OCR Text |
Show - . m I With the First Nighters I I jt'I THE SQUAW MAN. M I By T. G. ff K jll , "Poor, little mother." In that one speech com- $?J ing as it did after all the pathos in the life of Nat- fcj u-ritch, which had just ended so tragically thero M f. wns moro heauty, more sentiment, more artistry, jjjrl f more understanding than in anything that could have hoen said or done. Perhaps it is paradoxical jjjj'l f! to say it was ideally beautiful, and in the same jl'V breath declare that it was absolutely natural, but " j there was no exaggeration in the way the thing : ! - was done, and the sentiment was sweet as morn- ' ing in the summer woods. j'K' "Poor little mother" and your heart goes out ;:? ' to her of , "Mute little moods of misery and wrong, Only a child of Nature's rarest making . Wistful and sweet, and with a heart for break-ijif break-ijif ;' ing!" i ' Sentiment that is the glory of the play, . sweeter and sweeter as the story unfolds, and jy though the play is big and strong, with the pre- ; dominating note of self-sacrifice with self-abnega- j j , tion and a picture of one of those strange men j ' l ' who is really constant through the years, it is the j M t sentimentality not of the sickly brand that has made "The Squaw Man" what it is, and it comes and comes again long after you have left the mummers, like the smell of blossoms long conserved. con-served. Men's tragedies such as that of "Jim Carston" are usually avoided by a playwright, either because be-cause he is lazy, because he fears the reception his hero will receive or beoause to himself he confesses his inability to portray him without making his man ridiculous. In fact, the sugges. tion of improbability has been made regarding "The Squaw Map," but people who bother themselves them-selves with the ins and the outs of the subject ,f,',T '. , ' LILY CHARLENE, An Expert Xylophone Player at the Orpheum Next Week when as a whole a play is so thoroughly enjoyable as this Royle success haven't much chance to bo pleased in a theatre. It is doubtful if any great stage success has ever been probable in its entirety. en-tirety. What if Royle did save "Jim Carston" from himself when he was perilously close to failure. That was just as it should have been, because we knew from the beginning when Diana, the prophetess, proph-etess, told the generous easy, some might say fellow that he would be somewhat of a failwe, in the accepted term, owing to his unselfishness and devotion to duty, that Providence was watching, as is usually the case, and that somehow he'd come out' all1 rTght. Mr. Faversham is quite wonderful in the part of Jim Carston, but no bigger than Roylo's conception con-ception of the character of this Englishman who has come to the west taking upon himself another's anoth-er's disgrace, for the sake of the girl he loves. He Is called the matinee idol of America, but he does nothing to indicate that he knows It. For that reason his work is especially commendable, for he Is a fine actor without a strut, with no monotonous mono-tonous mannerisms, with no effeminancy, and with really none of the repelling attributes that usually go to make up the man who has unfortunately brought upon himself the sobriquet of "idol." But to return to Mr. Royle who knows his West for he Is of it. He knows his stage, too, and is better prepared than most dramatists to take advantage ad-vantage of its possibilities, and really in thinking of most other plays wherein there have been plenty, plen-ty, If not to say too many cowboys and Indians, they all seem like poachers on the Royle pre serves, whether they came before or after, for man and woman and every detail from Jthe Long Horn Bar to the alkali at Green River are real and men can't make them that way unless experience and a keen perception have taught them. Very noteworthy was the acting and the makeup make-up of Berton Churchill as Tabywana the very best Indian ever seen on the Salt Lake stage. Most actors, no matter from what province the hail, are ranty when they acquh'e a bit of war paint and a red blanket, but Mr. Churchill was impressive, and together with the interpreter who is a good actor himself, put the proper dignity into every scene he had. Virginia Kline as Nat-u-rltch was perfect. A large woman, a less peaceful one, or one whose features were not in accord could easily spoil the part, but it would be a difficult task for Miss Kline to do so. In sharp