Evening star., 1897-02-23
AMI SEMENTS.

Lafayette Square Theater.-"Two Little
Migrants, a melo-drama, by Pierre De-
ccurcelle, and adapted to the American
stage by Charles Klein, was given yester-
Gay for the first time in Washington at the
Lafayette at a special holiday matinee
and again in the evening. 1t proved to be
even stronger than the favorable reports
that had preceded it warranted its au-
dences in expecting. The comparison fire.
quently made that 1t Is better than the
Two Orphans does not appear to be an
eAagSeration. The story is simple A wife
who is unjustly suspected of infidelity by
an upright nut impulsiye husband, is cast
out, and their son Is given to a burglar
VINO chances In on his professional rounds
al that opportune moment. This forms the
prologue. The rest of the action takes
place seven years later and deals with the
efforts of the repentant father and the
heart-broken mother to find their child
WEo proves to be one Of the little vagrants
The wrong boy is taken into their home
as their son, and the real climax Of the
play occurs in the third act, when the
true son, still a vagrant, is recognize1 L.
Inc situation at this point is remarkably
thrilling: The unconscious little impostor,
dying with consumption, loses his greatest
joy Of life the love of a mother but his
grief Is tempered by the realization that
his little pal is the lucky one who has
ousted him. Hardly an equal to this scene
III intensity Oh eU1OtlOn mas D66n witnessed
here this season. The remainder of the
play deals with the efforts of the son to
recover from his foster parents, thieves
and murdererS of the lowest Partisan type
certain papers that will reconcile his par
ents. In this he succeeds. but his achieve
ment costs the life of the miserable little
chap whom he loves. Minnie Dupree and
Jessie Busiey do the parts of the two va
grants with piquant charm each in a
distinct style and wholly free from any
objectionable conventionaIity. There Il,
little to choose between them though the
part taken by Miss Dupree contains a
touching mixture of pathetic humor tha,
Is very exacting in It's demands on the
emotions. The company is far above the
average Edward Ratcliffe as the suspic-
ious husband. Ernest Hastings as a can
tain OF the French army. whose early love
affair caused all the trouble and Dore
Davidson as the leader Of the gang of
thieves. were excellent. Mr. Dayidson's &
vlilainy was exceptionally clever Amelia
bingham filled the very difficult role cf
the wrongly accused wife and ,1nhannv
mother, her artistic impersonation beine
aided by her personal charm. Frances
Gaunt had less to do as her sfster-in-law
1ut her work was without flaw. Alice
Fisher was more tryingIy placed as the
wife of the burglar, a Character whole
deSold or attractiveness She fulfilled ths
requirements admirably The scentc er.
Iec,s are beautiful. but the most elaborate
picture, that of the Seine locks 10 ouits
superffuous and adds nothing to the Dr.
matte force of the play save 70 fisnosa
OF the chief rogue, who deserves a worsa
Tate than drowning.
New National Theater.-"A por,o,
match crowded the National Theater Iasl
night. The audience laughed at ..Old Hose,
Hcey and Book Agent Evans as h.artiJv 2 6
In the days when an entertainment of this
class on legitimate stage COMMANDED at
tention merely as hilarious piece of i'm
pucence. And Of the many efforts to imi-
tate the venture very few have survived
Other variety people have entered the usy.
Dut TO encounter defeat: other vaudeviiia
sketches have been elaborated into ..plays''
only to find tolerance for the sake Of The
speciaities they introduced "A ParIor
Match" flexible as 1t is. Is not wholly loose.
jointed. The thread of the story in onIv
hiament. but 1t is not broken, despite
the lavish Introduction of songs. dances and
other foreign material In specialties the
chief is. of course. the performance of Miss
Anna Held. Her success was a foreaone
conclusion, and is one of many instances
which point TO advertising as an indis.
pensable adjunct of modern enterprise or
ability. When, after good-naturedly re.
spending to numerous encores she bowed
her thanks. she did not follow the custom
of directing attention to those who should
share liz the credit for her triumphs. She
made no graceful allusion to her hosierer
FER hairdresser, her corsetmaker, her per.
suasiSe press agents, salaried and other.
wise, aid last, but not least to the inde.
| fatigable bill sticker. Possibly this was due
| to deficient vocabulary and not to The sell
| fishness of genius. AS the sparkling en-
| thusiast who sells song books TO the audi
ence AYERS, Miss Helds songs, words ant
| music are In French" Our own negro dit
ties. which she essays by way OF expert
ment. become distinctly Partisan under he
| Interpretation Her song addressed to
member OF the orchestra proved pleasan
reminder of that languishing apostrophe
George. and developed unsupported his
| trionic abilities in the theaters bass VITO