The herald., 1894-03-18

People hereabouts who know ana ike
the artistic in dramatic matters were
charmed with Mr.. Clay Clements per-
tormances in The Bells and the New
Dominion. Mr.. Clement is not yet
master. but ia almost through his
uovitiate and before long should rank
with any star.
He has but two serious faults, both OF
which can be easily overcome. bis
voice is not as strong as it should be;
course of vocal oymnastics will probably
develop it to sufficient degree. And,
again. he has the nasal accent which
used to mark the American for the rest
OF the world, but which is lessenlng
yearly as a national characteristic. MI.
Clement is probably unaware OF the lat
ter defect, or he would correct 1T, for he
has in other respects attained very
correct pronunciation and lntonation.
He is young man, only 81, l am
told. and is said to be a native OF llll-
nois. a state which has produced presi-
dents and statesmen, but few, II any,
other artists.
xS*
Mr.. G. M. Pyke with his "operatic
society's" presentation OF Patience has
shown what q skillful, experienced,
professional manager can do with anna
teurs. The performances were sll on
par with or better than most OF the pro-
ieBsional companies which have played
here.
AS matter OF fact, the participants
have no further right to call themselves
amateurs, for every one of the company
received pay for their services.
80
Mr.. "Tom" Rowan, jr., carried off the
honors among the local young men par
ticipants. He has a superb voice. All
that he lacks is experience on the stage.
II he is wise, he will at once adopt opera
comic opera--singing as a protes-
sion.
Miss Adele Stoneman, daughter of the
general and governor, was a most at
tractive member OF the company. She
has very fetching stage presence and
an excellent voice.
~
Fitzgerald Murphy, the playwright.
is now editing a local weekly paper. He
attained sufficient success with An Irish
have continued playwrighting, in pref
erence to dallying with paper.
x*%
By the way, there are a number OF
dramatists hereabouts who are looking
for Angels to back sure-shots. I. W.
Okey has q most meritorious work in
hand by II. Grattan Donnelly, which
promises to be iortune-msker if it can
only get the necessary backing.
4*x
The presentation yesterday afternoon
and lat night of Patience at the Los An
Angeles thester was attended again with
the full success which greeted it Friday
night. The attendance was exceedingly
good at both performances and augurs
well for Mr.. Pyke's future ventures.
Announcements.
Tomorrow evening Mr.. James
O'Neill will produce Virginius for the
first time at the Los Angeles thea
ter. Although it may appear as
good deal of change from the elk and
satins of the Count of Monte Cristo into
the toga of Roman soldier, there is
little doubt that the actor, who for more
than 5000 times has courted popular ia
vor as Edmond Dantes and Able Pu-
Boni, will make an equal triumph as
Virginius. To the younger generation
OF theater goers the change may appear
audacious, but those whose memories
60 back some twenty years will remem-
Der that Mr.. O'NeilPs Shylock and
Richelieu already at that time met with
such unstinted approval as is only be.
slowed upon the real geniuses OF the
age. Besides, Mr.. O'Neill served for
several years as leading man to Barry
Sullivan, Forrest, Edwin Booth and Ad-
elaide Nelson, and while in that posi-
tion he obtained all the training neces-
sary to give thoroughly artistic per
formance OF any Shakeapearian or clae-
gical character. During his recent
production of Virginius in San Francisco
all the papere united in saying that his
performance was truly marvellous.
Sheridan Knowles strong character cre-
alton has taxed the power Of the best
artists on the stage, and Mscready,
the great English actor, who
first played the role, Gays
that as long as there ie a
stage and actors capable of representing
the best feelings of our nature, go long
will the passion. poetry and pathoa of
Virginius command the tears and the
applause of the audience. Mr.. O'Neill
has long been known for his great elo-
cutionary power, personal magnetism
and impressive appearance. He is a
close and careful student, and long be-
fore he contemplated a production of
Virginius he evolved several changes in
the beautiful tragedy that would i'm
prove its dramatic development. The
public, therefore, may look forward to a
thorough and artistic presentation of
the play tomorrow evening. Virginia
will be played by Miss Lillian DALEY,
who is said to be seen TO great adyant.
age as the Roman maiden. Virglnius
will also be presented on Wednesday
evening; and Monte Cristo will be pro.
duced Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
No one character on the stage has met
with greater SUCCESS than the iascinat.
ing creation OF Edmund Dantes in
Monte Cristo as it has been acted by
Nr. James 0'Neill over 5000 times.
pf course, when an actor has so long
been associated with one part il is be.
rAuse Che public recognizes that no one
else has right to attempt to act it
The supporting company has all been
chosen from standard organizations,
and the costumes and scenery are prom
ised to be fine and correct.
%"&
Chss. Comeli, the manager of the
81 l. L