The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-08-28
THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC
Thoroughly Renovated, This
Theatre Will Open Next
Week With a Thrill
ling Play.

The Academy of Music, renovated and
redecorated, will pen for the season
next Saturday evening with a thrilling
naval play. During the summer vaca-
ton the popular play house has been
thoroughly o%verhauled and materially
frightened up The front of the building
has a new dress which greatly adds to its
appearance, and the porch over the en-
trance has been entirely ebuilt New
paper of artistic design and new paint
have materially increased the beauty and
attractiveness of the lobby which looks
more inviting han ever.
The ceilings and interior of the houses
have been freshened by paint and the
boxes overhauled and redecorated. The
carpets and seats ave all been bright
ened up and the entire theatre has put on
a freshened look with which to welcome
it's patrons next Saturday.
The play that will be presented that
night is the ..Man-of-Warsman," by
James w. Harkins, Jr. Thomas E. Shaw
plays the part of Jack Conway" the
hero, and plays it well, too.
The plot is not very involved. A dash
ing. daring United States naval captain
learns of the intrigue of European pow
ers concerning the Nicaragua Canal, and
at once makes up his mine that his own
ountry has some rights there according
to the Monroe Doctrine. He first runs
against a tricky English naval captain
of whom he at once makes an enemy for
life by r~esenting an insult to a lady in
his presence. The woman he loves is a
Russian spy, and she is ordered to draw
from him all his secret information con-
corning the strength and movements of
the American navy, but her owe triu1nphs
over her duty to country, and instead of
~betraying him she gives him information
which leads him to Russia, which he en-
tiers disguised as a French secret agent,
n lands him in a dungeon at Sebasto-
pol under sentence of death as a spy. His
escape is made in a most thrilling man
ner, and, assuming the uniform and char
acter of the English captain, whom he
has left in his place in the dungeon, he
obtains access to the war council at Glib
raltar. escaping from there when de-
nounced as an unbidden and unwelcome
American. under cover of the guns of
his W ship. and arriving at Corinto in
time to stop the seizure of the canal by
the Europeans.
There is plenty of chance for thrilling
patriotic situations. and Mr.. Harkins has
United States nag is Upheld and ~appiauded
in every act, and there is plenty of
Fourth of July oratory.- which brings
down the house at intervals Of every few
minutes There are some very telling
scenes. A more inspiring one han when
Captain Jack Conway stands on a pro-
iecting rock at Gibraltar, and, sword in
hand. defies the representatives of the
combined European power as he points
to his own vessel below, ready for action,
has seldom been seen in Boston. I'M in
the last act there is a naval battle, in
which the white cruiser New Orleans
sinks a British warship, and, receiving
timely assistance from other American
men-of-war, turns a very probable defeat
into a certain and glorious victory. 1t is
little wonder that the audiences stirred to
their depths by these many similar
scenes, or hat the applause is so frequent,
loud and prolonged.