Los Angeles herald., 1891-09-20
SAN FRANCISCO THEATRICALS.
Special correspondence to the HERALD


SAN Francisco, Sept. 18, 1891.
The Alcazar began its eighth regular
dramatic season this week, and the
stock company for 1912 made its bow
in The English Rose, typical English
romantic melodrama by Buchanan and
Petit. 1 call it an English melo-
drama, although the scene of the play is
laid in Ireland, because it is of the same
general style and makeup as the previous
productions of the English melodrama
manufacturers, and it is as good play
as most of its class, play for the pub
lie and not for the critics. 1t is given
an excellent production at the
Alcazar-they have a good COM
pany there this year-and the
scenic settings are highly creditable.
Frederick plays the hero, young Irish
gentleman without fortune but with a
great love for the heroine. He looks
very handsome and does the character
well. William Beach represents the
brother of the hero, a young Irish priest,
and gives strong performance. Frank
r. Mills plays the gentlemanly villain
with considerable strength, and makes
the most of an unsympathetic part.
This is his first appearance in San Fran
cisco. Edward Holland is the assistant
villain, who does the killing and gives
good performance of strong role. He
is also new member of the COM
pany, though lie has been seen
here before, with Shenandoah.
Julius Kahn impersonates q hale
and hearty old Irish gentleman, in
reduced circumstances, the father of the
hero. Leo Cooper gives a careful per-
formance of the lord of the manor. The
said lord of the manor is something of
an oppressor, and gets killed at the end
of the second act. Nick Long does a
well-drawn piece of character work, and
l.. r. Stockwell furnishes most of the
comedy as sergeant OF police. Ethel
Brandon plays the heroine, the English
rose, charmingly, and Eleanor Barry is
very good as young Irish girl disap-
pointed in love. Idalene Cotton, we'll
known in Los Angeles, makes a charm
ing boy, and Ruby Illidge, Lizzie Gra-
ham, Dora Bruening, Josie Cor
don, Minnie Ellsworth, Bernice Gra-
ham, George H. Trader, Charles Bates,
Thomas Kierns and George Hermann
acquit themselves creditably in small
parts. mention them all in order to
give an idea of the size and strength of
the company, for | think Los Angelefios
who may visit San Francisco this sea-
son will do we'll to see some of the
Alcazar productions. The English Rose
has made an undoubted hit, for the
theater is crowded nightly.
Xxx
Nat Goodwin is offering A Gold Mine
this week. It is of an entirely different
character from The Nominee, and while
perhaps not quite so funny, it is more
artistic, and every whit as enjoyable.
Goodwin's Silas X. Woolcot is legiti-
mate comedy creation, and one
which he invests with a good
deal of strength. The story Of
gold mine may be told briefly. Silas
X. Woolcot, OF Grass Valley, Cal, is in
London trying to sell gold mine. A
prospective purchaser is Sir Everard
Foxwood, gentleman with speculative
proclivities. Foxwood has son,
George, daughter, Una, a widowed
sister, the Hon. Mrs. Meredith, and a
confidential clerk, Julius Krebs. There
are only three more characters in the
play, General Riordan, an Irish M. P.
and an ex-iournalist, in love with Una;
Mrs. Vanderwast, who in her time was
an acGress, "the only Juliet" and
butler. Woolcot falls in love with the
widow, the Hon. Mrs. Meredith. Fox
wood offers him ELS, 900 for his mine, but
he holds off for e20, 900. Young Foxwood
gets into scrape through speculation
600, which must be paid "by 12 O'Clock
TO- 80 4
because he loves the young widow and
because he knows she isvery fond of her
nephew, and because he likes the boy
himself, he decides to help him out. He
tells Foxwood he can have the mine at
his figure, but that crafty individual,
seeing that Woolcot wants money badly,
beats him down to 100000. Woolcot
gives the money to the boy, making
him promise not to reveal where he OBJ
tanned it, and goes broke. But the
widow learns of it, and though she and
Woolcot have had a sort of war of
words all through the play she
has grown to love him, and seeing the
nobility of his character she extracts
from him a confession of love. And
therefore all ends happily. This is the
barest outline of the play, which
abounds in bright lines and situations,
and which affords Goodwin splendid op-
portunities. As will be noticed, nearly
all the characters of the play are Eng
lish, but the humor of the piece is dis
tinctly American and of very agree
able flavor.
x*x
Lew Rosen's musical farce, The Hust-
Ter, is on at the California, with John
Kernell as the star. There are some
rather clever variety people in the COM
pany, and there is really excellent
male quartette. The Old Corner Gro
Gerry is dong fairly good business at
the old stand, at the Bush-street. Three
Black Cloaks is being sung at the Tvoli.
x**
The attractions at the San Francisco
theaters for the week of September 21st,
are as follows: Baldwin, SOL Smith
Russell in his new play, Peaceful Val
ley; Alcazar, The English Rose; Cali
fornia. The Hustler; Bush-street, A
Turkish Bath; Tivoli, Fra Diavolo.
Tom Robertson's Caste is to be given
by some society amateurs at the Bijou
on Tuesday, for the benefit of the Brit
ish Benevolent society, under the direc-
tion of Leo Cooper.
The circus-Sells Brothers'-is here
this week. 1t has cut into the business
Of the theaters to a very large extent,