St. Paul daily globe., 1894-06-19
AT THE THEArERs.
"Unc,o Tom" at the Grand

A weli-written story well told, nj
matter bow thread0are, is always ac-
| ceptable. There can he no doubt that
""Uncls TOMS Cabin''is both the former
and the latter of these hypOtheses, and
last night proved that tho William
Morris company is capable Of telling it
we'll.
Their production of this play Is very
elaborate: in feet, by far more elaborate
than any they have yet attempted.
There are nineteen scenes, to say moth
Ing of the beautiful daring Apotheosis,
In Mr.. Morris version. almost all of
winch are set with special and costly
scenery. Mr.. Morris makes the most
OF the character OF George Harris. and
such an expression IN itself gives liberal
allowance for fine acting. since so many
eminent actors have tried their hands at
this difficult part. His work anu that of
Miss Bradley was commendabIe, and
her climax i'll the river scene we'll sus.
tained
Uncle Tom, of course the most am
Dltlous part, was given to Ben Johnson,
and the sequel showed that there was
no mlsplacing of confidence. He was
simply elegant, using his splendid
voice with telling effect. never for one
moment forgetting himself either by
word or gesture.
Iopsy, ever bright and che erful,
coming, in one sense, as a relief from
the sadder parts of the play. has rarely
mad SO charming an exponent as Eta
Hawkins. Even those accustomed to
this bright little lady never gave her
credit for such versatility as she has
displayed in this, the first three weeks
OF her st. Paul engagement 10 use
contradictory but expressive term. she
was immense. and her amusing abilities
were seldom if ever shown to better adj
vantage than in this unique character
who ''growed." In the last act she sang
"Ihe Wedding of the Lily and the
Rose" accompanying herself with
neat little dance. She got a well de-
served encore.
In this connection the work of the
darky jubilee singers, dancers and
musicians in this same act was excep-
tionally pleasing. They were the hit
of the evening. especially the quartette,
happy way.
Maurice Freeman is born villain on
the stage. and his acting as Legree far
outclaSses anything he has yet at
tempted. Herschell Mayall, Hudson
Liston and j. j. Collins did well, Mr..
Llston. as usual, furnishing the comedy.
Louis LIE Bey and Basil Burwell were
fair.
OF the ladies, the two already men,
toned had the only two feminine parts
of any Importance. However, Carrie
Strong did nobly as Aunt Opheiia. while
Ruth Russell and Frances Whitehouse
acted in creditable manner. Last but
| by no means least comes little
Helen Thill. Although the con-
ventional Eva is blond, yet
this bright little girl made up in every
way for her brunette tresses. Her
| singing was sweet and clear and she
carried off the touching death scene in
way that brought tears to the eyes of
the audience. On the whole it is
| doubtful it a better production of this
immortal story has ever been given in
ST. Paul.
The great merit of the Columbian
Comic Opera company is now becoming
| thoroughly appreciated by the amuse-
ment seekers of this city. Another
large and brilliant audience witnessed
their performance last evening at the
Metropolitan opera house of the "Bo-
hemian Girl" and they have again
scored the same success in this opera
that they did in the two previous operas,
1.-The Black Hussar" and "Said Pasha."
Bohemian Girl" will be presented
throughout this week, including the
usual matinees tomorrow and Saturday.
The matinees this week will no doubt
be literally patronized. as the schools
are now closed and the children will
have all opportunity to attend and hear
this grand musical organization for 25