Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-01-12
ADJUSTMENTS.


ing every seat in the house was sold and an ex-
| ira row of chairs was eagerly bought up Some
| three hundred and fifty bought tickets which
| entitled them to standing room only, The per-
| Torrance was advertised to begin promptly at
and Mr. Damrosch raised his stick at ten min
utes after that hour At this time the lobby
was crowded with late corners. who were not
| allowed to disturb those who were in their
seats and we're forced to wait until the close OF
| the opening number. The boxes were AL filled
| and the audience represented the culture of the
! city. In reviewing the work Of the evening.
/ first of all there must have been impressed
| on the mind of the audience the need of a
| music hall. theater stage is not adapted for
| such performances that of last night. At
previous concerts the society had placed the
| orchestra in front with the chorus in the rear
much of the chorus tone being lost in the flies
To obviate this Mr.. Damrosch placed the ladies
provement, but left the male voices too deep
| on the stage. SO that to occupants of
orchestra chairs they sounded weaker than
| the female voices. In other parts of the house,
| however, they came out well. At the rear of
| the house 1t seemed an unusually weil-balanced
chorus, the tenors being especially strong and
| the BASES the weak part, if there was any. The
chorus work Is what the society is most inter-
ested IN and 1t has just cause for pride. The
| quality of tone was excellent there was great
| iirnlness and precision Of attack and the vary
ing lights and shades were finely worked up.
The pianissimo opening of FOR Unto Us a
Child is Born" was one of the finest things of
the evening and the great '.Hallelujah' chorus
and the closing amen" were given with
great power. OF the soloists Miss Mary
Howe was hardly in her element. 1t
was her first attempt at oratorio work
| and evidently an earnest attempt. but the eff
fort was too plainly perccptible. This may
have been due to nervousness. Her full sweet
tones in many places were everything that
| could be desired. and she sang Rejoice
Greatly" with much power Miss Nelson made
| most favorable impression. Her voice Is OF
| great purity and she sang with marked feeling
Her aria, HE Shall Feed His Flock, was the
gem of the evening. Nr LAWN proved him
self to be the finest oratorio tenor heard here
in many day. and q superior cannot be found
| in the country. He does solid work aud is sim
cere in his purposes. Mr.. Morowski is thor
ough artist and sang his part with great intelli-
much to the performance To the surprise
| and displeasure Of all, Mr.. Damrosch
cut the Trumpet solo, which, to many,
is the finest number in the work
MIR. Damrosch is all ideal conductor. He bad
perfect control OF his forces, and seemed to
| nave the power of drawing out from all their
best efforts. The orchestra is n magnificent
| body of musicians, and the MATED Pastoral
| Symphony was n most artistic performance.
The society is much pleased with the financial
outcome. and one of the officers said last night
| that though the expenses of the performance
reached nearly two thousand dollars the re-
ceipts would pay this and cancel a large part
| OF the debt OF the society. Much praise is due
| to the energy and persistence OF those who
have kept up the work of the society and made
| possible so great performance as that Of last
night.
| NEW NATIONAL THEArER.- 'Thermidor''
came TO the New National with the prestige of
= Partisan riot and an abundance of newspaper
discussion in this country. 1t drew n good
house and proved an interesting entertainment.
IL characteristic of SarGCu the intense
phase of his genius. He never hesitates at the
horrible and scales the steepest pinnacle OF the
sublime without fearing in the slightest the
chasms of the ridiculous that yawn beneath him
if he makes misstep. He has a confidence in
his ability to avoid the misstep that is fully
justified by experience In "Thermidor' he
depicts the reign of terror with a yividness
that is frightfui. Not only does he
give daring picture of those tumultuous
times, but in the individual characters he I'M
hesitatingly exposes some of the Utmost pas
sions and sentiments of the human breast.
That reality might furnish the incidents that
he depicts no one can doubt. But the struggle
of young girl between her VOWS to the church
and her affection for her lover and the awful
situation OF a man who has to destroy the
honor of the woman who is to be his wife in
| order to save her from the guillotine are sub
jects which cannot be treated without a
good deal Of risk. In ''Thermidor" it is the
hand of a master playwright that saves
ance is a character that is subordinate
| in the story, that of Ld6ussie1f clerk
| in the bureau of arrests. He has no loves of
his own to save. but after saving his own life
by destroying the docket that bore his name he
remains in the Office to save many others as
he can. Mr.. Frederick Bond plays the part in
most agreeable manner. He is interesting
and attractive in personality, and shows great
facility in depicting the various phases of this
ight-hearted and original heros character.
Dill
entious and capable actor in the part Of Martial
Hugo. the soldier lover of Fdbifnne. Miss de
VOLTS portrayal of Fdbienne was intelligent
| forceful and in all respects creditable. The
! scenery is rich and elaborate and the crowd of
supernumeraries required is exceedingly well
| trained.
ACADEMY OF MUsIc.-One would suppose
| that the heifer in Rice's ''Evangeline would
be matronly old COW by this time and other
| features proportionately aged, and possibly
they are, but the interest in this pioneer of to-
days popularities is still young and fresh and
| there was big house at the Academy of
| Music last night bad as the weather and
| walking were, to see and hear and laugh and
| applaud. And everybody did, too. except a
| few veterans. who only laugh once at a good
thing. This "Eyangeline" is not like the
| ''Eyangeline" Of maiden days. but 1t is not less
attractive in its maturer charms. The people
in the cast are we'll balanced with Maffit in his
| old place playing it Love, and Richard Har-
low as CdulOTutt. TIE prettiest woman on the
stage. The singing caught on well in some
instances and some not SO well, and the same
may be said of the dancing.
HARRIS BIJoU THEATER.-"The Runaway
Wife" was witnessed at the Bijou last night BY
| a large audience The play was peculiar and at
the same time original, combining bright dia-
| logue with consistent action. and provided with
| a plot natural and gradual in development
Great attention has been paid to scenic effects,
and the pictures OF New York life and English
scenes were true and realistic. The company
contains several artists of well-known ability.
| Miss Eda Clayton as LAZY Alice acquitted her
self nobly and manifested a deal OF ability in
| the difficult role. As Arthur Eastman, an
American artist. Mr.. Horace Vinton was fully
| equal to the part. Little Mildred Clair as Little
Arthur was very good. Again tonight.
| kEENASs LYCEUM THEATER.-1he Mildred
| Novelty Company opened a weeks engagement
at kernans last night. The program presented
/ is ono of the best seen here this season, and
contains many new faces. Paulinetti gave &
finished and highly interesting exhibition of
J gymnastics which included the most Difficult.
/ feats OF hand standing Mildred was a wonder
as a mind reader, and Press Eldridge, in his
| talks and new songs, scored n decided hit.
RAMA and Arno, in an English grotesque hori-
| zontal bar performance, were wonderful, and
! Rouclere proved himself really the prince of
/ fantasits- The feature of tho entertainment
was the wonderful and startling exhibition of
! strength by those modern Hercules, Cyclops and
, Sandow. The former broke coin with his fin
gers. snapped chains with his biceps and lifted
dumb bells of prodigioas size, while the latter
did much in the same line. varying his perform