Evening journal., 1895-02-23
FOR CHARITY'S SAKE,
Splendid Production of Ben
Hur BY Local Talent.
FINE TABLEAUx, PRETTY DANCES

w. o. Clark's Rom sntfc Pantomime of
Ben Hur Presented Last Night for
the Benefit of the Delaware Hospital.
Beautiful Scenery and Gorgeous Co.'S
tames-The Patronessos.
From the time the curtain rose on the
hrst scene Of the meeting of the wise
men in the lonely desert to the Hnal
allSgory OF Iris's dream of the Nile, there
vas neither hitch nor hindrance to mar
the production Of Ben Hur last night. It
was g complete success large snd
fashionable audience, yet withal critical
one, was present, and every one compos
Ing 1t Joined In praise OF the excellence Of
the performance.
The most prominent incidents of
General Wallace's novel were selected
and presented in tableRu and pan tomime
In such quick succession that the story
was smoothly and connectedly told.
Handsome and elaborate scenery was
used, and the quaint costumes of nearly
1000 years ago looked gorgeous under
the glow of the gas and calcium lights
The various roles were delineated In
such excellent style that 1t would seem
useless to pArticularizs But those who
took the leading parts are deserving of
more than passing notice Augustus Ten
Weeges displayed no little talent In
depicting the character of Bon Hur !;
Henry 0. Conrad gave q fine i'm
personation of King Herod and
William Michael Byrne as Thord
WAS very clever Miss Mary Grant
Campbell gave an intensely dramatic
rendering Of the part of Iris, and Miss
Matilda Lambson made an attractive,
winning Esther Mrs W. r smalley as
the mother, and Miss Marguerite Binnex
as TifzAb, the sister Of Ben Hur, and
Mrs Dorsey Ash as Amrah, were excellent
H. v. Boots as Bslthszsr, G T. r Bates
as Melchoir and Willard Hall Porter as
Casper, the three Wise Men, were
specially good.
Mr.. Byrne also read the chariot race.
When he made his appeai auce he was
greeted with an applause that la ted
nearly five minutes he read Wallace's
thrilling description beautifully and was
again Applsuded to the echo 1t closed
with tableau, sho wing Ben Hur as the
winner
1t was the dancing, however, that was
the feature of the performance Every
once In 8 while the orchestra would
start a bewitchiDg dance MELODY and
then the audience would watch with
intentness a series OF difficult steps
given with ease and grace Then the
dancers would dance out, we'll deserving
the hearty applause which followed
them. They refused to respond to the
encores. The dance OF the spGites, by
Misses Ethel Palmer. Anna Sellers.
Annie Dickenson aud Harriet Pike, four
small girls, was particularly pretty.
Miss Florence Thomas. Of Washington,
and Miss Elsie Thomas. OF this city, IS
Queen OF the Butterflies ard Thalia
respectively. danced beautifully
The production which Is for the
benefit of the Della ware Hospital is under
the patronage OF Mia e T. Warner
Mrs Charles j. McIlvaine, Mrs a g
Morse, Mrs e T. Candy, Mrs !. Horace
Cause, Mrs d. w. Msull, Mrs II T.
Cause. Mrs Henry P. Scott, Mrs.
Levi G. Bird, Mrs. Linton Smith, Mrs
Edward 7. Bringhurst, Mrs. j. E. Smith,
Mrs. Walter d. Bush, Mrs William Lea,
Mrs. Willard Salisbury, Mrs ]. Dan
forth Bush. Mrs John p Wales, Mrs
Eugene Dupont, Mrs. Francis Dupont,
Mrs. James. A. Draper Mrs. Edwin
81. Gayley, Mrs a. B Thompson, Mrs
James H. Wilson. Mrs. j. p Winchester,
Mrs. George H. Bates, Mrs. Edward
Belts, Mrs. William Belts, Mrs Tilghman
Johnston, Mrs. John Bancroft, Mrs. James
Gray Kno wles, Mrs. Charles r. Miller,
Mrs j. Reed Mckay, Mrs. Andrew G.
Wilson, Mrs. Howard Pyls Mrs. A J..
Tireges, Mrs. William Walling. Miss
Spruance,
Is will be repeated again this and
Monday evening with matinee this
afternoon.