The record-union., 1896-04-12

Walter Hodges. The troupe is thor
oughly capable one, very earnest
body of players, and is striving to de-
serve the commentator of the people.
When it is considered that whatever
maintenance the troupe gets after half
of the income goes to the Opera-house
Manager. must come out Of the net of
10, 20 and 80 cent admission fees, it
must be conceded that there is close
shaving and that the public has not
the right to expect the highest grade
of ability, or that it can keep the house
open with empty benches. A stock
company is a vastly different concern
from a troupe trained and selected for
q single play with which to take the
road, as most companies now are. A
stock company must be Of even ability.
Its people must be able to fill many lines
of character. They must be equal to a
great variety Of changes. Their ver-
satility must be of the very highest
order and broadest capacity. Really,
then, the work of the stock company
is more difficult than that of any other,
and it is harder still when the COM
pany is located permanently, or for a
season of months, in a comparatively
small community. We ought to be ex-
Hodges Clunie Opera-house Company,
as we'll as very liberal But then, as to
ability, it calls for no charity, since it
is all around superior. The house
ought to remain open all season. Cheap
entertainment Is what a great mass of
the people want and need, and that
alone can they afford. The plays at
the C1unie have always under the stock
plan of the last four years been clean,
we believe, with perhaps an exception
or two when something a little broad
has been tolerated. But on the whole
the pieces produced have been whole
some and have gratified the attendants
at that house Mr.. Hodges intends to
produce nothing, he says, that will not
meet the better tastes, conserve good
morals and have an elevating influence
upon his profession. May he find sue
cess in that endeavor.
Why the owner of the house
does not put some life and color into the
interior of that place of amusement is
puzzle. OF course it would cost some
thing, and of course he would get no
more rent. But he could do the patrons
a world Of good by making their even
deed, come to think of it, he would
after all insure better income, because
the more attractive the house the bet
ter its patronage is likely to be, and
therefore the more certain the tehure
of the lease. What General Clunie ought
to do is this, resolve to expend a cool
thousand in making these changes,
namely: Blotting out the dismal black
and apology for gold and substituting g
light, soft, warm and inviting tint
with appropriate relief for all the wood
work. Embellish the proscenium arch
so as to make it a fitting frame for the
dramatic picture; make the drop cur
tain artistic and restful for the eye;
correct the dome so that ventilation
may have dome exits without the pos
sibility of downward draughts or need
to open windows and thus make cross
draughts. A thousand dollars would
do the whole job, and transform the
cofffn-1ike Opera-house, with its fun
ereal garb, into a thing of beauty.
FRANKIE Mayo will appear in Sacra-
mento on the Oath and 25th insts., in a
dramatization of Mark Twain's story
'Pudd'nhead Wilson" When we read
Twain's story two years ago as a serial
we saw in it fine dramatic possibilities
These Mayo has evidently brought out
for the San Francisco Cali says of the
production of the piece in that city:
Frank Mayo has found his role and
"Pudd'n 'nhead WILSON, is it's name. II
hardly sounds romantic, but 1t is a part
which calls for certain lights and shades
of expression and intonation which
constitute the very refinement of the
phrasing of acting. These touches OF
high art Mr.. Mayo manages to employ
with SO mastery an ability as to rem
der fascinating and absorbing a role
which In other hands would be farcical
or tiresome. His droll remarks, couched
in classic barristerial phrase, and his
heroic patience during the quarter OF
a century which he spends waiting fol-
his first client, are only equaled by the
eloquence and regal manliness which
Pudd'nhead develops when the long
awaited client comes, and with him the
chance of the heros lifetime.
The play deals, as those know who
have read Mark Twain's delightful
book, with Southern life in ante-bellun
days, and nothing could be more artis-
tic than the costumes worn by the mem
bers of the cast. Dowdy and fantastic
enough they seem, but they are his
torically correct. The bristling shirt
frill. the antiquated stock, the broad
sweeping train and the cumbrous erin
oline fit in charmingly with the broad
dialect yet heard in some of the out-of-
the-way places down South" render
ing the play peculiarly interesting and
satisfying study in American history
The scenery is particularly deserving
of mention, the arrangement of 'Dris-
coils yard" in the prologue and the frs
act and Of Wilson's ruined mill in the
second being specially artistic. The
house was crowded last night, and every
indication points to a most successful
run
Joe Haworth told this story on him
self: I was engaged few years age
to play Orlando in "As You Like It. a.
Pittsburg, Pa. 1t was an open-air per
formance by moonlight. Rose Coghlar
was the Rosalind and William Null
doom the Wrestler. My mother re.
ceived the communication, which came
by wire and as usual opened the en-.
velope She had associated Muldoor
with Sullivan by reading the daily pa.
pers, and became very much con.
cerned upon reading: William Mul.
doom will wrestle with you in Pitts
burg" She rushed to my sisters home
about three blocks away, and said
What do you think? Our Joe is going
to fight John L. Sullivan" and sh,
nervously thrust the dispatch into my
sisters hand OF course my sister a
once discovered the mistake and ex
plained IL To nv mother