Evening star., 1896-10-06
AMUSEMENTS.

traction Of the first presentation here Of
Sousa's opera, Eel CAPTAIN" interpreted by
Hopper, and an excellent company Of sing
ers and actors, it is not strange that the
Lafayette Square Opera House was crowd
ed last night. Eel Captain deserves the
success it has had in New York and else
where. for the music is tuneful and catchy
and the book is bright and witty. Mr..
Chas. Klein, who wrote the libretto, evil
IDENTIFY intended 1t to fit Mr.. Hopper So far
as the leading character is conc erned. he
accomplished his purpose perfectly. The
Don Errico Mediguas, who masQuerades as
Ell Captain. the notable warrior, will be
closely Identified with Hopper's success
the oriental Wang, and the opera will make
fully as much money. This, however is
not the only good character in the opera,
1or Mrs. Edna Wallace Hopper, Miss Neila
Bergen. Miss Alice Hosmer Mr. Alfred
Klein and Edmund Stanley all have good
parts, which they fill splendidly. The mu-
sic Is characteristic of Mr.. Sousa's work,
much of it being in march time and the
now familiar Ell Captain March," WITH
enthusiasm than has been witnessed in a
washington play house in long time. AS
matter Of fact. the applause was very
general all through the evening, and en-
Ell Captain Song and the funny song 1.-The
Typical Tune of Zanzibar" were two of the
pronounced hits. Mr.. Sousa has however
written three numbers in the opera that
deserve mention for their musiciany treat
nent. These are the solo for soprano in
the first act. the quartet in the second, and
the soprano and tenor duet in the last act
Miss Bergen has a soprano voice of clear
tone and much power, and Mr.. Stanlev's
tenor is of good and effective quality. Miss
Ailce Hosmer, as the princess, does some
tS,et tAceleht work as does also Mr. Alfred
Nieln as the prime minister. Both aid Mr.
topper very materially in the fun-making.
The opera is plendidly staged and richly
costumed. and the chorus is large and ef-
lecl,Ne. Manager Stevens has given this
work really sumptuous setting and 1t is
expected that last nights audience, so far
as size and enthusiasm goes Will be dupli-
Gated every night this week
Grand Opera House.-Every seat in .he
gallery at the Grand Opera House last even
ing held an occupant. Standing room only
was the order In the dress circle while the
empty chairs on the lower floor could be
quickly enumerated. The gallery was Wild
ly enthusiastic. the dress circle appIauded
NoclferouSiy and the lower floor was un-
usually generous in attesting it's apprecia-
tion or "A Lions Heart" from the rise of
the curtain until after its final descent
shortly before II 80 o'clock "A Lions
Heart Is melodrama of the most pro-
nounced type and as a meodrama it is $
excellent in every particular any seen
mere IN years. a most concentrated type OF
revenge Is the striking feature of "A Lions
Heart. The play is preceded by pro-
logue, which is feature in itself The
stage Is set TO represent the dressing tent
N the picturesque costumes incidental 20 a
big show. The main tent is supposed to ad-
JON the dressing incloSure, and waves of
applause, the music of typical circus band
ana the frenzied roar of wild beasts are
produced in a manner certainly realistic
Four acts follow the prologue and they are
marked by murders. duels, scutfles end
hurglaries in such rapid succession as to
cause the gallery gods to fairly howl with
delight. Carl Haswn as Ricardo and Mrs
Haswm as Marion are the hero and heroine,
| and they interpreted their respective roles
| IN Il thoroughly artistic manner Robert
Paton Gibbs. as Depro, portrayed villain
| OF the most accomplished description and
| the fact that he was roundly hissed by the
spectators Is sufficient compliment for his
| eHortS. Harry l.. keane and Edith NaSsctt
| Ilton, as young married couple. fur
| nished the comedy portion of the perform
| arce All the other characters were well
| handled.
| New National Theater - Miss Lewis
| performance in AN Innocent Sinner
last night was one which only DELHI
| crate irsince-ity could commend. There
| Is lack of definite form and pur-
| pose III the play, which is reflected in Miss
| the Fart seems to be strictly ingenue and
| in an instant she rlunges from a speech
| worthy of merry little mountain maid
| into a defamation which sounds like a
| speech at ratification meeting. The story
| is one of self-abnegation: but there is no
| II c:dent in the piece more heroic than the
| double confession in the program. where
| Miss Lewis assumes responsibility for the
| performance of the leading role and for i,
| share in the authorship. Mr.. Lawrence
| Marston also wrote some of the piece 1t
! evidences a remarkable literary digestion.
| Several of the noteworthy dramatic sue
| cesses have been assimiated. There are
| scme good situations. but the climaxes
| come hit or miss. and the attempts at
| hUmor are crude. The members of the
company give the impression now and then
!
| the action of the play requires them, but
| because they have to earn their salaries.
This shows good discipline. but it is not
| art. 1t Is not pleasant to discover so many
things unworthy Of approval in any one
| performance. But it would be injustice
| to the organizations which cater intelli-
gently and efficiently to the playsong pub
| lie to place AN Innocent Sinner inferen-
| TALLY in the same category with their pro-
| auctions. Lawrence Handey was handi-
capped by the fact that Svengali is nc
longer interesting, as well as by the lack OF
| CCherency and probability i'll the progress
of the play. There was some notably good
work done by several subordinate members
of the cast. The season Is still in its in
fancy, an AN Innocent Sinner cannot he
regarded otherwise than as an experiment
which does not produce the desired results
The story IS rnqucstionably interesting. ant
1t may be possible to produce an acceptable
play from the materials which the authors
nave collected. Miss Lewis would doubt
less appear to better advantage in char
acters of a different type.
Academy Of Muslc.-It was evident last
night from the large audience that filled the
| Academy and roared increasingly with
laughter until the final fall of the curtain
| that there is still a strong popular demand
| for broad farces interspersed so thick iy
with variety specialties as to become rrac
| tically vaudeville shows. That is wha
"Finncgans Courtship," Murray ant
| Macss latest production. proves to be; an(
| its reception here last night is conclusive
| testimony TO the taste that exists for G
happy-go-lucky Irish knockabOut entertain
ment. with lots Of snap and dash. plenty o.
pretty girls. d sufficiency of singing anC
| dancing, and an entire absence of serious
ness. The stars familiar figures here
and they are as funny ever, presenting
clever caricatures of two types of knock
about Hibernians. Assisting them arr
Messrs. Len Delmore, Fred De Nae Andrew
3ode and Fred Wilson. and Mayme Taylor
Oracle Cummings, Lonne and Stella Deane
, Kitty Wolfe, Madge Hillard, Clara Howard
, and Mae and Fanny Trumbull Mr. VIII
sons impersonation of one of the famous
Irish chambermaids'' was one of the beS
! features of the performance.
. Bijou Theater-Two hours and half o
roaring comedy. That is the criticism o
"Old Dan Tucker" the comedy that hold