Evening star., 1898-10-29

said. The musical public have followed
him during the period that he held the
baton over the Boston orchestra and know
his worth as a musician and orchestral
leader.
The dates for the five concerts and the
soloists follow: Tuesday December g.
soloist Adele Aus Der Ohe. pianist; Jar
uary 8, soloists Josephine S. Jacoby, con-
tralto. and Max Kerger. violinist; February
Z, solosts. Sara Anderson and Leo Schultz,
'Cellst. March T. soloist to be announced.
April 4. Wagner program. The prices for
this series of concerts have been placed
within the reach of all. The advance sub
scription is now open at GuZmans, in E. f.
DroOp & Sors.
1t is only common sense to have con-
fidenCe that the first minstrel organization
ever sent cut under the sole name OF
William H. West will prove of the highest
order of excellence. A new brand OF cigars
or tobacco is likely to degenerate in time.
An author frequently fools the public by
trading on the reputation of his early
writings. But YOU are almost always GER
tain of good smoke in a new brand. and
his first book is frequently the authors
masterpiece. First impressions are every
thing. and no one can afford to fail at the
start. There is no reasonto think that Mr..
West will ever allow his company to fall
below the nigh standard he has set for 1t
during this first season. But even the
most suspicious of theater goers will, for
the reasons named, have the comforting
satisfaction of knowing that in William
H. Vests big minstrel jubilee he is GER
tain to witness the best performance of
minstrelsy Inat the stage has yet known.
For several years Primrose and West have
practically had a monopoly of this form of
amusement, and their separation has
caused something of revolution. Mr..
West has aIways been the Henry Irving of
miuStrelSy, in the sense that he has always
fought for Its elevation, for its expansion
into a r1cner and more artistic form. Out
of his breaking away from all associations
hot Iov- In In no
from all the conventionality of banjo and
black face with which others have been
content. there will come a higher type of
minstreIsy tnan has hitherto been known
in America or England. progressive. up-to-
date. appealing TO the best class OF theater
goers. VINO nave regretted its seeming
degeneracy ana decay.
NATIONAL THEATER.-At the head Of
all light opera companies is that ever-wel-
come organization known as the Boston
ians which begins its weeks season at the
National Theater Monday night. Each
year finds the Bostonians as vital as ever,
and, Notwithstanding some slight changes
are noted in the personnel the places nave
been so adroitly supplied that no jar is felt
in the work of the successors. The Bos-
tOnians make their productions on generous
lines and with due regard for artistic de-
tail. A large and brilliant chorus. an aug
mented orchestra and appropriate scenery
and costumes are always prominent fea-
lures in their presentations. This year the
list of artists includes such well-knoWn
singers and prime favOrites as Henry Clay
Barnabee. William II. Macdonald. Jessie
Bartlett Davis. Helen Bertram, William f.
Philip. William Broderick George Froth-
ingham, Harry Brown. w. H. Fitzgerald,
Josephine Bartlett, Lloyd Rand, Caroline
Daniels. Charles Hawley, Norman Cramp-
ton and S. l.. Studley, musical director.
For the engagement here the repertoire
has been arranged as follows: Monday.
Tuesday Wednesday. Friday nights and
Saturday matinee, The Serenade;" Thurs
day and Saturday nights, Robin Hood
Concerning the first named opera, as rem
dered by the Bostonians, it has captured
the musical strongholds of the country
and music lovers have taken up the score,
and those brilliant numbers, The Angel
us, - wv Woman, Lovely Woman Cupid and
l." Dreaming and The Serenade," have
generally become familiar. These songs
have been gracefully distributed to the
principal artists of the organization, while
the well-told and humorous story and
clean-cut characterizations give ample op-
portunity to display the acting abilities of
an unusually large cast. The story of
THE Serenade' deals with the jealousy of
an old Castilian duke, whose ward has
fallen in love with an unknown Serenader.
Subsequently the duke discovers that the
serenader is Alvarado, barytone. Sew
eral incongruOuS personages humming this
song in the presence of the duke are mis-
taken for the rival and are incarcerated,
and his many journeyings bring him in con-
slant contact with the fatal and worrying
song. Apropos of Robin Hood" it is
enough to say, although written and pro-
duced in 1890, this composition has never
grown stale. and the Thinkers Song"
brown October Ale" "Oh. Promise Me-
and The Old Cross Bow will live forever.
In no other composition do the artists of
this organization shine to such advantage,
and ovations are always accorded them
whenever they consent to appear in this
work.
COLUMBIA THEATER-Tim Murphy
the well-knoWn character comedian, will
be at the Columbia Theater next week,
when he will produce THE Carpetbagger,
a new political, romantic comedy by Opie
Read, the novelist, and Frank S. Pixley.
In The Carpetbagger'' Mr.. Murphy has
been supplied with a play which has made
one of the really great successes of the
present theatrical season. the critics in
those cities in which it has already been
seen being unanimous in the opinion that
Mr.. Murphy, as Governor Melville GRANGE,
the Carpetbag governor of Mississippi in
the stirring days that followed the strug
gle between the north and south, has
found a worthy successor to Maverick
Brander, in which character the comedian
made "A Texas Steer famous.
The chief character In The Carpetbag
ger is a Chicago auctioneer, who has been
sent south to dispense fine order of injus-
tice and uncharita bleness to the recon-
structed citizens of the state of Mississippi
AT the opening of the comedy he is found
dipping his fingers as deep as he can into
the state treasury, not forgetting to grab
anything that may happen to float by. Gov
ernor Crance is. in fact stepped in cor
ruptiOn. The decent people of the state
despise him. The men want to shoot him.
the women pick up their skirts and turn
their heads when they pass him or when
he comes near. But his better nature is
merely dormant. The chance comes for
him to be just. and he is generous and
one good deed done gives him an appetite
for another one. AT first it is the influ-
ence of a southern woman Of high charac-
ter and aristocratic birth, a woman who
likewise. at first holds the general impress
sion of the governor. which impels him to
reflect upon the iniquity of his position
and acts as an irresponsible tyrant. But
the influence for good is not compulsve
but rather suggestive. The play shows
most humorously, sometimes with laugh
ter, sometimes with tears that are as re-
freshing as laughter, how the change in
the man is brought about Incidentally a
strangely impressive picture of the recon-
struction period in the south Is drawn but
the great dramatic interest lies in the hu-
man and absolutely natural characters
moving about In an interesting story
Mr.. Murphy is said to have made by all
odds the greatest success of his very sue
cessful career in The Carpetbagger" His