The herald., 1898-10-11
AT THE THEATER
EaEEEzEgREaaaEaNNaNEHs .

by sprinting to her brokers to save her on
4 critical deal. Parenthetically. he has
been engaged by the lady's business rival
to act as a spy upon her transactions, with
the object Of running her financially. and he
is only prevented from fulfilling his mis-
sion by the accession of certain qualms Of
conscience, assisted perhaps by the WIS.,
ion Of the young wOmans personal charms
which affect his sensitive foreign nature
to the point Of cupidity.
The piece ends, absurdly enough, with
the ill-assorted pair In an affectionate en-
brace, in token Of the success of Miss Wal
let's financial operations. Mrs. Royle per-
forms her part with great cleverness. She
has all the ease, the savodr feire, OF the
business woman, and needs only to sustain
her voice to the correct pitch In order to
make the character tell with the requisite
force Mr. Royle, as the foreign count.
was good deal Of surprise. He MAIN
tained his foreign accent all through and
gave a finished and polished personatton
Of a character quite in q different line to
anything in which he has been seen here
before. He has an incistve style which
commands attention. and his work un-
doubtedly secured the success OF the piece.
The experiment of having the dime novel
reading office boy performed by woman Is
a hazardous one, as 1t gives farcica1 air
to piece intended as comedy drama"
Miss Dupont's treble voice makes the as
SuHhptlO1 ttuultlO1ldlly IHCOHBTuOuS. IL bu5
Is to be feature Of the sketch she should
have more lines, or. better still, the part
should be made straight" The sketch IL
full Of bright lines, such as when Miss Wal
let tells the count that "financiering is the
art of getting rich and keeping out of jail"
and, again, when she says to him, "horses
and dogs are all very we'll, but what do you
know about bulls and bears?" There 10
also reference to the Survival of the
slickest," which is not half bad.
The audience received the piece with
great attention, caught most Of the points
and honored 1t with curtain call at the
end.
of black and white sat!n showing the lines
Of her dainty figure to the best advantage.
captured the house with new sorg. An
other new character Of hers was that Of
a newsboy and she wound up with sail
ors' song and a hornpipe that brought
down the house. Nothing more refined.
and at the same time thoroughly amusing,
has been seen on these boards than the
artistic work done by this clever little wo-
man.
Miss Franko, in her violin solos. is gadn-
ing with her audience every night. At one
time the house would hardly listen with
patience to an operate selection. Last
double encore.
Hugh Emmett, the ventriloquist, Is an
exceptionally clever entertainer. Louis
Cazoau and Ray Burton repeated their
feats of last week. The Anglo-American
quartet sang patriotic songs under repeat
ed recalls by the audience, and the per-
formance was rounded out by two trick
clowns and performing dog, Of which trio
the quadruped was by far the most anus
ing.
BURBANK.-The opening performance
of Mrs. Pachecos comedy, 1.-THE Leading
Man." was given at this theater last night
to fair house. Like many others Of its
class, the piece deals with the complica-
tions which arise when married women
practice to deceive conhding husbands with
choleric dispositions. Having invited q
handsome actor to visit her, with the inteu-
ton OF reading her play to him, and Incl
dentally of discovering II he Is like other
men, the lady Is surprised by the return OF
her husband. She passes of the Thespian
as her cousin from California who Is at
flicted with stutter and partial deafness.
In this disguise he encounters not only
the husband, a most conf1ding and credu-
lous person. but also the girl of his heart,
who suspects the worst, and trouble fol-
lows, especially when the real Californian
appears unexpectedly, also equipped with
deafness and a stutter. In this dilemma
the newcomer is persuaded to exchange
characters with the counterfeit, which he
fits like a number seven foot in number
five shoe, and the two imposters stutter
their way through a succession Of more or
less ludicrous incidents, including an elec-
trical experiment on one Of them which is
nearly as agonizing as the torture scene In
La Tosca OF course 1t ends by discovery
Of the imposture under circumstances
which dlsarm the husband. Perhaps the
escape from the Sufferers N measure
reconciles him.
While not lacking In sparkle, there are
spots in the dialogue where the lines are
rather tame and prolix. The effort to be
amusing is often too evident, defect which
lie due as much to the play a. to the play
ers who strive conscientiously to follow
the authors views. The final act rises to
climax approaching the uproarious more
nearly than at any other part of the play
The company Is about evenly balanced:
II any especial commentator 10 given 1t
must be to Thomas M. Hunter as Henry
Brown, the husband; he gives a very we'll
balanced and amusing sketch. MP. Malt
land. the leading man, and Mr.. Probert as
the California cousin. were acceptable, the
latter having a slight resemblance to Rob
son aS Berthe the lamb
The orchestra was especially good, and
Romandy ts entitled to great praise for the
excellent character Of the music. both -
to selection and rendition.