The Washington critic., 1886-09-07
THE CRITIC" AT THE PLAY.

''ln China is not the worst piece that
was ever seen at Albaugh's Opera-IIouse.
There have been few worse. Coming as
il does Just after the excellent presentation
of "Fantinen and "The Mascot" the con
trast was so great that due credit was not
given The burlesque. "ln Chinan- X n the
lloyt class Of produGtoplss,,wI With little plot,
some fgnpS'sltuations, a great deal of
,m,lae..ssS-pay" and some credtable singing
y Of selected popular airs. The company
brought out all there was in the piece, the
acting Of Carroll, De Lange, Clarke aud
Misses Scare Chapman and Sutherland
carrying the lugubrious portions of the
'burlesque" with credit to themselves. The
piece needs thorough revision; there is
good material in it. The long dialogue in
the first act should be cut considerably.
burlesque Will not stand long, serious
speeches. The lnales are invariably forced
and painful 1t is pity to see SO much
good talent wasted.
The assertion that there IS nothing new
In the piece is not exactly correct Mr..
Canol's BdiUdd Is a new character and
well portrayed. The Introduction Of stage
business in the Chinese theatre sceuc Is
rather hackncycd, but, as usual, caused
considerable mcirimcnt Lcysiriu'S idea of
exchanging the sex Of her son aud daughter
is a clever one and gives opportunities for
ludicrous scenes, which are not always
taken advantage Of. In fact after a judi
cious revision Of the whole piece, there
seems TO be no reason why it should not be
fairly successful. There are some serious
anachronisnis in costuming, which are due.
doubtless, to the haste in which the piece
was prepared. The audience was OF fair
proportions.
A thousand people were turned away
from Hanis' Biiou Theatre last night be-
fore the curtain rose. Those that Were
fortunate enough to obtain admission were
delighted with tlc freshness Of the appoint
ments, oveB thing being scrupuously neat
-uEdclcan All Of the employees, from the
IUT Office 10 the ushets, were dressed In
nohby blue flannel uniforms with brightly
FURNISHED brass buttons and Il handsome
bOut0nHcirc. "The Boy Scoutn proved an
immense success as an exciting melodrama,
Mr.. n. 5. Wood displaying considerable
dramatic ability. He was well supported,
and the thrilling situations were brought
out In a way to thoroughly work up the
feelings Of the audience, who showed their
delight with bands, feet and voice. The
same bill will be repeated to-day and to-
morrow. on Thursday "The Boy De
tcctive" will be given.
Inc 'typsy queen ufeW lurSe aHu
approciative audience to Herzog's Nintt
Street Opera-Ilouse last night. The popu
larity OF the handsome actress drew ou
the many friends who had admired hel
beauty and talent on previous visits The
"Gypsy Queen" is highly romantic drama
with strong situations in abundance, which
were well brought out. Miss Rogers was
ably seconded by Mr.. George James and
Miss Kate Florence. The same bill will be
given until Thursday, when "The Huntress
Of the Vest will be put on.
At the Dime Museum a packed house
witnessed the presentation Of "Wid Bill,
with Mr.. Kent in the leading part. The
performance went smoothly and was en-
Enthusiastically received.
a Surprising UiyOrge suit.
The divorce suit filed last saturday bl
Theopholus B. Morton against Mary T.
Morton, charging her with desertIoH, 4
surprise to Mrs Morton. She states tis
she has not deserted her husband. who 4
in San Francisco, but that he has sel, bel
money regularly, and that only two WssE
ago she got pleasant letter from him. -4
says they were married 10 san Fraugise
April lI, lho5, she going out there tJ mar
HIN. They lived there a month and b.
sent her here to her mothers, aud said h
would follow her which he did not do.