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Show GREAT AUDIENCE PRESENT AT OPENING Of ALHAMBRA THEATER Magnificent Building Crowded at the Benefit Concert for the Tabernacle Choir Music Delights and Beautiful Auditorium Audi-torium Pleases Thousands Governor Wm. Spry, Apostle James E. Talmage and Rev. J. E. Carver Have Words of Praise Choir and Orchestra Achieve a Brilliant Success. The new Alhambra theatre com modious and comfortable to a degree, regal In its appointments and beautiful beauti-ful almost beyond description was formally opened to the public last night and the first paragraph concerning con-cerning the momentous occasion would not be complete without men- V tion of the owners, Charles Zeiuier J Albert Scow croft and H. A. Sims; the architects, S. A Shreeve and D. Leo Madden and the builder, William A Larkins, for the event was a triumph for each one To the Cgden Tabernacle choir, under un-der the direction of Professor Joseph Ballantyne. assisted by the enlarged American theatre orchestra and soloists, solo-ists, under the direction of Professor John J. McClellan; Willard Weihe. iolinist, and Horace S. Ensign, baritone, bari-tone, was given the honor of furnishing furnish-ing the opening program and the enthusiastic en-thusiastic p'audits of more than 2000 people which followed the rendition of each song or instrumental number, i 3ji convincing proof that the honor wis well placed. Much to Admire. The large crowd that passed through the wide main entrance and divided Its silent and spoken admiration admira-tion between the big mirrors empaneled empan-eled In both sides of the spacious tiled lobby and an immense floral piece, wlvx-h was placed in a prominent promi-nent position until it reached the entrances en-trances to the different parts of the auditorium. The floral piece was the srift of William A Lark In b to the Alhambra Al-hambra Theatrical company, and, in form, was emblematic of success. Passing down the heavily matted aisles of the lower floor of the auditorium audi-torium and up the wide stairways, similarly furnished, to the balcony. until a clear -view of the immensity and beauty of the theatre could be had, admiration changed to surprise nnd then 10 wonderment as the fact that the magnificent picture was a leaiity came to all who were privileged privil-eged to view It. Architecture Beautiful, The soft giow of incandescent lights concealed -at the sides and front of the lofty uTt ceiling by a heavy cornice cor-nice and under the entire surface of the ceiling by indirect fixtures, set off the decorative scheme of the auditorium with splendid effect, with the beauil'ul mural paintings, representing repre-senting song, drama, the dance and music, Leinp especially pleasing. These attractions were admired and unrestrainedly commented upon in terms of high praise until 8:20 o'clock, when th - large asbestos curtain was lifted and, for the time being, atten tion was diverted to the stage, where the Ogden Tabernacle choir the ladles la-dles dreBsed in white and the men !n black and the enlarged American Theatre orchestra created a fine appearance. ap-pearance. This was an irresistible signal for prolonged applause and, when It wan concluded. Rev. John Edward Ed-ward Carver, as master of ceremonies, took th? center of the stago to make the opening address. Rev. J. E. Carver Speaks. The address, though brief, was mas terly and in it the speaker defined the words theatre and drama, told of their place in the life of man In ages past and of the present. "The actors of the old days," ho raid in conclusion, "were the politicians poli-ticians ana the statesmen It Is, therefore, fating on this occasion to have a few words from one of the greatest politicians and statesman of our stat-? and the west and I takel great pleasure In introducing Governor Gover-nor William Spry." At the appearance of the stato's chief executive, the members of the big choir nnd orchestra arose to their feet and enthusiastic applause came from all parts of the house. After bowing his acknowledgments for the respect shown him. the governor made a brief talk, which was broken In upon with frequent applause. In part, he said: Governor's Adrirsc "It Is not my desire to take up your time with a lengthy speech nor delay I the murical treat tbat I know Is in store lor you. but I came here tonight to-night to congratulate Ogden on tho way its people do things. My desire is to congratulate you people of Ogden Og-den cn this mngnlficent theatre, which is the finest that