Waterbury evening Democrat., 1894-09-07

'-H%----. >~=- '.
 MISS DELLA FOX
 scrvation of the works of others. The Lyceum thcatcr has such a stanch clien- tcllc and MT. Sothern is so popular in New
 York city that it is possible that even The Victoria Cross'' may not prove a
 failure, although from nearly every artis-
 tic viewpoint 1t Is wrctched. It is pot pourri, not n play, and MT. Potter has wandered about aimlcssly with his scanty | little thread of a plot just as he did last winter with Our Country Cousins" The story becomes involved to pcrplexing de- gree, and the action halts at the most | thrilling points to admit of the intcrpola-
 tion, or rather interpolation, of bits of | unfunny, machine made ''comcdy." It would be useless to cnumcrate the plays which have furnished tho sugges-
 tions for most of the episodes in The Vic toria Cross" Besides it would occupy too
 much space. But the foiling of the female villain in the last act Is such n palpablc appropriation from tho great scene in ''Di- plomacy" between Countess Zicka and Henri Bcauclcrc that it makes itself inn | mctliatcly apparent to the vcriest tyro | among thcatcr GoCrs. Each play written | by Paul NJ. Potter has caused his admir- | CTS to mako excuses for his work-for he is n really brilliant man-and to hope for
  don't sem to come. Of course in this | category I do not include his beautiful sheridan, or The Maid of Bath" That | was n gem; but, after a!l, 1t was merely
 tho result of very close study and use of
 Shcridan's work. At the time of its pro- | luction this was not known but it has | since developed bryuud Cavil.
 Mir So;hrrn's work aS Ralph Seton, late | # aH. | feet. This young actor, who originally possessed sucIi marked mamnCrisns that even his warmc.t admirers feared that he | would never risc aiHJyc MCdiucrity, has year by year dropped his stagc tricks and | modified his ''guv kinCSs" until now he
 Is absolutely natural. His part affords him very little Uupurt unity for striking work, but every speech is uttcrCl as though Inc
 wrrc not on the stage in the presence of | an audience. SOthCrn's fathers name
 gave tho young man his first hearing as n star. Of that thcro can be no question, | but it is moro than probable that the son will leave n grCatCr name than the sirc in | the theatrical world when tho grim reap CT shall sec 1t to cut him down with his sickle Of Mir. SOthCrn's supporting com pany little need be said. It Is on the whole | an acceptable and competent organization,
 although Miss Grace kimball, the leading | lduSs NhIlc SIlbN llupEONG | ment over last years work, is still far
 from being ideal. She is as artificial as
 Mir SOthcrn is natural, and her enuncia- | ton is anything but clear cut. Still she offends less than formerly in these dircc- | tions, and hard work and winning per sonality may yet mako of her fair ac- trcss.
 | Rowland Blackstone, q usually excellent player, who has contributed some very
 unique bits to recent stage work, does
 ridiculous part in The Victoria Cross" | in suprcmcly ridiculous mauncr.
 shenandoah, ." the most successful war drama ever produced, has been revived at | the Academy of Music under the personal direction of the author, Bronson Howard, | who has polished up the always bright dialogue and thereby greatly improved his | already great play. Several spectacular | features have also been added in the way of horses and soldiers, all being introduced | logically. Tn" result has been that ''Shcn
 andoah" has caught on' with tue New
 York thcateT going public as fl mly as | when it was first seen in this city. Miss | OdCttC Tyler, the young woman who has | received untold columns of advertising ic | connection with her engagement to multi millionaire Howard Gould and the subsc- qucnt brraking off of the match. plays the | principal female character in sympa- | thctic but convincing manner. She makes an entrance on horseback and then does
 "a flying lcnp to the ground" Most leaps are of that character, but she docs 1t that
 way just the same. So says her press | agent
 Della Fox, tho very short cx-associate | of that very long comedian, De Wolf Hop
 per, is now tasting the sweets of being I full nedgCd and successful star. At the i Casino where she Is appcaring every night
 In 'The Little Trooper" m opcrctta which is the joint work of at least six men, that legend, Standing room only"
 that never fails to warm the cookies of
 tho coldest managerial heart, has been, | ngurativcly speaking, on exhibition every ! night since the opening. "Thc Little 1 Trooper" has only n little plot, but that | little Is very funny, and the best feature
 of the skit Is that its humor Is cvoly sd by | complications of situation, and thcro is no horse play. It is true that ono of the Ameri- | can adapters of tho librotto, Clay NJ. 1 Greene, hns pokcd n lot of up-to- date slang , in m affair, the action of which Is sup posed to pass early in the century, but he
 has also supplied much bright dialogue,
 so his contemporary vcrnacularity may be
 pardoncd. Tho music is light, but prct-
 ty, and the orchestration, presumably the
 work of w. w. Furst is nothing short of
 delightful. Tho finale of the second net Is
 beautiful, and as therc are several charm
 ing numbers besides 1t may bc said that
 "The Little Trooper" Is n decided success.
 Miss Fox's manager, MT. Nat Roth, is
 ono of those farsceing managers who do
 notfcar to surround their stars with caDable