St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-01-28
DRAMA AS 1T SHOULD BE.
A Splendid Presentation of "Heir
at Law''-Amusemen Notes.

at Law''-Amusemen Notes.
A brilliant and distinguis he'd audience
filed the Metropolitan opera house last
evening, when Coleman's comedy in
five acts, 1.-The Heir at Law" was pre-
sented by the Jefferson-Florence COM
pany. From the time the curtain rose
until it fell at the close of the play the
house was kept in continual roar of
laughter whenever that great exponent
of comedy, Jefferson, was upon the
stage. The character of Dr. Pangloss,
l.. A. d and A. s.. S., is presented by
oughly life-Iike in its deIineation and
highly artistic in every detail. 1t
is only when the curtain falls that
the audience conceives that 1T
has witnessed the presentation of
creation OF an artist, for, while the cur
tain is up, the character of DR.. Pangloss
alone is present, the personality of the
actor being merged in the delineation
of the artist. 1t would be impossible to
lind in the ranks of the dramatic profess
sion. In either America or England, an
actor who could play the part of the &C.
centric Doctor of Laws as Mr.. Jefferson
does, for he Is 50 delightfully."- natural in
his quotations of Latin, Greek and Ger
dience know that his love of the classics
Is eciipsed by his love of comfortable
competency. The hOnors Of the even
ing were shared with Mr.. jefferson
by that true artist and prince of men,
w. j. Florence. In the character of
Ezekiel Homespun Mr.. Florence moved
his audience to laughter and tears re-
spectlvely, and his presentation of the
good honest farmer lad will be ranked
among the most artistic creations which
he has presented to the public of
America.
+. G. Bangs. a Daniel Dowas. the
tallow merchant, who for brief space
becomes a member of the aristocracy,
was most effective, his disregard for
grammar evOking hearty applause.
Nine. Ponisi as Mrs. Dowlas has but
few opportunities in the play, but
proved herself to be in every way a
thorough artist.
Viola Allen as the innocent country
girl, Cieily HomeSpun, had difficult
part to play, the assumption of the
broad Derbyshire dialect being most
dlfncult to young artist. but Miss AL
len portrayed the character in a most
natural manner, and shared with the
stars the applause of the evening. Fred
Paulding as Dick Dowlas, Elsie LON
bard as Caroline Dormer, George w.
Denham as Kenwick, and the Balance
OF the cast by their various presenta-
tionS added to the artistic completeness
of the most brilliant performance that
has ever been seen in st. Paul
The scenery was of very high merit,
one interior scene of London mansion
being loudly applauded when the cur
tain rose. 1t was of oak deliberately
carved with number of handsome
portraits on the walls, the work having
been executed by Mr.. Je fferson, who is
painter of very marked talent. The
costumes of 100 years ago were faith
fully reproduced with one exception,
Miss Lombard wearing a gown dis
tinctly nineteenth century in its con-
ception. This afternoon and evening
The Rivals" will be presented with
the full strength of the company, the
evening performance bringing this
memorable engagement to close.
Cora Tanner, in her romantic drama,
",Fhe Refugees Daughter" will be the
attraction at the Grand opera house next
week. ''The Refugees Daughter
gives Miss Tanner the opportunity of
her professional career, and that she
accepts the gauge most fasclnatingly,
hea portrayal of the character of Helene
is a powerful, accomplished and fin
ished representation. Miss Tanner has
received the highest praise for her work
in this character, a character which is
said to be peculiarly suited to her style,
being strongly emotional.
The Olympic is doing a good business
with BLACK Hawk" by Arizona Joe
and his well selected company of
artists. The play presents the wild
border life and the adventures and
hair-breadth escapes by travellers, and
the act OF the mountain detectives in
their timely appearance. Arizona Joe
is master of his play, and his acting
appears realistic in every manner.
His craftsmanship with his fayorite
Winchester rifle was greatly admired
by the audience. Arizona Joe receives
good support, having two excellent
comedians in the parsonage of w.
Pierce and G. Allen, and the balance of
his company are not lacking. Thurs
day night completes the drama BLACK
Hawks" and for the balance of the
week the sensational comedy drama,
'''fhe Wild Violets," will be placed
before the public by Arizona Joe.
Miss Agnes Huntington, after most
successful tour through New York, Bos-
ton and other American cities, and 346
consecutive performances in London,
Will appear as Paul Jones" in the
opera OF that name at the Metropolitan
theater Thursday night and continue
six nights and Saturday matinee The
company which Miss Huntington so
gracefully and successfully leads COM
prises nearly LOO people, who have been
carefully selected from the leading Lon
don theaters, and her entire organiza-
ton has received the highest encoml-
ums from the press and public every
where. Miss Huntington is pleasantly
remembered here as connected with the
Boston Ideals and later the Bostonians.
The advance sale has been very large
land there will be numerous theater
parties. There has also been large
take of boxes and loges.