contrast, the Diana of Margaret Bourne was very unsatisfying. The fortunate limitations lim-itations of the part were exceeded only by her own limitations which are too numerous for ox-tended ox-tended review. George Deyo, Emmett Shackelford, and Bernhardt Bern-hardt Nlomeyer as the cow punchers, Charles Mallos as Cash Hawkins, William Frederick as the sheriff and Leonle Flugrath as Little Hal, were especially es-pecially pleasing, and something good might be said of most of the others. . "The Squaw Man" contains nothing mystical, nothing unclean, it Is vivid and virile and of. a human hu-man breadth wide enough to claini the praise of everyone. Edwin Milton Royle congratulations. j wt Vaudeville In general, and the Salt Lake Orpheum Or-pheum in particular may be pardoned for exulting exult-ing a trifle, and the amusement seeking public may look forward to a real treat when such attractions at-tractions as Anna Eva Fay, Rose Coghlan, Viola Pratt Gillette, George J. McFarland, Eitenne Gir-ardot Gir-ardot Orpheum road show, May Irwin and Cliffo Berzac's Horses, are booked and' are to have an early dating here. The management of the Grand have secured Clarence Bennett's Mexican play, "A Royal . Slave" for four nights, starting Sunday. & & IN OLD KENTUGKY. The play that never grows old, "In Old Kentucky," Ken-tucky," as Interesting and as exoiting as of yore, now on its fifteenth annual tour of the country, is announced for presentation at the Salt Lake theatre next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, with Wednesday matinee. Since - its original production away back in 1892, its success has been simply phenomenal. It continues to attract theatre-goers year after year, and judging from past and present runs there seems to be no time limit that can be placed upon this play. At the Lyric next week "An Oath Vengeance" Ven-geance" will be played, melodrama taking the place of the comedies recently running at the house. There will also be a change in the performances, perform-ances, only one a night taking place. The show will begin at 8:30. j$ & ORPHEUM. There are three live stunts at the Orpheum this week and throe dead ones. The defunct are Los Aubin-Leonel, Elmer Tenley, and the Christie Duo. The things worth seeing are the headliner, "A Night With the Poets," Mason and Barton, novelty gymnasts, and Homer B. Mason as the burglar in the sketch, "Hooked by. Crook." "A Night with the Poets" Is a very beautiful Idea. The reading of James B. Reeves and the singing of Messrs. McWilliams, Heath, Avery and Meaders wp.b of very high order. Mason and Barton have a comedy gymnast act that was phenomenal in many ways and the only fault to find with Mr. Mason in "Hooked by Crook" was his stinginess in quitting the piano so early. The woman in the act headed "Les Aubin-Leonel" gives an exhiibtion which is probably as vulgar vul-gar and disgusting as anything the Chicago offices have contributed to the advancement of vaudeville. vaude-ville. There was no excuse for the performance of this pair. Elmer Tenley told the old stories which have grown sweetly familiar with the ages, interspersed with double entendre here and there that put him in the rough neck class In five seconds. sec-onds. The Christie Duo novelty dancers were only fair with not enough novelty in their act to stir up any particular thrill. Better things are promised prom-ised for next week. i$ STRONGHEART. Earle Mitchell as Billy Saunders supported by Ralph Stuart as Strongheart, pleased a large number at the Salt Lake theatre the early part of the week. Mr. Mitchell's portrayal of the part was an excellent piece of work and really he was the only person in the play whose part carried with It any amount of genuine Interest. But Mr. Stuart was not half so bad as had been expected, with the exception of that awful second act in which he attempts to describe a football game while watching it through a window. This is about as painful as anything in the play which would limit the possibilities of any actor. An impossible Indian and a play in which there Is absolutely nothing beyond the fact that an Indian In-dian Is always an Indian. It's a groat show for the Eastern provinces. It might appeal to those in Five Points, O., or Bird Center, Ind., where they would speedily turn on the tears in sympathy for poor Lo, but really the play has no place of any distinction whatever among the productions of this or other days. |