The record-union., 1891-07-17
ADJUSTMENTS.

There was large audience in the
Metropolitan Theater. a more enthusi-
astic or better pleased one has not in
long time assembled there. 1.-THE Lilli-
putians'' appeared in "The Pupil in
Magic" The play is III German, but that
matters little, for the programme gives a
good synopsis of the play, and even if it
did not, 1t is by no means difficult to
follow and understand it. since the
scenic and mechanical effects are strong
aids, and the action and panto-
mime are so expressive. The people
in the play are four full grown persons.
with parts written merely to fill in;
ballet of thirty-two persons, half dozen
walking people, and ten dwarfs-not
children, but nlatured adults, five men
and five women, the youngest Is, tie
oldest 43; the shortest not taller than
twenty eight inches, the tallest not ex-
ceeding thirty-seven inches; most of the
ten are under thirty-four inches in hight.
But they are not dwarfs in ability. Their
bodies are small, but in all cases except
two they are well formed, well developed
and well proportioned people. Two
have abnormally large heads and short
necks, and remind the spectator of those
charming caricatures 1.-THE Brownies"
Their capacity as actors, is, for
such little people, surprising. Miss
Selma Goerner, the leading lady, is a SOU
brette of fine ability. Her voice is musi-
cal, expressive, and though light and star
away" every word she utters is distinctly
heard, the shading of no tone is lost. She
sings in meZZo soprano charmingly and
with deep feeling; her plaintive song and
cry of Mother" in the fourth act, as she
wanders in the woods searching for her
parent, is more than touching. She has
male part and sustainS it admirably,
though unable to conceal the full,
rounded, graceful outlines of a well de-
veloped woman. Ida Mahr and Bertha
Jaeger sing nicely and are likewise COM
petent actresses. AS the weeping, laugh
ing automata they are indescribably
humorous and artfully mirthful. Franz
Ebert, the smallest of the midgets, is the
low comedian of the company. His every
movement provokes laughter; at the So
berest sentences he utters the audience
laughs, and his mimicry of the drunken
man is about as close to perfection as an
actor attains. Inthe topical song by nine
of the dwarfs he was the cause of six
encores, and even then the audience was
not satisfied to have him retire. Minchen
Becker, the largest of the little people, is
a handsome and graceful person, and fills
the role allotted her capably. Johann
Wolf, Max Walter, Herman Ring, Miss
Meister and Adolph Tink complete the
list, and are equally deserving of COM
mendation. The wonder is how any
management succeeded in grouping ten
dwarts of such dramatic ability in the
| comedy field. The scenery is all novel
and pretty, some of it very rich, and
there are scenes, changes, transforma-
tions. illuminations, mechanical effects
and tableaux enough to satisfy the most
exacting. The charm of the piece and
the company are their novelty. They
are wholly different from anything ever
on the stage here; there is foreign air
and old country style about the whole
thing that makes it a curiosity. The bal
let and support is, in the main, composed
of large people, as if by contrast to
more distinctly emphasize the dimin-
utive stature of the actors. The ballet
costumes handsomely, but dances very
| little; its business is rather heavy and
consists mostly of few dancing steps and
much posing, marching and graceful
| grouping. There are a few handsome
women in it, several comely ones, and if
! some are not of attractive features they
are all excellent in their stage business
and fill tableaux excellently. The
! Pupil in Magic" is clever bit of fun,
| with but one tone ofthe pathetic in it. 1t is
| clean, rapid in action, vivacious, quaint
| in conceit and satisfactory in the out
come, for it turns out to be only a dream,
and thus its absurdities and fanci1ul
| flights are happily accounted for, since
| it is of the stuff dreams are
made of. The audience last night made
its pleasure manifest by the most liberal
applause and almost endless encores.
| Frequently the curtain was rung up
| three times upon closing tableaux-a very
uncommon occurrence in Sacramento
| theater. The story of the spectacle is odd.
| Fritz of Berlin visits his uncle in Nurem-
| berg, who is manufacturer of auto
nations. While he is examining the
| aI1tnn0afQ and pynlaipiny fha ~
| his visit Russian Princess, Lydia, ar
rives to buy some of the figures in the
| factory. Fritz puts the automatic through
their PAGES for the Princess, and, as she
retires, gives evidence that he is smitten
with the visitor. AS night falls he
drops asleep. Then Puck descends
from his pedestal and wakens him, and
leads him into contract to show him the
world and guarantee him the pleasures OF
luxurious life, in consideration of his
agreeing to prove inconstant in his loves.
He desires to except his affection for his
mother, but Puck will not have it. Then
| the wild life begins. Lydia is won and
wed and scorned. A trip Is taken to the
north pole; all things are at Fritz COM
mand and he reveis and dissipates at will:
/ the automatons become real people and
are his especial close companions in gay
| life. At last, returning to his native land
| he meets his aged mother, but Puck for
bids him to embrace her; the poor re-
pulsed woman browns herself; Fritz, in
| in dispair. pushes Puck into the stream
and springs in himself-then the scene
changes and Fritz is aroused from his
sleep in the automaton- makers shop; the
| automata are in place. Puck on his
pedestal, the dolls in their seats and the
soldiers stiff upon their bases. The door
| opens and Fritz's mother greets her boy,
who, in an ecstasy of delight, embraces
her and thanks heaven it was all dream.
| 1.-The Pupil in Magic'' will be repeated
tonight. Tomorrow night "The Burgo-
| master of Pinneberg."