St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-03-05
At THE THEATERS.

Metropolitan opera house last night
a comedy in three acts entitled, Lost
-Twenty-four Hours It is the
work Of w. A. Tremayne and Logan
Fuller. In it's present shape it can
not be classified under any one de-
partment of the drama. True, it
partakes more of the farce than of
anything else. In fact it is farce
until just before the curtain falls
on the second act. Then, without
the slightest premonitory warning,
in fact with startling abruptnesS, we
behold the good-natured friend Of
the hero making love in dead ear
nest to the hero's wife. To heighten
the effect the hero discovers him in
the act and the curtain descends
upon a melodramatic climax good
enough in it's place, but entirely out
of harmony with all that has pre-
ceded and a dampener to all that
follows. This episode can be easily
disposed of by simply emitting it,
and the play will be much the gamer,
even if nothing is substituted. Aside
1lOl1l lliio OllS olSCOIu lIlti IlluCH
to commend in "Lost-Twenty-fou
Hours" 1t introduces some quaint
and original characters, notably the
theological student, the serious wild
ow and her daughter and the house
| maid. The dramatistS have bestowed
their most successful efforts in draw
ing the character of Mrs. Dacre, the
odUanfI1rncc To ho fhQra ic
much scope for the exercise of origi-
nality in creating an adventures
who figures simply in a farce, but in
| Mrs. Dacre the authors have more
than outlined an interesting woman.
AdventuresSes ARE nearly always
more interesting than innocent wom-
en-that is in plays and bookS-for
the latter are too apt to be pictured
in colorlesS light, and the result is
| nothing but a namby-pamby Great
ure, whom we complacently tolerate
because she is harmless. Consider
| ing that it was first performance,
Miss Adelaide Fitsallen merits praise
| for her admirable delineation of this
! character. She maintained COM
mendable repose, exhibited no traces
of self-consciousness, and acted with
surprising spontaneity under the cir
| cumStanceS.
Mr.. billiards. character, that of 'a
man about town. is bright but con-
ventional. 1t is not notably distin-
guished from that of any man about
| town, for instance Medford in 1.-The
| Nominee" That Mr.. Hilliard playedi it
we'll it is scarcely necessary to say.
! He was thoroughly at ease in the role,
always alert, spontaneous and never
affected or theatrical. There is a
| wholesome naturalness about Mr. Hill
| liard's acting in roles of this character
! that at once wins his audience. He
| was suffering with a severe hoarse-
ness, but he succeeded in finishing his
performance before he lost his voice.
| The theological student, David Swift,
who is the brother of Richard Swift,
| the man about town. is one of the
amusing characters that distinguish
the play. His speeches are not marked
! by excessive refinement or unusual
! cleverness. They are simply odd,
| though at times rather commonplace.
The skill in handling this character
appears rather in the times selected
|
unexpected, and the results are al
ways amusing. David is in a fearful
state of mind His brother has an
| adventures under the same roof with
his wife, She had called to see Dick
the very day that Dicks wife returned
! from a visit of some four weeks du-
! ration. She arrived just in time to
! see Mrs Dacre kiss her husband.
| albeit against his will, for he had
| dropped her before he married. An
| Immediate eXplana ton is demanded, so
| Dick introduces Mrs. Dacre to his wife
as his sister, who many years ago had
! estranged herself from his family by
! marrying an unworthy man. David
! knows this is an awful lie, but his
| brother implores him to keep his mouth
| shut David suffers untold fortunes
! in consequence. He is compelled to
introduce Mrs. Dacre to Mrs. Church
| ill, the religious widow, and to her
| daughter Mary, who wears SpectacleS
| and echoes her mother, and whom
! David loves in his pious and spiritual
| fashion. Theodore Babcock must be
| commended for his excellent imper
sonation of a peculiar character to
say the least. He contributed much
| to the amusing features of the per-
| Torrance.
The title of the play, "Lost-24
Hours is not especially significant.
| 1t is true that Dick Swift has slept
from Sunday night till Tuesday morn
| ing as the result of mammoth jag,
and labors under the delusion that
| Tuesday is Monday and so miscalcu-
lates the date on which his note to a
pawnbroker falls due, as well as the
expected return home OF his wife. The
| incident only serves to introduce a
villainouS pawnbroker, who proves to
be the husband of the adventures, and
who could be left out of the play alto
| gether much to it's advantage The
| character of Adolphus Smiley in it's
present form should also be eliminated,
and portions of the last act rewritten.
The performance was preceded by
that tender and delicate curtain
raiser 1.-THE Littlest Girl which held
the audience spell-bound in admira-
ton and sympathy.
The house was very large.
One of the greatest successes scored
| in the annals of amusement circles is
| RiceS Surprise Party in the big oper-
attic extravaganza, ''1492,'' which will
be presented at the Metropolitan for
one week, commencing March TO- 1t
is from the pen of Messrs. Barnett and
PHeuger, and teens with witticisms,
while it's music is of a catchy and
| brilliant order. This extravaganza has
enjoyed the uneQualed distinction OF
three years continuous run in New
| YORK and two years in Boston. The
company numbers sixty people, in
Guiding its own orchestra, and is under
the personal direction of E. E. Rice,
who brought 'Evangeline'' and "Adon-
is into such fame 1t will be present
ed here in its mammoth entirety, which
includes carload of scenic, mechan>
ical and electrical effects.
| Belle Stewart, playing at the Grand
this week, is the most entertainine
feature of ''Duffy's Blunders." She
is not advertised as a star, but She
ought to be, for she knows how to en-,
terrain and hold an audience better
than either Ferguson or Pagan, who
are featured. This in no wise de,