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Show DRAMA TIC THE ORPHEUM. Ben Linn and Ua Grannon are the best the Or pheum has to offer this week. They are two of the six performers in the "Pianophiends" and individually and in their duets they furnish the only musical and conversational novelty the act possesses. Linn is a wonder with his fat man song. A couple of good looking girls with singing voices to replace the ex-spear bearers bear-ers carried by the act would add greatly to the enjoyment en-joyment of the latter and if a Mr. Jack Claire's recitation of Rudyard Kipling's "Gunga Din" is a fair sample of his ability, his elocutionary training train-ing needs revision. Mediocrity stamps the program from first to last. The exhibition of color photography with Stanley Stan-ley McGinnis, photographer, in a dress suit, woiild be interesting if any one In the house could see the pictures on the screen clearly enough to distinguish dis-tinguish their nature, let alone the colors they are supposed to reproduce. Mr. McGinnis is possibly pos-sibly not responsible for this, but he certainly is responsible for an instructive lecture very badly bad-ly delivered and that becomes a bore ere its close. Butler Haviland and Alice Thornton turn a bad start into an acceptable finish in their comedy com-edy chatter, and Mason and Murray succeed along the same lines during their twenty minutes' stay in a rather stereotyped act of song and talk. Emmy and his trained dogs are amusing, and Francis Le Malre and Laurie Vance on roller skates and the motion pictures complete the weeek's bill. Keeping her skates on early in the week seemed to be the least of Miss Vance's troubles. In their advent on th Orpheum circuit the roller rinks lost a couple of good instructors and the Beck houses connected with another tiresome tire-some curtain raiser. THE COMMANDING OFFICER. That which this journal predicted of the Gar-rick Gar-rick Theatre the up-building of the house as a stock theatre until it shall rank with the Alacazar and other famous theatres of its kind in this country seems in a very fair way of consumma tion. In producing "The Commanding Officer" this week the members of the company have to the least experienced among them, succeeded in presenting pre-senting some of the best characterizations seen here in stock for many yars. Not only that, but Mr. Bernard took a play which was a distinct failure in the East so much so that it was never sent on tour in the first-class houses and staged it so admirably and with hiB company so perfectly perfect-ly balanced that he has shown one of the very best plays of the past six weeks in town Theo dore Burt Sayre is the author of "The Commanding Command-ing Officer," and he wrote and builded so poorly in so many places that it offers any number of difficulties to the stage director who attempts its production. The Garrick company's success this week is for that reason all the more meritorious. meri-torious. MIsb Clifton's work in the role of the innocent young girl drawn into the intrigues of a rather fast society set is very conclusive evidence evi-dence of her ability for emotional acting. The little leading woman is gaining steadily on her first impression at the Garrick and there is little doubt that she will finish the season there with a very fine personal success to her credit. Margaret Mar-garet Dills in another strong role Is Just as successful suc-cessful and John Sumner In the title role is Interesting In-teresting and satisfactory. Louis Craig, a young actor little known here before his characterization of Tony in "Arizona," the Garrick's first show of the season, and who has since steadily Impressed playgoers with his ability is as much responsible for the success of "The Commanding Officer" as any other member of its cast and there is every indication that this young artist has within him a latent talent that properly developed will ultimately send him to the front rank of the profession. His characterization character-ization of Dr. Wjatson in "Sherlock Holmes," a role written for a man twenty years Craig's senior, sen-ior, was remarkably clever and his impersonation of the young army officer who creates most of the havoc in this week's play is marked with the finesse worthy a competent actor of many more years experience. |