The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-18
THE THEATERs.
a Splendid Performance of The Ballet
Cir" at the Worcester Tbea+er.


'The Ballet Grip disported herself at
the Worcester theater last evening. and
judging from the applause of the audi
enee present enjoyed her capers. Ger
tainly there was good ground for all
the commentator she received. for
while the music is not of an educational
character it fills it's mission-to amuse.
1t is bright and catchy, and the ir ar
polations are up to the standard The
book is brighter than the music, If any-
tnlng, and the specialties are brighter
than the book. The settings are superb,
tne costumes of great variety, and the
girls after Rice's own heart Though
piled as musical comedy, and one so
in fact, 1.-THE Ballet Grip is more pre-
tenuous than many of the comic operas
seen on the stage today. There is more
comedy in the piece and less buffoonery
and as a whole the performance is one
10 be enjoyed, and one that should fill
every seat in the house at this even
ing's performance, which is the last.
The cast is just such a one as one
would and should expect to find nre
senting such a piece as 'The
Ballet Girl" David H. Lythgoe is fea-
tured in the program but he is not
ladder
by any manner of means. In fact, that
rung is pretty well crowded. and good
as Mr., Lythgoe is, he must share hon
ors with other members of the com
pany, notably with Violette Dene. Gus
and Chris Bruno, Marie HiIton, Sol
Solomon and Lillian Cooley These
people easily carried the honors of the
piece, and are ably seconded by a half
dozen others, who, if with people Of less
WOilld
advantage. Their talents are simply
overshadowed by the greater talents
and greater experiences Of those named.
Mr.. Lythgoe's acting in the part of the
artist was all that could be desired.
while his singing was one of the fea-
lures of the performance. He has a
magnificent voice, good expression and
pleasing stage presence. The vocal
honors of the piece went to Miss Coo
ley, soprano of more than the usual
range, and with voice at once flexible
and sweet. The principal comedy of
the piece was in the hands of the Bruno
brothers, Sol Solomon and Charles Sea-
graves, and was unusually well done.
Aside from their regular work, the
Brunos contributed several specialties
that were immensely popular. Gus got
off some more of his dialect songs, one
being an imitation of Anna Held sing
ing a negro song, that was as true to
life as a mirror, and Chris did a dane
ing specially that would assure him a
place in the varieties should he and Mr..
Rice fail to agree on salary. Violette
Dene's singing and dancing specialties
were of high order, the latter partic-
ularly, being one Of the choicest bits of
dancing ever seen in Worcester. 1t was
graceful and original. But there was
one song that made the hit of the even
ing. It was called "a Boom" and was
sung by David Lythgoe and jacques
Kruger, and as they introduced var
ious men of note, including Dewey, AL
ger, Depew, Hall Game and others the
audience went wild, and the recalls
were SO many that those people who
tried to count them on the fingers of
both hands got lost in the shuttle An
other feature not yet mentioned, and
one deserving of praise, was the ballet
dancing of Catherine Bartho. 1t was
a wonderful piece of work, and her
technique was appreciated to such
degree that the danseuse received sew
eral recalls, The choruses were good:
IN fact, the singing throughout was
above criticism