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Show Cbe Drama. White Whittlesey presented "The Second in Command," last seen here Mith John DreM as the star, for the first time during his Salt Lake engagement engage-ment Wednesday night. In DreM's role of Major Christopher Bingham. Mr. Whittlesey confirmed the good impression impres-sion created by his earlier efforts. A comparison betM-en the M'estern star and the older actor would hardly be fair to Mr. Whittlesey, lie has not tne support that Drew had, for one thing, and he has not had the years of experience experi-ence on the stage-lhe experience that . puts the left, masterly touches into character delineation. And yet. if you ever saM' Drew play the part you will pronounce Mr. Whit- ! tlesey very good indeed. He is so far . superior to the ordinary actor M'ho at- 1 - tempts to star in plays that have been . given up by better known men that ' much pleasure may b' derived from ' peeing him. Mr. Whittlesey is sensible enough to play -the part an he under- stands it, not as DreM- understood it. Indeed, he never saw Drew play it, and consequently there is no attempt at im- itation. J Choral singing is an important part of Welsh social life, and Mine. Heller brought over to Dublin the best ideas 4 and traditions of the E'.stedfod. Be- 4 ginning M-ith her pupils, she formed 4 the nucleus cf a singing club. Rare voices M'ere brought into the organiza- 1 4 tion from time to time, until it num- bered nearly half a hundred. An Irish National choir was the object in the mind of the promoter, and .Mith this idea in view, the old melodies Mere ar- ranged for female voices and made prominent on the concert programmes 1 of the choir. Some of them Mere sung i in jGaelic. At the Dublin Feis Ceoil of 1903 the choir carried off the first prize for choral work, and since then has been the - winner in every competition 1 in Ireland, England and Wales, where it has been entered. For the American tour thirty of the best voices have been-selected. Every singer in the company will be a soloist of reputation and a prize-winner in musical contests. Several prominent artists will accompany the choir, one of whom is the founder, Mme. Cosslett-Heller. Cosslett-Heller. . Miss Madeleine Macken, the eminent soprano: Miss Esther Corless, the only concert performer on the Irish harp, and Sophie Allen, pianiste, will also be heard here in connection with the choir. The first concert. Mill prob- i ably be in NeM' York City. - V 4- Mr. Stead, editor of the Tall Mall Gazette, London, has only quite recently recent-ly begun to visit the theatre. Some of the playwrights will perhaps think it Mere M-ell if he had kept to his old rule of staying away, from theatrical performances. per-formances. At any rate Mr. Stead has furiously denounced Mr. Pinero's play, "A Wife Without a Smile." He considers con-siders it as inhuman a performance as was the old practice of turning out some poor natural to display his Mit-less Mit-less inanity and naked obscenity for ' the amusement of carousels after dinner. din-ner. Mr. Pinero Mould, no doubt, say " that he is but holding the mirror up to nature. Mr. Stead's rejoinder M-ould be that society cannot be c;uite so bad as to be capable of being fairly represented represent-ed by stage characters Mho change wives as they change gloves and have scarcely an idea of morality. If true manhood and pure womanhood have so utterly gone by the board, then it is. he says, a tragedy too deep for tears, not a farce for mortal men to laugh over. Mr. Stead's criticism could not M-ell be more severe, for he sums up by declaring that whilst Mr. Pinero may be a very clever man, his new play Mould only get its deserts if it M-ere burned by the common hangman. The question is whether the writers of plays should bring out the worst aspects as-pects of social morals. With Mr. Stead, M-e hold that they should not and that on the stage as in the novel there is a limit to realism which should be strictly observed, j |