Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-21

ALVIN THEATER. ................. The Charity Bal
WORLDS MUsEUM-THEATER..... .Curiosities, etc
DAVIS 'MUsEUM-THEATTR... -Curiosines, etc
WILLIAMS ACADEMY. .Kernel's Naudeville'
HARRIS THEATER.........-.......--- >. ooo
The above are the theatrical attractions
for this week.
The man who Judges New York taste by
the plays, that have attracted most atten-
tion there this season, is apt to decide that
metropolitan audiences are easier to please
than those of the provinces. confess that
tour or five evenings at the theater in New
York recently gave me some of the sensa-
lions properly and commonly consequent
upon late supper of Welsh rareblt. lndl-
gestible PLAYS seem to be the staple
dramatic food. for New York, and the varie-
ties range from very broad suggestive
French farce to gloomy religio-dyspeptic
drama, also usually of French origin. The
unwholesome drama does not seem to pay
dividends, however, for hall dozen new
York managers assured. me that the
season as q whole had been very far from
DroTit5ble. Perhaps, when the managers
have the fact beaten into their noodles that
immoral plays do not necessarily produce
'sbOOdle" they will reform. Most reform
movements in this world, alas! and espec-
iaily the successful ones, have their origin
in or about a bank book
The run of ''NIiss Helyett" in New York
has lust endel /, and Pittsburgers will have
chance to see it pretty soon. l think good
many Pittsburrers have seen it already, for
Icounted half a dozen shining lights OF this
city at the Standard Theater the other
night Mrs Leslie Carters hair is the most
astonishing thing about her. 1t VIII create
a sensation among the women wherever she
goes 1t is tawny almost to the verge OF
dark orange in some lights, ana there Is
enough OF it literally to cover her from her
crown to her knees completely. She wears
il done up in two gigantic DTaldS, Dut near
the close of the play sets it free and allows
II to fail in wild disorder all over herself
Alma Tadema is fond of painting hair or
such a color-it is like his wiies-but he
never endowed Greek or Roman maiden
with such a quantity of red-gold tresses
As to Miss Helyett," it is decidedly TISQtte,
but undeniably laughable and cleverly writ,
ten / do not think Mrs. Carter is fitted
very well for the leading role, but she is
certainly a bright and rather charming
woman, who has been coached and schooled
in acting little more than Is Good lor her.
The company is better than the star, winch
is pleasant reversal Of the usual order OF
things.
At the pretty little Garden Theatre, in
New York, another wonderfully fair woman
has just closed successful reign Lillian
RusseII's attractive powers as a star have
never been better proved than by The
financial success of ia Cigale.n The
Russell has lost none OF her beauty. She Is
justas mperiouslY an d lmperlal fair as ever.
She dominates and illumlnes la Clgale"
1ust as the sun does this earth. Her voice
has improved, both as to actual quality and
her manner of using it. DO not think, and
never have thought, that Lillian Russell be-
longs to comic opera; she has not the airy
grace or spontaneous humor which opera
Comicue calls foT. She is tending toward
grand opera, for which her majestic beauty,
her stage presence and, to a smaller extent,
her voice lit her. 1t Is hard to nnd out facts
about such star as Lillian Russell,
or one might discover why nobody has
thought OF bringing out Miss Russell to
take the place left vacant by Emma Abbott.
Nobody has taken that profitable post OF
purveyor of grand opera to the masses ana
as far as her voice and its training have been
revealed in comic opera ! should judge that
Miss Russell could DO so aceeptably. The
gossips in New York insist that she Will make
her debut in grand opera before very long,
but perhaps the gossips, like those others
who are forever marrying poor Lillian to
her managers and admirers, don't know
how good thing she has in her present Sit
uation. An enormous salary, a share in the
profits none in the losses, and a circle of
golden youth 10 supply her with diamonds
and other necessaries of life, to a comic
opera artist, continually about her.
As to la Cigale, which Will be seen here
pretty soon, would prefer to see it again
before pronouncing an opinion. As have
Baid it Is Lillian Russelrs piece, and she is
at her best. Louis Harrison's fooling is new
as well as funny, and the extraordinary
English talked by Tagliapletra and Carl
streItman, the latter a wonderful tenor to
find in comic opera, make them comic
against their will. l suppose a comic opera
has never had such an expensive setting as
la CiCale." The solidly-built ballroom of
the last act is without exception the hand
soonest interior l have ever seen on the
stage.
Another comic opera which has hardly
worn OF its novelty in New York is 1.-The
ing at the Broadway Theater. The first act
OF THE Lion Tanner" is the best, and if the
other one of two scenes were as good it
would be the best comic opera Wilson has
yet had. The novelty OF showing the dress |
ing tent of travelling circus is alone enough |
to make the first act so. Marie Jansen |
comes dancing in as bareback eques-
tTienne, fresh from her triumphs in the ring
The curtain at the back of the stage part |
and the audience catches a glimpse of the |
Oig circus tent where another audience |
i1dummy-sits: i?55Il y The ho public always
and here they have the opportunity.
The first scene OF act II. in a graveyard is /
contrast enough in all conscience but far /
too gloomy and slow in action for comic /
opera, especially when the comic and not |
the opera Is supposed to be italicized. The
last scene is brighter again, and Cheever-
Goodwin's lines and lyrics are pointed and
funny. Richard Stahls music is very bad |
when it is his, and not his own when it is
good 1t is unfortunate he did not steal |
more. The best musical number in the
Jansen in act land it Is
clean theft from "The Mil1ado." Not only
is the music sullivan's but the idea is q
close copy Of that quaint conceit OF Gilbert;s, |
wherein be makes Putl-SiRg, Pooh Bah and /
hO6O describe the execution which never
took place. Splendid mountings, good |
company, and Francis Wilson's very clever |
acting have made 1.-THE Lion Tamer' a sue |
cess in New York, but l shouldn't be sur |
prised if Pittsburg never sees it. 1 notice |
that Wilson takes 1.-The Merry Monarch" to |
the Pacific coast in May.
1t makes q PittsburSer feel good to find
that metropolitan theaters are not as rule
as good as Pittsburg's. A month or two ago |
Mr.. Golden in the character of Jed Proasy |
said in speech before the curtain that a
theater like the Alvin was not only an orna-
ment to a city. and a comfort to PLAYERS and |
public, but an advertisement o. no mean |
value for the city which possessed it The
truth Of this statement was constantly
noting wherever l went in the East last
week. In New York Philadelphia Boston |
and in fact everywhere the Alvin Tbeater,s
fame and Pittsburg's name are associated
All the theaters here compare very favor
ably with places OF the same class in the
bigger cities.
It is small thing, but you may be con-
graduated upon escaping "Uncle Celestin,"
the alleged musical comedy put on by the Ca
sino people in New YORK. "Uncle Celestin. ~
without exception, is the dreariest thing I've |
seen in years, and the critics in Chicago de-
serve vote of thanks for roasting il when
it desolated the Chicago Opera House in
that city.
The third act of 'fMen and Women" is so
good that the painful weakness OF the rest
Of the play, and especially the impotent and
commonplace conclusion, is hard to bear !
How such play managed to survive a met