The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-06-10
DRAMATIC AND LYRIC.
The Bohemian Girl by the
Stephens Company.
MR. SAMPSON OF OMAHACoMING
Yesterdsy's two Performances-B. e
Young, Madame Young-Nat
Brigham will Visit salt Lake.


come, has been seen and has conquered,
Yesterday, in the presence CT two
great audiences which counted up in the
box Office over thousand dollars in
clear coin, Mr.. St hens presented the
results of his pa 70 months work,
and those results were at on Q cheer
fully and unanimously voted as little
short of marvellous. To him, ofcourse,
must be accorded the principal praise
of SIS. He first brought his fine
body of voices together IN a class
capacity; then taught them to read
music, till there was no ordinary work
that they could not master
at sight. This took long and
patient labor. but it met with the usual
reward, for it made it possible for him
| to aehis We in two months time what he
never could have done WI bout all this
| preliminary trainlng-Conquer the dlth-
| culties of Balfe s beautiful opera and
give it presentation more notable In
| many respects-done by amateurs as II
was-than ever salt Lake has yet seen.
| It took something beside patience and
musical ability to do this. 1t took the
personal tact, magnetism, power OF
holdins affection-call it what you will
Unnecessary to keep so Is any people to-
gether working to one end. How fully
| he possessed these qualities last nights
work tells. The reasons which mace the
| performance so strong success are,
first, that the whole cast was
IN such capable hands. There
was no bright, particular star which
outshown all the Others but every one
of the principals stood up to and
souarely toed the chalk line OF eXcell-
ence. If Mr.. Easton came in for more
frequent bursts of applause, 1t was be-
cause the composer has given to Thad-
deus more than his share of the gems OF
| the opera, and the same may be said OF
Mrs. bruce Pugsley. These two people
| from whom q great deal had been eX
pected ever since they made SO pro-
nounoed a hit on their appearance in
concert-did some exquisite work-woIk
that ought almost be called grand. In
their long and arduous Duet in act 2,
beginning with II dreamt ] dwelt' and
| including all those well known passages,
s"rhe wound upon thine arm, "The Sc
sret of thy BIRTH" ETC., they fairly
thrilled the audience with their exquis-
| lite voices-both singing B flats, C's and
even @ sharps without any az parentdf
ticulty Whatever.
| Mrs. Pugsley's Marble Halls
drew probably the heaviest applause OF
the night-thou9 we think she weak
ened the effect by her excessive shiver-
ing at the close. In the qusrtette, the
tender solo, ''See at Thy Feet" the diff.
ficult, 20 What Full Delight" and the
solo in the gypsy chorus, she was at all
times at her best. Her acting, for one
who never appeared in an acting part
before, was very eredito bic. AS for Mr..
Easton, the whole range of opera might
have been traversed without finding
music so especially suited to his voice
as that OF Madden's. The song, You'll
Remember Me-" The Fair Land Of
| Poland" and the dainty bits without
titles. which throughout fall to him,
were rendered as far as tenderness and
| tuuefulness of voice 20, as well as ever.
| Castle rendered them in his palmiest
days and in way that at times was
reminiscent of the superb Mas
He had a difficult acting role
by far the most difficult in the piece,
and for one entirely new to the bust
mes. he did extremely we'll. His make
up at Iirst was better than towards the
close. His dressing throughout was
fine. Another strong Duet WAS found
in Miss Dean, the Queen, and Mr..
Spencer, the Devilshoot. This lady also
had the trying ordeal of playing diff
icult acting part for the first time, and
she acquitted herself in it for the most
part with credit; whatever shortcOmiug
there was in action was more than
atoued for in singiDg-her noble con-
traito voiCe-wbich for power, dwarfs
any other in the company-ringing out
with great effect and bringing her great
rounds of applause after Der rendition of
the beautiful solo, bliss Forever
Past" Here she was at her best. al
though she would have been even better
had she been less restie IS in her move
ments. The duett with Mr.. Spencer
was also finely rendered. This gentle
mans acting was, of course, the leading
feature of ali the actlng-though there
is only one opportunity in Devilst oot
for the display of bis native comedy
talents. Here he shone, as he always
does when he has half
chance, and his acting and his illusions
to the red bandana, Jekvil and Hyde,
Stradivalils, etc., brought down the
h. use. For mis- singing-we haYe heard
him tell out stronger and better. Mr..
Goddard, in the exacting role of the
count, both acted and sang well-his
acting and dialogue being distinct and
straight to the point. He also looked
well and dressed tastefully. His music
was somewhat uneven, in that at times
he appeared to be holding back his
voice. and again let it swell out to Its
full extent-and it is very fine voice
when he lets go of it. THE Heart
Bowed Down" was well done and well
received. though it wonld have been
bettered but for this fault. In the last
act, in the Little duo with Airline and
Thaddeus he was at his very best. and
was warmly applauded. Mr.. White did
sll the needful with the small part OF
Floristan - his acting, like that of
Mr.. Spencer being something of an
oasis in the prevailing desert of en-
barrassment. Mr.. White wins his
laurels in this performance by the fact
that he evolves system out of the chaos !
which must have presented itself in the
inexperience of so many smateurs and
all the stage business and management
of the chorus was under his hands. Mr..
Mack should be turned into a comedy
man st once and there would then be
nothing out of the way in the laughter