The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1896-03-11

5O~~N
out still another company. Then there
will be JEFF De Angels, who, predict,
will give Francis Wilson and De Wolf
Hopper close race for supremacy. Be
sides all these, there will be on the road
about a SCOTS of smaller organizations de-
voted to comic opera, stolen and otherwise,
SO that the lovers of light music will have
no Just cause for complaint during the
coming season.
High Prices of Admission.
Some time ago several of the first class
theaters of this city put up the prices of
orchestra chairs to 50. For short time
the innovation seemed to get along swim
mingly, but then thepublic rebelled. The
alter goers could not understand why they
should pay 50 to see company which
would go over to Brooklyn the following
week and present the same play in the
same manner at prices ranging from 81. so
down. The attendance began to fall away
slowly and now several of the houses have
gone back to the rate of 81 so, which, in
all conscience is high enough. 1t is an
open secret that most of the New York
city theaters do not pay, but that is no
affair of the public. If managers will
erect playhouses on land which is worth
more than building and ground together
should cost, that is their own lookout.
They want the f'New York Endorsement"
"a thing, by the way, which is rapidly
losing its value-and they must pay for 1t.
1t is manifestly unfair to expect their pa
irons to foot the bills for their foolish ex-
perimentation; hence the drop in prices in
most cases.
Popularity of Music Halls.
The popularity of music halls continues
undated Spurred on doubtless by the
great success of Hamfherstein's Olympia
and Roster & Bial's, another mammoth
resort of that sort is to be put up almost
directly opposite the latter on Thirty
fourth street. It is difficult to account for
the favor with which these places have
met on any other theory than that the peo-
pie patronize them primarily because they
are permitted to smoke and drink there,
and that the entertainment provided is but
a secondary consideration. 1t would also
appear to indicate that that portion of the
theater going public which prefers serious
dramatic effort is gradually becoming
smaller. This view is borne out somewhat
by the enormous takings of the continuous
performance houses. Then, too, on the
road, while the present season has been a
disastrous one for most dramatic COM
panies, those hybrid organizations which
dispense vulgarity under the cloak of bur-
lesque have never stumbled upon more
prosperous times. Scarcely one of these
affairs has failed to make money. The
result cannot, however, fail to be bene-
fetal, for next season the woods will be
full of them, and nearly all of them will
fail, whereat the genuine friends of the
drama will rejoice.
Gilbert and Sullivan Again.
The quarrels of Gilbert and Sullivan, or,
more correctly speaking, of Gilbert, are a
rather old story, but the doings of these
two marvellous compounders of comic
opera are always of interest. They have,
1 hear, nearly completed a work which
will be produced in London within a cou-
pie of months. If it should prove success
full in the British metropolis, it will be
brought to this country. Despite the fact
that Gilbert and Sullivan are working to-
gether again, it is said that they "neveI
speak as they pass by and that their sole
method of communication is through mu-
tua1 friend D'Oyly Carte If this be
true, it may prove a serious drawback to
the SUCCESS of the collaborators. Their
early works were wonders of satirical dia-
logue and melody. Sullivan's music never
failed to catch the exact spirit OF Gilbert s
libretto,. as witness 1.-THE Mikado, "Pa-
tience'' and f'Pinafore. That was be-
cause they were in perfect accord. Long
| distance or half hearted collaboration is
seldom productive of the best results and
utopia, Limited, " the latest joint effort
of these erstwhile inseparables, is shining
verifcation of the truth of that assertion.
A Rising Coincidence.
There is girl playing the role of an Eng.
lish page boy in Gentleman joe" at the
Bijou theater, in this city, who is certain
to make her mark in her chosen profession.
| She is Dorothy Usner, petite, winsome.
highly educated and exceedingly pretty
and vivacious ingenue who can also sing
She was born in St. Louis 20 pears ago
R