I have seen In all my travels throughout America, Amer-ica, and I'.'on numbering among your citizens such men as Mr. Zeimer and Mr. Scoworoft. who came to Salt Lake City several years ago and gave to us a taste of the veritable feast they have now given you. I wish more men like them would come down to Salt Lake to show us how to do things." "My admiration is strong for the business men of Ogden, because they can make money, and because they spend It in Ogden. Tho street on which this building is erected, Is. I believe, only about three years old and yet they have erected buildings on it that would do credit to Broadway, Broad-way, New York. This is due to love of '.heir home town and a deep confidence in Its future" "I also wish to congratulate Ogden on its splendid choir, which has fittingly fit-tingly been given the honor of furnishing fur-nishing tho opening program in this theatre. In fact, the more one visits Ogden, he greater is the desire to come heie and live and the spirit of this city tnd its people will some day cause its population to exceed that of the 'little town on the south.' A great future for Ogden is assured end. with a standard such as has been set in this theatre, It will be a thing of beaut .' and a joy forever." Later in the evening, Apostle James E. Ttlmage was introduced by Rev. Carver and gave a brief talk as one of the representatives of the first presidency of the Mormon church, of which religious body the Ogden Tabernacle Tab-ernacle choir is a part. The other representatives of the first presidency who occupied loggia seats as guests of the theatre management, were Apostles Orson F. Whitney George F. Richards and David O. McKay. Apostle J. E. Talmage Praises. In his talk, Apostle Talmage 6tated that he felt it an honor to be present pres-ent on such a momentous occasion, and a greater one to address the i 3 H. E. SKINNER. Manager of the Alhambra. splendid audience that had gathered to heir the opening program He told of the purpose of the drama and mu-1 sic, stating that the program which had been arranged for the event was a highly appropriate one and hoped that it would have a lasting Influence for good. It was composed of the music of masters and was Interpreted by masters, he said and h trusted that the enterprise of the Ogden choir whtci w B B to represent Utah at the California expositions, would be successful, suc-cessful, enjoyable and of lasting fame The present age. he continued, was one of luxury , the luxury of achieve I ment an 1, as far as he had seen, its I eplrit was no better expressed than in the A'hambra theatre, in which the forces of nature, brought under the control of master hands, were all In wonderful evidence In conclusion, he congratulated the owners of the playhouse, play-house, those who had assisted in Its construction and the people of Ogden, on its hat mg been erected here. Of the brilliant concert, it mav b'1 said that no more enjoyable event of the kind has ever been given in the city, with Directors Joseph Ballantyne and John .T. McClellan sharing honors hon-ors wHo their respective musical organizations or-ganizations and the soloists, Messrs, Willard L. Weihe and Horace S. Ensign. En-sign. The work of the Tabernacle choir was a revelation to many In the audience, aud-ience, the numbers programed show ing- that the chorus was entirely at home In either sacred, temperamental or opera numbers. In phrasing, quality qual-ity of tone, balance of parts, enunc iation, ia-tion, attack and release, and Interpretation, Interpre-tation, the local singers were never heard to better advantage and in every ev-ery number they followed the baton of Professor Ballautyuo as n alnule unit. A feature of the singing, moat favorab'y commented upon waB the clearness op enunciation, almost every ev-ery word lit the heavy dramatic num hers or the finer temperamental ones, beln heard in every part of tho nudi-rorium, nudi-rorium, the perfect acoustics of tho building assisting to make this pos sible The nombers given by the choir were: "The Soldiers' Chorus" fFausti. Gounod; "Sweet and Low," Bamby; "The Rosary," Nevin, "Drink to Mo Only With Thine Eyes.' old English, "The Lord Now Victorious (Cnval-lorla (Cnval-lorla Rusticana), Musoagnl: "Sleep Oontlo Lady1 Sir H. R Bishop, and "Hymn to Music." Buck Each number num-ber was received with enthusiastic applauao, to which tho director was required to respond several times with bows, encores not being permissible permis-sible on account of tho length of the program. Director