Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-11-12
THE LOCAL STAGE.
The Faust BurIesque Last Night-Comins
Events.

II. Fl. KERR,
City En- gineer.

Events.
It was rat her sore crowd that filed out
of the opera house last night: sore because
their sides were aching from the continuous
laughter of three hours. There is not much
of Faust in it. The play preserves enough
of the plot of Goethe's pretty
story to serve as medium for
some very clever things in the way of bur-
lesque The first act is rather uninterest-
ing, but is still frightened with conSidera-
bic fun; in the second act, howevc". the
fun begins and keeps it up to the final drop
Of the curtain. A very pretty effect is Ob-
tanned in the finale of the second act in the
Demon dance that serves as an intro
duction for Martini, the grotesque dancer
who brought down the house. Taken all
through, the burlesque is a rich one, and
though there are points which could be
strengthened. the general effect is very sat
isfactOry. The pOliceman's chorus, from
the Pirates of Penzance, was introduced in
the second act, and was well executed. 1t
is in the third act that the greatest por-
ton Of the speciality work occurs, Miss
May Duryea introducing some good bur
lesque on emotional acting.
OF the personnel of the company it can be
said that all are capable people. Miss Maud
Barrett, Miss Sylvesters understudy,
handled the character OF Faust very accept
ably. Miss Duryea's Marguerite was
thoroughly enjoyable, her talents
as a burlesque artist being
well displayed. She is il handsome
woman of good stage presence, has a strong
clear voice, well handled, and possesses that
peculiar magnetism that makes everyone.
Martha, giddy young thing OF fifty sum-
mers, was carried by Miss kittie Manch,
who, though new to the role, fills it admira-
bly,. B. H. Severn, as Mephistopheles, a
gentleman from warm climate, was q.
pleasing bit of work. Like Morrison he
makes the devil a jolly fellow.
The low comedy work is III the hands of
Charles Bradley, who makes Valentine \.
Garman, and Frank Cloud. who introduces
an Irish character as Brandveer, a ward
politician. Both of these roles give the
gentlemen an opportunity for some good
speciality work
All through the play there are introduced
some of the latest musical numbers, which
are well rendered and add greatly to the
general effect. The burlesque Faust as
produced by the Reeves opera bouffe COM
pany is pleasing one and enjoyable, espec-
tally to to those who have witnessed the OPP
era, or Lewis Morrison's production.
AN EXPENSIVE STAGE PROP"
The wax head used in the guillotine scene
in the first act of Paul Kauvar is one of the
most expensive properties in use on the
stage and is so lifelike that it causes q
shudder to pass over the more timid in the
audience as the exultant headsman holds it
aloft in fendish glee just after it is supposed
to have been severed from the
trunk of the lifeless body at the
foot of the block The set of the guilIo-
tine with its blood-covered blade and heavy
massive frame is an exact reproduction of
the death-dealing structure which figured
so prominently in the riots of the French
revolution of 1894. Paul Kauyar' will be
seen at Greenwall's opera house on Friday
and Saturday, November 10 and H. and at
the usual Saturday matinee.
ROSE CoGHLAN.
''Dorothy's Dilemma" wherever seen
this season, has pleased the public, and the
role of the heroine incites Miss Rose Cogh-
Ian to her best as an artist. Dorothy Bar
ing on her return to London after years
absence, discovers that the man who won
her heart IN girlhood is betrothed to the
daughter of an earl. Dorothy puts on mans
garments and passes herself off as the man
she loves, who is a captain in the British
army in danger of being cashiered. In full
regimentals Dorothy visits the general to
explain matters. She finds him an irascible
martinez, but her woman's wit is equal to
the ordeal. Afterwards she comes face to
face with the real captain. Miss Coghlan
should have large audiences at both the
matinee and evening performances.