The Saint Paul globe., 1896-12-01
AT THE THEATERs.

Z
Anna Eva Fay armed with some alleged
occult power the exact nature Of which her
pliis 90 not make clear, and assisted by
several otheF3 persons, each with his or her
own specially, opened weeks engagement
at the Market hall last night to an audience
OF generous Proportions and 1t is safe to
predict that the mystery surrounding the
1eats darkiy hinted at as being in the reper-
tore would prove strong magnet even II
tney were not supplemented by the work of
the other entertainers. The Introduction of
the English Manikins, for example, was in
tensely ysaand made distinct hit with
the audience. F
MISS Fay was of course the star of the
evening" and' abetted by Mr.. Pingree, went
through number Of tricks, some of which
were old friends, IL cleverly done, while in
several instances the illusion was far from
complete. The lady, with commendable mod
esty, wishes it understood that the results
produced, while weird and bewildering" are
out the results of forces and means en-
pioyed, and although not at present thor
ougniy understood by the mass Of people are
perfectly natural, and may at some future
time be utilized by scientific workers.
Mr. Pingree, the ringmaster, with conven-
tional manners and glib speech, placed Miss
Fay in the inevitable cabinet securely tied
by three gentlemen from the audience, and
during her stay there bells were rung, tam
bourines shaken and guitars twanged in the
dear old familiar way.
The forbidding- looking hand was made to
respond by rapping the same old glass
plate to questions from the audience, and
MISS Fay after being securely fastened in
What looked like vapor bath affair, bor-
rowed 1aekknife of one of the committee
and straightway loosened her bonds, to the
great satisfaction of the mystified spectators.
The Manikins, previously stated, were
a great success
Fhese tiny figures were made to appear in
the orchestra, in the boxes and on the stage
OF miniature theater, and perform all man
ner OF ludricrous antics. Acrobats, minstrels,
dancers and skeletons gamboled about to the
music of the manikin orchestra until the aud
fence was conyulsed.
Neil Litchfeld added not a little to the
evening with a series of limitations of odd
foik which he furnished with the aid of
wigs and costumes. Stella Miller -Litchfeld
gave several violin numbers.
Miss Fay brought the programme to
close with her t'Somnolency which purports
to be a hypnotic trance into which she drifts,
and during which she sees all sorts of
things that are Coming off,
Clad in a gorgeous ermine costume and
face she agreed, through her Mr.. Pingree, to
read questions written on paper by persons
in the audience and further than that to
give their names, and incidentally answer
the questions.s9
The thing was an Indifferent success, ow-
ing, as Mr.. Pingree explained, to the fact
that Miss Fay was not in sympathy with
her audience.CJ =
Whether it was the kissing of the radiators,
the din of passing electric cars, the changing
of the fire bell, or all combined, that created
the confusion, it is difficult to say, but al
though q number of names were called, and
some responded to, Miss Fay mostly kept
marrying young people off in three months,
or offering them positions before the first of
the year, or advising them not to sell por-
tions of mines for $4,000, until finally po-
litical query prcpounded by Mr. Wilbur or
Willis or Williams or somebody-she not
sure which-caused her-probably on account
of the illegible hand in which is was penRed-
to see nothing about her but darkness, and
the performance was at end. The aud
fence was patient and persevering, and want
ed to see some familiar face show signs of
having received wished-for news, but it
was not to be. But most of the audience was
mystified and all of it was entertained.
The operatic comedy, ''Dorcas," at the
Metropolitan opera house last night scored
a repetition of the hit made on the opening
performance. The play and company have
made most favorable impression, and their
business increases with each performance.
popular price matinee will be given to-
morrow afternoon, and 'Dorcas will be
seen for the farewell performance Wednes-
day evening.
TocoDb Murnhv tha fonoouc int of
Irish character. will open an engagement of
four nights and Saturday matinee at the
Metropolitan opera house Thursday evening,
in "Shaun Rhue''
''The Dazzler' with its wit and jollity,
drew another large sized audience at the
Grand last evening. In its reconstructed
shape, this farce furnishes excellent enter
tainment. Tomorrow at 2:30 a popular priced
matinee will be given.
1.-The Girl I left Behind Me- will be the
attraction at the Grand the coming week.