The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-08-03
DREW, SHORu, A
DRAW ING CARD
The Society Actor Extracts
Tears in Rosemary"
at the Baldwin.
Bowery Melodrama by a Local
Writer at the Grand
Opera House.
wang" at the Tivoli-Animals Vie
With Human Actors at the
0rpheum.

It is difficult to convey in cold type a
true idea of the simple charm and fra
GRANGE of Rosemary, Parker and Car
sons Victorian play, which John Drew
and his company produced for the first
time in this City at the Baldwin Theater
last night.
The theme of Rosemary" is an old
fashioned love story with a runaway mar
riage, q broken postchaise and other con-
comilants of the Gretna Green description
that garnish the pages OF so many of the
romances written in the days when Queen
Victoria was a girl in her teens. With
one exception the simple story of Rose
mary" has no strikingly novel or dra-
matte situations, but, after all, the object
OF play is probably to give the actors a
chance OF acting, and, judged by this
standard, no one can accuse Rosemary"
of not being dramatic. There were sea-
soned frst-nighters in the audience last
night who were heard to declare that they
never knew before how strong John Drew
could be in his acting. Some of them
covertly wiped away tributary tear dur
Ing part of the last two acts.
The mere story of Rosemary is al
most too simple to sound worth repeti-
tion-it is merely the story OF a middle
aged bachelor who suddenly awakes to a
realization OF the sunshine that a young
girl can bring into Il commonplace home.
The particular young girl who brings
the real cation is running away to marry
another man, and the bachelor, being q
man of honor, resigns her without sigh.
John Drew played Sir Jasper Thorn
dyke, the bachelor. He had sacrificed his
mustsche to the early Victorian atmos-
phere of the piece, but he met with his re-
ward in the shape OF applause and covert
tears. Drew has been accustomed 10
arouse applause, but tears are something
that he has not been won't to compel in
the round OF his drawing-room pieces.
All through the play it was hard to rec
ognize John Drew. he had grown so much
more manly, and in the third act his re-
hunciation of all attem pts 10 win Dorothy
was strong and touching piece OF acting.
The last act, however, is the touch OF
originality in Rosemary. Sir Jasper,
who has put love behind him on
the day OF Victoria's coronation, SITS
alone, an old man of 80, on the day OF the
Queens golden jubilee, and recalls his
souvenirs OF the past as the procession
passes outside. They are all gone, his
love and his friends of fifty years ago, and
he alone remains to tell the tale. The
idea was very daring one on the part OF
the authors, for an inartistic touch on the
part OF the chief actor would have made
the scene ridiculous. John Drew's hand
ling of it, however, was artistic in the ex-
IRENE; IL is scarcely an e1aggeratiou TO
say that he held the audience spellbound.
Miss Isabel irving, who played the role
of Dorothy, was not hampered, as far as
this City Is concerned, by comparison
with her charming predecessor in the role,
Maud Adams. To say that one can
imagine Maud Adams playing the role
with more exquisite lightness and grace is
not to detract from Isabel Irving's imper-
sonation, for she was a very winscme and
giriish Dorothy.
The rest of the cast was in good hands.
Miss Annie Adams was pleasing to the
eye as well as very clever histrionically in
the role of Dorothy's mother, Daniel Har-
kins gave a clever character stndy of a
crusty professor and Harry HARDWOOD
created plenty OF merrimeat by his i'm
personation OF an old sea dog.
There was large and fashionable audi
5Dce