The times., 1898-03-01
AT THE 1HEATERS.
National-"rhe French Maid"


Bright and breezy. charmingly chic, and
just a trife risque, was the verdict Of
the large jury that heard The French
Maid" last night at the National Thea
ter. That a goodly portion of this jury
will return to the trial at least once more
during the week is. perhaps, the best evil
dencc that the piece fully deserved every
good word said of it, After.a run of
forid dramas and strained musical pro-
ducts this last protege of Edward T.
Rice's is just the sort of thing to prove
refreshing enough to please muchly and
nightly.
There is not much to THE French
Maid at any time and. as the entertain
ment draws near it's close the little be
comes less. The entire performance re-
minds one forcibly of the froth top of
a glass of beer-only he would be in
deed dead to pleasure who would lightly
discard it, A careful mixing of an eX-
cellent recipe for all musical comedies
has made the production remarkably
pleasing. There is great deal of pretty
music and even more pretty girls. Ii
| bretto that would do credit either to Gill
| bert or Harry Il. Smith. six of the neatest
I and most novel ballets possible. and
/ wealth of costumes and scenery. In
| decd these two latter qualifications are
| among the richest ever seen here. the
| taste and beauty displayed in both being
I nothing less than marvellous.
! Eight people We're engaged altogether
! in writing the words and music of The
! French Maid" and 1t would be hard to
| say who has done the best work There
| is plot to the comedy-or at least not
! enough to give one a headache from wor-
! rying about it-but the syndicate that
| turned out the libretto has displayed no
| end of ingenuity in evolving really hu-
! morous situations. The lines are bright,
| especially in the lyrics wherein are some
| of the neatest bits of wit heard here in
! many moons. This is especially true Of
| I've Her Portrait Mex My Heart, "
| "Twenty-seven Bells by the Waterbury
! Watch" The Rhapsodie Table d Hote -
and the Twin Duet, in the last two of
which occur a number of puns that would
| have made even so pronounced a. hater
OF that class of humor as DR.. Jonson
relent
The music is, like the entire production,
dainty. delicate and delightful One :
lips shape themselves to whistle the tunes
before they have been repeated more
than twice-and four times was the aver
age last night. Choruses, waltz songs
topical airs and ballet music alike Were
captivating, at least three of the airs
being of a nature to be remembered
long after much heavier music has been
forgotten.
The cast is, with two exceptions, identi-
cal with that seen at the Herald Square
| Theater, in New York. Olive Redpath
who was here five months ago in the title
! role of THE Girl From Paris" has taken
the place of Marguerite Sylvia. in the
company, playing the leading role with a
viyacity and abandon that discounts the
performance of the original five to one
Her manner and manneriSms are alike
delightful, and her voice is sweet anG
well cultivated. Lucille Flayan has Anna
RObnson's old part. and succeeds ir
making Dorothy Travers quite as stiff
and impossible as even that lady could
without being half so pretty.
| If there is one member in the cast
however, who deserves unlimited praise
that member is Charles 4. Bigelow, whC
gives the part of Charles Brown, tn,
waiter. humor that is as clear and 81
intelligent as that of any cOmedian-stal
ever seen in this city. He seldom re
sorts to ribald nonsense, but is always
eXcruciatngly funny. Hallen Mostyn. az
the brother, is also excellent, his dialec
and detail being notable, while the Ad
miral of Edd Redway was above criti
cism. Henry Norman proved himself
capable fun maker, and Henry Leon, Ed
ward Wentworth. William Armstrong
Charles e. Sturges and George Hone!
are fully up to the average in parts tha
We're only repetitions necessary to s,
conventional a story as that of ''Th
French Maid
Eva Davenport. last seen here as tn
| artist in The Marquis of Michigan
made the most of small part an,
Yolande Wallace was pleasing in one o
even more diminutve proportions. TIL
entire entertainment was thoroughly en-
| jOyable.