Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-01-12
AMUSEMENTS.

Mr. E. S. Willard delighted large audi
ence at the Lafayette Square Theater last
night with his performance of Tom
Pinch 1t would have been well worth
while If the actor and company had done
no more than costume the characters which
have become SO familiar and presented
scenes from the story. But, without max
ing any attempt to dramatic Martin
ChuZzlcwit,' very entertaining comedy
has been arranged. Mr.. Wizards art is
notable for delicate elaboration of detail.
and, light as the story is, it is unfolded
so unassumingly and SO candidly sub
ordinated to the Importance of the charac-
tiers themselves that the audience seemed
grateful for being spared the duty of adj
mlrlng playwrights ingenuity and orig.
lnality and being permitted to revel in
the society of old friends. Some of them,
1t Is true. Were absent. The evil nature
of Jonas ChuZZlewit does not bring into
contrast the gentle worth of Tom Pinch
as IT does in the book, nor do the bibulous
JUNCTION of Sairy Camp and the elegance OIL
Mr. Montague Tigg appear upon the stage
as they are half expected to do when
Tom Pinch is mentioned. But it is too
much to hope for a reunion without some
absentees, and it is something to be able
to pass an evening with the airy hypocrisy
of Pccksniff, the artful prattle of Merry
and Cherry the eccentric but honest
moods of old Martin, the sometimes over
confident seif-esteem of his son, the opt-
mism of Mark Tapley and, best of all,
with the sweet, self-effacing herosm of
Tom Pinch.
Every now and then a critic ventures
the assertion that Charles Dickens does
not deserve the adulation which his ad-
mirerS beStow with such lavish affection.
Indictments of his style and method are
Grawn up with so much knowledge and
argued with so much skill that the reader
who strives to keep his mind open to
victlon is half convinced that the seeming
success of the struggling shorthand writer
who wrote and hoped while his child-wife
sat in the glare of the study lamp and
held the pens. was after all only failure,
and that a fondness for the people whom
he imagined so wildly is something that
the mature mind ought to relegate to the
past with his dance programs, his Ian
guishinsly tinted neckties and the other ac-
compartments of adolescence. But some
how Dickens productions survive every
practical test. His books are handed from
the shelves OF the shop, while more mod
ern volumes linger, and the public as
sembles to testify its delight when an en-
tertdinmcnt such as Mr.. Willard has pre-
pared is offered. Mr.. Willard has done
much and done it well that the eX-
Cellence of this offering may pass without
comment as a matter of course. lie does
not permit the interest to center itself
in Tom Pinch, exquisite his perform
ance of the character is. Mr.. Werner
Charges as Pecksniff was all that could
be desired, and the others in the com
pany played with so nice Il perception OF
what was required of them to battle
the most Industrious finder of flaws. The
charm of the entertainment was. at least
to the Dickens devotees, so Irresistible that
complaint could nave come only from some
Mark Tapley who dcplorcd the absence
of all credit for being jolly under such
conditions.
MISS JULIA ARTHUR-It might be said
bo wi hDs in who will
next week appear at the New National
Theatre in "A Lady of Quality" enjoyed
the distinction of becoming famous over
the night in New York. The first time was
five years ago, when she burst upon New
Workers as the queen III THE Black Mask,
and the next day the public looked forward
TO the thing that has just occurred-hcr APP
pearance as a star. Her name became
upon that one night familiar to all theatre
gOcrS, and to her eyes were bent in eXpec-
tation of seeing in her representative
American actress. Only a very few weeks
ago Miss Arthur came to New York to test
her powers as star at the head of her own
OrganiZat ton, giving her marvellous imper
sonation of ClOrnda Wildairs in "A Lady
Of Quality" a drama tiZation of a book of
thai name by Mrs. Frances Ho1gson Bur
nett and Stephen Townsend The result
was uncQuiVOCl.
Miss Arthur achieved triumph and won
at once all of that which her most enthu-
siastic admirers had prOphesed Her imper-
soaation of Clorinda Wildairs showed at
once the mature power and learning she
had stored up III the length of time she had
been studying since she had made her first
Cntrec into New York thcatricalS. She
gained an assured cmincnce as stellar at
traction and since the night of her first ap-
pear anc" became one of the most lucrative
stars before the public. Previous contracts
forced Miss Arthur at the very height of
her success in New York to so On tour and
the history of the records since then show
that she has been appearing to some of the
largest houses of the season in each town
in which she has visited. In Philadelphia
these last two weeks, where she is now APP
bearing, her business has been simply pho
nomenal, and she has won unstinted praise
Tor what is described as her remarkable i'm
pcrsonatiCn Of Ciorinda Wildairs. Her
beauty, too, seemed to come in for a
great share of praise, and from all dcscrp-
ttons she must make a very dazzling pic
ture when she appears in the first act in
boys costume in the supper scene. In the
fourth act. too, in which occurs that strik-
ing dramatic scene of the killing of Sir
John OXon, Miss Arthur's intense AMI force
full art will undoubtedly be called upon to its
fullest extent.
She makes eight different changes of
costume in ALL all of which are described
as being remarkably beautiful ana of in
terst to the fair sex. Miss Arthur brings
here intact her magnificent production of
"A Lady of Quality" which has attracted
so much attention in New York for its
beauty and elaborateness. She is support
ti ny tHe original company, including Mr..
Edwin Arden. The production has been
staged by Mr.. Napier Lothin, formerly
Mary Anderson's stage producer. Owing to
the great strain OccasiOned by the severe
requirement to enact the role of Clorinla
Nildairs, Miss Arthur does not play the
W edncsday matinee, SO the only matinee
performance she gives next week is the
Saturday one.
JACK AND THE BEANSTALK''-The
much-tdlked-about production of the great
extravaganza, THE Strange Adventures of
Jack and the Beanstalk." will be seen for
the first time in Washington, at the La
fayette Square Thcatcr Monday night as
originally PRODUCED by the New York Ca
sino carly last fall where its success was
so pronounced that the engagement was
prolonged many weeks. Not only are we
to see the original east, but the same
chorus girls and the same ballet dancers
who figured i'll the performances will be
seen here, and absolutely every detail OF
the New York Casino production will be
placed upon the stage OF the Lafayette
Square Theater. The cast includes Niadge
Leasing, Maude HoIlins, Nellie Lynch,
Carrie Perkins, George DENIM, Hurbert
Nilke. Walter Allen, Ross Snow, Harry
Kelly, Henry Morse, Daniel Baker and