The sun., 1896-10-08
SEEN AT THE THEATRES.
toHSsToNE BENNETT GOES TO THE
VAUDEVILLE STAGE.

,fOlnatOne bennett, now tnaJ bnb mas taken TO
vaudeville. finds an opportunity Tor the display
of some OF her talents which the legitimate
,tase never gave her chance to reveal. Her
cf and she has some comic powers which
Jaw actresses possess-wrre never especially
,dapted to the impersonRton of n long role
because her Individuality refuses to sink Itself.
Rut In sketches OF eccentric character she is
inimitable. Over Mt the Columbia Theatre in
grcoklyn this week she acts in half-hour
sretch called "A Quiet Evening at Home"
with Proctor's travelling company, fvo
characters. and a remarkably amusing per-
'ormance she makes Of 1t. Lew Rosen
and Kenneth Lee wrote the sketch and
. bright enough piece OF work 1t is, but
the performance begins and ends with Miss
BenneLt's own work. She is fret . young wife
VINO leaves her husband alone while she goes to
the theatre, aud then follow the four imper-
sonations that occupy the rest of the time The
first of these Is n tough girl of the usual type,
,uggeStive strongly Of the first performance by
which the actress attracted attention in New
York as the slavoy In Monsieur" Tho coun-
Try Girl that follows is q variation Of her work
IN - All the Comforts of Home" with some nov
city in tho odd dress and makeup. and some
lauchable new mannerisms. These two types
lave not lost any Of their force. They are comic
el and without inartistic exaggeration. But
tile two succeeding characterizations are the
str,kingly original specimens OF Niles Benefits
calRcities as II coincidence.
breezy specimen of malo impersonation that
might well make Vesta Tilley look to her
,aIrtis. Entirely without offence In treatment,
and smart in appearance. the young man is per-
SS Nsssant. ~ " "soubrette from n Butte Montana" is
the best of this comic quartet that the actress
introduces. She 10 "Reminiscences Of q late sup
per on the evening before, when the husband
had rashy promised her to see what he could do
toward advancing her dramatic aspirations. a
Sa"a %S. With biz. % doIeTsd as hs she'kss sTe
the material adjuncte which make tho
The ivpe she Is aiming to represent is unmis.
takaole and she presents Il completely. The
,olce the msnner ,n and A., the freedom from eSag:
wHyas Mrs. Bates's wonderful incarnation OF
;ur'. Murphy, The lady is anxious to advance
she thinks she has found +" the real thing" in
The man who has wildly offered TO see her
through. From the first TO the last of the ten
minutes that Era NeSsant is on the stage the rich
fun Of the scene never weakens. Miss Bennett
amusing as sT In this BRIEF | itS
only unfortunate that Epd lasts such a short
Lime, Tor so clever piece OF work might be kept
np through five acts and never grow wearisome.
Vaudeville with its accessions OF talent from
me legitimate stage has not yet produced any
coylic power are rare. May irwin is one OF them,
and Mrs. feamaLs Is another. Johnstone Ben
netts reputation will be materially increased by
her acting of Era Nessdnt, slight as the sketch
is S.Miler Kent assisted her in the little piece.
The hero of Secret Service" Is a Northern
spy who has gotten into Richmond and the
affections OF a Southern family by the false
representations that he is a Confederate SOL
dier. The girl, in order to keep him from being
sent to the 'front.' secures for him the appoint
ment of telegraph operator. which 10 exactly tho
thing to further his own plans He goes to the
Office prepared to send q message which will
leave the city accessible to the Northern troops.
The girl follows him there with q Confederate
secret service officer and her rejected suitor.
de is convinced of the spy's treachery, and has
the guard ready to come to his assistance
soon as the telegrapher Is caught sending
the forged message. The spy is seen at work by
the two watchers hid on the ba.cony,
and, after q shot which skaters his arm.
the guard Is summoned and heard approaching
the room. The men rush in, but before the
Confederate, who Is not in uniform, can order
the arrest Of the false Southsrner. he turns the
tables on him and commands the men to arrest
man IN uniform. and the Confederate und er ar
rest Is utterly disbelleved by every body. The
girl shows her lovers commission to net as an
ders the Confederate arrested and exonerates
the Northern spy. and every sympathy which
characters is so twisted and perverted that the
scene ends in the triumph Of q liar and I'M
po;tor and the complete discontinue OF every
body who is telling the truth. The General, who
bel ewes the spy and rejects his own soldiers
have no sesn soIsra,on @ for him The % heroine sGp
ports her lovers story when she knows that his |
Triumph may mean destruction to her country. |
her father and brother are Con crate soldiers.
but she upholds u condition which will mako |
them liable to death at their enemys hands. |
gets twisted in one way or another. The syni- |
Iethits are wrenched around in way WHICH |
Is aerI able to Th.
secret service officer is bel eved to DO acting from
;ssIonsy Of tho man who has won the love Of
,he girl who has rejected him. But this element |
IN his motive is only lightly touched on. An
eIagEeratIon of It's present sketchiness would |
gain, even II it made him no more tolerable.
In the second act there is a novel scene Tne
Libby prison. and ofacers pursue him to the
hoGsr is%n,. IN Which his bEother, the pseudo Con-
tSsm to- lyi1g The men En9w ,b that for
DIoachine. The family Is alarmed and % about TO to
from Libby seizes the pistol from his brothers
ue!t and shoots himself in order that his brother
credit tnat would come from having killed an
enemy OF mis- country. This scene Is very
setapSs t Sa az sT.y WI pls5ed and f9liowed by the
~ the play. ended the second act with = situa-
ION that was really thrilling.
Incidental characters In "Secret Service" are
IN old negro who has been acting as tho mes
sehger between the Yankee brother in prison |
Aad the one posing in Richmond as Confed-
crate; negro NANNY" especially we'll |
acted by Alice Leigh: q youthful Southerner.
pIayed with manliness and sincerity by Walter
Thomas. and the young girl. who was rerre-
serted by odette Tyler. The old negro in tho
iast act takes the caps of the cartridges during
'he court martial and tries to save from the
certain verdict Of death the Yankee spy, but |
she convicted man rejects his offer. Ultimately |
1t Is made clear that this spy was loss villain and
more hero than he seemed to be. He never sent
'he telegram. and his sweetheart has nothing of |
Inc Kind to reproach herself with. But this rev.
,nn e,h'ion comes late. Miss Tyler is supplied with
.nust OF the humorous lines of the play and
nnGrteIy speech that falls to her is without its
punt Nr. Giilvtte's humor bubbles freely. and
~ ~ IS quite unforced. The piece Is generally
WI written, and the language, II never fluent
r .riha.lnatIve. IL always In good taste. The
Action, OF the piece holds closely together. and
A., a., scioh passing in only two scenes. 10 mover
Sneur'i'e arrNme without effect 1t is questionsble
p"rh1ps, II the incident OF the cartridges in tho
.S .Sst act adds any force to the play, as 1t has
,,soeoluteIy no bearing on the general story. al
snoSh .no "a as separate incident 1t is effective
enough. But "Secrot Service" is play built
" l,iph1 l.. Sn. 10