The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-11-18
DRAMATIC AND LYRIC.
Close of the James-Wai lin
wright Season.
THE SAINT MARY's CONCERT.
Two Risen Stars-The Messe Solonelle
Latest From Amusement
HAunts.


comedy of these or any other times
was given as their farewell last evening
by the James Wainwright Company
The audience was a great one-the
largest of the season-and its enthusi
asm at times rose to the stormy point
Mr.. James being compelled after hi.
exit in the screen scene to return twice
and bow to the applauding audience
while the other characters on the stage
had to wait patiently till the ova-
ton was over. The performance
as regards the Charles Surface
(Mr. james, the Lady Teazle (Misl
Wainwright and the Sir Peter Mr.. Lang
don) was an ideal one, and it may vel
be doubted whether the brilliant
Sheridan himself ever saw those three
| figures In his great work more admir-
ably portrayed. The supporting com.
pany was good in nearly all respects,
the Joseph Surface of Mr.. Mosely and
the Sir Benjamin Backbite. of Mr..
Royle, being the most prominent fig
ures. The piece was most elegantly
staged and costumed, end the
screen scene for smoothness of
action and the perfection of
art, could not be surpassed by
any theatre company in the Werld.
James showed more than ever
the full extent of his accom-
plishments as an actor; any
artist who can step from Virginius or
Othello into the merry reckless. roll
licking Charles Surface and play the
one with as much dash and abandon
as he plays the other with power
depth and intensity, is entitled to the
name of an actor of the very highest
rank. Mr.. Barratt-who it has ridicu-
lousy been said taught Mr.. James how
to act-never saw the day, artist as he
is, and never will see it but in his
dreams-when he could achieve
what James has done during his
brief Salt Lake engagement. Miss
Wainwright, we ceased being surprised
at after her Rosalind. We had seen
her so often in the timorous, clinging
Julie de Mortimer, Francesca, Yorick 3
Love sort of parts, that We had grown
to think she was cast in that mould
altogether, but her Rosalind and Lady
Teazle show that she can run the
whole gamut of Characterization with
the same felicity as her husband, and
that she is an actress in the broadcast
sense of the term. Her delineation
last evening was most delightful.
most artistic, and the lights and shades
of the part, the gay frivolity and the
heart broken distress were each
| portrayed with a truth that
gained the most hearty appreciation
from the most exacting. AS for tho
version of the comedy, We could wish it
had been less broad. Neither Shakes
peare nor Sheridan has been found
suited to the ears of modern audiences
without some careful toning down, and
there were things that startled the ears
last night that many were displeased
with, prepared as they were for the gen
eral riskiness, dou Die entendre and hints
of smuttiness which pervsde the piece.
-.
No actors that We recall have stepped
into more immediate fame and fortune
in venturing upon the career of stars
than Mr.. and Mrs. James; Fred Warde,
Tom Keene, Robert Downing, Mather
and others have been plodding the
weary road for years with varying
success, and here in their third season
James and Wainwright are storming
public and press, ignorant Of what it
is to play to q weeks poor business.
It is whispered that it was Miss Vain
wright who first suggested and pushed
the starring idea, and that Mr..
James was so little ambitious that he
would have been content to settle down
in a good stock company to avoid the
worry and inconvenience of travelling.
If that be true, we give the lady credit
for being the better manager, and We
offer her our sincerest obligations for
the debt she has placed US under; such
q linking of genius is rare thing in
deed, aud we trust it may long stand
for the behoof of the public it has so
ardently delighted:
M James and his wife might have
played here week as well as not, and
we regret being deprived of an oppor-
tunity to see his Hamlet. Bene-
dict-which must be a revelation,
his Romeo, and his wife's Juliet,
which with her Ophelia, is said to be
among her very best impersonations.
James plays Hamlet in a blonde wig
and has a version of his own which
brings the curtain down on climaxes,
and which is said to greatly please the
popular taste. Macbeth has been
dropped from the repertoire wisely
we think, as Lady Macbeth is char
acter in which the public would hardly
delight in seeing the lovely Vain
wright, much as she might surprise
them by her rendition of it. A feature
of their repertoire is tine Gil
bert version of Faust. Gretchen,
in which Miss Wainwright plays the
heroine and Mr.. James Mephisto,
and both have received some glowing
notices for their delineations of those
characters Ingomar is another of their
favorlte plays; Richelieu they do not
touch, but most of the other pieces in
the usual legitimate round they have
included in their list, and in all they
have won golden opinions. By many
Mr.. James is conceded second place in
the list of Americas great stars, and
the roll of the critics is a heavy one,
who have thrown off their allegiance to
Mary Anderson and Modjeska, and
boldly proclaim that Marie Wainwright
is the most talented lady actress on the
American boards to day.
To both we say success, and speedy
return.
There was a rush at the box office
yesterday morning which made Louis
James manager rub his hands with