The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-10-19
" CLEOPATRA" AGAIN.
Beautiful Scenery but the Playing
Unsatisfactory.
SHAKESPERIAE VERSION OF THE PLAY

IonSh.
George Vessels who played Enobar.
bus in Lillian Lewis "Cleopatra" last
night, was the best actor in the company.
Mr Vessels can read Shakesperiau lines
with effect. His acting was very good
indeed.
Miss Lewis is not good Cleopatra
She Is too artificial. She rants too much
if one may say il. While she affecs to
scorn suppressed emotion, little more
suppression would have improved her
emotional scenes. She IS far better in the
French plays which she presented some
years ago.
Nearly all the men in the cast includ-
ing Edmund Collier himself were given
to the Frank G. Bangs kind of stage
actin" Everything was said 10 be heard
twU blocks; or perhaps one block cou-
sidering that cur Topeka blocks are
pretty long. Does anyone suppose that
the ancient Romans talked that way al!
the time? Did they never drop their
voices and speak like sane. human
beings or did they all stand about in stat
uesdue attitudes with arms fo-dei high
and sDs u; 10 each other by the hour IN
stilted and high flown language. No
wonder Rome fell. Il is surprising the
barbaFians heid on so long.
II must DG CD1C54GQ L4Adt 1HJlA al 9teJ
with their growls and sncrts are bore.
Better actors might have made this Cleo
patra more entertaining. but 1t Is doubt
fui All uctjrs portray Shakesperian
drama alike is being crowded out OF
the theaters. People do not like blank
verse en- the stage.
The play last night was handsomely
staged The scenery wa3 pretty, but not
equal to Fanny D4venporl's. The dane
= Ef,f
their dancing was crude Women in
scant costumes caDering awkwardiy
about the stage, impresses the average
beholder as being ludcrous. Poor lhings;
il is q great pity thar they have TO earn
their living that way II they could only
dance gracefully they might be forgiven.
Most of these 'corypnees' are picked UP
as young girls among the poor II New
York and Chicago Dancing on the stage
at $40 week and expenses is perhaps
better than working in a shop or hotel
Both Lillian Lewis and Edmund Col
lier used TO play with John Mccullough,
The tragedian. They have some trIDkets
of the great actor. They think there
was no one like Mccullough
This belt which I wear used to en-
circle his neck when he played Richard
III1 said Miss Lewis last night. Where
our discomfort you know. He gave it TO
Mr. Collier and he gave it TO ne. l
wouldn't take anything for it. The
Roman helmet which Mr.. Collier wears
in the fourth act was given to him by
Mccullough and 1t was the only helmet
he ever owned. He wore it for fifteen
years in every part that required
helmet"
The chain which Miss Lewis uses as
ho1< ob !,
IN Richard Ill, is just such one as
one might imagine surrounded by a host
of associations. The links are bent and
battered and have a decided brassy wor
appearance. Each link contains q fat
oblong stone, some blue, some am Der
and some other coiors.
DO you want to see some Of my
dresses?" said Miss Lewis. "lhis one l
have on. my third act dress, cost $40 i
yard. 1t was part of the French ex-
hibit at the Worlds fair. You will notice
that all of our dresses have aprons, soma
short and some long. This was an indi-
cation of rank in Egypt in the time OF
Cleopatra. The longer the apron, the
higher the rank. 1 read up on this play
thoroughly before l began producing it.
The figures on this cape are historically
correct. There are the asps and all.
Not many people know that Cleopa-
Ira VI d. me lAOhuEL Oh lLLGe C4llOEBU ny
Mare Antony and one by julius Caesar.
but lis d historical fact which I discoy
cred in reading upon the play
Il suppose you heard about the snake
biting me the first OF the season You
didn'.? Well, I suppose it was news
paper fiction more than ANYTHING else.
All Cleopatras have to be bitten by their
snakes. of course. l bay mine from the
elevator boys They get these little gar
ter snakes and give them quarter for
three
1t is doubtful if Miss Lewis ever saw 4
garter snake. This is one of her jok ga.
"Yes. have a cold this evening. One
can't keep from taking cold oa the stage
in playing one night stands. One opera
house is heated very warm and the nexg
night the stage is cold, We will play
Cleopatra twenty-four weeks and then
put On 'Hindah' in New York with a
special cast.
"Allow me to introduce my brother
William La Monte. He has been with
me seven years. You can see that ne
plays Enos, the old man.
''Do you know that the barefoot ballet
is nearly over before people discover
that the girls are really barefoog. Peo-
pie think that they have On flesh tights,
but they haven't a thing on their feet.
The girls make up their feet just as tn y
do their hands,
Miss Lewis is her own stage manager
II way. She is very severe. Last night
she took her musical director to task in Z
sharp dialogue because he had put back
song in the production without her or
ders.
Edmund Collier is a large, pleasant
man. He is older than he looks on the
stage, being Al. 0Ir. Collier was for e
long time the leading man for John Nj C
Cullough, and left him only shortly be-
fore his final collapse.
Il can't imagine his going off the way
he did, can't imagine it, he said Iael
night. "He always seemed to have sncf
a strong mind. He was more like ;
father 10 me than anything. I was with
him so long. l could say ANYTHING
wanted 10 TO him and he never took OF.
Tense.
IL remember the first time noticed