The San Francisco call., 1897-10-24
A MUSICAL COMEDY.
A PLAY OR TWO, SOME VAUDEVILLE
AND A FEW REMARKS

BY ASHTON STEVENS.

xNSSQ QQQQQXQQQQ
But one never knows nowadays waethsr
these things are opera comique, opera
boufte, operetta, operate farce, comic ora
torlo or musical comedy until one reads
the programme. The dis iuotions are too
fine for the normally equipped intelligence
it is safer 10 leave the classification to
the librettist.
~
One OF the large beauties OF "The
Geisha" is that it needs no classif ficatlon.
1t is not ike ordinary melodlzed frivoiity
it frlvols. You are swept into an
amiabe vortex of sparkling nothing.
Beyond the tunes-which cling like a
oirthmark-there is nothing 10 think
about. The whole scheme is the very
sensuousness of forSetulness. II did not
fear Japanese simile l should say it SYM
bolizes the plum blossom and the lotus.
And while this sort of show may not
hit the standard of the drama, il is an in
valuable antidote against the bad blood
one accumulates along the hard routine
OF everyday life, and the disappointment
experienced in seeing so many pieces that
ostenslbly aim high, but often miss the
marx. / should recommend tnat The
Geisha" be attended by all employers v ho
underpay their clerks all women who are
unkind to their husbands, all husbands
who are driven into the gay world for the
joys OF life, and ali persons who are too
good 10 be really happy, together with ali
professional anu dlletiante critics. The
Gelsha" viii do them good. 1t moved
me 10 so much amiablity that in my
notice OF Tuesday morning | did little
but praise every thing and every body con-
nected with the production. | hope il is
not too late now TO retract a little. |
should have barred the blue waists worn
In act by the four English girls of Lady
Constance's yachting party. Those blue
walsis are not pretty, and they do not
seem to have been tailored expressly for
the young woman who reloiced in them
| Sunday night, or maybe some mistakes
were made III their disIrib ution. | would
also Join protest with one of my colleagues
who thinks that Mr.. Stevens should be
given song 10 sing, even If it has 10 be
taken away from some body else. With
these exceptions l stand by my first i'm
pressious.
Stevens work in the part of the Mar
quis is of the most generous sort Aside
rom looking after his own fun be must
be ever assistful TO the efforts of the
Others. Often the scene hangs on his APP
probation, as it were-by some tactful
MIN tic trick or timely comment be calls
attention 10 the humor of a song, a dance.
word, and thus We get the full signiti-
cance by the reflection in him. 1t is es-
pecially due to Stevens and Learv
that the comedy itself makes
good showing. The MARQUIS
has been handsomely inoculated
With American adjectives, and the funny
| Chinee, L understand, was quite conven-
tionai mock-villain in the London and
New York productions. Leary makes the
part the most popular one OF the piece
and not little by interlarding IL with
gags of home manufacture. There have
been occasions where Leary has been
branded rough and terrible by common
consent, but he expiates his former ac-
ompllshments very cieverly in "Tne
Geisha. L think Miss Hall, the new
soubrette, is the best thing that has hap
pened the Tlvoii company in many day
! and when she dis coyers that the work OF
one clever gir, and nothing in excess of
one, viii even add to her present vogue. I
am sure that she will use the soft pedal on
the acting just little bit.
~
1t used 10 be said mat Paris could en-
dure only one poet at a time. hope San
francisco Is not going to be equally ex-
elusive in the matter of theatrical enter
tainments. Down in my heart | know
that the hardest blow at the bigger thea
tiers here is struck by the smaller ones.