The morning times., 1896-10-27
"DoRCAs" HASlGo0D MUSIC
There Are Several Old Favorites in
This 0peratic Comedy.
Louis MA Melodrnmn by
+. E. Kidder.

tional last night, b; an oEeratic comedy
by Harry and Edward Paulton, English
men, who have To their credit as con
structUrs of stage entertainments the piic
nomenally successful opera, "Erminic,"
! and the Comeuy, ''Niobe." The present
work is at least IL novelty i'll stage pres
| entations. IL is IL comedy set To music.
| it is an opera without a chorus. The
operate portion was in every respect
first-ClasS, as comedy the comic eie-
mcnt was lacking III spots.
The story is rather complicated to admit
OF condensed repetition. IL Is unpreten-
tlous ana operatcaliy Improbable, but it
afforded excellent opportunity Tor the
introduction OF the vocal portions. Tie
| music is good from first 10 last. Sometimes
| IA STRAIN Of few bars suggests a familiar
| air in "Erminie," but the melody straight
| way takes itself into original cuanncis OF
| new beauty. The orchestra performed tIIcir
| portion OF the work in an entirely credit
| able manner.
| peclaliy commended themselves to the
applause of tlie audience, and the encores
| Were notlceabiy frequent, were a drinking
trio, tie wedding bells quartet II mezz0
| soprano solo, My Heart III Save" III
tie lirst act; i'll The second several duets.
notably the chess game and do as, a
| Girl Would Do" ii concerted piece for
| seven voices, Il minuct, and q solo for
tenor, My Love Is all for YOU III the
third bass solo, which received several
encores, a comic song OF real humor, "A
| Cup OF Tea" and the duet, Love Me
| True
The principals all possess good voices and
| sing with spirit and grace. The best
| Voice in the coinptny Is tine magnificent bass
organ of Mr.. William broderick. Whether
| III solos or III ine concerted parts his reson
| ant truthful tones rang forth clear and
| Strong. lie has stage presence much IN
| his Iavor. Charles raSSeI's capabilities
| are ii matter OF record IN the operate
caliDer. His voice is still pure and
true tenor and his singing Gelisntful as
ever. Miss Marie Willard ana AIiss Drew
| donaldson each have voices ol considerable
| natural charm. Fred Fear had the leading
| iiiaie coniedy part, nut The humor of ii was
| hackHeyed and British.
| Miss Eva Davenport, ON the contrary,
!Laue oI warmed over MRS. .,!dIaprop, u
| th!ns oI continual fun. Her natural re-
| sources Tor low comedy were or so pieIi-
| lul and fie& iblc "A character that sn. com
| manded The laughter uI her audience all
| The wiIle she Was ON the stage. a low.
| CoEleuenhc Is ii rare person Uu The stag,
Manu M IL Is TO MISS DaNenroEt'S S creuit tnat
| Sne ihaue a positive ana quite disJlng uiSacl
| mt entirely by her own resources Her
| singing oI The Cup OF lea" was &c
nC!Ouaiy humorous ana alsryeaDIy lrt,. IRON,
| cneap ahSurullles that artists vi less deli.
| cdcy might have employed III the hone OI
receiving NOR" dcniOuSLrdtIyc .plia t!s,. nom
nlsher but cheaper ana more Confined quar-
Incre was Il large audience present Iasf
| hiSnt' lhey 1ouhu boiCas' an agreeable
| Dnt not protehtiou> diversion, IN whi.h there
] was abundant amusement Of n mild orccr
| There VIII be maunce tomorrow
1t is hard 10 take niclodraua seriously
| The usual article requires a grain of salt
| Tor 80 many shortcomings Ihat a final
| opinion haS the consistency of Hrine ana
| Is ".iy il cumpTomlse wlth conscience aTier
| All There are Ccrtain Cpnventionaliti,.s de
| inandrd by this hpecicS or Uiay c,riaiu
licenses are allowable, but the average.
manIiac inrcr thereof usually make an
| ell OF tue given inch.
| Shannon OF the SIKH - which last hi. hi,
was prodgccd at Tie Grand opera nuGs..,
| Is Il m"Iodrima in tie most Conventional
| sense, hut II has fewer OF the faults and
more "i virtue ttan most plays when ap-
'''ait 20 the emotions through Drodd dramatic
"a" author is +. f Kidder. who wrot.
