The morning times., 1896-10-13
EVERYTHING is COMEDY
Six Theaters Open With Plays Full
of Laugh.
Old Friends of Last
Season.

u mas much OF the FRESHNESS Oh new
Work.
1t is more over given vigor and natural
ness BY the appearance in the cast OF
neafiy ALI the iiayefs Who createu tile
principal roles. for " HON. in fact, the parts
We're written. IL IS quite superfiuQus then
to add that the cast was good. 1t is in
deed as perfect as MIR. Hoyt felt at the
time he could make it. In the present
instance all the scenery carried is made
from the patterns of the original, Worn
out from much hard usage
,onic The theme snn S Ao,s le.peranee n Tow is
at least, daring. he discusses the anti
saloon crusade and crusaders from the
point OF view Of the rum crowd" He
interprets the prohibitionists intentions
as well meant but lily directed. he makes
them prosecutors instead OF prosecutors.
In doing this Mr.. Hoyt summons to his aid
all the devices OF the skilled dranatist nat
he is. He makes a martyr of a saloon
keeper, d villain OF clergyman. a hero
OF the town drunkard. His moral Is that
the rum crowd is not all wrong and you
can't law a community into sobriety.
However, though ostensibly Conspicuous,
the moral ofithis play is really secundary
to its distinction as a character study.
With fine deno Iema nj he has dra wn a score
OF Well Distinguished types. They are all
interesting as components of more or
less truthful mirror of human nature.
George Richards appears as Mink Jones,
and Eugene Garfield as Bingo, parts writ
ten especially for them. 1here is con
genial reciprocity in the adaptabihty OF
parts. Richards has n well drawn char
acter and he keeps 1t well in hand. There
Is much too little of Garfield. With the
remembrance of how much more amusing
he has been with larger opportunities 10
seems as II there were considerable laughter
corked up.
George Ober makes the hit OF the play
as the nonogenarian, Uncle Joe Vial, 1.-THE
Oldest man i'll towu," and as the Judge with
his Treble but triumphant ''Ortier!'' ODer
has a fine conception OF characterization
4 q
careful observer that he makes the part.
Another tine piece Of comedy personatioB
is i'll the only two short speeches that gave
him opportunity rs the Squire Beicher
OF Herman A Shelden.
Others who played their parts with com
Ion as the village clergyman, John A. HOl-
land. who was much better than the obese
original John Worth; Conrad CantZen as
the hypocritical druggist, T.. F. Nagie as
The RUN seller. Frank a Lyon as the illage
physician. Gertrude Perry, who played Ruth.
as well as did Caruline Mlskei: Saliie
S,einber as Arabella. sweetheart to Eingo.
and Marie TART as Mary Jaue Jones, who
was IUol enough TO marry Mink
May Irwin opened for the week at the
La Fayette Square last night. The high
priesteSS OF Jollity thought, or her uan-
ager thought for her, that The Widow
Jones' might wear her weeds another sea
son. so she Comes back To us in the comedy.
which gave her fame and competency la ST
season. The house last night WIS well
filled with rs fine an audience as the
fair and neshy star has peeped at through
| the curtain hole in many a month. There
was a suspicion in the presence OF so many
| smart irocks Ind Tuxedos that society
| is embracing Miss Irwin
| The performance is substantially the
same as last year II is not easy TO dis
tinguish in the case of The Widow Jones"
| between the play, and the players in
| three acts-seem more of al entertainment
than comedy, for, disaSsociated from its
| specialties the book would show up sweet,
| but decidedly shorter. Personality is
| conspicuous factor in the happy results.
| The stage is crowded with characters, con-
| trastiDg people who all make measure
OF fun after individual methods.
| Miss Irwin returns as" same" as her play.
