The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-03-05
g AS you LIKE TT"
Mrs. Langtry and Company a. seen THROUGH
the Argus spectscles.

| was the Mecca toward winch quite num-
Der of aold men and maidens,' ETC., might
have been seen fastening as early as 7;30.
The occasion being the first-and probably
last, appearance of the we'll advertised
beauty. the alleged wonderfully beautiful.
radiantly beautiful young woman from the
far off, sea girt isle of Jersey known to
| fame and Mr.. Fred. Gebhard's bank ac-
count as Lillian Langtry, Mrs. Langtry for
short Looking back through the few
hours that have interviewed since that per-
| formance ("tAs You Like 1t, with Mrs
Langtry as Rosalind, one is at loss to
/ know just what to say and how to say 1t
without seriously hurting the feelings of
| each of those people who exchanged two
dollars of the currency of the realm to see
and hear the woman whom English society,
| (notably the heir apparent to Britain's
throne,) had most ridiculously elevated and
whom an American noodle, himself de-
scendsnt of New York ''ragpicker's alley,
had made notorious. All this aside. how
ever, the ARGUS is disposed to throw its
calcium light full upon the stage, as it APP
peared on Saturday evening. and "naught
extenuate or naught set down in malice.
WHEN THE CURTAIN WENT UP,
several minutes after o'clock the parquet
was filed the circle contained, perhaps fifty
people and therewas fair sprinkling of Curl
-ous people ur stairs altogether representing
we assume, an eight hundred dollar house
halo
fashionable one, we WILL separate at the
outset in this manner, Those who went
to the theatre attracted by stories of the
phenomenal personal attractions and gen
eral excellence as an actress in Shaksperean
comedies of Mrs. Langtry. 2-Those who
went solely out of curiosity expecting to
see nothing strikingly worthy of commenda-
ton, therefore held themselves wholly
aloof from those who might experience
disappointment 3-Those who didn't
expect to see anything remarkable but in
whose judgment the performance, as
whole. was even below what might reason
ably have been looked for-below
mediocritv in fact. The second class re-
ferred to was clearly in the majority over
the other two combined; this we think no
one who was there will gainssy.
The comedy chosen for Mrs. Langtry IN
Rock Island IS so familiar to everybody
that it Is entirely unnecessary TO quote
from it in the slightest degree, our pur-
pose being to hold the mirror for actor and
actress to see themselves in. In act l,
scene 2. lawn b efore the dukes palace,
our first glimpse was obtained of the
Jersey Lily, when Rosalind, (Mrs. Lang
try,) and Celia, miss Kate Pattison,) ap-
pcared in the familiar dialogue. To say
that everybody in the house wondered
what particular claims Mrs. Langtry had
to be
CONSIDERED A GREAT BEAUTY.
would be putting it mildly. Large mouth |
and teeth, slender figure and as fat-chested |
as the old time hos biscuit eaters, consti- |
tuted the picture which the audience be
held. But as partial offset to the defects
mentioned she has large, lustroHs and |
expressive eyes, lovely NATURALLY lovely |
and rather well shaped nose. |
While elegantly costumed, as befitted her |
high station, for several minutes she APP /
peared quite i'll at ease, almost ungracefui; |
but after she had made considerable pre-
gress in the reading of her lines she |
appeared to much better advantage. Sub |
dressed in boys clothes as Gan |
ymede. she carried out the spirit of the |
part to something approaching perfection. |
Trne, when running across the stage to |
embrace and reassufe Celia, she reminded |
one of q cross between a kangaroo and a |
kitten, bat. after all. she played the part |
quite well. Unfortunately for her. how
ever the contrast between Miss Pattison /
and herself, respecting both beauty |
of form and face and act |
ing was strongly marked, to the |
GREAT DISADVANTAGE OF THE LILY.
In order to enable Mrs. Langtry to shine |
for all she was worth some more indiffer- |
ent and honelier person than the charming |
and piquant Miss Pattison ought to have /
been selected. The management surely |
made great mistake on that score. 1t |
has been said that Mrs. Langtry hasn't a |
physiognomy Indicative of intellectual /
strength! Pray how many of the worlds |
actresses have been known as ''inteliectu-
ally strong7o You can count them on the |
fingers of one hand-Charlotte Cushman,