The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-10-16

There has been a great deal Of sur
prise and pleasure expressed on the
part of the public at the phenomenal
record made by the Home Opera COM
pany during the past week. That
pleasure and surprise have been felt
by no one more emDhatically than the
owners of the theatre property, to
whom the success of the local company
means a great deal in the way OF en-
pioyment of a number Of nights dur
ing the year on which but for the new
enterprise the house would remain 81
lent and vacant. The proprietors of
the theatre are, in fact, entitled to re-
ceiVe the first thanks of the public for
making a possibility of this new lnStl-
tuition which promises so much for the
general entertainment in the future;
IL has always been against the policy
OF the theatre to book attractions which
could not keep I'D to the traditional
standard Of the house, ana which could
not play to full prices. The projectors
of the opera company, several OF Ahom
had had experience in catering to the
public in the Old Home Dramatic club,
thought the time was ripe for the or
ganiZation Of an opera company, just
as i was in 1880 when the dramatic
club came into existence. But they felt
that financial conditions had undergone
such a change since those days of uni
Versal prosperity that there would be
no use i'll launching the new musical
ENTERPRISE unless it could be placed on
strictly popular priced plane. This
meant cutting the theatre rates almost
in two. and naturally the owners OF
the house at first hesitated,
6oubting-aS well they might
whether the attendance would
insure propOrtionately as the
prices We're reduced, the expense Of
opening the theatre, advertising, lights,
coal, orchestra, labor, etc, always re-
naming a fixed, immovable certainty,
whether the receipts went up or down.
However, having confidence in the pro-
1ectors OF the operate idea, and in the
list of the talent submitted, the theatre
proprietOrs determined on giving the
matter test. and The Mascot was
produced. Then followed Patience
1.-THE Chimes" and Said Pasha," all
satisfactory successes, but none more
than DaSSably remunerative; the fifth
opera, The Queens Lace Handker-
chief" took hold of the public with a
boom, and the steadily increasing pat
rcnage bestowed on it (the last night
being as crowded as the first, and
people being turned away from each Of
the four performances showed that the
company had attracted the attention of
elAA Sie-SoCS VI lutdlIe-SOtIS, lIODl the
steady flrSt-nighterS to those who are
only enticed from their firesides by the
news that there is something on the
boards that really returns value re- |
ceived for the trouble of a visit
SO the Home Opera company looks |
to be fixed and permanent institution |
in our midst and as long as it spends |
money with the same generosity ana |
taste that it has done in The Queens |
Lace Handkerchief" there is no dan |
ger of our public allowing it to blush |
unseen. It has been handsomely pat !
ronized, and though the huge crowds i
are, in measure, deceptive q, 800 peo- /
PIE packed like sardineS at matinee,
only meaning $500 in the box office), !
the house and the company are well |
satisfied, and the reputation of the
opera company now being established,
it need have little fear for the future
OF course The Queens Lace Hand
not be shelved in the
face of a record like that of the clos
ing night, when several hundred people
were turned away, and several hundred
more stood I'D during the entire per-
Torrance, and two farewell reOetitions
are arranged for Friday evening next
and Saturday afternoon. Haste was
necessary, owing to the departure of
Miss Fisher.
y.
ana as quarter rates again prevail at
the matinee and half rates at night,
the same old rush may be looked for
Tomorrow night the company gives
Provo taste of its quality, and Wed
nesday evening the opera, with the
Salt Lake theatre scenery in act I, the
lights, the stage hands and the full
5rchestra, VIII be transported to Ogden.
the stage there being large enough to
admit of practical duplication of the
Salt Lake rendition.
@ q a
The Los Angeles papers at hand this
week speak in glowing terms of the
success made in vaudeville by Mr.. and
Mrs. Royle in their sketch. Captain
mpudence-" There are only four peo-
DE employed, two being Mr.. and Mrs. 1
Boyle and third Miss Minnie Dupont, ;
nut in half an hours time they create
10 end of merriment by their clever ;
comedy work. Tue story of Captain {