The San Francisco call., 1897-12-21
Plcturesqueness the Chief
Charm Of the Xmas
Piece.
The Frawley Company Wei
coined Home in a Daily
Comedy.
At the Other Houses-Alcazar Wa,
Play-Morosco's Financial
MelOdranaa.

Lots OF Christmas stockings at the
Iivoli this year. all full of spectacular
girls The girls, the children, the
scene-painter and the dancing master
divide the glory of the show. Viewed
by other holiday pieces at the Tivoli,
Mother Goose" is below the mark in
song and lunacy and above it in the
details of pose and picture The cos
tunes are not the same old Goldstein
q Conn smile, but to the very occasion
born, smartly built, beautifully toned
and snugly filled. In his maiden ex-
traVaganza Edwin Stevens has not
given himself nor any one else much
OF chance for individual distinction,
ana Max Hirschfeld's music is of the
same easy ambiguity. Mother Goose"
dazzles the eye and rests the ear. A
peace that knows no Hartman hovers
over the whole. The wild, boisterous
specially that obtained in Hartmann s
reign is not to be found; the one topi-
cal song, sung by Mr.. Leary, is not the
kind that clamors for twenty encore
s verses and gets them. Mr.. Stevens
. jokes are gentle; they have an air of
costing him but little effort and they
. exact practically none from the audi
ence. Most of the excitement is in the
tights and in the dances; the book
proper is something in the nature of a
satety-valve for these. Also it has the
accomplishment of being brief 1t pre-
tends little beyond linking the pictures
and the dances, which in both guam
uty and quality are the happy burden
OF the piece.
The costumes used in the three acts
would be sufficient to dress two ordi-
nary spectacles Of the same size Ev-
erybody, from the ballet girls to
Mother Goose herself, seems to vie
with everybody else in the change of
costumes. There are two especially
wonderful affairs in which are pent
the prOfuSe charms of Miss Tillie Sal
niger One is brown and the other
purple, and both of most cuticIe-like
flt, with no drapery worth mentioning
These are the summer clothing of
Jack, who, together with one Jill, con-
stltutes the romantic interest of this
tale of Mother Goose. Miss Salinger
acquits herself of the costumes calmly
and handsomely - also she renders
pleasing sounds from a vocal tran
scriptiOn of the ''Zenda" waltZes Jill
is played by Miss Edith Hall, who by
all odds is the Kohinoor of the cast
and as near a star as any one can be
in the circumstances of the piece.
Miss Hall seems TO have softened and
mellOWed. She dances to rival even
the inspired legs of Phil Branson.
sings an English gayety song about
a
inslnuaUng lit IN the refrain and
all the time makes a smashing
picture Miss Florence Walcott is
disclosed in blush colored tights
which she adorns with modesty and
discretion.
The good Mother Goose is Mr.. Ste
vens, so arranged as to appear twice
the size of even himself. Mother in
dulgeS in a number of lOcalinnuendOes,
several Of which are quite fortunate;
she sings cOSter song delightfully."-,
and associates herself with Mr.. Leary
in a new mode OF cakeWalk, IN which
her matrOnly hustle accomplishes
many wonderful gyrations. Mr.. Leary
is a policeman, and what roaring com
icality is to be got from the part he
gets. This cakewalk is one of not
many episodes that may be remem-
bered as really funny. The children
make another. They are funnier now
than they can hope to be after more
thoroughly learning the business OF
their parts. Miss Stockmeyer, late OF
the chorus, is again to the front-this
time as a tough girl. She does the
part without difficulty, and leads four
g other girls in the singing Of a wise lit
- tie song entitled 1T Isn't the Hen
That CackIes the Most That Lays the
Largest Egg" Mr.. Rafael and Mr.
Dunbar have spectacular singing
parts. Mr.. Branson dances, but he also
talks ana sings, Wnlcn IS not so agree
able, and a cultivated donkey and ar
advanced goose furnish pantomime
and symbol
But the glory Of the show lies in the
dances, which are the best ever given
at the TivoH The MephistOphelian
ballet, the dance Of the mermaids, the
frolic Of the butterf1ies-each of these
is novel in conception, splendidly fig
ured and executed with grace and eX-
citement that are almost incredible ir
the TivoH girls. The ballet master is
= Signor RemOndi. He deserves rich
flowers; so does the trusty Oscar L
Fest or any other man who at this
time Of the day can conceive a trans
formation scene that will keep an audi
ence seated until the last of it
ASHTON STEVENS.
Morosco's.
The breaking of a balcony, a fifteen.