The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1895-06-28
THE PRESS CLUB BENEFIT
A Good Performance at the
Columbia Theater YeSter-
day Afternoon.
FINE SOUVENIR PROGRAMME
Most OF the Companies From the
Local Theaters Lend Their
Aid.

The annual benefit performance of the
San Francisco Press Club at the Columbia
Theater yesterday afternoon was a success.
Every one pronounced it SO. The enter
taiDment was as good as it was varied. A
fashionable audience completely filled the
body OF the theater, and Manager Fried
lander. who had lent the newspaper men
his bonbon- box theater, exulted toward 4
o'clock in the fact that to within four min
utes the performance had run for the two
hours he had predicted for it.
Programmes are SO often snare and a
delusion that the audience was agreeably
surprised by the Press Clubs souvenir
programmes, which contained plenty of
pictures by local artists and pages of bright
reading matter, written for the occasion,
including full history of the San Fran
cisco Press Club.
The entertainment opened with the
overture to Verdi's "Nabucco," which was
played with crispness and expression by
an orchestra directed by the young Cali
fornia conductor, E. E. Schmitz. The
Frawley Company gave sample of its
quality in Brander Matthews playlet,
"The Picture" where Blanche Bates
plays the role of a fascinating widow
welded to- her husbands memory, and
where Charles w. King, as the widow S
physician, takes upon himself to tell her
enough truths about the dear deDarted to
make her renounce her iufatuation and
fling herself into Frawley's waiting arms.
The playlet was well acted, especially by
the widow and the doctor.
Nina Potter Gleason and W. L. Gleason
of Morosco's company put the audience
into d laughing humor by their spirited
Interpretation of "a Happy Pair" the
little comedy that shows how one down
trodden lady at least stood up for her
rights and got them. Miss Freda Gallick
recited 1.-The Confessional" tragic piece
that is dear to the hearts of all elocuition-
lists, and she infused all the required
amount of intensity into her work.
Henry Norman, who is at home spend
ing a summer vacation, was warmly well
coined when he appeared to sing the
"Infelice," from "Ernani." Another
singer who got q great reception was Dick
Jose, the counter-tenor from the Cali
fornia. His solos were rendered honestly
without falsetto or other tricky effect, and
the way in which he took his highest note
quite brought down the house. If the
tenor had gone on singing he might have
been recalled for the greater part OF the
afternoon, but at the end of the first encore
he intimated plainly, though pleasantly
withal, that he did not intend to respond
again.
In the performance of the double quar-
tet from 1.-The Old Homestead" Jose
showed himself to be generous in the mat
ter of encores. 1.-THE Bridge was followed
by "Sally in Our Alley" Mamie" and
SIN Old Madrid" and even then the
people would have liked to hear Jose's
quartet again, but they resisted another
encore.
The Orpheum had lent the two Ameri
can Macs and the Brothers Martinetti, one
of whom, by the way, is a little sister
| The acrobatic feats of the Martinettis
which are unusually skillful and graceful
were received with the warmest applause
The Macs also made plenty of laughter
Ferris Hartman and Oracle Plaisted were
to have appeared, but the volatile Ferris
had sprained his ankle and had to be ex-
cused.
The proceeds of yesterdays entertain
ment amounted to $1,000.