The herald., 1896-11-02
! At THE THEHTERS ;
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BURBANK THEATER.-Never be-
fore has a play taken Los Angeles
so thoroughly by storm as has Town
Topics at the Burbank theater. From
the time the curtain goes up on the first
act until it drops at the close of the
play, there is one continuous Shrek of
laughter the pauses between the acts
being only long enough for breathing
spells. The success Of Sunday night
when fully 500 people were turned away
unable to even get standing room, will
be repeated all week, judging from the
advance sale and the public interest
that has been created, Town Topics will
pack the theater from the boxes to the
upper gallery each and every perform
ance including Wednesday and Satur-
day matinees.
There is nothing so altogether super
fetal and useless as a plot about Town
Topics, and one will be able to appreci-
ate each and every situation in the play
even though he should not see the cur
tain rise on the first act. The dialogues,
however, are witty, the jokes are new,
and the specialties cannot be excelled.
Each and every member of the company
has his or her use, and cannot be dis
pensed with, and they are all, individ-
ually and collectively, exceedingly clev-
er. w. S. Keller, as Hiram Quick, the
lay" who had money to burn" or to
get rid of in any old way convulsed the
audience from the time of his first ap-
pearance on the stage. He, with Will
lam Mack, as Willie Pay, executed some
exceedingly clever songs. Phil OFT, as
Willie Knott, and Joseph Harrington, as
McGiggles the detective, made one of
the hits of the play, If it is fair to as
sumo that any of the various specialties
were more of hit than the others. Mr..
OFT must have ridden many weary
mile in a "side door Pullman" in order
to get the tramp act down to such
stage of perfection.
John Queen, as the negro Cinch, did
many clever turns, but his best was the
wooden Indian, over which the house
went wild James Tenbrook, as the
Dutchman has the dialect and the pc
cuiarities of that sauerkraut and dun
derfunk- loving nation down to the finest
point. Beatrice Norman, as Della
Ware. and Nellie Sennett, as Mrs. Quick,
were enthusiastically received, and ev-
cry one of their specialties was APP
plauded to the echo. Miss Sennett fur
nished much of the fun of the play Miss
Norman's travesty on the modern
school of acting. assisted by Mr.. Ten
brook, was excellent, and Is one of the
cleverest things done here for many
years She has an extremely powerful
contralto voice, which was heard to
good advantage. The whirlWind dance,
by Misses Sennett, Heckler and Nu-
gent was admirably executed. Town
Topics will be at the Burbank theater
all the remainder of the week, 1nclud-
ing Wednesday and Saturday matinees.
Taken as an entirety, Town Topics
will rank with the best Of Hoyt's farce
comedies, and the people who make up
the company are fully up to the stand
ard of the excellent specialists who nave
been seen here in these farce comedles.
LOS ANGELES THEATER.-Th
Clement cambridge company Will pre-
sent Augustus Thomas dellghttul
southern play, Alabama, at the Los An
celes theater, commencing tonlght. Nir.
Thomas has furnished a strong afgu-
ment against the statement that the ma
tive born writer's do not lend themselves
10 the literature of the stage. American
people want plays that they can under
stard-plays that bring before them the
neople. the customs and the country
they know Foreign plays are built on
foreign ideas, conceived in foreign
spirit, and are out of sympathetic con-
nections with the American people. 1t
is in this Mr.. Thomas has made his sue
cess. He has given the people play
that they can understand: he has re-
epected their prejudices; he has been
true to American ideas. Alabama does
not abound in stirring scenes melo-
dramatic situations and declamatory
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