The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-06-27
DRAMATIC AND LYRIC
Harry Dixey's First Night in
London.
ATTRACTIONS ON THE FOURTH
Kisses and Cat Calls Guv'nor-
Bankers. Daughter-in Provo
MrRoyIe's Recital.
Harry pi.ey in London.

Henry +. Dizzy and his company
made their first appearance in n London
theatre on Monday evening. before one
Of the very largest audiences that has
been seen in the Gaieiy Theatre for a
long time. From gallery to stalls the
house was literally packed, while the
private boxes were all filed with highly
fashionable and distinguished occu-
pants. In fine. representative London
audience had assembled to welcorne to
the London stage a representative
American actor. The reception ac-
corded to Mr.. Dixey was singularly
spontaneous, warm and hearty, and
came equally from every portion of the
theatre. This was repeated when the
pedestal was drawn on 10 the stage later
ON. 10 was soon seen that We had before
us an unusually graceful and clever
dancer, and the audience settled quietly
| in their seats, feeling assured OF
pleasant evenings amusement. should
the new conner as satisfactorily full the
other requirements. IL was. however.
before long discovered that Adonis was
a thing OF shreds and pat hes: that il
lacked continuity. and that the story
II
name of plot In other words, the
production was one which in its many
component partswas more what We are
/ accus omed to see in music nails than in
| theatres. From ths moment that feel
i ing took possession of the house, all
hopes of the success OF the play were
over, for the Lond n thestregoer will
not mix his amusements. When he
wants music hall business he goes to
one or other of these places of amuse-
m@nt. and when be determines 70 see a
play he insists that il shall be undiluted
As the several members OF the COM
pany came on TO do SONGS and dances.
niger minstrel business. acrobatic
feAts, bits of pantoInine, all of which
we had before seen in music halls. q
feeling of disappointment crept o er
the honses and when a stalwart Ameri-
can, who sat at my right. ceased to ap-
plaud everything which was done upon
the stage, / felt sure that he, too. had
caught the Injection. Sail, however. the
audience made-nO sign of disapproval,
even after the appearance Of some
MINISTRIES. The mistake was. however.
made of sending them on again and
again, until tnesr fourth return was the
signal for a storm OF Kisses. The first
act dragged considerably. and at its
Il
light, was mingled with considerable
kissing. On Mr.. Dixey's first appear
ance in the second act. he was again
greeted oy loud applause-his make
up rs Mr.. Irving being remarkably
accurate As he progressed with the
imitation its faithfulDess to the
orieInal was so striking that it was
I-difficult1i TO believe that il was
mot the tragedian who stood be
fore US, insiesd Of his counterfeit pre-
sentiment. The song of It's English,
You Know, was warmly received. The
words had been re written by Mr.. Cnn-
ningham Br1dsmsn, and nothing of an
offensive nature luFked behind them.
For some time the house frightened up,
and everything onUe more assumed q
pleasant aspect. The tedious front
scene which. however, followed, again
reduced the temperature TO its former
chilly condition, and, after that. nothing
could revive il. The dry goods shop
scene. wlthsh BARRIERS chair md teIe-
phone conoomitants, were not only old
but were voted silly. During the ton
serial portion OF the scene. 3 man in the
gallery shouted, stop that Tom
lfoolery.'s The Glowing business and
LINE leap Through the mirror were re-
Sented- At the hn3i fall Of the curtain
misses and cat calls were freely indulged
in. and the veruict Of the first night
wasone of unqualified disapproval as 10
the play. and approval of Mr.. D0ey
himself. Il rnsb --sru f.sfts.e
Its moi difficulty 70 find reasons for
the failure. Several weeks ago wrote
ins these columns that failure. was
almost inevitable, and gaze my reasons
for so thin ing In addition 10 these
based upon the glowing eccounts re-
ceiVed from. Americans about the piece
Lean nowsee q dozen Others > The in
tensely local character ao( the dialogue
would alone be sufficient TO kill AL
chances Of success for Adonis. Again
there is long andy ~ tedious imita-
ton of AFR. sCouldock wirich should
have been ruthlessly eliminated. Haze
Kirke has never been done here
neither is Mr.. Couldock's system known
70 our playgoers. Besides, SIR. Dixey,s
IimitatioDs Is not too much imitation
fbnt IS quite imitation enough One
other mistake lei me point out IN kind
ness. No attempt IS made 70 lift up
the piece For instance. Miss Carson
Sang charming waltz song, and sang Il
charIningly. She received an enthusi-
astie encore, then returned 10 the stage
fclad In q NeTmarke eoat..and high hat
and carrying q stick, and favored Us
with ',If youlwant TO do the heavy
London letter Dramatic 7fHles. y ~ ~