The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1894-08-28
THE THEATERS.
Very Good Entertainments At
the PIayhouses.

1t is something Of consequence TO be the
| foremost man in all the world in any par
| ticular thing, even II II Is only bricklay-
| ing. To be the peer Of everyone is a dis
| tinction. A person might be pardoned
| for self consciousness, IL he held that dis
| tinction. And the remarkable thing
about Champion James j. Corbett In the
Providence Opera House last evening was
the absence OF distressing conceit. He
had the suggestion of the prime
requisite for an actor-repose. He had
the instincts of a gentleman and was
able to move about the stage with
the walk Of man who had seen lots Of
good hammered persons. He wore his
dress suit almost as gracefully as his ring
side costume and altogether he was q
stage surprise. He is not trained elocu-
ZIONIST and certain physical and perhaps
natural impediments will always prevent
him from being good reader. But there
is hardly a man on the stage today with
the same amount Of dramatic training
capable of making as good an impression
upon thinking and observing persons as
Mr.. Corbett.
He was an interesting central figure in
that stageful of people. His intelligent,
expressive face, his tall, superb figure,
1.-the and graceful as a cat, and his good
sense and appreciation of dramatic situs-
tion and climax won for him the respect
of the audience. The theater, as was to
be expected, was top heavy, but the
lower part Of the house in no way repre-
sented the rowdy element. Nearly every
one was there to see Corbett, the cham
pion pugilist Of the world, and incident
ally to see what sort of play he had and
how much Of an actor he was after brief
experience. No one was disappointed,
for the champion was surrounded
by strong company, much above the
average, aod his play, I" Gentleman jack"
was as good as the average. constituted
for particular purpose. Like all plays
calculated to introduce athletics, it had a
rival contest between champions, a strong
friend and bitter foe, a pretty girl, a
scheme to blast the fair fame of the
hero and heap of jealousy.
This all eliminated in the grand
athletic struggle Of the last act. Here
was realism of the intensest kind. The
stage was packed with men and boys on
TERED seets all around meeting big paint
ing Of crowd similarly seated in the dis
tance. In the foreground was the staked
ring and the TWO 'pugilists, MIR. Corbett
and the Australian boxer, Steve O'Don-
nell. All the regular ring preliminaries
were observed, and then the boxers imi-
tated championship battle. The stage
crowd yelled, SO did the tceming gallery
and enthusiasm spread to other parts Of
the house until the scene altogether was
stirring in the extreme.
Besides the play proper q roof garden
acene introduced Jessie ViIIara a claver
character singer Frank Belcher an excel
lent baritone soloist and Swift and Chase,
black-faced musical comedians. In tho
training quarters scene Mr.. Cor rbett gave
wonderful bag punching exhibition.
William A. Brady, Mr.. Cor belts fearless
manager and backer, was in the cast and
played the character part of Joseph Roy
den with more than average dramatic
ability. Miss Nellie Buckley gave an earn
est and charming impersonation
of Jacks sweetheart and Blanche
Howard as Polly Graham, and
in fact all the other principals, did
their allotted share satisfactorily. A lit
tie later in the season Mr Corbett, who
by the way bears strong resemblance to
the famous comedian De Wolf Hopper,
would be a fad, and the East Side would
see "Gentleman Jack" Performances
will be given all the week including
Wednesday and Saturday matinees.