Los Angeles herald., 1892-12-08
Highest of all in Ieavenng Power-Late u Report
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ABSOlUTE PURE
ABS O)gglAy TE:lsg PURE

by Jefrreys Lewis OF Forget-me- and
by Margaret Mather OF that sublime
play The Egyptian. And yet, one night
last week, there was standing room only
to witness an alleged opera performance
by IL or Is girls who ought to have been
at home and helping their mothers to
wash the supper dishes.
x*x
And while do not approve of anna
teur performances generally, let me say
that there was no room for comparison
ton of the Chimes of Normandy, q fort
night previously, because that perform
ance had really meritorious features.
Mr.. Taylor gave very happy rendition
OF the tilibustering marquis; and what.
ever may be the difference of opinion in
regard to the power of Mr.. Dupuy's
voice, there can be no doubt as to its
sweetness or his graceful phrasing. As
to the young ladies of that company, a
certain need OF praise is due. Miss
Whaley cannot sing but she can act and
threw great deal of vivacity into the
part OF the ecandal-monger, Serpolette; ;
and while l don't believe Miss Milti-
more will ever make an actress, she can
and did slng-as no other woman has
sung in this city since the Arcatraz
troupe LETT here in July. 1t is not my
intent to censure anything in that per-
formance.
wv
But this last one was something
abominable, the work of women who
could neither sing nor act. The pretty
little quadrille by the eight children,
and Mr.. Jacob Muller's magnificent rem
dition of the bull-fghter's song from
Carmen, were all that redeemed the
show from utter damnation. There was
an act OF II Trovatore which recalled
William E. Burton's comic song Ito the
tune of Wilkins and his Dinah) that he
used to sing when he played Jem Baggs
in the Wandering Minstrel. He called
it Ill Treated Trovatore and it had a
ridiculous refrain to it which ran about
like this.
"Tooral Toledo, they sang it just so,
Andante allegro and sempre amo
GiornO d'orrOre, mi mad e, you know,
With fata coude.e, funeste u Co."
The man who played Manrico was an
extraordinary vocalist. His rendition
of "Ah che Ia morte" reminded me OF
that Boston epic:
"The waiter shouted through the hall,
'We don't give bread with one fish ball. -
And as for the lady who sang the part
of the scboolmarm in the curtain-raiser,
and inflicted four verses of her song on
Job-like audience, l can only say that
| would as soon listen to cries for help
from man that had fallen off dock.
#*x
The chief objection to all this amateur
theatrical business is that it conflicts
with the success of deserving profes-
sionals. People go to see these amateur
shows, impelled by nothing but curiosi-
ty. and the money that is spent in that
way. we are told, ls "kept in the town" "
And when actresses OF high histrionic
merit, like Margaret Mather and Julia
Marlowe, come here, they have to
take what they can get. Again,
this business demands at least two
rehearsas per week, if not three, and
this rehearsing consumes time that
should be spent either in household
duties or devoted to useful study. 1t
units young girls for all the realities OF
an earnest and useful life, and brings
them up to an artificial existence, at the
end of which there is snothing but husks
and repentance. Thank God, l have no
daughter whose feet can drop into such
pitfall.
suppose some one will set me down
for sour, ill-natured old man whose
meat and drink turns 10 gall within
him, but nothing can be further from
the truth. 1 do this because 1 want to
zee young girls saved from the drudgery
of the stage. l wonder if they realize
the slavery it entails. I know come OF
the women whose lives it has wrecked.
Do any Of my readers remember AIDE
laide Phillips, the greatest Lazarillo and
the sweetest Siebel that ever trod the
American boards? She told me one
day: 81 never knew the meaning of the
word girlhood." The truth is, that she
was put upon the stage at nine years
to earn living (or part of one) for
three selfish pigs that called them
selves her relatives. Lotta Crabtree,
too, now past 50 years old, and woman
whose purity of character would enable
her to adorn the home of the noblest
man in the land, was kept upon the
stage to earn money for her gin.loving
parents, till she had forgotten that
there was ever such thing in this
world as domestic life.