Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-17
TOLD In A MINOR KEY.
A Very Pathetic and Original Musical
Melodrama, of Which
ONE ACT is GIVEN In PITTSBURG.
The Sorrows of q Husband Whose Wife
Travels With q Tenor.
DETECTIVE SHORE IN LIGHT OPERA

The third act of a musical m elodrama was
played in Pittsburg yesterday. and was
startling success. The opening scene of the
play was in Detroit; the curtain arose on
the second act month later and disclosed q
home in Cleveland, but owing to the fact
that no programmes have been issued, it is
not yet known whether the next and fourth
act is the last or not. The dramdtis
persona was as follows:
SOPHIE FRIEDMAN, soprano.
A Lady in Distress Fleeing from Fate
CHARLES FRIEDMAN, hasso, married to
Sophie, but filled with wild yearn-
ing for reciprocated affection and a
consuming jealousy. The Grim ursuer
JACOB VoLKowsKL. tenor with bald
head............A Victim of Good Nature
Detective Shore, barytone. ne..................
The Man with the Silver Shield
Police, populace, etc.
The first scene of the third act disclosed
the interior of Central station. with Fried
man declaiming in mournful recitative the
fact that his wife had abandoned his bed
and board in Cleveland. and was secreted in
this city. Captain SilUus struck the wild,
high c without effort. and directed the dis
consulate husband to police headquarters in
Municipal Hall.
A lightning change occurred right here,
and few moments later Friedman was re-
peating his solo in the presence of Detective
Shore, who quickly responded, with an in
tensity OF dramatic emotion which surprised
his friends, LEAD on, follow"
ON THE TRAIL.
Several streets in Pi.tsburg were then re-
produced with startling fidelity, as Basso
Friedman andBarytone Shore pursued their
search for the soprano and the tenor. They
finally found a clew. The basso did not
know it at first, but the barytone had been
there before and recognized it at glance.
The clew denoted that Sophie and Jacob
were preparing to take a train East.
Shore and the husband rushed to the
Union depot and found the Philadelphia
express just leaving. They took passage on
it and searched the cars, but could not find
the people they were looking for. The
representation of train was so natural that
the audience could feel the cars lean over at
an angle of 45o as they rounded the curves
between Lawrenceville and Ben Venue.
The intensity of the next scene was dra-
matte in the extreme. The detective and
the husband LETT the train at East Liberty,
intending to return to town on a cable car
They had reached the terminus of the Pitts
burg traction line, where Friedman turned
on his lower register to inform Shore that
he saw Sophie in the distance and in the car
station.
"That's all right" said or sang the de-
tective. "You point out the man; we'll get
the woman easily enough"
THE SOPRANO is A PRISONER.
But the grim pursuer could no longer re-
strain himself. He rushed at his wife and
caught her wrist in vice-like grip.
The detective was at his side in moment,
and exclaimed, "Never mind the woman;
where is the man?"
Just at this moment the prima donna in
troduced little by-pIay, and saying a few
words in a foreign tongue to stranger
standing by, the latter disappeared. The
detective had not yet appeared upon the
stage at the same time as Jacob Tolko1oSki,
and could not be supposed to know him
until he was introduced in his stage cos
tune. The tenor had escaped.
Once again the scene was the Central sta
ton. The grim pursuer un olded his woes
in the assembly room, and whenever he
stopped Tor breath the assembled chorus car-
again.
The burden of his song was to the effect
that he was an operator on mems clothing.
That is to say, he ran a sewing machine at
his own home. That home, five weeks ago,
was in Detroit, but owing to his wiie's dis
like for that pretty city, he removed to
Cleveland. There Sophie became acquainted
with the tenor. She had been a success .ul
singer in German opera companies or
number of years, and was still fascinated by
the glamour of the footlights. Sophie and
VolkOauSEi were kindred spirits, and this
fact seemed to affect Friedman until he felt
like the very unpleasant hero of 'The Kreut-
zer Sonata"
Friedman struck minor KEY here, and
bewailed his fate that his wife should be
beguiled by man who lacked beauty and
hair. He insisted that his rival was bow
legged, but none of his auditors had seen
the man, and it was suggested that Fried
man might be suffering from mental strabis-
mus.
SOPHIE SINGS HER SONG.
Sophie sung her little song to lfatron
Brennan, who appeared before the foot
lights with considerable difidence. The
soprano, who is petite but brilliant bru-
nette of % years, laughed at the idea Of run
ming away with a man of VolEoloSki'S ap-
pearance. They were good comrades, but
that was all. She desired to go back to the
stage, because, in the first place, her hus-
band could not provide for her suitably,
and next, because he was so insanely jealous
OF her that life was a burden. She wanted
to 60 to New York and join an operatic
company and make her own living. Vol
kowSki had agreed to help her with his in
huence, but that was all. Just the same
she would never, no, never, return to her
husband.
When the curtain dropped on this scene
Sophie was declaring her resolve never to
become reconciled to Friedman, while the
latter was starting out into the black, rainy
night in search OF hotel.
The next act will omen this morning, and
a new character, Inspector McAleese, will
appear on the stage. 1t is understood that
this character will not have many lines to
recite, but they will be to the point, and
when he concludes the curtain will be rung