St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1885-03-18
AMUSEME NTS.
A Vast Audience Greets the Successful Per-
fOrmance of the New Operetta, ''Ex-
iIedu-"The Wares of Sino

muSlcal DuTleSque or opereGta entitled,
''Exiled, or O'Phelan's Strategem,' in two
acts, written by the assistant city attorney.
Mr.. Thomas D. O'Brien, was produced at
Market hall for the first time last night to an
audience that filled the seating capacity of the
house apd mum bered over two thousand. To
would convey only mild idea Of the bright
and spicy character of the libretto and the
pleasing qualities of the score. The
dialogue of the libretto is entirely from the
pen of Mr.. O'Brien, and he has succeeded in
imparting certain poetical jingle to the
lines captivating in the extreme, while the
words are welded to the most pleasing mel
odles albeit many of the airs were familiar,
but the charming manner in which they
passed muster in new uniform displayed the
exercise of critical taste and judgment in
their selection.
The argument of the opera. is as follows:
Bee-Calm, crotchety Eastern rajah, decides
| to Danish women from his land and take cats
| into his affections instead. This does not at
all please the Prince Ba-Ad, his son, or Sad
lam, friend to Ba-Ad, aud who was in
| love with one of the banished maidens.
O'Phelan arrives upon the scene aud is en-
| plOyed by Bee Balm as Ba-Ad's tutor, when
he, with Ba- AID and Sad-I-Am, enters into
| conspiracy to bring back the women. They
| manage to make such a turmoil with the sa-
| cred cats that Bee-Calm in his rage shoots
one himself which the conspirators alone
| know. Bee-Calm tries to conceal his crime
| by making great ado, but at the proper
time the conspirators show him that unless
he grants their demands and revokes his
laws against women they will disgrace him,
and he is forced to yield.
The key line Of the operetta is given in the
| words spoken by Ba-ad, ''He swears in ages
gone he was fiery brindle Tom" Nothing
could be more absurd and at the same time
offer wider field for the exercise of comical
talent than the highly absurd character of the
plot, and as the result proved, Mr.. O'Brien
made the best of his opportunities. The ac-
ton of the plot is spirited and lively. and
some of the situations are conceived
in the very spirit of comedy
while out of just compliment to the author
and the gentlemen who contributed TO make
| it success, it may be said that many worse
production has been sent into the ''provin-
ces'' and performed under auspices strictly
professional or Legitimate. The lateness
of the hour and a lack of space preclude a
minute analysis Of the plot or action.
The cast was in capable hands, the melo-
dies of the operetta being sunny with de-
gree Of spirit and earnestness
highly commendable and enjoyable. Mr.. A. NJ.
Doherty impersonated Ted O'Phelan. and
his makeup of rich brogue and placidity of
expression were exquisite. He sang several
solos with an JUNCTION that fairly paralyzed
the audience with laughter his descriptive re-
citation of the Leperthan, the fairy spIight of
/ r.
| of the evening.
Mr.. James Shea appeared as Bee-Calm,
the Raiah, and master of 300 cats and as
many kittens. He made an ideal nabob and
sang in his usual excellent manner
The character OF Ba-ad, an Oriental dude,
who lis engaged in death struggle between
his constitution and cigarets, with the
latter getting a little the best of it, was
finely taken by Mr.. s. J. Donnelly, and Mr..
Phil J. Schaub took the character of Sad-I-
Am; bis vocal numbers were among the
best and most enjoyable of the evening. The
other notable characters in the cast were that
of Sector, By Mr.. J. G. Hauley; Catch-All,
copper, spendidly taken by Mr..
VI. j. DonneIly, aud the detectives,
By Mr.. L. G. Casserly and II. j. O'Brien.
Among the repeated numbers were the solo
'Woman's Smiles BY Mr.. Schaub, the
''meow'' chorus, the trio ''When This Night
We Assemble" the solo BY Mr. Shea, the
p6liceman's soto and chorus by Mr.. Don
nelly, the detectives duo, the laughing
chorus, the jig song and the quintet. The
performance concluded with a medley and
grand finale By national airs.
Previous to the performance a short and
eloquent address appropriate to the day was
delivered by Rev. Father Douahoe.
The costuming was bright and appropriate,
the orchestrstion by Seioert's all that could
have been desired and the chorus performed
we'll Mr.. Henry McLachlaD led the orches-
ira and he had the music well in hand and
gave satisfaction.
1.-THE WAGES OF SIM
An increas ID audience az COMPARED with
the opening night greeted the performance
of this entertaining and splendidIy enacted
melodrama at the Grand last night, and the
delicate bumor aud touching pathos Of the
play received the beartiesi recognition, the
principal characters IN The cast being recalled
on several occasions. The company IL one
OF the bes; Of the season, and the play Is
we'll worth seeing. II viii be repeated to-
srht