| She is fat, she is fair, AMI, IL she is patient,
she will some day he forty, thus rounding
| with ttigui!ied seniority Of the proveriial
| trinity OF rs" Though she is fun
| maker. sheis not to be taken lightly. May
| Irwin is n genuine comedienne- All that Is
| necessary is IA dTamatist to supply funny
| liues. II good memory and assurance. Miss
| irwin, on the contrary, makes points,
| she acts points out or her scenes which
| the author can only suggest and only a
| natural born comedienne can realize.
| To single instances OF congested enjoy
| ment II Is only necessary To recall the
| kiss that famous Kiss that has been
| vItasCuped, so convenient to have big
| mouth, YOU can kiss with one side and
| talk with the other: aud the numerous
songs and dances. n They They are darkey songs,
I
| two other favoriteS are retained and several
| new ones are introduced which apparently
possess the jingle to imprint them selves
| on the whistler's memory.
| In the Company are admirable Ada Lewis,
| the mannish woman. who acts with the
| Contained assurance of Chappie who
| knows he hasn't much in his cupola and
resents any attempt to let that little out
| and it's Il good point; john {. Rice as Billy
| Bike performs the positive pole OF the
kiss and other amusing incidentals in good
4 ttln tori ,grG
Jones, George W. barnum as u pyrptech
mic Frenchman- and Joseph NJ. sparks as
| an Irishman. made an uncOmmonly mirth-
| ful international tho: and, finally. sally Y
| Cohen ana a levy of girls do well their
parts, though Comparatiyely small.
| The FUN in The Widow Jones" is a CON
| the specialtles are as numerous as they
Gould well be without doing violence to
1.-The literature" Of the entertainment.
| Manager Allen has quite a good thing
this week for the GraDd Opera HOUSE in
"A Pair Of Jacks" This screaming
ON the bills. is by II. Grattan Donnelly.
| the author OF Natural Gas ana some
| other clever sketches.
| This particular pair OF Jacks was drawn
| some years ago for the end OF the Century
| demand for Just such dramatic material.
| There were prophecy and genius at the
conception. Washington likes it. as was
evidenced by the big crowd which greeted
! its first presentation here last night. TIE
| plot. which is the least part of it, is de-
| veloped through the Shakesperian dodge
| of the similarity of the DrOmios.
! The rest of it is warm stuff. light, effer
vescent. explosive. The text and the
| gags would make it brand new play
| 10 the people who laughed conSunedly at
| its comic features some years ago or other
! wise expressed. it has been brought down
4 TO date.
| In truth there are both n number of
| people aud a lot of things to be commended
| The cast is not overloaded with people
: who have nothing To do or say, aud, there
| fore, one expects all of them to be clever.
| Among these are Miss Jessie West songs
| Dances and sprightly action and speech;
| Charles Udell as one of the Jacks, ard
! George H Ricketts, rs the other: Sol. Aiken.
! u good comedian, with good topical songs:
/ Dave Andrada, who sings we'll, aud Alf
| Pearce who, by himself, and with Udcn
| gives an exceedingly bright quarter of AN
hour with straight and burlesque music.
| The girls are Just from the seminary.
Marion Gray. Julia Aiken, Nellie Biaach
| ard aud Nora Stanley. and are charming
| people. all OF them. The assurance of the
| merit of the play can be given i'll two
! extracts from the program 1t is hot
stuff, real thing, on the dead, TO say
nothing of Mr. Maun's original and catchy
| music.
The Rising Generation with the in
| imitable William Barry and good com
| pany, opened last night at the Aca DENY to n
| gratifying and apparently Well pleased
! audience Mr.. Barry as Martin McShane
presents a finish lied study or the lrisnman as
+, he exists in the great cities, and Mr.. William
! Gill, the author. has forIned character
| in an Irisbman suddenly ascending from
poverty TO affluence specially suited to Mr..
| Barry, and with the assistance OF twenty
| five or as clever people as Was litngiOn has
ever had oppor unity to see and hear, the
: story is carried along with Vim and Ga Sh
! delightful in the extreme.
Y Irfl al