Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1893-03-23
MILTON NopI.Es

long drowned son. center of stage-hand
In hand-sugary speech-curtain.
That is certainly not a very deep plot, but
It Is really the whole of it, for all else il
nothing more nor less than what is in
tended to be accepted as character sketch.
ing. And such character sketching There
IL just sincerity enough in it to make it
series of plausible Misrepresentation. The
central figure, the newspaper reporter, il
about as gross libel on the craft as can
well be conceived. He is apparently will
ing to do anything for money, and while he
Is guilty of no distinctly dishonest act the
impression left upon the mind of the audi
tor is that his delinquency in that respect il
due solely to lack of opportunity.
At Hoyt's Madison Square theater, pre-
sented by one of his we'll trained farce com.
sdy organizations For Revenue Only
after judicious and extensive pruning,
might be bearable. AS it is, it is very, very
bad. Milton Mobiles Phoenix" is in my
opinion the best low grade American melo
drama ever written, and as the Bohemian
scribbler the author was superb. The char.
aoter was terribly overdrawn, of course, but
that is permissible in a play like 1.-THE
Phoenix, but It cannot be tolerated in
comedy such as For Revenue Only" pre-
t0uQ8 10 De, even ID QOG.
'For Revenue Only" might possibly be
interesting in spite Of its frightful distor
ton Of character II it were not that it lacki
concentration Of purpose, without which II
Is we'll nigh impossible for even the lowest
grade Of plays, of course not including %
called farce comedy" to succeed. '!FoI
Revenue Only" contains many bright
speeches, and there Il an agreeable crisp
ness to most of the dialogue, but the log.
ical incidents ore 30 few, and even those 90
poorly strung together, that these GASES arr
scarcely noticed by the casual theater goer,
and the result is that tired feeling in an
exaggerated form. For Revenue Only
ater.
Alexander Comstock, the manager Of
Niblo's, seems to have made success with
his female ushers. The fair girls are neatly
attired, and though very nervous and some
first night they now attend to their duties
with all the ease and nonchalance Of their
male predecessors. At first the innovation
amused the auditors, and whenever an
usher preceded a gentleman down the aisle
to his seat all eyes in the house were di.
rected toward the young woman in the
dainty uniform, who showed by her height
ened color that she was fully aware Of the
fact that she was the observed Of all OBJ
servers and didn't like it little bit. Now,
however, all that is changed, and the girls
attract no more attention than the ordi.
nary male mortal of the genus usher.
Reports which from time to time reach
these shores tell Of the loss Of voice Of this,
that or the other great singer in Europe.
Twn Of the lata victirna Of oh rv1nuora ara
the great Patti and Geraldine Ulmer, who
ia affectionately known to the members OF
the theatrical profession as Dolly. have
Investigated the matter and find that the
basis for the Patti story is the statement
Of an italian newspaper man, who in his
criticism Of la Traviata" said that ''the
hand of time has rested heavily upon the
shoulders Of Nine. Patti" 1t was prob
ably intended to convey the impression that
the great diva is not now so beautiful as
she once was, but those who were so in
clined have construed it to the singers
detriment.