The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-02-19
A II u s E N E N rs.
"Roughing 1t" mt the Grand Opera
House.

"Roughing 1t" Mt the Grand Opera
House.
The "folly" of Ground the Clock" at the Grand
opera House met with such good fortune that Mr.
DAILY determined to try the same field once more,
ana last night he produced ''Roughng It," which
hsd been promised for some weeks. The new piece
Is as lively as tho circus and as natural as the
opera. NO acrobat ever needed such agility IS Is
required of the clipping lover Of Miss Antonietta
Macdunie. No prima donna ever found herself sur.
rounded by such wonderful company Every.
thing was as new and fresh and sparkling and
vivacious and true to nature as the market scene
in "Humpty Dumpty" 1t is not "high artu OF
course but IL does not pretend to be anything but
a rafting ''loly." Ii would be Impossible TO
praise 1t in any artistic sense, and yet it would
elevate the drama" unless the cant OF criticism
should preach against as hnrtfu to dramatic art.
II has only its pun7eney ana palpao,e satire and
make 1t popular. We would like to 'pitch into" 1t.
to show Its crudity, its in eonsecutveness its alb
rubbish 1t is; but we know what happened to Don
Quixote when he undertook to fight the windmill.
Adverse criticism has its choice. only between the
knight and the windmill. We, therefore, recognize
II simply as a "ioy," and, like the solemn man
who refuses to commit himself against a broad
good" Indeed, We can say nothing else. for the
some fine acting and good deal OF ua.
mistakabe caricature, and the auditorium
played the part Denis Macduffie, the father OF
tne Rose OF Carmansvile," with grace and skill.
but without the Overlooking humOr OF which the
part Ii capable. MrS. John Wood, on the other
hand, played. the daughter without tue grace that
she might have given to the part, but with an ex-
travagant hnmor and an exquisite carcature of
what We usually call sentiment that were irresist-
ibe. The eminent firm Of White Il Black, the de-
tectves. represented by Mr.. J. X. Mortimer and
Mr.. owen Fawcett, Is a whimsical idea, with q
good deal OF truth at the bottom, and the parts
were fairly done. Miss Annie Deand as Mrs. John
Wood, the Queen of Comedy and Song, acted with
great amiability under the aliction OF having her
bills paid by her new servant with the money
procured by the sale OF her sweetheart's
Jewels; and the accounts which were
given OF the qualities OF the queen Aforesaid,
especially that OF the "bell boy" at the Metro
pOlitan Hotel, were very amusing to the audience.
Mr. Chapman played the bell boy, doing 1t with q
good deal OF the genuine and q little OF the
venti0nal Niger II it was not for the cOntradic-
ton In terms we would tell him that 1t is better
to have nggers rare than well done. On the other
hand, the same fear of contradiction in terms
almost prevents us from saying that Miss Louise
vomers Slipsnod was not slipshod at all. The
Amiable OF Mr.. j. w. Jennings was a funny
picture OF the Arkansas gentleman who Is always
spOng for fight. Some OF the other parts are
very well represented. the play ends in San
Francisco, with a realistic vision of Chinese
opium smokers, the lew pages from Mark Twain,
which give the name to the piece, being utilized
in the last two acts