Los Angeles herald., 1891-03-16
Attractions at the Local
Theaters This Week.
How They Hold the Mirror Up
to Nature Now.
a Pleasant Little Controversy Be-
tween Bernhardt and Davenport.
Yoints ON Plays and Players New and
Old, from Cities Near and Far,
in Pithy Paragraphs.

snent of two nights only at the Los An
xeles theater, on Tuesday evening of
this week. The advance sales begin
this morning at 10 O'Clock at the box Of
tice. It is perfectly useless to make any
attempt to describe Ovide Musin's per-
torrance on the violin. AS easily paint
the lightning fash, or describe by mere
effort of words the delicate notes OF the
mocking bird as heard in its native
grove. At one moment the eyes of his
audience are filled with tears, at anoth-
er the pulse of all present seemed to tin
gle with delight. This is Musin's Sec
Ond visit to Los Angeles.
For three nights, commencing Thurs
day evening, Denman Thompson and
Geo. w. Ryer will present for the first
time in Los Angeles their new Ameri-
can drama, The Two Sisters, companion
piece to The Old Homestead. Like that
play, the plot is simple and abounds in
humor, wit and pathos. An exchange
says: The first act is ha! ha! of merri-
ment; the second act a observation-disclosures
In rare picture representing part OF
Central park, warm with summer sun
shine; the third act novel and the
pretCiest kind of lovemaking scene,
and the last act pathetic human little
comedy drama. Tears, laughter and ap-
plause cannot but get intermingled be-
fore such a wholesome, complete exhi-
bition of the tenderest and most natural
bonds of human sympathy.
The regular sale of tickets to the gem
low
open this morning at the box Office of
the new Los Angeles theatre. The
great African explorer will give his only
ards pavilion on Saturday evening OF
secured at the theatre every day this
are only 81, 50 and So, which includes a
reserved seat. The subscription sale,
which opened at Bartlett's on Saturday,
was very large, and from all indications,
.the vast auditorium will be packed with
one of the largest audiences ever seen in
Los Angeles. The pavilion will be so
arranged that every word uttered can
be distinctly heard from all parts of the
house. Arrangements have been made
to build an extra stage projecting out
into the audience for Mr.. Stanley.
Wires will be stretched above to break
the sound.
A New York paper says: Several
hundred persons recently witnessed an
amusing bit of by-play during the entire
act of comic opera at local theater.
Half dozen young men occupied seats in
the central portion of the house, and dur
ing the act their leader started them to
applause, long and loud, whenever word
was spoken or sung by pretty little
actress, who had small part. In fact,
that girl couldn't step without having
the young men start a burst OF ap-
plause, which spread over the house.
But when the drop curtain fell for the
first time, an usher slipped down the
aisle and handed to the leader of the
coterie of enthusiastic youths note
from the manager of the company, which
read as follows: "That applause won't
count for anything, You'd better save
yourself trouble and stop. It's an old
gag" The spirits of the young man
cooled perceptibly, and this is the rea-
son. Years ago when gilded youth be-
came infatuated with an actress she
would persuade him to get half dozen
friends scattered over the house, and
violently applaud her every word and
bit of stage business. OF course this at
tracted the managers attention, and he
would raise the girls salary. But soon
these hard-hearted beings learned the
game, and for years it has not been
played.
A merry war is being carried on be.
tween the Bernhardt and Fanny Daven-
mort. The Bernhardt says the fair Fanny
can't act, and declares that she could
mot conceive of Cleopatra as "strapping
Amazon" full of all sorts of physical
violence, and pretends to draw from
Plutarch a picture of Cleopatra to sus-
tain her embodiment of Sardou's idea.
Moreover, the French actress asserts
that Sardou declared her to be the ideal
0f his character. Bernhardt describes
CIeopatra as an amorous but delicate
woman, an t'ideally womanly woman"
To which Davenport retorts: Cleopatra
most assuredly was amorous, but why
delicate? To my thinking her constitu-
tion must have been OF iron to endure
the life of pleasure and riot which she
led. She has lived through the ages
because she sacrificed "all for love, y
which means more than mere passion
An ''ideally womanly woman" is a
woman next to an angel, without aught
that is earthly Cleopatra was of earth
most earthly, with all the faults, the
foibles of an earthly woman. As for the
assertion in regard to her looks, | die
mot know her or hold converse with her
Mime. Bernhardt may have done So
We have no picture handed down, and
as for the heads upon coins, we
are much further progressed in that
work now, and the heads upon coins
of much later date of great
people are satires upon them. have
not asserted, however, what she really
looked like. l have merely ASSERTED
what Sardou represents her through hiE
lines. Nine. Bernhardt says in Plu
tarch's portrait she can see no trace o
the "violent Amazon" l picture. | an
talking OF Sardou's Cleopatra. Ii Nine
Bernhardt is representing Plutarch''
Cleopatra It's another matter. though
it was Sardou's on the bills. However
even in this assertion is she not wrong
Piutarch's Lives, page 290, paragraph
20, says: "For she played at dice witt
him, drank with him, hunted with him
she accompanied him in his rambles ane
freaks by night in the dress of a slave
Again, if Cleopatra were delicate, &C
ording to Plutarch, why waste he
body by spare diet?" As for Cleopatrs
only living through the centuries as -
womanly woman" may quote this his
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