J. J. McClellan of the or- (hestra was called upon for similar responses following the rendition rendi-tion of each of the orchestral numbers. num-bers. Excellent Orchestra. It Is several years since Ogden mu sic lovers, in so large a number, have had the pleasure of listening to a symphony orchestra and the work of the enlarged American theatre concert con-cert orchestra made up to a degree the regret that was felt wnen It was learned that the big Alhambra pipe organ could not be completely installed instal-led for tho opening event The orchestra opened the musical program with the overture from "Will iam Tell" and before it got well Into the first movement, the audience was assured that its eenlng was to be well spent The soloists in this number were Oge Jorgenson. cello; Anton KelWsbrger, oboe; Alfred Slnel:, flute; and Torval Jorgenson acted as coneertmeister Their tone coloring was as near perfect in quality qual-ity as the most critical earl could wish nnd their blending with the or-chestra, or-chestra, unrlpr masterW direction, was above criticism In its completeness the number was splendidly handler! and the same could be said of the ' La Perfa 1 suite Allegro, Allegretto and Valse Espagnol by Lacome, and the "Verdi" program, which followed later. in the "Allegretto" portion of the "La Ferla" suite, lfred Slack played the flute solo with brilliant effect. The Verdi program included th Anvil An-vil Chorus' from "II Trovatore"; the quartet from "Rigoletto" and the Miserere" (prison scene) from "II Trovatore"' In these numbers the soloists were BS. Zabrlskle, clarinet, and Carl Mollerup, cornet The playing play-ing of the latter, combined with thai of the orchestra, wan so enthusiastically enthusiastic-ally received that the number was finally fi-nally repeated as an encore. Trof. Willard E. Weihe, than whom there is no greater violinist in the west, was heard in four numbers and the audience would fain have had more if it had been permissible. The numbers were "Reverie" by u-xtemps. "Evening Song," and "Tranmerel" by Schumann; and cradle Song" by Sauret. Though In each one there are many technical difficulties to be mastered, but their principal charm Is a melody. They were well chosen to try out the acoustic acous-tic propertiea of the theatre to the finest degree and the structure stood the test In a roinarkahle manner, even the faintest pianissimo tones being heard to ivdvantacp in all parts of the building. Pror. Weihe was cor-diallv cor-diallv welcomed when he appeared on the stage for the first number and in the charm of his masterly playing that of the theatre itself was probably prob-ably more deeply felt that any other time during the evening. Each of the solo3 was followed by prolonged applause. Horace 5 tnsign tncore The tinging of Horace S Ensign, T'tah'a favorite baritone, called for the breaking of the "no encore" rule, and after answering four recalls with bows, following a magnificent rendition rendi-tion of G ranter's "Hosanna.- he responded re-sponded to the fifth call by singing "Where tho River Shan-.ion FlOWB," in honor of the day. HIS other programmed pro-grammed number Mas "Gypsy Love Song," by Victor Herbert, and this was also finely sung and well received. re-ceived. in the choral numbers that were sung, the orchestra with Sam F Whit aker at the organ and Sammle Williams Will-iams at the piano, gave splendid accompaniments. Box Parties. The audience that attended the big event last night was an especially brilliant one, many of the most prominent prom-inent people of the city and state being be-ing numbered In It. Governor William Spry and party occupied seats In one of the loges on tho main floor, and with the four apostles of tho Mormon church previously previ-ously mentioned, and their wives were Kuests of the owuors of the thealre. In the governor's party were Mr; Spry. Mr and Mrs. D. S. Spencer, Mr and Mrs. J- G. McDonald and Mr. I and Mrs. O H. Hewlett of Salt Lake j City, and Mr. aud Mrs. R, R. Irvine I of Provo. The boxen In the balcony wero occupied oc-cupied by Mr. and Mrs A 8. Shreeve, Mr. and Mrs. D. L. Madneo. Mr. and Mrs. M. S. Browning, and guests, Iff nnd Mrs Willard Scowcroft and guests, Mr. and Mrs Fred Gentsch aud guests, Mr. and Mrs. Heber Scow-rroft Scow-rroft and guest, Mr and Mrs. T. H Can- and guests, Mr and Mrs LeRov FccloB and guest, W. A. Larkins ami gucsta, members of the D. H. Peer family aud guests, Mr. and Mrs. Harr Ford of Salt Lake City and guests, and the city commissioners and their ives. |