothing" will be given Mon-day Mon-day evening and "Romeo and Juliet" Tuesday evening for their last appearance here. & & HE The closing performance of Nat Goodwin's en- Hp gagement at the Salt Lake theatre will be given this afternoon and evening. "The Usurper" is the bill for the matinee and "A Gilded Fool" will be presented tonight. JOHN DREW. At least one explanation of the success of "The Duke of Killicrankie," is that the theatre-going theatre-going public, surfeited with innumerable kinds and degrees of low comedy,, is ready to accept with open arms this genuine comedy of refinement refine-ment and real wit. Then, "The Duke of Killicrankie" Killi-crankie" affords such perfect scope for John Drew's distinguished talents in refined humor and tender sentiment, that it has naturally proved to be a great success. The play is a farcical romance in three acts. Captain Marshall, the author, has already established estab-lished a high reputation by his three other plays, "His Excellency the Governor," "A Royal Family" mm JOHN DREW. and "the "Second in Command." "The Duke of Killicrankie" is rightly regarded as Captain Marshall's Mar-shall's celverest attainment. Its dialogue is brilliant, bril-liant, its characters splendidly illustrate London life of the upper class, and its principal theme, that of the persistent love of the Duke for Lady Henrietta Addison, is so charmingly human as to appeal with ho less effect to the gallery "gods" than to the boxes and orchestra. Briefly put, "The Duke of Killicrankie" is a manly, witty sort of a fellow who has been so long pursued matrimonially, that it comes as a shock to him when, turning pursuer, his first hunt, Lady Henrietta Addison, gives him the slip. With most other young women Killi-crarikie's Killi-crarikie's every speech has its design in love. At table for him to say "Will you please pass the salt?" was the signal for the young lady addressed ad-dressed to look as though there was some unexpressed un-expressed passion behind the Duke's words. But Lady Henrietta is quite opposite; she will not enter the arms flung open for her until, decoyed and kept prisoner for a week, she loves the Duke in spite of herself. The cast includes Margaret Dale, Fanny BrDUgh and Ferdinand Gottschalk, and the play will be seen at the Salt Lake theatre for three nights, beginning next Thursday. & & Very entertaining and very flattering to the venerable old actor, was the testimonial to Phil Margetts at the theatre on Monday night. Hundreds Hun-dreds of his friends were there, many of whom had seen Mr. Margetts trip the board of the old playhouse with a lighter foot than now. His peril per-il It. SOTHERN AS ROMEO.:, formance of Peter Probity in "The Cfiimney Corner" Cor-ner" was a strong presentation, which showed that the rolling years had taken from the actor none of his old cunning. Duncan McAllister assisted as-sisted ably as Solomon Probity, and Miss Jennie I Alford was pretty and intelligent as Grace Emery. The play was supplemented with a very pleasing musical programme. tC Much more general joy would be felt by local theatre-goers over the approaching visit of Julia Marlowe and E. H. Sothern in Shakespearean repertoire were it not for the fact that to the MISS MARLOWE AS JULIET. ordinary first nighter the $3 admission price looks almost prohibitive. It is quite true that for high class attractions high prices are in order, but it is doubtful if the receipts for the coming performances per-formances will vindicate the judgment of the Frohman management which apparently works on the theory that everyone hereabouts belongs J to the bullio" trust. Mr. Sothern and Miss Marlowe Mar-lowe are of cu arse co-stars of considerable luster, but they are-not sufficiently irradiant for people to care to go bankrupt over them. Mr. Pyper was unable to secure them on any other terms, but the $3 specialty forms a bad precedent. t$ ic tC "THE USURPER." Nat Goodwin is a usurper, and no matter how much there may happen to be to anything the playwright hands to him, he takes it all to himself. him-self. Often he so fools us with his charm of personality per-sonality that we would swear that the play was a gem, forgetting in the enjoyment of the actor anything that might be criticised. Think of Nat Goodwin in melodrama, and yet that is precisely what this "Usurper" must be called. But if you can find ten people who saw it, who, on first ques tioning, would not say that it was a comedy, you are a wonder. The play isn't a comedy, but he is surrounded by lots of clever people to make things just as enjoyable en-joyable as possible. Why the east did not take to this latest play of Mr. Goodwin's is difficult to understand, but then the cast and us seldom do agree on dramatic art. Miss Mackay as Beatrice Clive deserves first mention in Mr. Goodwin's support, and Florence Parker as Polly Maddox is a find to whom the audience took immediately. The Rob Quentin of r Felix Edwards and Neill O'Brien's Timmons were also very effective. The play, which is one of the most enjoyable of the season's offering will be repeated this afternoon, and the engagement closes tonight. |
