The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-12-31
THEATRICALS
At BLENHEIM
Given in Aid of Restoration Fund
ST. Mary's Church.
LARGE AUDIENCES ATTEND
Performances for MarlbOrOush'S Tenants,
Country Families and the Gentry.
HELD IN LIBRARY OF THE PALACE
Entertainment Opened by Organ Over
ture by Prof. Perkins.
Dixie AND DUCHESS IN TABLEAUX
Lady Randolph Churchhiil and Mr. ana mrs
White also Took Part-Two-Act Mu-
steal BurIesque Brought the Per-
formance to Conclusion
Entertainment Opened by Organ Over
ture by Prof. Perkins.
DUKE AND DUCHESS IN rABLEAUX

london. Dec. 90.-In aid of the restoration
fund of st. Mary's church, Woodstock
three performances, consisting OF tapieauX
and theatricals, have been given at Blen-
helm palace. Last night by invitation 10
the tenants of the Duke of Marlborough on
the estate this afternoon for the country
families in the neighborhood who paid half
n guinea a seat, and tonight for the gentry
who paid crown.
Special trains were run from oxford and
the audiences were crowded, particularly
tonight.
The entertainment was given in the long
library of the palace. The heavily moulded
white ceiling, electrically lit, the long rows
of red draped book cases and the silver
piped organ, made a fine setting for the
well-dressed crowd. The stage draped with
red silk curtains, was erected at the west
ern end, the proscenium surmounted by the
Marlborough arms in wreath of Christ
mas greenery which also suspended from
the ceiling.
Performance Opened
The performance opened with an organ
overture by Professor Perkins, of Birming-
ham, who composed the music for the milsi-
cal burlesque with which it closed. The
participants in the performance were the
Duke and Duchess of Marlborough, Lady
Lillian and Lady Nora Spencer Churchill,
Lady Randolph Churchill, Lady Blanford,
Lady Curzon and Lady Sarah Wilson, and
Lord Chesterfield, Lord Curzon, Mr.. Henry
White, secretary to the United States en-
bassy and Mrs. White; Mr.. Henry Miner
and Mr.. ]. Churchill.
The Duke of Marlborough appeared in
two tabeaux as Louis XIV with the Duchess
as a court lady of the court of Louis XIV.
Both dressed the parts splendidly, the
duchess being particularly handsome. Lady
Randolph Churchill, in amost superb cos
tune, appeared the Empress Thedora.
Mr. and Mrs. White appeared in a tabeau
entitled 1.-The Eve of st. Bartholomew" Mr..
White as 1.-THE Duke of Guise. The tableau
won the heartiest applause In the last
Lord Curzon appeared as Lord Nelson the
audience joining in singing Rule Brit
annia."
Musical Burlesque
A two-act musical burlesque brought the
performance to a conclusion Its lbrettist
is Ian Malcolm, conservative member of
parliament for Suffolk and one of Lord
Salsbury's private secretaries. 1t is a
NStUlS pleCS Win piOt " Spedh VI, Dul
with some smart lines and songs.
The characters were sustained by the
Duke of Marlborough, made up to repre-
sent Uncle Sam; the Duchess of Marlbor-
ough as the Countess of Klondike; Lady
Randolph Churchill in the role of wo-
man reporter; ]. Churchill, as a Chinaman
and Lord Churchill, Ladies Lillian and
Nora Spencer-C Churchill and Hon. Algernon
in, ,,,in ria ntain
ed many political illusions to Mr.. Glad
stone, Arthur Balfour. Cecil Rhodes, Sims
Reeves, Berbo-Tree, Emperor William and
Others Here is a specimen from the song
of Lady Randolph Churchill:
mo subjects too private for me,
I'd fall on a duchess at tea;
The felon in jail,
The milionaires mail,
They're matters and money for me-"
Song of the Duchess
Here are verses from the song of the
duchess:
"Of course I saw the jubilee,
1t was a firing function;
I saw the queen, the queen saw me,
And bowed with special JUNCTION.
State concerts, operas and plays,
Innumerable pleased me,
l intermingled nights with days,
Until the megrims seized me.
CHORUS.
"I ar. so tired,
Terribly, awfully tired,
I think 1 shall die,
I don't know why,
Except I'm tired"
This she sang prettily, In a sweet, small
voice. She was charmingly dressed and
radiant, and achieved a great success. La
dy Randolph Churchill showed wonderful
vvacity, acted cleverly and made hit.
The artistic success of the burlesque,
which Is entitled "An Idle Hour was
achieved by Hon. Algernon Bourke as
Boots, his capital song achieving triple
encore.
The whole affair was very successful and
netted a considerable sum for the charity
Killed Her With His Fist
Cincinnati. Dec. 30-A Millwood, w. va,