Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-28

in his own peculiar HELD Of oratorio work,
and notably so in the rbles of 1.-THE Mes
siah" and THE Elijah.fI Mr.. E. c. Towne,
the tenor, is equallyiwell known here, and
Is one OF Washin0tDn's favorites. Prof.
Josef Kaspar, the director, and Prof John
Porter Lawrence, the accompanies, are also
well and favorably known to the musical
public OF this city. The sale of seats prom
ises fine attendance, and an excellent rem
dttion OF this great oratorfo can be con-
fdently expected.
THE NATIONAL<-"La Tosca'' was the
play at the Nationaas last night, with Fan
ny Davenport in the title role, and the audi
ence 1t drew and the interest it excited
were almost as IL it were making its first
appearance. Of course, when Sardou writes
a play the presumption is permissible that
1t will possess among its other powers the
power OF permanence. But even Sardou
has degrees of excellence. and La Tosca''
Is one OF the best plays he has written.
Miss Davenport's La Tosca is a most
natural piece OF acting, for even in the in
scarcely second to anything on the stage,
she does not overact. In the first act, be-
fore the tragedy has touched La Tosca's
life, Miss Davenport's depletion of the jeal-
Gus woman filed with petulance and pref
tiness was delicious. and made one feel
that Sardou should have changed the tenor
OF his play and given the world a comedy
IL stead of the dreadful tragedy Of La Tos-
that Of Scarpia, as done by Mr.. Melbourne
Mcdowell, who put into it all the virulence
and vfrility the part demands. making Of
Scarpia such scoundrelly tyrant as only
a SardOu could conceive. 1t might be Sug
gested to Mr.. Mcdowell, or to Baron Scar
pia, that the word "hangsman," which he
uses once, should be ''hangman." 1t is
small slip and can for that be more easily
ton of the character of Cavaradossi artist
levolutionist and lover of La Tosca, was
correct in spirit and was faithfully carried
to the tragic end. So also was Mr.. Cum
a small part on which hangs the thread of
the tragedy. The details of the play were
we'll carried out, the subordinate parts, as
a rule, being in capable hands.
ACADEMY OF MUSIC.-It was a case of
packed house at the Academy of Music last
night, and. judging by the many rounds Of
applause with which Humanity was re-
ceiVed, 1t will be greeted with equally large
audiences throughout the week. "Humani-
ty' Is stirring melodrama, replete with
startling situations a hair-breadth climax
in each act. There is everything that
pleases the most 'tfastidious gallery god'
The scenes of the play are laid in South
Africa during the war Of the Beers. In the
second act there is stirring broadsword
contest on horseback which is very real
istic, and In the fourth "a bomb explosion
which brings rounds of applause from the
gallery. Mr.. Rap O'Neil. as Lieut.. Bevis
Cranbourne makes an excellent hero, and
his opposite, Miss Alice Irving, as Alma
dunbar, interpreted difficult part splen-
didly. Mr.. ]. p. Collins, as Major Fordyce
Dangerfeld, war correspondent, made a
typical villain, and his every appearance on
the stage was greeted with hisses-a sign
or applause always. c. Jay Williams, as
Manassas Marks, a money lender, fur
niShed most Of the comical features, and
many times had the audience roaring with
laughter. Misses Myrtle May, as Lesba
rs1I
acted their parts well, as did also the bal
ance OF the cast. A feature not on the pro-
gram was the appearance in a box Of Miss
Evangelina Cisneros, the Cuban beauty
BIJoU THEATER.-The Bijou has BIOS
somed out as full4fledged variety house.
and the only remnants of its former glory
Is the stock company which opens and
closes the regular entertainment with short
merry one-act farces. Having been meta
morphosed, as 1t were, Iall the accessories
OF variety house have. been incorporated
save the drinking. Men are permitted to
smoke and have free and easy time
Ihat the change has been financially a sue
cess is evidenced by the large audiences,
and last night the house was packed to
overhowing.' A very fair bill was present.
ed, including Troja, and while the latter
sang songs which bordered on broadness.
she was nevertheless pleasing and received
applause that amounted to an ovation
Inc Handicap Trio was clever enough to
contribute materially to the pleasure of the
evening. Gertie Gibson is so much like her
famous little sister !Lottie that the regu-
lars could not believe that the latter was
really across the pond capturing the hearts
OF the Englishmen. The Holbrooks, with
another season of experience will prove
drawing cards, and Simons and Gibbs were
as clever as of yore. The Sheehans pre-
sented laughable comedy sketch, and the
performance closed with a roaring bur-
lesque, entitled Led Astray."
KERNAN'S LYCEUM THEATER.-A
clean, clear-cut variety show is the attrac-
sell Brothers show, and these clever artists
nave touched the popular pulse with their
program. 1t i3 an entertainment designed
for the advocates of vaudeville, and IL
ILLS all requirements. The large audience
was well satisfied when the curtain went
down, and went away feeling the better
for having seen a first class show or
me audience may be mentioned Stoley and
Birbeck, whose original sketch of the
Musical Blacksmths'' offered a rare op-
portunity for transformation. The billions
who have contributed number of popular
songs, had some new parodies that were
just about the thing. Lizzie Raymond was
satisfactory, and Montgomery and Stone
had an Ethiopian sketch that made them
many friends. Caron and Herbert enliven-
ed an original sketch with clever aero
batic turn. and Nestor and Bennett illus
trated some popular songs in better style
than has ever been seen at this house
The Russell Brothers repeated their famous
sketch, 1.-THE Irish Servant Girl" that
seems to improve with age. This is their
last season in vaudeville, as next year they
try the legitimate in comedy especially
w r ON fnr hon