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Show IU Drama. It is natural that the playgoing public pub-lic should be impressed by the announcement an-nouncement of such a stellar aggregation aggrega-tion as that of Frederick Warde and Kathryn Kidder company, which will be seen at the Salt Lake theater on next Monday. Although popular -interest centers in the stare and the elab- I orate revival of '"The Winter's Tale, that will be given by the company, it I is a great satisfaction to the exacting 1 tastes of today to know that the stars will be supported by people who are I entirely worthy of the leading lights of the organization. Among the people who will support the stars is the veteran vet-eran Charles Barton, the best "old man" on the legitimate stage of America. Amer-ica. He has no peer in such roles as Sir Peter Teazle. Brabantio. Polonitis, Casca and the like. Wadsworth Harris, Har-ris, the leading man of the organization, organiza-tion, has for many years been identified identi-fied w'ith the legitimate drama, playing in such companies as Modjeska's, "Quo Vadis," Ward & James, etc. His name is almost a "household word" with theatergoers and he will be prominently prominent-ly cast in "The Winter's Tale." William Balfour, formerly leading man with Julia Marlowe, has distinguished distin-guished himself in a varied line of characters, and Thomas Coffin Cooke, who was a member of the Warde & James company many years, will be seen to advantage. Loretta Wells is a particularly strong ally in this elaborate elabo-rate undertaking, for she is. thoroughly familiar with the best tiaditions of the legitimate stage, and is an artist of exceptional attainment. Mrs. Wells was last seen here as leading lady for Madame Modjeska. Beautiful Ina Brooks is well known from her association asso-ciation with Blanche Walsh, Mrs. Le Moyne, Salvini, etc. The engagement begins here with a special New Year's matinee Monday and on Wednesday matinee and night Frederick Warde and Kathryn Kidder will appear in Stanislaus Stange's great play, "Sa-lammbo." "Sa-lammbo." In addition to being a thrilling romantic ro-mantic melodrama, "Salammbo" is a glittering, gorgeous spectacle, its wealth of scenic splendor being enhanced en-hanced by what is described as the most impressive and alluring dramatic music written in many years. This music, mu-sic, which includes, the overture and numbers for the entree acts, represents an entirely original score written by Henry K. Hadley. Managers Wagen-hall Wagen-hall and Kemper have invested a large fortune in the production, which will stand comparison with the biggest show pieces of recent years. (Catholic Universe, Cleveland.) France has sent us another great artist and a disseminator of vice. Where is Comstock? Since Mme. Rejane may come to Cleveland we give her plays this advertisement ad-vertisement so that our city readers of both sexes may not go to their presentation. pre-sentation. An ounce of prevention is wcirth a pound of cure. The madame landed in Cuba October Octo-ber 19 and got a great reception. But to the play, "The play was 'Sapho.' and the Cubans soon showed that while Daudet might wrjte plays to delight Parisians he was not the master to delight de-light Havana.; The senoritas were not permitted to attend this or any other performance given by Rejane'a company, com-pany, because 'Sapho' and 'Zaza' and 'La Passerelle,' of which Marie Tempest Tem-pest gave an expurgated edition in 'The Marriage of Kitty," were not deemed appropriate for the young person to witness. The matinee girls of New York. Boston, and other of our cities, who flock to such plays unattended, unat-tended, might be surprised to learn that Cuban girls are not allowed to go to such plays even when chaperoned by their mothers. As the play progressed it became evident evi-dent that the richly dressed ladies were not heartily enjoying themselves. At any rate, the audience grew colder and colder and appeared ready to go home long before the play ended. The Madame arrived with her French company in New York on the 7th of November. The New York World said: "In the praise which was betowed upon the artiste and the woman her first play, 'Amoureuse,' escaped much of the censure which its salacity and wantonness deserved. That French comedy is certain to be nasty has come to be an accepted inference. The character char-acter which Mme. Rejane played at least afforded rang.; for her extraordinary extraordin-ary gifts, and New York audiences are Catholic enough to distinguish betw'een . a brilliantly acted role and the general effect of the drama that surrounds it. "But when, three nights later, Mme. Rejane presents a p'ay which goes even nearer to the limit of the vile in French life, it is time to call a halt, and to suggest that even her brilliancy and surpassing skill do not excuse the of-fensiveness of-fensiveness of the material with which she works 'La Passerelle,' which she presented last night, is a farce, and perhaps is of too light texture to be taken very seriously; but itr; performance perform-ance on a public stage, with all the naked naturalism of the French company, com-pany, is an insult to decency which ought not to tolerated." Mr. Winter, of the Tribune, characterizes char-acterizes "Amoureuse" as "a nasty exhibition ex-hibition of coarse persons and immoral conduct." and says of "La Passerelle": "The heart of it is carnality, and the garment of it is frolic." The Evening Post comments:, "No art in representation can give any value to such pestilent trash as this. The fact that it is offered simply sim-ply tis a mean,? of amusement makes it ali the more pernicious. Only the most debased and abnormal appetite can find gratification in flavors so rank and' gross." It is no wonder that a people who tolerate and even enjoy such plays as Mme. Rejane presents are losing their t.te for religion and are degenerating in the social and moral scale. Should the Madame come to Clove-land Clove-land our readers will not ue in a position posi-tion to plead ignorance of the character char-acter of the ploys she presents. If with such knowledge they go. they cannnot plead innoeenco of bad intentions or freedom from grave moral guilt. 1 There is plenty of ability possessed among men. The great difficulty is to get this transferred into capability and thus contribute to the happiness, welfare wel-fare and success of ethers Homer II. Soerley. |