The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-05-31

Salt Lake, May 80.
Dearest Hal:
i know not which is the worse, your
lot out there amid the crickets and
alkali, or mine here amid the dramatic
alkali we've had during the past week.
I'm so glad you enjoyed reading about
our visit from Pudd nhead; but events
like that have one drawback-you must
get back to earth sooner or later, and
when you do the fall is awful. After
a week of champagne, it's hard to come
down to a diet of buttermilk; and from
champagne 70 buttermilk just about
expresses the descent from Mayo to
Roland Reed. Here are diary leaves
for the week; that they are scant and
scrappy, blame the managers of the
houses, not me.
Monday-Midnight
Spent two hours with Roland Reed
at the theatre Mr.. Reed must be a
believer in the adage IF at first you
don't succeed, try. try again" He
never knew what it was to have a good
nouse in this city; Salt Lake has for
years been trying to convey to
MIN in as delicate a manner as
possible that she had no par
ticular use for his style of entertain
ment. But he won't take the hint, and
year after year he comes and plays to
the same cOrporafs guard. MIR. Reed
isn't so bad, but after the second hour
it begins to strike you that he lacks
that variety which is the very spice
ana nutmeg OF dramatic life. Then his
plays are never above the $3.50, and
his people just the same except Miss
Rush. Her mannish gowns and her
breezy style inYigorates you somewhat;
but | wish she wouldn't bleach SO ter
ribly. Nature gave her a pretty head
OF hair, but she must go to work try
ing to give the Universal mother point
ers, and she gels sadly left at it. /
might have felt different about The
Politician if it had been a little far
Their removed from 'Pudd' nhead Will
son" bur TO get thoroughly stepped in
the poesy Of that play, to bring the
remembrance of it with YOU to the the
atre, TO seem to hear the echoes of
Mayo's voice still lingering in the hooks
and crannies, and then to have it all
rudely dispelled by the cheap John wit
of Mr.. Reeds play-the wonder is that
one could sit out half the first act.
Tuesday-Midnigh
Nestled costly into a corner seat al the
Grand tonight, determined to thor
oughly enjoy myself with the scintil-
lating old comedy of Confusion" if it
Were in any way possible. But it
wasn't. Disappointment again await
ed me. Confusion" the best thing
OF the short order Kind ever written,
only served TO resurrect other memo
rieS and bring back the ghosts of other
Billiards, Mortimers, LucretiaS and
DR.. Joneses, besides whom Mr.. Rogers
characters pale and fade away. Com
parsons are odoriterous, l know, but
John Rogers viii pardon me, if l tell
him that from the top to the bottom of
his Confusion" cast, there wasn't one
who came UP abreast of the originals
This comedy belongs to the brightest
period in the career of the Home club,
of which our governor was one of the
founders, and their rendition was more
than usually good because John White
now a sedate doctor who has forgot
ten there are such places as play
houses-had played in the piece with
DiXey, assumed the role of DR.. Jones
himself, and coached the people in all
of DiXey's inimitable business. l wish
John White could have seen the latest
DR.. Jones; it would have either made
him forswear his profession or take a
dose of choral. Seriously, Mr.. Jen-
nings, who is a bright young man,
ought to have known better than to
make of the doctor any such burles-
qued Svengali. If he didn't Stage Man
ager Royce should. Mir. Royce, by the
way. would have profited immensely,
had he invited Dr. White to superintend
one or two rehearsals. Dozens of bits
of business and hosts of gags We're
left out. DR.. White, for instance, would
never have allowed such a blunder as
Mr.. Royce permits Miss TruaX to COM
init in dropping the entire telegram
Come to town at once, your baby is
worse. What prevented Miss Cooke
from reading the address on the tele-
gram. and knowing that it wasn't for
Blizzard a all? In the Dixey Version
OF the play, Maria tears the telegram
in two IL her agitation. and only drops
The lower half of it, with the address
torn off. Miss Cook better than any
one else, but the weak point in the pro-
duction IS the lack of eccentricity on
her part and that of Blizzard Biz
card in the hands OF Dixey and John
Spencer was a perpetual roar. But I
long since decided there was very little
roar in Mr.. King Mr. Lothian quite.
good, IN one scene remindful of the gov
ernor-what praise could be high /
er? Miss Remark also good,
but never quite in earnest. Miss
Henry careless in dressing and
acting. Shoes looked as though
she had walked to the theatre
through the water-cress districts.
Truax, sweet but not perfectly English. !
Blakemore not what 1 expected. Pen
rose promising but faint and needs |
the clippers on his top-knot
1 see ''CamiEe underlined for next
week. Can Remark look consump- /
tive, I wonder? Mr.. Royce announced /
last week that he would devote him /
SELF 10 management exclusively from
now on, and promised to give up act
ing We all patted him on the back
and felt like doing ali we could to en-
courage him in his good intentions. I
Now he is down for De VarvilIe in 1
Camille" It's discouraging to see
how some men keep faith with the
public
Dropped in at the other house long
enough TO see that the Gleasons are
out, and a wild. harum scarun sort of
Irish-German farce in. The tro,,bIe
was that Mrs. Gleason asked for ber
salary, and now she and her. husband
walk the streets. Business there sur-
piiSinsly sooo- MARGE