The San Francisco call., 1896-10-08
MIOWEEK THEATER NOTES
The Prisoner of Zenda" Has
Quite Captured Baldwin
Audiences.
!" Trilby" at the Columbia-A Pleasing
New Soubrette at the
Tivoli.

The Baldwin Theater could scarcely
have opened more auspiclously than 1t
has done with "The Prisoner of Zenda." I"
1t is play that interests most classes of
theater goers, its romantic side appeals to
people who like touch of poetry in their
theatrical amusements, and its stirring
melodramatic situations are racy enough
to keep the most blase attention engaged.
As to the performance little can be
added to the praise which was bestowed
on it after the opening night. James
Hackett Is young actor of remarkable
talent, who makes careful character
studies of each individual part in his
triple role. Isabel Irving is graceful,
sympathetic Princess; Flavia and the rest
of the cast are entirely satisfactory. The
large houses at the Baldwin show that
s'The Prisoner of Zenda" has caught on"
The audiences at the Alcazar are steadily in
creasing in size, as the performances merit that
they should. This week an interesting double
bill is presented and both the play and the
curtain-raiser are well acted and artlsticaliy
staged: Buckstone's farcical comedy, MAR
ried Life" is par ticularly well acted, all the
couples throwing themselves into their parts
with spirit and intelligence.
"Trilby'' is drawing good houses at the Co
lumbia Theater. The performance has not
changed much since the play was first pre-
sented here, in spite of the alterations in the
cast
Augustin Daly's adaptation from the Ger
man, 1.-The Big Bonanza" is providing plenty
of amusement for audiences at the Grand this
week. stockwell is in his element as the guile
less professor, who dabbles in stocks, and the
rest of the cast is III good hands.
"Satanella" is by no means novelty at the
Tivoli--indeed, the lady who demonstrated
the power of love is almost as good a standby
at the local home of opera as Balfe's "Old
Girl" of Bohemian notoriety herself
The cast this week is uneven The peopIe
who are good are very good and the people
who bad are horrid. Fortunately the
good largely predominant. Abramoff, who is
an artist to his fnger-tips, makes fine
demon King, and John J. Rafael and his
pirate band do themselves proud, particularly
in the scene on the seashore Elyira Crox
Seabrook, the new soubrette, acts with the
sprightliness and vim of her calling, and her
voice is OF ringing sweet quality, which is
rare indeed among ladies of the soubrette ner
suasion. 1t is safe to predict a suecessfn,
career for her at the Tivoli. The other parts
in "satanella" are satisfactorily taken. with
who played the latter role has all the trade
marks OF the amateur.
The Orpheum's bill this week is drawing
WELL as most of the Orpheum's bills do Ger,
tie Cochran, the memory child, is as great
wonder OF self possession as she is of memory.
Woe betide the unhappy spectator who sets a
catch question for this infant phenomenon
Tor judging from what she has already done
TINS week sne Will surely humble him in the
continues to delude people into the belief that
his feet are hands, and the rest of the per-
formance, though consisting of hold-oyers is
well worth hearing.