The herald., 1896-09-08
AT THE THEATERS

sense farcical and for French farce
has been wonderfully expugated. There
are, however, some traces of the sugges-
tiveness of the original. but it is by no
means as wicked as Wycherly's and
neither also, is it as sparkling and
sprightly as Sheridan or Moliere. The
world will tolerate wickedneSS when 1t
is witty-but to return to the text.-The
Gay Parisians cannot be considered SER
iously; there is a grotesque combination
of circumstances strung together, much
in the manner that old Cazauran was
accustomed to patch together odds and
ends of antique German farces. The
method gives a bizarre effect, but
the elements of fun as contradis-
tinguished from humor are there,
and the audience made the most of 1t.
The serious point Of view in such pro-
ductions is the fact that such an eX-
cellent company of players must per-
force be held down to the flippant little
ness of an emasculated farce whose
chief merit in the original is it's genuine
Gallic wickedness. But we are not dis
posed to be hypercritical when it is
borne in mind that the acting profession
just now is wandering in the wilderness
under the guidance of a modern Moses
and Aaron.
The cherished stage traditions, the
play of art and the subtle fiavors of
of ladies and gentlemen like Sadie Mar
tinot and Mr.. Ferguson, and their work
last night lent dignity and force
to the pettiness of puny parts. A
wonderfully winsome stage presence.
and superb physical charms that have
always impelled the warm admiration
Of our audiences. are united in this ac-
tress with high artistic temperament
and Sadie Martinot is the sort of player
of mi cjQf fa
with such roles as Lady Teazle and
Lady Gay Spanker. AS Marcella she was
q most charming and engaging woman
and an admirable stage picture rounded
on the best lines of the players calling.
Mr.. Ferguson too, stands out promi-
nently by reason of his mastery of the
ethics of acting. Much of the story is
told in his facial play and the instinct
i've eioquence of a gesture. Mr. Fergu-
son is swiftly realizing all fair promises
for great pre-eminence in the more
severe standards of comedy Mrs. Phil
lips gave us a finished presentment of
La Femme Terrible, as masterful
woman who dominates her husband and
Mr.. Wells as Paillaud, and Mr.. Bar
rows as Matthew both were most ade-
quately~ competent to grapple with the
roles. Miss Gordan as Victorine made
chic soubrette, and Mr.. Shirley's Max
ime gave her most engaging foil. The
remainder of the cast are competent
and acceptable. Doubtless the excel
lence of the company will keep the Los
Angeles theater crowded during their
engagement
notwithstanding room only was
an uncomfortable reality at the popu-
lar vaudeville house last night. Not
seat was left vacant from the parquet
to the capacious gallery, and people
stood in long rows about the auditorium.
The new bill was given decidedly
charming inaugura ton by the two beau
tiful Mullen sisters, who rendered a num-
ber Of cornet duets with exquisite ef-
feet The solo work of Miss May Null
len was particularly rich in coloring and
pure in tone. The sisters have a quiet,
well-bred appearance, different from the
usual thing in variety; their manner
is refreshingly modest and sweet, and
their music-it is perfect. Nothing of
the kind that has been given at the
Orpheum in a long while has met with
such a warm reception and so deserv-
edly.
Trilby up to-date would be an appro-
pirate name for the exceedingly clever
turn next introduced by Mildred and
Sidney de Gray. Trilby turned out to
be bewitching Oriental dancer and
Svengali himself sang Ben Bolt but
the unexpected combination only made
the act all the more enjoyable, and moth
ing could have detracted from the splen-
did singing of Sidney de Gray. He will
be remembered as the popular baritone
soloist of The Trip to Chinatown COM
pany who made such a capital hit here
some time ago. Mildred is the same
captivating, shapely danseuse who made
New York wild with her Trilby dance a
year ago. Charming in face and figure
and graceful to degree, she formed the
most bewildering vision of life and love-
liness as she disported her charms in the
graceful Persian dance. Mildred is per-
fection when it comes to dancing, and
the house decided that point unanimous
ly by the most deafening and prolonged
applause. The de Grays caught on
wonderfully from the start and held
their own all the way through their
turn. They are both artists of the right
kind.
Biondi next made his appearance. His
reception showed that this was not his
first week here. The house rang with
great shout of applause, and when it
died away Biondi's italian voice could
be heard with his pleasing broken En-
glish, TANK you, me good ladies and
gentlemen" Then came his marvellous
one-man opera, Scandal in a Restaur-
ant. In it Biondi played the roles of
seven different characters, all with the
utmost exactness of detail and the most
wonderful lightning changes. Biondi'S
transformations are perfect and almost
instantaneous. His singing and acting
display the greatest versatility and his
entire act is wonderful. 1t is more than
clever, and might better be spoken of
as marvellous. He dons the costume and
assumes the manner of the outraged
wife with as much ease as he does that
of the truant husband or the hospitable
landlord. The opera is worked up
cleverly to permit of his playing every
role in a ra tional manner so that it seems
actually taking the different parts, and
it only requires the inimitable Biondi
with his versatile genius to make the
deception complete.
Not the least enjoyable feature of the
show was the musical turn furnished
py Mons. Il. A. Maginel with his tuneful
saxophone. He made the queer instru-
ment fairly breathe forth melody. Ma
ginel was formerly a solist in the IA
nous Gilmore and Liberati bands. He
is an accomplished musician, and his
contribution to the program was a
splendid treat.
Favor and Sinclair came on with a
breezy whirl which they kept up all the
way through their novel turn. Favor
is an old time faVorite dialect comedi-
an, and he maintained his reputation
well last night. His singing of the song,
Girl Wanted, kept the house in an up
roar, and he was forced to respond to
half dozen encores.