The record-union., 1897-04-23
AMUSE M ENTS.

ADJUSTMENTS.
AT the Clunie Opera house this even
! ing the last night but two of the Pear
son Dramatic Company, in the sensa-
tional drama THE Police Patrol" It is
oapitally mounted. played excellently
ana is, all in all, a most satisfactory
presentation of the modern sensa-
tional drama
The box office of the Metropolitan
Theater opens tomorrow morning for
| the sale of seats for either of the two
entertainments Miss Georgia Cayvan
Will give in this city Monday and Tues
day evenings next. She is supported by
an exceptionally strong company if we
are to credit the San Francisco press,
and her success there as a star has been
very pronounced Miss Cayvan is not
unknown here. She has appeared at
the metropolitan as leading lady of two
of the foremost dramatic aggregations
of the time, and has met with the ia
vor from this public that only high
ability in dramatic art can command.
Monday night she will present Buchan-
ans pastoral drama Squire Kate"
Lyceum Company and the Madison
Square troupe of which Miss Cayvan
was leading lady. On Tuesday night
the play will be Mary Pennington,
Spinster." Squire Kate" is one of the
most elaborate productions in Miss
Cayvan's repertoire. Mary Penning-
ton, Spinster," is scarcely second in
effectiveness. 1t is a more dressy play
! q int a1o
THE Crossroads School" drew a fair
| audience at the Metropolitan Theater
last night for the benefit of the Chris
| tan Church. The burlesque is from
| the pen of Mrs. Ada Van Pelt. The
piece was presented by some thirty five
well-known people of the city, who con-
tributed their services and unbent to
| aid good cause. They are neither
actors nor make pretense of being pos
| sessed of dramatic ability, yet they
| proved anew the truth that nearly eV
cry one has in his or her composition
some sense of the ludicrous, some idea
of comedy work, and that there is
scarcely any one who cannot to some
extent exercise mimetic powers These
ladies and gentlemen of last night re-
ally built better than they knew They
| were all actors in larger degree than
| they lay claim. Their very lack of
| knowledge of the art and of stage bust
ness actually contributed TO the good eff
feet. They were there to ape the boys
! and girls of the olden time before syS-
TENS of graded schools were thought
of, and when the country schoolmaster
| labored under difficulties that would
| appall a modern teacher. In the face
of such performance criticism is
estopped. Nevertheless it is simple
justice to say that most, if not all, of
the people engaged in the ludicrous
| task succeeded in being very humor-
Gus, and really that is a hard thing
to do when entered upon with express
purpose. The ''make-ups' were very
grotesque, exaggerated of course, and
the action was all overdone, but that
was the plan of the thing 1t was
burlesque. pure and simple, rather Sc
we're upon the old-time country schools,
it is true, but having much of verify
about it after all For instance, the old
| method of teaching mathematical ia
bles and geography by song was illus
| trated, and we dare say to most of
the audience it was a revelation Old
| ptOPIt ny IL NGIC ldhcu DdCh Oh I1l6Iil-
orys wings to the times when that
was no chlld's play We confess to
surprise that the ladies and gentlemen
engaged in the burlesque did so well. It
was not expected that they would send the
thing off with such ease and so very
few blunders. Mrs Van Pelt cannot
claim for her burlesque much of any
thing of literary excellence, of course;
nor is it original. But the arrangement
is decidedly original. That is to say,
| she has dealt with old materials in
a clever manner. Business men went
upon the three-legged forms last night;
! the judicial bench sent down a Judge
to act as schoolmaster; the professions
| contributed boys who played at leap
frog, and stood pigeon-toed in the in
FAINT class; grave matrons forgot their
responsibilities and years, and posed
as hoydenish girls with braided hair
and pantelettes much in evidence;
journalism furnished a representative
who created no end of fun as a rather
| mischievous boy and more than a
stupid scholar; the medical profession
and trade. the shop and counter, the
desk and the wholesale mart sent
bearded men to be boys again and
prove that they have not forgotten the
days of their youth, nor how to sneak
into the girls seats. nor steal apples
from their lunch baskets. 1t was, in
short, an evening off for all hands. and
that puts it beyond the pale of criti-
cism. The purpose and the unbending
for that end justified it in the eyes of
the promoters, and no enc else has any
warrant TO object. However, there
was nothing Objectionable about it, if
we except the introduction of a few
features never known to time coun-
try school life. for instance a group
of mandolin players and the excellent
character singing by an amateur who
got several deserved encores. These
were out of place because out of time
but they pleased the audience, and
who else shall say nay?
nf al ,-1-