The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-08-30
AT THE THEATERs.

"Chimmie Fadden's" in town. and say,
| he's whole show in himself. Any man who
| says he is shy ought, as "Chimmie" would
express 1t, "to have his nut fixed" Chimme
! appeared at the Grand opera house last night
at the redecorated, refurbshed, renovated
| Grand-through the medium of Dan Couyer.
Mr. Collyer is genuine medium He does
! all his work with the lights turned on, ex-
cept in the burglary scene, where he and the
! lights are put out for a spell. An artist is
! Collyer, or, to again borrow from 'Chimmie,"
the real thing" A pretty young woman in
the cast calls Mr.. Collyer papa in private
| lie, put from the first curtain to the last
that fell at the Grand last night that same Mr..
| Collyer was a Bowery boy 1t is almost in
! credible but nevertheless true. No boy of
70 ever danced a livelier step, flashed a
brighter eye, or delivered a quicker upper
! cut than Dan Collyer. Mr.. Paul ordered the
! small bots'' but "Chimme'' opened them
Collyer was the life of the play, as he should
be- and it is an additional pleasure to record
that there were no dead ones around him
to mourn for.
1t is a work of art-this dramatiZation of
| Edgar w. Townsend's book. They say Au-
! gustus Thomas had hand in it. 1t is easy
TO peiieve 1t. The scenes are Photographic in
| their truth. Animated as they are by the
| efforts of company of players evidently Sc
| lected by discriminating mind, these scenes
| are improvements upon the mere photograph.
| They out-veriscope the veriscope. They glow
with the pulsatng colors of life-when 'Chim-
| mie' slugs Mr. Moxie-whose very name in
vites an assault-you not only see the blow
| delivered but you hear 1t land. The sound
| OF the impact is cause for noisy rejoicing in
| the gallery and secret satisfaction to the most
refined organism in the theater. Human a
| ture in the parquet may not be so demon
strative as that above, but it approves of the
triumph of virtue, which, according to w. S.
! Gilberts observing Mikado, is achieved in
theatrical performances only" In short,
| 'Chimmie Fadden" as play is truly typi-
cal of phase of life in the great metropolis.
1t is typical of the phase of life in st.
! Paul-to a lesser degree, perhaps-but never
! theless faithful and not exaggerated beyond
! the limit of reasonable dramatic license.
| While carping critics join their voices with
| unappreciating ignoramuses-the two usually
howl in harmony-in payIng the moon,
| ''Chimmie Fadden" will continue to inquire
for some time to come "What tell?"
It's very good company, aside from
| Collyer. If this column possessed a phono-
graphic attachment that would reproduce
Collyer's ''Hully Gee or his mot so worse"
the readers might gather faint conception of
his genuineness. AS it is, those who have
! not seen and heard him-weu they ought to
| see and hear him.
A very amusing characterization of Mrs
| Murphy, the old woman who rushes the
| GROWER by a string attachment from her
| apartments over the saloon, was contributed
| by May Donohue. Florence Stover's imper-
| sonation of 'tChimmie'' Fadden's mother-a
very different type-must also be commended
| for its genuine flavor and spontaneity Miss
| Carrie Collyer played the rather ungrateful
role of Maggie satisfactorily. Frances
Brooke, as ''de Duchess exhibited a famil-
iarity with the correct French pronunciation
whether of English of French words that
is not often noted on the American stage. The
| remaining characters were intelligentIy
| played.
The burglary scene, which furnishes the
melodramatic climax of the play is more
! like the 'real thing than any similar attempt
ever witnessed on, the stage. The details of
burglary in real life. including the con-
! versation thatsoccurs before the burglars are
frightened away, are not yet Officially known.
no member of that profession having as yet
favored the stage with the ''story of his
| life"
| The Grand opera house, in it's new dress,
presents a handsome interior The new drop
| curtain, painted by John Young of New
| York, gives view of Harpers Ferry and
| its picturesque environment.