St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-05-16
GERMAN ON THE STAGE.

'Gluck Bel Frauen' list Elm sehr
schoenes Lustspiel." In other words, to
those whose comprehension of the Ger
man language is limited. Luck With
Women is very pretty comedy"
The name of the play is very
appropriate to the closing scene. for
every one, even the women them
selves, have reached the pinnacle of
tOrtune-each one having scared the
love of her heart and the man of her
ambition. The play was given at the
Metropolitan last evening by the COM
pany that is familiarly known i'll Ger
man theatrical circles as Idle
Milwaukee," and they were greeted
by one of the largest Sunday night au-
diences it has ever been the fortune of
the Metropolitan to contain. Most of
the members of the company are new.
but as each Que of the old faces ap-
peared of those who were here a year
ago they were greeted with generous
applause, especially Ernst Gschmeidler,
who has come to regard st. Paul as one
| OF his favOrite stamping grounds.
|
The play is what might be called a
| refined comedy, the time the present,
and the scene laid mostly in Berlin, and
that it was thoroughly enjoyed by all
the Germans present goes without say
ing, when it is considered that they
have this opportunity but once a year,
and that the balance of the time they
| must be cOnten with reading the
| newspaper accounts of these PLAYS i'm
more favored cities or peruse again the
| beautiful lines of G0ethe'S Faust"
when the eyes of their wives and daugh-
tiers will fill with filmy tears as they
follow the character. of Gretchen,
and how sons and brothers will
be urged to heroic deeds by
the ever to be remembered
lines of The Diver" by Schiller. The
change to real comedy i'll German was
| pleasing, and expressions of gratifica-
| ton were heard from all that they
would have the opportunity to witness
the Milw aukee visitors the entire week.
The opening shows a happy family
group, consisting of a father and two
daughters, one of whom is married to
the young man standing besides her,
having just returned from what the
father SuppOseS was a wedding trip
to Rome, Vienna and elsewhere,
but which in reality was passed
in seclusion. This dupllcity leads
to considerable misunderstanding,
especially when Alfred Bona, the man
supposed to have luck with women, en-
tiers and engages the young bridegroom
in conversation, before the father-ln-
law, about the very places they were
supposed to have visited. This same
duplicity is carried still further by the
young wife and husband each telling
papa how they enjoy each others so
clety and each being careful to clearly
tell him of the others shortcomings.
This the old man repeats to each. one of
them, and gives them each piece or
! advice to be used as remedy, but being
very careful to. give that advice so
that it will surely eomplicate
matters, and is done in retaliation for
the deception they both practiced upon
him in telling of their wedding trip.
This leads TO some very ridiculous
scenes, and in this web are caught the
future characters of the play. Carl
Back presents the ideal German father
in-iaw in Mr.. Scholler, who, although he
dearly loves his children, cannot refrain
from enjoying himself at their expense:
Gustave HartZheim and Justine Wege-
ner. The newly welded pair are as
loving a couple as one could wish to
see, and portrayed splendid mimic
picture to the younger portion Of the
audience. who enjoyed it hugely,
especially the kissing scene in the third
act. Gertrude Berry as the younger
sister is artful and clever, and in her
exhibitions OF supposed rage shows
good conception of the part. Ernest
GSchmeldler, as the country merchant,
was even beyond the standard by which
his friends have measured him.
The second act is scene in the town
| of GuSen and opens in the garden of the
hut l..c
/ Frau Won GuSen, as presented by Anna
Richard, sitting i'll the old arm chair
| awaiting the arrival of hor nephew, was
the true German lady of noble birth;
| ana many memory of those in the audi
ence went back to that old home, and the
scenes they had so often witnessed.
| There were many there who had seen
| that same old castle. and the express
| sion on their faces showed that it was
true to nature. Herman Schneider, as
her grandchild, was the quiet German
youth who loves his grandmother
| dearer than life, and to whom
it was heartbreakipg to tell her
that the castles of her fathers were no
| longer hers, and must be sold. The
old father-in-law. who is very wealthy,
| here appears on the scene with the in
| tentiOn of purchasing the castle, and is
accompanied by his younger daughter,
who falls in love with and mar
rleS the grandson, as we'll as the
remainder of his household, who
by this time are in quite a state
of mixture, and to add to the confusion
new character appears on the scene in
the person of Valerie Stefneck, neice
of old Scholler. Alfred Bona, the man
who always has luck with women, seeks
| an introduction but the result shows that
he is decidedly unlucky. ELISA NilaS-
son and Theodore Bollman in these two
/ characters show the finished actor, and
| although their parts are really minor
| ones, the scene in the garden when
! Bona assumes to have conquered the
heart of Valera is fine piece of sar-
| castle drawing.
| In the third act a character is intro
duced that is decidedly rich, being
Count Won Sensenheim, and might we'll
| be compared with one OF Amer
ica's sixty-year-old would-be dudes.
Herman Werbke, who has
lately come from the Lobe
| Theater in Breslau must certainly have
made study of this character where it
| exists in everyday life. as no stranger
| to it could ever place it before the pub
lie in so true light. One need not I'M
derstand German to appreciate it.
Ott,lie Gschmeidler and Richard
| Wagner, as the gardener and his pretty
| daughter, were like the dessert OH a
good bill of fare. You knew. they were
there. and in such company must be
| good.
Louis Stern, the popular young news
paper man of the VoIksZeitung, has the
! company in charge, and to him the
| German citizens of st. Paul are in
! debted for tins entertainment in their
| native tongue. Tonight will be pre-
sented the drama "SchuldIg," or
Guilty" with change of programme
every. night for the balance of the week.
An evening may be very pleasantly
| spent this week at Hilton's playhouse
| A break has been made in the run of
hurIocouoS Inv tho iufFOHHatinn Of .-Eur