The Poor Relation and "Peaccrul Val
| icy, but lis present work is not in the
| Ithute>t Iasllon suggestive or his accepted
| fashion II construction. Ills present piay
| !n all but mrrit is quite tie opposite OJ
| the others. He has gone back forty wears
icf Tue iime and To India for the place of
| action. Ills characters are English soldiers
| hatiFc BraliuinS, and an Irish lieutenant
| IN her maJesty's service.
| ihSnIuIS tni,iS npu-i 'iI,: theft uf ''th. sht
ri htdYcH, Il sacred diamond from Tho
forehead of an idOI. The vIllGIn y.fO tni..
| II succeeds IN putting suspicion on Shan
non. the Irish lieutenant; After series
| occGltlSm frees him OF All SUSPICION ami
| ltEeS tnc Suilt ON tE" tuiDf ) f.r., 4 IN.
tfaii' Conventional setting forth OF the story
| piuyeuhN Mr. hlddcr IN raShioningt his ulav
~ Is spirited in action ana has several
| SENSATIONAL situations calculated to thrill
| ohc most tla>r. In tn" second nc; IN.
orhhlnin>. IN revenge upon the English FOR
stealing the sacred diamond, capture the
| 'ii'iNi StHrTdl : UhuSiii"T and iss>n her :,
Ie 'LuDtii OF cannon, They light the fus,
/ ana ieaNc her tu he blown L. pieces Shan
| non comes TO the reNCU" OpportUHcly and
| ,!fas> her away rs the ruGc piece az arIII-
| lery goes off with q Tremendous rrport. .
nh.,ff. f.A.Hf
| aS sensational
The cUmpanyls up to the demands Of the
piece. St. II. Powers stars himself, but
auugh tie has ''Ihe Iai'' he is lIot stronger
man the talanCe uf the cast Really ar
tistic work j. done by Nina Morris rs
Surrada, an Indian woman, Joseph Zapner
was Nirlie and forccful as the treachcrous
thief' May Sargent dainty and effective as
ne general : laughter. The uIHcrs weie
good In a less conspicuous way The
act, disclosing an Indian jungle.
Scarcely ever has an audience left a
,heatcr more thoroughly pleased aud de
lighted over Il performance than the one
which filed out OF the Academy of Music
i.tSt hIsht. The attraction was Isham's
closs len5ai rrIad adnsrifa snG presented by high
sweet singers and talented PERFORMERS
me cream of the coIorcd race The show
regarded among leading aggregations
| on the road. 1t is a company Iull of
strong soloists, well supported by a power
III ana We'll balanced chorus and The Sc
| iectlunS rendered were pleasing IN IN,
extreme From the rise of the curtain
on the opening chorus. the audience which
lieu the house to the doors. was first
surprised, then pleased, then delighted
anu Reached The climax OF enthusiasm in
rounds OF applause when the last curtain
iell on a magnificent rendition OF the
bfidii chorus sexIette from Lucia di
i-aiilnler,noor," III which all the stars ap.
peared
MIR. lsham has certainly eclipsed all his
former efforts III this line. The program,
although a collection OF most difficult
seiectipHs Tor suIoists and ensemble Voices,
IS rendered III an arlistic and finished mau-
| ner. me several scenes iii each act have
been given the benefit OF very attractive
anu elaborate scenic and electric cInbel-
iiShincnt and especially is this in the
last act. Wherein are presented prominent
scenes IN rich and appropriate costumes
| from well known standard operas Of the
several schools. and To which full forty
minutes are devoted
| Miss Matte WIlkes the leading soprano
| OF the company, has unduubte1 talent Il
high degree, and handles well her hiri-
| IKE Voice. whose upper register is strong
ana clear and pleas in the extreme. Her
rendition of the Last Rose Of. summer" in
| tie thlrd act was Il gem, and called forth
| round upon round of applause, to which
She responded in q pretty ballad.
| ne comedian OF the company. fillic Ed
| ridge, Is the next great feature Of the show.
lie pruvokcs laughter without effort. and
| ms talent as an originator OF comic busi-
ness Is far above the ordinary. and iis
dancing, has seldom been eguailed here
He made decided hit in his Spccia!ties
| with Jennie Eldridgc. Miss Margaret Scott S
selection or vocal gems was well received.
Tie Famous coiore1l tenor, Sidney Wood
| ward. fully Justified all that has been
written about him. lie has good presence
and is III every way in Voice and manner
an ideal tenor. His rendition OF the ari;,
| from 'Rigoletto' was enthusiastically re
/ g. tyl. rod in fhn t.,t